rahmah hj sayuti-action research report - idioms

8/2/2019 Rahmah Hj Sayuti-Action Research Report - Idioms

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Action Research: A piece of cake! Using multiple contexts to enhance the understanding of idioms in 5s1

CONTENTS

ContentsPage

Abstract

1.0 Teaching and Learning Reflections

2.0 Research Focus

3.0 Research objectives

4.0 Target Group

5.0 Implementation of the Research

5.1 Observation of the Source of the Problem

5.2 Analysis of the problem5.2.1 Pretest

5.2.1 Analysis of the pretest

5.3 Action Plan for Interventions5.3.1 Using Multiple Contexts in Teaching Idioms

5.4 Implementation and Observation and Reflections5.4.1 Strategy 1: FIB, Matching

i) Observation

ii) Reflection 5.4.2 Strategy 2: Eye on Idioms Using Storiesi) Observationii) Reflection

5.4.3 Strategy 3: Idioms Posteri) Observationii) Reflection

5.4.4 Strategy 4: TISS (Teacher-generatedInteractive Idioms Software)

i) Observation online, homework, in classii) Reflection

5.4.5 Analysis of the Pretest and Posttest

5.5 Reflections on the Research5.6 Suggestions for Future Research6.0 Bibliography7.0 Appendix:

1. Pretest and Posttest Items2. 3-minute paper

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ABSTRACT

This classroom action research was conducted with a view to help Form 5 Science 1 students of

Sekolah Menengah Canossian Convent, Kluang improve their understanding and usage of idioms in

writing. The research was carried out from the 1 st February 2010 to the 30 th April 2010 on 35 students

by the English Language teacher. Evaluation of students compositions (all genres) revealed a lack of

idioms being used thus resulting in lower marks for Directed Writing and Continuous Writing

assessments. The use of idioms or interesting expressions does contribute to a better mark because

they add colour and interest value to compositions. The aims of the research therefore were to help

students understand the meanings of idioms more effectively and to develop the confidence to usethem in their compositions. Four interventions using multiple contexts were used to obtain feedback

and the results were analysed. The findings of the research were discussed and recommendations

offered.

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1.0 Teaching and Learning Reflections

I have taught 5 Science 1 students for a year (since 2009) and continued to teach them last

year. The class consisted of 35 mixed ability students. The linguistic abilities ranged from good to

average. Upon assessing their compositions, I realised that they were not confident in using idioms or

multi-words. This was evident in the class compositions that were assessed when they were in Form

4. They tended to use the idioms wrongly or not used them at all. This raises certain questions: First,

my own teaching strategies when teaching idioms. Have I taught them enough idioms? Have I taught

them well enough? Were the strategies I have used effective? Do I need to review my strategies and

try new ones? What activities or strategies are the most effective to teach idioms to my students? The

answers to these questions are probably infinite but these are the questions that bother me as a teacher.

Based on these questions, I found it necessary to try different strategies for teaching idioms and

reassess how I had been teaching idioms and try the different strategies to teach and to evaluate the

effectiveness of the strategies.

Second, students background factor. The majority of students (90%) came from non-English

speaking homes. Therefore the use of the mother tongue was predominant in the English classes.

Third, there is the lack of extensive reading culture among students. This directly affects their

acquisition of vocabulary especially that of multi-words such as idioms.

In addition, relevant literature on the subject shows that idioms are difficult for native English

speakers, and that they would be more problematic for ESL/EFL learners (Cooper, 1999; Buchwald,

2000). How does one begin to explain the meaning of the idiom a piece of cake sum total of the four

words you are looking at! Try kick the bucketand see how different the actual meaning is from the

printed form. It is not possible to understand the meaning of the idiom just by adding the dictionary

meaning of the words that make them up. Unlike single word vocabulary, idioms are a string of words

or phrase that means something deeper to the learner. They are not entirely predictable on the basis of

standard grammar.

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However, as an excellent teacher, I know that idioms are an important part of vocabulary

acquisition. They are what make the English Language colourful and vivid. They make a language

come alive if you like. In addition, my students understand that idioms add interest value to their

composition. This is evident through their requests in their class journal in which they would like me

to teach them idioms.

