Writing in English

Ministry of Education
Research and Development Branch
Action Research

Enhancing Performance in Writing: An Action Research Conducted in

WP/MT Weediyabandara Navodya Maha Vidyalaya

P.H. Premawathie

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Writing in English

Declaration
I certify that this report of the Action Research does not incorporate without
acknowledgement any material previously submitted for a degree or diploma in any
university, and to the best of my knowledge it does not contain facts from any material
published or written by another person without due reference.

………………….
Signature

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Writing in English

Abstract
Teaching English in Sri Lanka is a continuous process from the colonial era. The
methods of teaching have been changing to suit the socio economic and political
dynamism in the country. However, many researchers have found that a larger portion
of student population has not achieved required English Language proficiency level at
the GCE (O/L) examination. The Department of Examinations (2012) states that the GCE
O/L certificate of results provides multifaceted avenues not only for local and foreign
higher education but also for certain medium level job opportunities. However, the
percentage of the national level weak passes in relation to English Language is fifty
seven. In the case of Matugama Education zone the figure is larger. Numerically it is fifty
nine. Furthermore, student performance is evaluated mainly through their writing skill.
This issue should be addressed promptly because the present economy is based mainly
on knowledge and the existing labor market requires employers and employees fluent
in English. The effort of this study was to find out simple ways to feed back the students
with writing difficulties. The purposive sample of students consisted of twenty grade
ten students of WP/MT Weediyabandara Navodya Maha Vidyalaya. The study was
proceeded and data were collected by means of three tests, a questionnaire, records of
marks of the school, written responses of students and the teacher in charge of grade
ten English. The female students covered 60% of the sample. Although eight male
students participated in the diagnostic test no male student participated in the final test.
Four male students and a female student were present only one day. This research was
based on language activities. By and large four girls have achieved the target though
they did slight mistakes in writing. However, further feedback is essential as this set will
sit for the GCE (O/L) examination in 2014.

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Writing in English

Acknowledgement
Though this seems a minute Action Research in comparison to huge researches of this
category I have gained an immeasurable support from a number of persons.

Firstly, I should offer my gratitude to the Secretary of the Ministry of Education and the
Directress (Research and Development ) Ms. C .M. P. J. Tillakarathne respectively for
initiation and coordination of this project. Moreover, I should acknowledge my
supervisor, Prof. T. Thanaraj for proper guidance and encouragement to make this
study a success.

Secondly, I would like to express my gratitude to Prof. G. Fernando, Prof. Marie Perera,
Dr. D. Lekamge and Dr. Ambekke for their dedication in awareness sessions and
developmental comments.

Thirdly, I thank the Zonal Director of Education, Matugama, the principal of WP/MT
Weediyabandara Navodya Maha Vidyalaya, the teacher in charge of grade ten English
respectively for granting duty leave, providing an opportunity to research and
encouraging. Furthermore, I thank the sample of grade ten students for their active
participation.

Fourthly, I would like to thank my family members; my husband, mother and sister for
their priceless support during the period of research.

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Writing in English

Content
Page
Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Introduction of the problem 7
1.2 Background of the problem 8
1.3 Importance of the study 9
1.4 Key Words 9

Chapter 2 LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 The Importance of reducing writing disabilities 10
2.2 Lack of English Proficiency in Sri Lankan schools 10
2.3 Means of reducing writing disabilities 10

Chapter 3 MRTHODOLOGY
3.1 Objectives of the study 11
3.2 The Sample 11
3.3 The Plan of the Research 11

Chapter 4 IMPLEMENTATION OF RESEARCH AND DATA ANALYSIS

4.1 Planning the Action Research 13
4.2 Implementation of research 14
4.3 Analysis 21

Chapter 5 SUGGESTIONS AND RECOMMONDATIONS 27

References 28

Appendices 29

Content of Tables
Table 1.1 - Creative Writing and Dictation Competitions that have not been deserved a
single place by category and grade

Table 1.2 - Percentage of passes at the (GCE O/L) Examination by selected years and
core subjects

Table 4.1 - Distribution of ranges of marks of the diagnostic test

Table 4.2 - Distribution of marks of the sample by Question No. 11 and 12

Table 4.3 - The sentence pattern 1 (Subject Verb Adjective)

Table 4.4 - Distribution of the percentage ranges of attendance by student groups

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Writing in English

List of charts
Chart 3.1 - The plan of the Action Research

Chart 4.1 - Nouns related to Pronouns HE and SHE

Chart 4.2 - Nouns related to Pronouns IT and THEY

Chart 4.3 - Verb formation in the simple present tense

List of Photographs
Photograph 4.1 - The first discussion with the principal and the teacher In charge of
grade ten English

