ACTION RESEARCH PROPOSAL

IMPROVING PUPILS’ HANDWRITING

(PENMANSHIP)

PROPONENT :

PISMP TESL 2 SEMESTER 7

JANUARY 2011 INTAKE

Aizatil Hanafi Bin Jailani

Firdaus Bin Mohamad

Izzat Syafiq Bin Bahrulazman

Mohamad Syazwan Bin Mohd Suhelmi

Muhammad Naqiyyuddin Bin Mohd Lotfi

Muhammad Rohaizi Azri Bin Romaiha

Asmaa Liyana Bt Jaafar

Fatin Amirah Bt Mohamed@Ghazani

Lina Mastura Bt Muslin

Nur Hannan Imani Bt Hamaru

NurFatin Izni Bt Ibrahim Mohamed Arif

Sayyidah Raihan Bt Abd Jamil

Siti Khadijah Bt Mohd Hassan

Siti Khairunnisa Bt Asmuni

Syazana Liyana Bt Ahmad

Wan Hafizah Bt Wan Abd Rahim

LECTURER’S NAME :

Mr. Muhaimi Saifuddin bin Hj. Mohd Salleh

IMPROVING PUPILS’ HANDWRITING (PENMANSHIP)

IN A PRIMARY ESL CLASSROOM

Proponent:

PISMP TESL 2 SEMESTER 7

JANUARY 2011 INTAKE

1.0 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background

The area of focus for our project is improving pupils’ handwriting (penmanship). Handwriting

brings the meaning of graphic symbol when we are writing alphabet that is related to the

sound while we are talking (Don Bryne, 1979, Kamaruddin 1988). Neat handwriting will

subsequently increase pupils’ writing skills. Writing skills is stress on writing skills upon the

use of grammatical sentence, punctuation, correct spelling and also neat and clear

handwriting (Kamaruddin, 1988).

Writing skills is a difficult skill and can be only acquired through learning. (Kamaruddin and

Siti Hajar, 1997). Roselan Baki (2003) said that, teacher that have less knowledge about

writing skills will not be able to guide the pupils to write. Mahzan Arshad (2003) stated that

the best way that teacher can do help the pupils to master writing skill is through the

exposure at the very early stage. Writing skill mastery is defined as pupils that can write the

answer for comprehension question, writing words, phrase or sentence, essay and at the

same time can write neatly (Asmah Hj. Omar, 2004). Without the solid foundation of writing

skill the researcher feels the children will be struggle hard throughout their schooling and

adult life. By learning the best writing strategies and how to best teach these strategies to

the pupils, we hope to provide the solid foundation needed to succeed. Even though some of

the pupils could write well, still we have a thought of a way to improve it.

1.2 Reflection of Past Experience

  As the researcher of this research, we have found out that many of our pupils in Year

4 can write but not with a proper handwriting. We are hoping that by introducing some of the

best strategies so that the pupils could write with a neat and proper handwriting. Some of

them are giving the students clay or play-dough to play with to strengthen the major muscles

used in handwriting, provide creative art projects that involve using crayons, marking pens,

scissors, and finger paints, as well as tearing paper, ask the students to sort collections of

loose coins into stacks of pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters, and help them learn to

manage such everyday skills as tying and lacing his shoes and buttoning his clothes. (Peggy

Gisler P. and Eberts M). This is important in order for a child to be successful. We are

looking forward to working on this area of concern, and sharing our findings. Steve

Graham,  a professor at Vanderbilt University who studies handwriting acquisition, says that

“teachers form judgments, positive or negative, about the literary value of text based on its

overall legibility.” Graham’s studies show that “when teachers rate multiple versions of the

same paper differing only in terms of legibility; they assign higher grades to neatly written

versions of the paper than the same versions with poorer penmanship.” Another research

was done by Sweedler-Brown in 1992, in which 27 original essays were graded in three

graphic modes: typed, nicely handwritten, and poorly handwritten. Nicely handwritten copies

of the essays received significantly higher scores than the poorly handwritten or typed

versions. There was no difference in the scores between the typed and poorly written

versions, revealing a strong grader bias toward good handwriting (Miller S.). This truth is not

only found in education. It also applies in the application process. When tough decisions

have to be made in the screening process, handwriting is used as criteria to weed out

candidates if necessary. "For children, handwriting is extremely important. Not how well they

do it, but that they do it and practice it," said Karin Harman James, an assistant professor in

the department of psychological and brain sciences at Indiana University.

