IMPROVING YEAR 3 MAWAR PUPILS’ UNDERSTANDING OF ADJECTIVES OF

FEELING USING MILEYATION

Rebecca Mary A/P Sartho

Mohd Zaki Bin Mohd Amin

Pengajian Bahasa Inggeris

[email protected]

Jabatan Bahasa-Bahasa

ABSTRACT

This action research aims to improve the understanding of adjectives of feelings among Year 3
Mawar pupils. During classroom interactions it was noticed that the pupils did not understand
adjectives of feelings in a reading text. It was difficult for them to understand abstract nouns. A cloze
test and observation were administered to assess the pupils understanding of adjective of feelings. As
a result, Mileyation was proposed to overcome the issue concerned. Test, interview and observation
were used as the instruments to collect data. Based on the finding, it is proven that Mileyation is
effective in improving pupils understanding of adjectives of feelings. Pupils are also interested to learn
adjectives of feelings through Mileyation. The graphic representation is very useful because it is easy
to understand. It is proven that the interactive technique of Mileyation is effective in learning new
words and to strengthen pupils’ prior knowledge of adjectives of feelings. The next step for this
research is to focus on the pronunciation of the adjectives of feelings so that they can combine their
comprehension with the correct pronunciation of the words.

Keyword: understanding, adjectives of feelings, vocabulary, Mileyation

1.0 INTRODUCTION

Lack of vocabulary has become a common issue for primary school pupils which
becomes a problem when answering questions in English. It is commonly accepted that the
knowledge of word meaning plays a key role in language comprehension (LHF Ferreira,
2007). Teachers are facing problems to explain certain vocabularies. Adjective of feeling is
one aspect that is difficult to explain using words. Most of teachers will end up translating
adjectives of feelings.

During reading lesson, I gave them a text from Year 3 textbook. The text was about
health advice from a doctor and it was not wordy and simple. I asked the pupils to read the
text and circle the unknown words. Many circled the word tired and sleepy. They could not
understand the adjectives of feelings used in the text. I took a lot of time to explain it to them
without having to translate. Then I tested them by asking about certain feelings and only one
pupil could answer me. From here I managed to identify the problem in understanding
adjectives of feelings.

The early data was collected using a test and observation. These data were collected
from 35 pupils of Year 3 Mawar. The test was a simple test of filling in the blanks with
choices of answers given. The observation was carried out during a normal lesson in the
class. The test shows that 5 pupils scored the lowest score of 1 mark. The observational
checklist shows that Pupil A, Pupil C and Pupil D were having problem in understanding,
responding, expressing, showing interest and to tell out feelings.

Instrumen Test
t

Scores 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

No 5 6 3 7 4 7 1 2

Table 1: Scores of pupils from the test

3.5
3 Note:
1 – Weak
2.5 2 – Fair
Pupil A
2 Pupil B
3 - Good
1.5 Pupil C
1 Pupil D
Pupil E
0.5
0
Understand- Responding Expressing Interest Tell out
ing

Chart 1: Observational checklist chart for 5 pupils

2.0 RESEARCH FOCUS

This research focuses on pupils’ understanding of adjectives of feelings .Understanding

feelings in English can help the pupils to express and talk about their feelings during the
lesson. This goes in line to what Jenny White (2016) states that helping your child
understand her own feelings can contribute to her social and emotional development. 
 i. Administrability

. This research is practical because it can be conducted anywhere and anytime. The
materials used for this intervention are smiley faces and word cards together with physical
response. All the parts of Mileyation are portable and flexible which help me to manage this
research well.

ii. Significance

The focus of this research is pupils shoud be able to understand adjectives of feelings.
Most of the pupils lack vocabulary which impedes their understanding and makes them less
interested to learn English. This research is important to help pupils learn in fun and
meaningful environment to improve their vocabulary. Pupils become more interested to learn
and improve their academic achievement.

iii. Relevance

This research is relevant because the focus meets the KSSR requirements and it covers
reading and writing skills. This research is in line with the KSSR curriculum of Year 2 which
outlines a topic on feelings. This is where the pupils are exposed to high frequency words
which facilates their learning.

3.0 RESEARCH QUESTION AND RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

3.1 Research Objectives

a) To improve Year 3 Mawar pupils’ understanding of adjectives of feelings

through Mileyation.

b) To explain Year 3 Mawar pupils’ interest in using Mileyation to improve their

understanding of adjectives of feelings.

c) To explain how Mileyation improves Year 3 Mawar pupils understanding of

adjectives of feelings.