In addition, vocabulary plays a key role in helping students write better. As Wilkins puts it

aptly, Without grammar, little is conveyed but without vocabulary, nothing is conveyed. Another

important consideration for carrying out this research was assessment. The writing component in

Paper One of the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) offers five genres: narrative, descriptive, factual,

argumentative and open topic. This section alone carries a weighting of 80 marks. Hence, doing well

in this part of the paper is an important factor to doing well in the English paper. Since idioms are a

part of good vocabulary, it would be a great advantage to my students to increase their store of idioms

and improve their skills on how to use them correctly.

2.0 Research Focus

This research focused on helping 35 students of Form 5 Science 1 to enhance their understanding and

usage of idioms. In class and exam compositions, it was observed that students displayed specific

weaknesses. They were:

i) the lack of idioms in compositions

ii) the inappropriate use of idioms in compositions

iii) the lack of interest value in students compositions

3.0 Research Objectives

3.1 General objectives:

The aim of this research is to help students understand the figurative meaning of idioms and

to use idioms correctly.

3.2 Specific objectives:

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i) To administer and analyse a pretest and posttest of 30 items on the most common

idioms

ii) To employ four different contexts in teaching idioms and to evaluate their

effectiveness

iii) To raise teacher-researcher and student awareness on the effective strategies for

teaching idioms

4.0 Target Group

The participants for the research consisted of 35 students from Form 5Sc1 whose language

ability ranged from average to good.

5.0 Implementation of the Research

5.1 Observation of the source of the Problem

Students compositions from January to October 2009 displayed a lack of idioms to spice up

the language. Since idioms add colour to essays, they are therefore important to learn and use

correctly.

5.2 Analysis of the Problem

As part of the assessment of the writing paper, idioms fall under the vocabulary strand. The

SPM mark scheme descriptors state that, in order for a composition to merit Band A,

vocabulary must be wide, sophisticated and used with precision. Hence, the importance of

idioms. The lack of idioms in students compositions has a lot to do with the little knowledge

of idioms that students have and the lack of confidence in using them.

5.2.1 Analysis of the pre-test

A pre-test was first administered to the 35 students before any intervention (strategies) was

carried out. This was to gather the baseline data. For this purpose a total of 30 multiple-

choice questions on common idioms were selected as pretest and posttest items (Appendix 1).

The items consisted of common idioms that the researcher felt students should be familiar

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with. Students were given 40 minutes (a single period) to answer all questions. The following

results were obtained and they became the baseline data for the interventions taken.

TABLE 1Pre-test Results

For the purpose of analysing the above data, a range of marks is used to summarise the

students performance as follows:

Range of marks No. of Students

26-30 521-25 2216-20 811-15 06-10 00-5 0

Total 35

TABLE 2

Analysis of Pre-test Results

Based on the range of marks, it was found that only 5 students belonged to the highest range

of marks of 26-30. The majority of students (22 students) belonged to the 21-25 marks range

and 8 belonged to the 16-20 mark range. This was a good baseline data for the teacher to

proceed with the research. Since this class was of average to high proficiency, I expected the

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majority of students to fall into the top range of 26-30 marks. It would be interesting therefore

to find out whether the figures would change after some interventions.

5.3 Action Plan for Interventions

5.3.1 Using multiple contexts

There were altogether four different contexts used to carry out this research. Context is

defined as discourse that surrounds a language unit that helps to determine its

interpretation/meaning. Some types of contexts include a 1,230-word passage from a text, a

novel, specially constructed paragraphs, single sentences, multiple sentences and crossword

puzzles and others. I have decides to use some cognitive contexts/interventions that would

expose students to different ways of studying idioms. In addition, current research asserts that

Learners have to meet words in a wide variety of contexts in order to gain an appreciation of

the true range of a words usage (Schmitt and Carter, 2000).

The following table summarises the different cognitive contexts/strategies employed:

TYPES OF CONTEXTS

Context 1: FIB and matching

Context 2: Stories

Context 3: Idioms Poster

Context 4: TISS (Teacher-generated Interactive Students Software)

TABLE 3

Types of Cognitive Activities Designed

5.4 Implementationand Observation and Reflection

5.4.1 Implementation of Activity 1: FIB and Matching Idioms

Students were given a worksheet below consisting fill-in-the-blanks and matching

tasks to complete. The type of context used here is traditional and the tasks consisted

of no more than single sentences. I wanted to evaluate if such a context would help

students understand idioms better.