Handwriting can change how children learn and their brains develop as suggested by

Bounds, 2010, when children practice printing by hand, their neural activity is far more

enhanced and “adult-like”. Indiana University researchers used neuroimaging scans to

measure brain activation in preliterate preschool children who were shown letters. One

group of children then practiced printing letters; the other children practiced seeing and

saying the letters. After four weeks of training, the kids who practiced writing showed brain

activation similar to an adult's, said James, the study's lead researcher. The printing practice

also improved letter recognition, which is the No. 1 predictor of reading ability at age 5.

Besides that, handwriting aids memory (Deardoff, 2011). If we write ourselves a list or a

note, then lose it, we are much more likely to remember what we wrote than if we just tried to

memorize it (Feder K., an occupational therapist and an adjunct professor at the University

Of Ottawa School Of Rehabilitation)

Handwriting competency inspires confidence (Deardoff, 2011). The more we practice

a skill such as handwriting, the stronger the motor pathways become until the skill becomes

automatic. Once it's mastered, children can move on to focus on the subject, rather than

worry about how to form letters. Handwriting will also engages different brain circuits. The

contact, direction and pressure of the pen or pencil send the brain a message. And the

repetitive process of handwriting "integrates motor pathways into the brain," said Feder.

When it becomes automatic or learned, "there's almost a groove in the pathways," she said.

“The more children write, the more pathways are laid down. But if they write them poorly,

then they're getting a faulty pathway, so you want to go back and correct it.” (Feder)

2.0 FOCUS OF INVESTIGATION

2.1 Research Issue

The general focus of the present study is on Improving Students’ Handwriting Skill in

Sekolah Kebangsaan Maktab. According to Kamus Dewan Edisi Keempat (2007), the poor

handwriting can be defined as poor, untidy and not neat. Ahmad Taufeek (2006) said that

poor handwriting can be defined as untidy and not clear to be read. From Ahmad Durani Bin

Suip (2009) research, he exposed the pupils the best way of handling the pencil, the correct

body posture, practicing writing in three lines book and also one line book. In the classroom,

some of the pupils’ handwriting could not be read by the teachers even though they are quite

good in presenting the ideas. Therefore, the teachers are having the difficulties to evaluate

the pupils’ work because of their poor handwriting. Sometimes, handwriting did affect the

marks given by the teachers especially in writing essay. Papers with poorer penmanship are

rated lower by teachers for composition quality. Graham (1999) in his research of the Effects

of Poor Handwriting and Spelling stated that papers with poorer penmanship are rated lower

by teachers for composition quality. Dayang Nurmalisa (2007) stated that no exposure to the

right writing techniques and strategies on the early stage makes the pupils having poor

handwriting. Norizan Esa (2005) in his writing Tiong Houng Ching (2005) support that

teaching writing skill among children using simple to complex method will help them to write

better with less mistake made.

2.2 What Have I Learnt About My Research Issue

Since Bahasa Malaysia uses the same script as English, many English teachers

usually do not pay much attention in teaching handwriting. Nevertheless, handwriting is one

of the greatest problems among primary ESL classroom pupils. The failure in mastering this

skill (handwriting) will affect pupils’ academic performances and also their future life.

Children who experience this problem may avoid writing and decide that they cannot write,

leading to arrested writing development (Graham, Harris and Fink, 2000). Handwriting

leaves impression on people and some people choose to judge someone just by looking at

his/her handwriting. In writing for giving information, a poor handwriting can cause

misunderstanding and confusion. This is because of one wrong letter or number can give

other meaning and this will prevent communication.

3.0 QUESTIONS TO BE ASKED

3.1 How will the usage of three lines book and dotted line helps in improving the pupils’

handwriting?

3.2 How will the pupils’ respond towards the interventions used?

4.0 RESEARCH PARTICIPANTS.

This study took place in a Year 4 Bestari of SK Maktab. This class consists of 40 pupils. The

pupils share the same socioeconomic background. From our observation most of them are

of the same level of writing ability except 5 of them. Those 5 pupils seem to have difficulties

in having good handwriting. From our survey throughout their workbooks, we found that they

also cannot even write (in a straight line consistently).