Photograph 4.2 - Giving Introduction of the Action Research

List of graphs

4.1 Sex Composition of the sample

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Writing in English

CHAPTER ONE - Introduction

1.1 Introduction to the problem
Teaching English in Sri Lanka has a long history and the English Language has been
playing a prominent role since the colonial invasion. Karunaratne (2003) stated that
teaching English as a second language to all Sri Lankan school children irrespective of
their social, economical or geographical background has been a major educational
policy of successive governments in Sri Lanka since the early 1950s. Thus, starting from
the colonial period it has been practicing by means of various methods in relation to
contemporary reforms of education. In the government schools where there is free
education English is taught from grade three to grade thirteen formally. Furthermore, at
the end of grade eleven General Certificate of Education Ordinary Level (GCE O/L)
examination and at the end of grade thirteen GCE A/L examinations are held at national
level annually. The Department of Examinations (2012) states that the GCE O/L
certificate of results provides multifaceted avenues not only for local and foreign higher
education but also for certain medium level job opportunities. However, the percentage
of the national level weak passes in relation to English Language is fifty seven. In the
case of Matugama Education Zone the figure is larger. Numerically it is fifty nine.
Furthermore, student performance is evaluated mainly through their writing skill
although there are other three skills, listening, speaking and reading. Therefore, the
writing skill plays a major role in the examinations and the poor English result shows
poor performance in writing. However, the result sheet of Matugama Zonal English Day
Competitions 2013 too mirrors a poor performance in writing competitions (dictation
and creative writing). In fact, 39 places have not been deserved for these competitions
due to poor performance of the competitors of the schools of category 1 and category 2.
The two categories collectively cover 95% of the schools in the zone.

Table 1.1 Creative Writing and Dictation Competitions that have not been
deserved a single place by category and grade
Category One Category Two
Creative Writing Dictation Creative Writing Dictation
Grade six Grade six Grade six Grade six
Grade seven Grade seven Grade seven
Grade eight Grade eight
Grade twelve Grade twelve
Grade thirteen Grade thirteen

Source:- The Result Sheet of English Day Competitions, Matugama Zone

Furthermore, the usability of English more or less is a crying need in rapidly developing
Sri Lanka and a good English knowledge can be regarded as an enhancing factor that
opens avenues for higher education in both local and foreign universities and it is also a
marked qualification for reaching higher positions in the existing labour market which
is mainly based on knowledge economy. Pandit (2005) has highlighted the fact that the
knowledge of English is a precursor to higher education and it is liberating and

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Writing in English

empowering as it affords access to global commercial enterprise. So this issue leads to a

broader issue directly; that is the issue of unemployment will be increased therefore,
this drastic issue is to be studied promptly in order to take appropriate measures to
reach the expected national goals for national and global development in this
millennium.

1.2 Background of the problem

In the English teaching process English Day Competitions play an important role and
they are held annually to enhance the English language skills of the pupils. The
competitions are organized in an ascending order (school level, zonal level, provincial
level and national level) and only the first places are sent to the upper level competition.
Matugama education zone, is one of the eleven education zones in the Western Province
and it is in the Kalutara district. This zone consists of one hundred and thirty one
schools of various sizes. According to the size of the pupil population these schools have
been divided into three categories; the category one, two and three respectively consist
of students less than five hundred, between five hundred and one thousand and over
one thousand. However, since 2007 I have been working as an In-Service Advisor of
English in this zone. Therefore, I have to visit the schools in the zone for supportive
teaching and for group supervision divisional and zonal. In such occasions, I have
identified students’ poor performance in writing. So I was in a psychological struggle to
start a programme to improve their basic writing effectively. Fortunately, I had been
selected to do an action research with the initiation of the Ministry of education and I
wanted to make use of this opportunity to improve the basic writing of students.
However, I selected WP/MT Weediyabandara Navodya Maha Vidyalaya to launch my
action research due to a number of reasons. It belongs to the category two and it has
won no first place in the English Day Competitions in 2013. In addition, the GCE O/L
results of English Language, in comparison to the other core subjects like Sinhala,
Mathematics, Science, Buddhism and History is lower. However, it has won the first
place among Maha Vidyalayas in the zone according to the results of institutional
evaluation programme carried out in 2013. Moreover, the principal of this school too
had requested me to start a programme for improving English language skills of the
students.
Table 1. 2 Percentage of passes at (GCE O/L) by selected years and core subjects
Subject 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Sinhala 91 83 91 93 89
Buddhism 77 77 71 86 78
English 13 26 24 23 28
Mathematics 49 58 57 63 43
Science 43 47 64 75 52
History 66 55 63 81 46