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Activity 1: Idioms with Body Parts

Choose the equivalent or near-equivalent sentences.

1. You did it. You have to face the music.

2. Yes. You hit the nail on the head.3. You two don't see eye to eye.

4. You have to learn it by heart.5. You are an old hand at teaching.

6. That's great! You keep everything underyour thumb.

7. You don't want to stick your neck out,do you?

a. You have to memorize it.b. You're experienced.

c. You have control of the situation.

d. You don't want to take the risk.

e. You have to accept the

consequences of

you actions.

f. You don't agree with each other.

g. You're absolutely right.

Colour Idioms

Put each of the following colours in the correct gap. Some colours are used more than once- red, black,green, white, blue, yellow

1. Many people feared that the new millennium would cause outs because of problemswith Electricity

production.

2. What a beautiful car! I'm with envy.

3. Don't rely on him under pressure in battle. He's

4. There is so much tape that needs to be completed before adopting a baby.

5. Jack Thomas was put on Hollywood's list during the McArthy era.

6. She was such a difficult child that her family always treated her like a sheep.

7. Mr. Jackson is very important to the success of this program. Make sure to roll out thecarpet when he arrives.

8. We're looking for a new home in the belt.

9. It's not quite as and as you think.

10. Try to cheer Susan up. She is feeling rather these days.

11. I had to tell a lie in order to get accepted into the program.

12. Jack gave me the light on the project.

Food Idioms

1. The "cream of the crop" means it is ___.

a. the worst b. the best

2. To "egg on" means to ___.

a. encourage b. discourage

3. If it's "just your cup of tea", it is ___.

a. perfect b. all wrong

4. If you are "cool as a cucumber", you are ___.

a. panicked b. calm

5. If you "have a finger in the pie", you are ___ in

something.

6. "Use your noodle" means ___.

a. act b. think

7. "In a nutshell" means ___.

a. concisely b. it is finished

8. "In the soup" means ___.

a. in serious trouble

b. having a good time

9. "A hot potato" is a question which

___.a. answers itself

b. is difficult to settle

10. If you "eat humble pie" you ___.


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Activity 1: FIB & Matching

Observation

A single period allocated to this lesson was sufficient. Students diligently answered

the questions as pair work and their responses were discussed at the end of the period.

Some of idioms were new to students e.g.s hit the nail on its head and cream of the

crop. However, their curiosity level was raised and they discussed the possible

answers. Some colour idioms did pose some problems as no options were provided.

Students had to work out the answers themselves.

) Reflection

I personally found the activity to be run-of-the-mill type and therefore rather dull. On

the contrary, 85.0% of the students found the strategy interesting and helpful.

Students opinions of the strategy used were recorded using a 3-minute paper

(Appendix 2). Some of the comments were:

Yes, I like the lesson because the exercise had provided me a lot of new idioms

which I never see it before such as the colour idioms.

From the multiple choice questions, I can think and guess the deeper meaning

of the idioms.

I like the lesson very much because it helps me to recall and remember the

idioms that I have learnt before. I found this lesson actually make me to make

smart guess on those idioms that I do not know.

I like the lesson because it had gave me the basic knowledge about the idioms.

I was rather surprised to learn that students liked this type of context. It could be

because the matching exercise allowed students to guess as the options were

available. This fact could also be closely related to the teaching style in which they

were taught when they were in lower secondary. Students were used to answering

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worksheets but whether they understood the idioms learned was another matter. I

wanted to try another context using stories and evaluate how students respond to

them. Were they familiar with the context and will the context aid their understanding

of the idioms? Thus the second activity was carried out in the next lesson with these

questions in mind.

5.4.2 Implementation of Activity 2: Eye on Idiom: Using Stories (Lesson 1)

In this part of this forty-minute lesson, students were given a story entitled A Silver

Lining (see below). They were put in groups of four and asked to read the story

silently first and then to identify and underline the idioms in the story. There were

altogether 29 idioms in the story. The teacher elicited verbal responses from the

groups. As homework, the groups were asked to look up the meanings of the idioms

over the internet and to bring them in the next lesson.