3.2 Research Questions

a) Does Mileyation help to improve pupils understanding of adjectives of

feelings?

b) Are the pupils interested in using Mileyation to improve their understanding of

adjectives of feelings?

c) How does Mileyation improve Year 3 Mawar pupil’s understanding of

adjectives of feelings?
4.0 RESEARCH PARTICIPANTS

The research participants are 3 pupils whose academic achievement and English
language proficiency are quite low. They are 2 girls and 1 boy who showed poor
understanding of adjectives of feelings as they scored less marks in the test and performed
quite poorly in the observation.

5.0 ACTION

Kemmis and McTaggart’s model is used as its framework of action. This model
begins with a planning to solve the problem and actions to be taken, executing the planned
action before observing the result of the action and finally reflection upon the observed
results.

Stage 1 - Plan

This is the first phase where the problem was identified. A test and observation were
conducted to identify the pupils’ level in understanding feelings. An action for this research
was planned to improve pupils understanding of adjectives of feelings through Mileyation.

Stage 2 - Act

The implementation of the intervention was done at this stage. Guide was given
before the implementation on how to play Mileyation. Mileyation is a game using smiley
faces to help the pupils to indentify the feelings easily and more creatively together with
acting out the feelings. Mileyation consists of two stages of pasting and matching. At each
stage there are two levels.

Stage 1 – Pasting Stage 2 – Matching

Level 1 – Pasting the word card Level 1 – Matching smiley face with the word
card

Level 2 – Pasting the smiley face Level 2 – Matching word card with smiley
face

Stage 3 – Observe

At this stage, the participant’s reactions, feelings and action after using Mileyation
were observed. After the implementation of Mileyation, a test was administered to reflect on
the effectiveness of action. Thus, their performance in the test was observed and this was
supported by pupils’ perception analysis based on interview and observation.

Stage 4 – Reflect

Finally, the data collected and feedbacks were analysed to weigh the strength and
weaknesses of Mileyation. The findings were used to evaluate the need for further
improvement or suggestion. Conclusion was made that a second cycle was not needed in
this research because the findings of this research were very satisfactory. The first cycle was
completed successfully.
 Data Collection

In this research, qualitative data were collected in order to evaluate the effectiveness of
Mileyation and they act as evidence. The data of this research were collected using three
different methods; test, interview and observation.

Data Analysis

The data that had been collected from the interview were analysed using coding and
thematic analysis whereas the test scores were analysed using data tabulation of
percentages. Data from observational checklist were analysed using frequency chart.

Data Triangulation

The data collected from the interview, observation checklist and diagnostic test were
valid and reliable because of the use of different methods and sources. The triangulation of
data strengthened the findings of this research by increasing the reliability and validity.

6.0 DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS

Research Question One:

a) Does Mileyation help to improve pupils understanding of adjectives of

feelings?

Researcher believed that the understanding of adjectives of feelings would be high or

better after the implementation of Mileyation. In order to answer research question one, test,
observation and interview were administered to all the participants.

Participant Initial Test Final Test Improvement

s

Marks (8) (%) Marks (8) (%) (%)

PA 1 13 8 100 87

PB 1 13 8 100 87

PC 1 13 8 100 87

As shown in table 2, all the participants show tremendous improvement of 87%. It

shows overwhelmingly positive result where all the participants scored 100% in the test after
the implementation of Mileyation. The results somehow support my belief that all of the
participants are able to improve their understanding of adjectives of feelings using
Mileyation.

Item 1 in the observational checklist dealt with participants’ reaction towards the use
of Mileyation. Participant A and C showed very positive reactions by giving full attention and
getting actively involved in the lesson. The second item gauged pupils’ ability to paste or
match the word card to the smileys correctly. It was remarkable that all the participants
scored very well for this item. This proved that they have managed to understand adjectives
of feelings.

The interviews were conducted with all the participants and the class teacher. The first
question is on expressing some adjectives of feelings. Participant B and C were able to tell
all the 8 feelings confidently and Participant A was able to tell 7 feelings. The next item is
about expressing the meaning of ‘confused’ in Malay. It was tremendous that all the
participants were able translate the meaning of confused to Malay. Besides that, the
teacher’s responses clearly illustrate that Mileyation improves the understanding of
adjectives of feelings among the participants.

Research Question Two:

(b) Are the pupils interested in using Mileyation to improve their understanding
of adjectives of feelings?

Researcher expects that Mileyation will be an interesting and enjoyable way to learn
adjectives of feelings. Two instruments interview and observation were used to answer this
question.

NO. QUESTIONS SAMPLE RESPONSES

3. Did you enjoy playing Mileyation to understand Yes

adjectives of feelings?