Source: Relevant result sheets of the school

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Writing in English

1.3 The Importance of the Study

This study provides some simple new activities and methods to improve students' basic
writing skills in an interesting manner so that common errors and mistakes done by the
students can be reduced when they write about persons, places and things. Moreover,
these activities can be used from grade five to grade thirteen as this is a common area of
writing though the expected volume of the text is different according to the grade. Thus,
the English teachers and the non-English teachers who teach English in rural areas to fill
the gap of vacancies of the English teachers will be benefited from this study more or
less. This study will be an example for those who like to do simple action researches to
develop their day to day work and their professional standard.

1.3Key Words
Writing, errors, mistakes, activities
In this study a few common errors in student’s written work have been considered and
provided simple activities to practice sentence patterns to overcome them due to the
limited time of three months.

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Writing in English

CHAPTER TWO - Literature Review

The Importance of reducing writing disabilities
According to NCDL editorial team, learning disabilities are real. They are not the same
as intellectual disabilities. The hallmark sign of a learning disability is a distinct and
unexplained gap between a person’s level of expected achievement and their
performance. Like all learning disabilities a writing disability can influence a child’s
education immensely; in fact, it can dramatically limit his/her achievement in future.
For, instance, some signs of grade ten students’ language disabilities like lack of
vocabulary, problems of spelling, punctuation, capitalization and grammar can reduce
the overall result of the GCE O/L English results next year. Therefore, writing
disabilities should be remedied promptly.

Lack of English Proficiency in Sri Lankan schools

Karunaratne (2003) states that many researchers have found out the fact that only a
minority of the school population succeeds in achieving the required level of proficiency
at the GCE (O/L) examination in relation to the English Language. Moreover, Perera
(2010), after a collaborative research which was conducted for the National Education
Commission mentions student heterogeneity as a causative factor for this poor
performance in English. According to her, the level of exposure to the English Language
at home and the experience in the primary classes have become main causes for the
student heterogeneity in the secondary classrooms.

Means of reducing writing disabilities

Writing disabilities are natural in every classroom; for instance, in the primary
classroom some students incorrectly form letters. It should be remedied promptly in
order to reduce incorrect formation of letters. If it is not corrected at the correct time
the number of mistakes done by the student will be increased. However, in the
secondary classroom this will be an issue which seems difficult to correct. Therefore,
there should be an inquisitive eye to identify errors of students promptly. Action
research is a good continuous method for reducing written errors.
“'Action Research', which means research 'while in action', can play a vital role in
teacher empowerment. Reflective practice requires teachers to experiment with
and reflect on what went wrong, why that was so and how it/ they can be
remedied. Action research helps teachers to find solutions for specific problems try
out such solutions and disseminate findings to his/ her colleagues or take follow-up
action for further research, which creates a cycle. Action research is, hence,
contributory to teaching/ learning improvement, as well as teachers' professional
development. Here, the teacher becomes the 'expert' who can make independent
decisions without bowing to 'outside experts.' The findings of this kind of research
have a significant impact on pedagogic practice, as well as in macro level planning,
if they are taken into consideration.” (Wijesekara, 2011/2012 p 22)

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Writing in English

CHAPTER THREE - Methodology

This chapter deals with the objectives of the research, the sample, the techniques for
data collection and the plan of the research in brief.

3.1 Objectives of the Action Research

Main objective – The sample of students will be able to write simple sentences about
persons and places/things (maximum one or two errors are allowed)

Specific Objectives:-
1. The sample of students will be able to write eight to ten sentences about a person.
2. The sample of students will be able to write eight to ten sentences about a thing or a
place.

3.2 The sample

The purposive sample consisted of 20 grade ten students of Weediyabandara Navodya
school in the Matugama educational zone. There were eight male students and twelve
female students. This sample was ethnically homogeneous because all students were
from the Sinhalese families. None of them were from English speaking family
backgrounds. Almost all the students of the sample were from nuclear families.
However, the time duration for this study was three months. Therefore, I had to do
supportive teaching for intervention during the Saturdays because this set of students
had no free time during the weekdays. I too had to visit very distant rural schools during
the weekdays. Due to my easy access and to offer an additional support to improve
writing skills of the students of my former school I selected this set of students. So I got
permission from the principal of the school and parents were informed about the
project at a class circle.