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A Silver Lining

In a rash moment I said I'd buy my wife a car for her birthday. The trouble was she had set her heart ona particular colour white. It had to be white at all costs. I pointed out till I was blue in the face, thatwhite was a very difficult colour to keep clean.

But she was adamant and so in the end I decided to show the white flag, as it were. We looked atdozens of white and off white cars but none seemed to be worth buying.

Now, I'm a bit green about buying cars. I'm the perfect customer as far as the second hand carsalesman is concerned. Take the first place we went to. The manager rolled out the red carpet, whenhe saw me coming. He started by showing me the most expensive models he could find, some of whichmade me turn green with envy of anyone who could afford to buy one. But as soon as I mentioned thesort of age for the car I had in mind, he started to give me black looks. I can't describe the language heused when I gave some idea of the price I was thinking of because it would be red-pencilled. From thebeginning I was therefore somewhat browned off. Once in a blue moon, I thought do you come across agenuine bargain. I mean some of the dealers are thoroughly dishonest or is it that they are simplytelling white lies? The trouble is you have to buy a car in order to find out. At one garage I actuallycaught one of the salesmen red-handed, just as he was gluing back a chip of paint that had fallen off. Iput a black mark against his name. But what really made me see red was when I was told that I wouldonly get an old wreck for what I was prepared to pay. Perhaps I was being a bit moderate but then Ididn't want to end up in the red to the bank. The only way to deal with these salesmen is to put on abold face. It doesn't matter if you have a yellow streak. You don't have to accept the first price andwhatever you do don't give the green light until you're absolutely satisfied.

One weekend I decided to leave my car at home and go by train to a large car centre. I was feeling inthe pink as we approached the man standing by the sales office. He had one of those arrogantexpressions that act rather like a red rag to me. I told him straight that I knew his centre had beenblack listed by motoring organizations and therefore it was no good him trying to whitewash all thestories I'd heard. That wiped the arrogant expression off his face. The only trouble was that Idiscovered that I'd not been talking to the sales manager but a fellow customer. In my confusion Itripped over a spare tyre, rolled over and ended up in a ditch. When I got home I was black and blue allover.

By the sixth weekend of looking I was understandably feeling rather blue. I'd even considered getting acar through the black market. But every cloud has a silver lining. And that Sunday was a red letterday, since we finally found a car. We were out driving in the countryside when out of the blue, we sawa notice advertising cars for sale in a farm yard.

We saw a man in a brown stud sittin in a small hut. He was the farmer cum salesman from whom I


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ACTIVITY 2: Using Stories

i) Observation

Students liked the group work procedure because it was non-threatening. They were

not afraid to make mistakes. When asked Why did you select those expressions as

idioms?, I received the following responses:

because they are strange words

because they are different from the rest

because they are interesting

because I dont know what they mean

ii) Reflection

Upon reflection, I found that perhaps I had chosen a story that was too long and that

there too many idioms (29) in the story. But the content of the story was interesting

enough for the level of students I had. 30/36 students were able to identify and

underline the idioms in the story.

Implementation of Activity 2: Eye on Idiom: Using Stories (Lesson 2)

This was a follow-up lesson using the same story. Students came well-prepared with

the meaning of the idioms they had identified in the previous lesson. They were asked

to list the meanings on the blackboard. The next step required the groups to select 5-

10 idioms from the list and to construct a new story in about 150 words using the

idioms.

i) Observation

One response from Student A in her journal was interesting to note. She wrote:

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Todays lesson was overall fun, although the first part was rather boringLater we

were divided into groups of four to discuss and come up with a story including 5-10

of the idioms we just learnt. The group work was the fun part. A few groups read the

stories out loud and the class laughed.