4. Do you want to play Mileyation again? Why? Yes. It is interesting, colourful, cute

5. Do you want to recommend Mileyation to your other Yes. Play together, more fun
friends?

There were three items asked in the interview to answer this question. For the first
question all the participants answered yes confidently. The responses to the second
question show that they want to play Mileyation again and they cited the reason that
Mileyation is interesting to play. All the participants were ready to recommend Mileyation to
their friends and they commented that it will be more fun to play together. All the answers
from these three questions indicate that pupils enjoy using Mileyation and are interested to
play again with other friends. The pupils became very interested because Mileyation comes
in the form of a game. According to Andrew.W, David.B and Michael.B (1984) games help
and encourage many learners to sustain their interest and work.

Items

1. The participant enjoys playing ‘Mileyation’

2. ‘Mileyation’ encourages pupils to pay more attention.

Besides interview, observation was used to answer this question. There are two
items for the observation. For item 1, all the participants showed positive responses. They
were laughing when they were acting out and jumping when they got points. Participant A
and C demonstrated very good engagement during the lesson for the second item while
Participant B gave good attention but was seen to be distracted and passive sometimes. The
second item was based on how the participants reacted when the other pupils were playing
which shows that they were paying attention to the game. They were clapping and shouting
when their friends got the questions right. The participants really enjoyed playing Mileyation
and this fulfills my expectation of Mileyation.

Research Question Three

(c) How does Mileyation improve Year 3 Mawar pupil’s understanding of

adjectives of feelings?

NO. QUESTIONS RESPONSES(SUMMARY)

6. How does Mileyation help you to understand Smiley picture (A), play and learn
adjectives of feelings? (B), doing action(C) – easy to
understand.

I anticipated that the use of smiley emoticons will help the participants to understand
adjectives of feelings better. The responses given by the participants for the interview varied.
Based on the different responses, it shows that Mileyation has three different aspects which
contribute towards participants understanding adjectives of feelings easier. The smiley faces
are vivid in expressing emotions and feelings and it was easy for them to differentiate one
smiley with another. When the participants do the action and act out, they are realising the
feelings and thus enhancing their understanding. Mileyation combines the element of play
and learn which benefits the pupils in meaningful ways.

Item
1. The graphic representation of ‘Mileyation’ makes pupils more interested.

All the participants scored very well for this item. The use of smiley emoticons worked
well with the participants because they can relate very well to the graphic representations.
Scientists have discovered that when we look at a smiley face online, the same very specific
parts of the brain are activated just like when we look at a real human face. They would have
come across these smileys before and the smileys are something that they know and use.
According to a study conducted by the University of Missouri-St. Louis, the researcher
discovered that smiley faces in both types of fictional emails made the recipient like the
sender more and feel that the sender liked them more (Courtney. S, 2015). It has been
proven that the use of smiley emoticons in Mileyation is effective helps the participants to
understand adjectives of feelings better.

7.0 CONCLUSION AND REFLECTION

In conclusion, the participants understanding of adjectives of feelings has been improved

after the implementation of Mileyation. The research objectives have been achieved and the
questions answered based on the data collected. The pupils participated actively, gave
positive responses and showed positive improvements. It was also observed that the
participants were happy when they got the chance to use Mileyation and they willingly
recommended the game to other pupils. The data strongly support the view that Mileyation
has improved Year 3 Mawar Pupils’ understanding of adjectives of feelings. The vivid
graphic representations of feelings aid understanding and the actions included in the game
helped the pupils associate the meaning better.
8.0 SUGGESTION FOR FURTHER ACTION

The focus of this research is improving pupils’ understanding of feelings only. This is
because the proficiency level of the participants is very low and I did not want to make it
complicated by including other language aspects. Because Mileyation focus on identifying
and understanding of adjectives of feelings, I suggest that there should be exposure to the
pronunciation of each feeling to make sure that the pupils are able to pronounce the
correctly. It was noticed during interaction that many pupils got the pronunciation wrong.
Besides, more feelings can be included when the pupils have mastered the basic adjectives
of feelings.

9.0 REFERENCE

Adam J. S (2011). Why Use Games in the Language Classroom?. Retrieved on 3rd August
2016 from, http://www.hltmag.co.uk/apr11/mart02.htm

Andrew.W, David.B and Michael.B(1984.). 'Games for Language Learning'. Retrieved on 6th
August 2016, from http://www.teflgames.com/why.html

Courtney.S ( 2015). 7 Reasons to Use Emoticons in Your Writing and Social Media,
According to Science. Retrieved on 7th August 2016, from https://blog.bufferapp.com/7-
reasons-use-emoticons-writing-social-media-according-science

Jenny White(2016). Social, Emotional, Creative & Spiritual Growth in Children. Retrieved on
29th July 2016, from http://oureverydaylife.com/social-emotional-creative-spiritual-
growth-children-27549.html

Jon Ord(2012). John Dewey and Experiential Learning: Developing the theory of youth work.
Retrieved on 4th August 2016, from
http://www.youthandpolicy.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/ord-yandp108.pdf