3.3 Techniques used in the Action Research

To collect primary data a diagnostic test, a middle test, a final test a questionnaire
entries in the reflective journal and unstructured interviews were used. The required
secondary data were collected from the school records of marks. Thus, at the beginning
of the research the questionnaire which was prepared in the mother tongue of the
students to collect information of their family backgrounds. The above mentioned three
tests were respectively used for diagnosing the language errors and mistakes of the
students, understanding the improvement after intervention and for final evaluation of
the writing of the sample of students.

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Writing in English

Chart 3.1
Concept Map of the Process of Action Research

Process of Action Research

Final Test
Diagnostic Test

Reflection Intervention

Intervensio Reflection
n

MiddleTest

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Writing in English

CHAPTER FOUR - IMPLEMENTATION OF RESEARCH AND DATA ANALYSIS

4.1 Planning the Action Research
Under the guidance of The Ministry of Education this action research was planned by
me in order to find solutions to the problems that I came across during my professional
life. In fact, I have experienced a number of writing disabilities of many students as an
assistant teacher of English, as an In Service Advisor for English and as a marking
examiner at the GCE O/L and the GCE A/L examinations. I have discussed with some
teachers of English about such disabilities of their students too. They too said that it was
very difficult to remedy though they tried to do. Moreover, the principal of my last
school where I worked as an assistant English teacher was eagerly waiting for a new
project to improve student performance in relation to English. So I visited the school
and introduced the would be Action Research to the principal and the teacher in charge
of grade ten English.

However, it is important to mention that the teacher showed her will not only with her
verbal expressions but also with facial expressions. She said, “Students like you because
one day they told me that your teaching was very clear”. I thought that I would be able
to find the areas to be remedied and this would be a success with the support of the
English teacher and the principal.

Photograph 1.1 - The first discussion with the principal and the teacher

After the discussion with the principal and the teacher I got an opportunity to meet
some grade ten students and made them aware of the research project. They liked to
participate in the additional supportive classes on Saturdays.

Photograph 1.2- Giving introduction of the Action Research

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Writing in English

4.2 Implementation of the Action Research

I could implement the process of work of this research by means of three steps; a
diagnostic test, a middle test and the final test. Moreover, there were two intervention
stages before the middle test and the final test.

Phase one (from the Diagnostic test up to the middle test)

The diagnostic test was held on the 21st of August 2013. This test was constructed for
evaluating students’ writing; spelling, pronouns, the simple present and the simple past
tense. There were twelve questions and the last two questions were based on creative
writing. (Refer Appendix A.). That day itself I asked them to complete the questionnaire
given in the mother tongue anonymously.

I expected to have a sample of twenty students as I had to complete the research within
three months. I thought it was a pleasure to mention that only twenty students had sat for
the test.

However, completion of marking of the diagnostic test papers and analysis of marks
were done within two days after the test.
I felt how strong intention I had to step into the stage of intervention.
Table 4.1 Distribution of classified marks by students
Class Frequency
Below 20 02
21 - 40 05
41 - 60 04
61 - 80 04
81 - 100 05

The table 3 shows the distribution of marks according to class intervals. Eleven students
of the sample have scored below sixty marks. Even though nine students of the sample
have scored over sixty marks they have done a number of mistakes in writing about
persons and places.

However, their mistakes were analyzed under following sections.

 Difficulty in understanding instructions
 Writing numerical figures in words
 Correct use of articles, pronouns and prepositions
 Use of verbs in the simple present tense
 Formation of “Wh” questions

I thought it would be better to select a limited number of mistakes to be remedied by

intervention. I should select the ones related to writing about a person and a place/thing.
Therefore, I decided to plan my lessons to promote their existing level in order to achieve
the objectives. Therefore, the last two questions in the diagnostic paper should be
emphasized

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Table 4.2 Distribution of marks of the sample by Question No. 11 and 12

Code A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T
.
Q.No.
11 00 02 07 06 05 05 04 00 00 00 03 06 02 03 02 04 05 08 08 02
12 02 03 07 06 10 04 04 00 00 00 04 04 02 02 03 04 08 09 06 02
Total 02 05 14 12 15 09 08 00 00 00 07 10 04 05 05 08 13 17 14 04

Table 4.2 displays marks achieved by the students for Q. No. 11 and 12 separately. (
Students were corded from A to T on the first day on which the diagnostic test was
held.) H, I, and J have scored zero for the both questions whereas C, D, E, Q, R, and S
have achieved more than half of the allotted marks.