5.0 RECOMMENDED INTERVENTION

In order to solve the problem of penmanship among Year 4 pupils, we would like to use two

methods which are 3 lines book and dotted lines. We will use dotted thirds paper, which

comes either in books or a loose paper. Dotted thirds have three lines, the base line is a full

line, while the two above it are dotted. Children write in these dotted thirds using the full line

as the bottom of most letters. The middle dotted line forms the top edge of non-capitals such

as ‘a’, ‘c’ and ‘u’, while the top dotted lines form the top of any letters with a stick, such as ‘b’,

‘d’ and ‘t’. Letters with a tail, like ‘j’, ‘p’ and ‘y’ begin at the middle dotted line and pass

through the base line and down to the top dotted third of the next line.

Another method that we will use is three lines book. Pupils have to copy the example on the

three lines provided. The three lines will guide the child to place letters correctly. The child

can follow the cue “bump the lines,” learning that the lowercase letters bump the top line and

the bottom line. Letter placement will be uniform and neat. Pupils do not have to worry about

their writing will be in a mess, because pupils only need to follow the lines provided. It also

avoids confusion of starting and stopping points. Pupils need to use three lines until they

masters letter placement.

6.0 METHODS OF COLLECTING DATA

Methods of Collecting Data

Observation

To collect the data on the level of penmanship among pupils of Year 4 Bestari of SK Maktab,

we began with an observation to see the level of their writing on paper. For this observation,

we distributed a worksheet containing sentences for 5 of them to copy in order for us to see

their writing on paper.

Example:

1. Last weekend, my mother and I went to the supermarket.

2. We went there by taxi.

3. My mother wanted to buy some goods for the kitchen.

After the pupils finished with the worksheet, we collected all of their work and observe their

handwriting.

Intervention

1st intervention:

We distributed dotted lines alphabets in a worksheet for each of them and ask them to finish

the worksheet given.

Example:

2 nd intervention:

We distributed 3 lines papers to each of 5 detected pupils and asked them to copy several

sentences according to the lines paper.

Example:

Final observation:

After the intervention, we asked to rewrite the 1st worksheet that we gave them earlier and

observed their improvement.

Example:

4. Last weekend, my mother and I went to the supermarket.

5. We went there by taxi.

6. My mother wanted to buy some goods for the kitchen.

7.0 METHODS TO ANALYSE DATA

The first suggested intervention is by distributing the dotted lines alphabets in a worksheet

for each of them and asks them to finish the worksheet given. This method requires the

teacher gives the worksheet continuously at the same interval time. For example, the first

worksheet is given during the first day of the week followed by the second worksheet is

given on the second day. 4 worksheet will be given in 4 consecutive day in a week. For

every worksheet completed, the teacher will rate it by using stars. For example, if the pupils

are doing well during the first worksheet, the teacher will give them 4 or 5 stars, depends on

their work. By doing this, the pupils will be motivated to earn more stars, hence producing a

better handwriting. For every worksheet completed, it is important for the teacher to record

the data or result to make sure the pupils and teacher can see the progress of the

intervention. This is also one of the ways for the teacher to motivate the pupils in producing a

better handwriting. The teacher can put the result in a table. For example;

Name of Pupils Worksheet 1 Worksheet 2 Worksheet 3 Worksheet 4

Pupil 1

Pupil 2

Pupil 3

Pupil 4

Pupil 5

Rating:

Excellent

Good

Moderate

Poor

Very Poor

The second intervention suggested is by distributing 3 lines papers to each of 5 detected

pupils and asked them to copy several sentences according to the lines paper. This method

help the teacher to analyse the pupil potential in producing a neat handwriting as there are

no dotted line to help them in writing. This method is highly suggested to be carried out after

the dotted alphabets method as it is considered as a higher level in penmanship. From this,

the pupil improvement can be observed and the teacher can identify what is the level of each

pupil. The teacher can motivate the pupils by showing the writing to the classmate and ask

them to rank the work. Therefore, there will be different pupils on the first and the lowest

rank.