Although she described the first activity as boring she ended up writing,

I would say todays lesson was a successful one, and so teachers effort of

preparing the lesson was no in vain as we benefitted much from it.

i) Reflection

I was impressed with the stories produced by the groups. Some were serious while

others were hilarious. However, the most important objective of the lesson was

achieved in that the students were able to use most of the idioms appropriately in the

essays. They had to create a story using the idioms they had chosen and in so doing,

demonstrate their understanding. Although not all the idioms were used

appropriately, the thinking process was important for the students. I also noticed that

a longer context is more helpful to the students because more contextual clues are

available. Additionally, a story is an effective context to teach idioms as it is easily

absorbed. The following are two samples of students writing:

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Activity 2: Using Stories: sample essays from two groups

5.4.3 Implementation of Activity 3: Idioms Poster

In this stage of the lesson, I wanted to employ a different media altogether to break

away from the types of contexts the students were used to. A double period was

allocated for this lesson and the materials used were mah-jong papers, marker pens, a

list of idioms and masking tape. Students were divided into groups of four and the

group leaders chose one idiom from a random list of eight. In groups, they drew a

picture of the idiom. Later they presented the idiom on the board for the others to

guess.

i) Observation

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The students found this activity very stimulating. There was active participation and

creativity. Some of the comments from students evaluation via the 3-minute paper

are as follow:

I have learnt a lot from the idioms poster lesson.

I think this lesson is very interesting because I have never learn idioms this way

before. It helps me to picture and understand the meaning of the idioms better.

This lesson was very, very interesting and very, very fun. Through poster, I can

understand the meaning of idioms and eventually helped me in memorizing it.

We did drawing on the related idiom. It helps us to imagine the real situation with

the idiom, so that it leaves a deep impression in our mind. It was creative and I

loved it.

Picture or poster is always the best for our brain to understand and remember

something. Idioms poster makes me learn idioms more easily.

The interesting pictures help me understand idioms better compared to tradisional

way of lesson.

Overall, there was active learning taking place as students were given the freedom to

be as creative as possible with their drawings. (See below)

ii) Reflection

The context used here is pictures and I found it an effective medium to teach idioms.

The only problem was only eight idioms could be dealt with as time had to be given to

groups to draw the idioms and explain it to the class. Out of the eight drawings, the

class managed to guess six idiom correctly as the other two were new to them (Two

left feetandLet the cat out of the bag). For these two idioms, I had to first explain the

meaning to two groups as they were not sure of their meanings. Pictures also

provided a rich context for language learning especially for young learners. The effects

of the visuals are effective on memory retention. Hence the use of pictures enhanced

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my students understanding of the idioms taught as reflected in their comments above.

The following are some examples of drawings completed:

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Activity 3: Idioms Poster: Sample drawings from three groups

5.4.4 Implementation of Activity 4: TISS Teacher-generated Interactive Idioms

Software

The final intervention involved the use of online materials generated and designed by

the teacher. These materials consisted of sentences, short passages, pictures as

reinforcement of the previous lessons designed using Hot Potatoes. I felt that

teacher-designed materials were useful as I could select and choose suitable tasks

based on my students ability. A short questionnaire (see below) was given to 10

students after they had tried the online tasks at home to gauge their reactions.

i) Observation

Students liked to do online tasks at the comfort of their own homes. The tasks

consisted of various contexts such at the sentence and paragraph levels and puzzles.

ii) Reflection

One of the most important advantages of online tasks was they save time and certainly

cost. The students received immediate feedback online of their performance and

teacher-generated materials were an effective way to reinforce what has been learned in

previous activities/interventions. As the teacher, I could control the level and types of

task to match my students ability. In addition, online tasks allowed learning to be self-

paced and self-access. The following are some examples of the materials I generated

and uploaded online:

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Teacher-generated idioms software (TISS)

1) Mixed Idioms and Expressions ( Multiple-choice questions)

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Correct tries

Immediate feedback

Info on ss attempts

Percentage of correct answers

Ss can choose to display one

question at a time or all the

questions


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2) Animal Idioms Quiz(cloze)

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A time limit of 10 minutes to

answer questions Ss key in response in box

Immediate feedback Suitable graphics to reinforce task


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3) Idioms through stories ( Multiple-choice questions with reading text)

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Context in the form of a story

Longer context gives clue to ss Feedback to ss attempts:

Correct response: Thats right!

Incorrect response: Try again!