8.0 ACTION PLAN

For this research, I have chosen Model of Laidlaw (1992) as below:

Figure 1: Liadlaw’s Model (1992)

Schedule 1 : The schedule for planning and intervention of action

Phase 1: Identify

the issue

Phase 2: Planning an

action

Phase 3: Intervention

of action

Phase 4: Collecting

and analysing

data

Phase 5: Reflection

Date Action

Practicum Phase 3 Diagnostic Test (Oral and Writing)

Week 1: 26 Jan and 28 Jan 2014 Category : Non-capitals such as ‘a’, ‘c’ and ‘u’

Activity 1: Recognize and pronounce the letter on

the card (First Test)

Activity 2: Pronounce the letter on the card

repeatedly (Second test)

Activity 3: Write the letter on the ‘User Friendly

Card’ (Third test)

Activity 4 : Game of Alphabet (Fourth Test)

Week 2: 2nd February and 3 February 2014 Category : Letters with a stick, such as ‘b’, ‘d’ and

‘t’

Activity 1: Recognizing the letter and pronounce

the letter on the card (First Test)

Activity 2:Pronounce the letter on the card

repeatedly (Second test)

Activity 3: Write the letter on the ‘User Friendly

Card’ (Third test)

Activity 4 : Game of Alphabet (Fourth Test)

Week 3: 12th February and 13th February

2014

Category : Letters with a tail, like ‘j’, ‘p’ and ‘y’

Activity 1: Recognizing the letter and pronounce

the letter on the card (First Test)

Activity 2: Pronounce the letter on the card

repeatedly (Second test)

Activity 3: Write the letter on the ‘User Friendly

Card’ (Third test)

Activity 4 : Game of Alphabet (Fourth Test)

Week 4 : 19th February 2014 Post Test

22nd February 2014 Interview session

Budget Planning

This research will be carried out with minimum budget as the researchers are still teacher

trainees with limited income. The figure below is the assumption budget for the action

research.

Items Total Unit Price per unit Total Price

Indah Kiat A4

multifunction

business paper

2 pieces

(500 sheets per

piece)

RM 7.50 RM 15.00

Tesco 2B pencil 4boxes

(12 pencil per box)

RM 2.50 RM 10.00

3 Lines Workbook 5 books RM 0.70 RM 3.50

Canon 3 in 1 ink

Cartridge

2 units of Cartridge

(Black and Colour

Cartridge

RM 30.00 RM 60.00

Total Cost : RM 88.50

The assumption of the budget is based on the previous task that we had done along

the first and second phase of practicum. We hope the low cost budget may decrease the

burden of the research toward our lifestyle.

9.0 REFERENCES

Janet C. Richards. Cynthia A. Lassonde. (2011). Writing Strategies for All Primary Students.

San Fransissco: Jossey-Bass.

Read, C. (2007). 500 Activities for the Primary Classroom. Oxford: Macmillan Publishers.

Ruddell, M. R. (1993). Teaching Content Readding and Writing. Massachusetts: Allyn &

Bacon.

Carolyn Stone, Rebecca Gusich, Deborah Olphin, Jill Brey-Lewis. (2004). Handwriting,

Strategies to Develop and Remediate Students' Written Work. Richmond, Virginia,

United States of America.

Kamarudin Husin, Abdullah Yusof & Mohd Ra'in Shaari. (2011). Pedagogi Bahasa: Amalan

Bilik Darjah. Tanjong Malim, Perak: Emeritus Publications.

Sharon A. Cermark & Dawne Larkin. (2002). Developmental Coordination Disorder. Canada:

Delmar.

Tiong Houng Ching. (2005). Membaiki Tulisan Pelajar Tingkatan Peralihan Dengan Kaedah

Ansur Maju. Seminar Penyelidikan Tindakan Thaun 2005, Sri Aman, Sarawak, 84-96

Deardoff, J. (2011, July 4). Stressing The Importance of Good Handwriting. Retrieved

January 09, 2014, from The Island Packet:

http://www.islandpacket.com/2011/07/04/1711904/stressing-the-importance-of-

good.html

Grant, J. (n.d.). When It Counts, Neat Handwriting Makes a Difference. Retrieved January

2014, 09, from Maximum Potential, Empowering People, Building Careers:

http://www.mymaximumpotential.com/2010/07/27/when-it-countsneat-handwriting-

makes-a-difference/

10.0 APPENDICES