2nd chance/try given to first wrong

response

Time limit set to answer questions


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4) Food idioms (Crossword)

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Clue given with first letter of the

correct word appearing when Hint

is clicked

Immediate feedback Clue appears automatically when

question is clicked


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ACTIVITY 4: Sample of TISS (Teacher-Generated Interactive Software)

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The following questionnaire was administered for 10 selected students who tried the online tasks and

the results are tabulated below:

Item Statements A ree Neutral Disa ree

1 There are a variety of exercises. 95% - 5%

2 The exercises help reinforce lessons in the

classroom.

100% - -

3 The exercises have different levels of

difficulty.

95% - 5%

4 I can access the exercises easily. 100% - -

5 The exercises are well-designed. 95% 2% 3%

6 I can monitor my own progress through the

immediate feedback given.

100% -

7 Online exercises save a lot of time. 100% - -

8 Doing online exercises is fun. 95% 2% 3%

TABLE 4

Questionnaire

5.4.5 Analysis of the Pretest and Posttest

A posttest was conducted using the same items in the pretest. The results of the post-

test are shown below in comparison to the pre-test:

From the data, all students in the class showed improvements in their scores. The four

contexts used to enhance their understanding of idioms have definitely shown results. This

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was very encouraging to me. This would not have happened if there was no careful choice of

appropriate contexts to teach something difficult like idioms.

6.0 Reflections on the Research

This classroom action research was carried out with the intention to help 5S1 students

enhance their understanding of idioms using multiple contexts. I realize that in order to gain

knowledge of the meaning of idioms, the type and quality of the contexts provided are more

important that the number of encounters with the target idioms. An appropriate context must

be given emphasis because in L2 situation, the number and frequency of encounters with

unknown words are likely to be less than in L1 learning. Hence, the need to carefully choose

the right contexts and strategies. The research shows that through careful planning and

selection of teaching materials, one can achieve the desired results although it could be time-

consuming. There are other ways I have benefited from this research. It has helped raised my

awareness on the effective strategies of teaching idioms. It is indeed rewarding to see the

improvements my students had made judging from all the interventions implemented.

7.0 Suggestions for Future Research

After having analysed, reflected and observed the strategies and findings of the action

research, there are several recommendations that can be offered.

i) Related research could be done on the same area but perhaps focusing on the

effects of varied contexts on student learning.

ii) A research can also be conducted on two groups, one using normal strategies and

contexts and another, the treatment group using selected contexts. A more reliable

result can then be obtained.

iii) The research will be shared with all English teachers in the panel during the LET

session.

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8.0 Bibliography

1. Biemiller, A. (2001, Spring). Teaching Vocabulary, early, direct and sequential.

Buchwald, A. (2000). Dont say Lets Get Together to a foreigner. In S.

K. Cohen

Cooper, T. C. (1999). Processing of idioms by L2 learners of English.

TESOL-

4. Elliot, J. 1991. Action Research for Educational Change. Open University Press:

Milton Keynes & Philadelphia, UK.

http://www.readingonline.org/articles/art_index.asp?HREF=curtis/index.html (10

July 2011)

5. Kemmis, S & Mc Taggart, R. 1981. The Action Research Planner. Victoria: Deakin

University.

6. Lomax, P. 1990. Managing Staff Development in School: an Action

Research

Approach. England: Multilingual Matters LTD. Quarterly 33/2, 33-262.

retrieved http://www.aft.org/american_educator/spring2001/vocab.html (30 May

2011)

7. Schmitt, B and Carter, D. (2000) The case for multiword expressions. The

LanguageTeacher. Talandis.

8. Wilkins, D. (1972). Linguistics in Language Teaching. Cambridge

University Press.

9.0 Appendix

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http://www.readingonline.org/articles/art_index.asp?HREF=curtis/index.htmlhttp://www.aft.org/american_educator/spring2001/vocab.htmlhttp://www.aft.org/american_educator/spring2001/vocab.htmlhttp://www.readingonline.org/articles/art_index.asp?HREF=curtis/index.htmlhttp://www.aft.org/american_educator/spring2001/vocab.html

rahmah hj sayuti-action research report - idioms

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