Below given text is an extract from the diagnostic answer script of student N. It shows
the mistakes done by him/her. According to this script the possessive pronouns,
spelling, capitalization, articles, punctuation and the use of HAS and HAVE as a main
verb should be considered along with the formation of letters.

Here I have given marks for correct sentences .For vocabulary rarely I gave one mark. I
thought it would be better if the marks were given separately for language and content as
marks are allotted at the GCE O/L examination. In addition, I wanted to do intervention by
preparing the simplest activities to improve the writing abilities of the student with poorer
performance.

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Writing in English

To improve writing skill I planned a set of simple activities. Thus, my direct intervention
in the classroom was started from the 21st September 2013. I started my work with a
guessing game which was related to the sentence pattern that would be introduced. The
expected sentence pattern was Subject Verb Adjective. I had prepared five laminated
cards to work in groups as given below. I introduced the sentence pattern 1 and showed
the word order. I did not forget to use mother tongue where I felt it was needed for
more clarification. The students were given opportunities to read it individually. Then
they were given instructions to do a game. The steps I followed:

1. The students were grouped according to the marks of diagnostic test in order to
form two mixed ability groups.
2. The blackboard was divided into two and each part was divided into three for
subject verb and object.
3. A sentence from the table was read out.
4. A student from each group wrote the sentence on the blackboard. (The spelling,
Capitalization and punctuation were considered)
5. Marks were given to two groups separately.
6. Then, they were given opportunities to create new sentences to suit the pattern. (for
new sentences more marks were given.

Thus, the sentence pattern was practiced well.

Table 4.3 The sentence pattern 1 (Subject Verb Adjective)
Subject Verb Object
I am good
He is kind
She is beautiful
It is green
We are clever
You are brave
They are honest

The students participated in the activity happily. The slower ones were pushed forward by
the others to earn marks. I felt that they were playing instead of learning grammar.
However, I did not appoint group leaders although I had planned to so. There, they
automatically played the role of leaders where necessary; they encouraged their group
members helping them to writing words correctly before going to write it on the
blackboard. Therefore, I decided to proceed this method in my field teaching too.

The day’s next item was to show the use of pronouns meaningfully. Therefore, I made
use of the cards that showed that how nouns like father, mother, table and friends can
be replaced with relevant pronouns such as he ,she, it and they. Following charts were
used for clarifications.

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Writing in English

Chart 4.1 Nouns related to pronouns HE and SHE

Father mother
uncle aunt
He Sunil She Sunila
actor actress
director directress

Chart 4.1 Nouns related to pronouns IT and THEY

dog boys
cat girls
It table They teachers
School friends
tree trees

Through these four diagrams I could explained the replacement of nouns with pronouns
well. Moreover, These pronouns are directly related to achieve the objective; that is to
write about persons and places/things. However, for the convenience of the slow
learners of the sample only the pronouns used as subject were introduced first. Though
it was not mentioned in these charts the pronoun ‘YOU’ too was introduced before
giving the writing activity 1. The students were explained that the pronoun ‘YOU’ could
be used for both singular and plural nouns (for person/ persons in front of you).

To emphasize this point I should have pointed to a particular student and I should have
given a simple command. (“You, sit down”.) However, I noticed only fourteen students were
present. I thought If I did not tell their marks of diagnostic test earlier the number would
be increased. The students H, I, J, M, N and P were absent. They had scored lower marks
than others.(Refer Appendix F).

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Writing in English

This activity was done first in orally in groups of three. For groups marks were given to
make the task interesting. At the end it was used as an individual writing activity.

I experienced the ease to handle a class with prior preparation. Moreover, the students
worked freely in their groups. There was an objective for their work. That was to earn
marks. I played the role of a facilitator here. I did not want to dominate the class.

Karunaratne, (2003) highlights the fact that where there is teacher domination the
student become passive learners who control their interaction during lessons.

The last two activities for the day were prepared for improving vocabulary of the
students.
1. Completion of words with given starting letters (words starting with ‘p’)

This can be done as a competitive activity. One can follow the steps given.
I. Teacher writes a word starting with ‘p’ on a paper script and hides it.
II. Write the first letter of the word ‘p’ on the blackboard/whiteboard
III. Ask the students to find words starting with the ‘p’ from the groups in turn
(students should be grouped before starting the activity.)
IV. One from each group writes words (They use their portion of the board)
V. After one minute, the second letter of the word is given.
VI. Students write their words competitively.
VII. The activity should be continued until the correct word is found.

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Writing in English

2. Solving a small puzzle

M
Give instructions to fill boxes with meaningful
words. Students can fill in different words.

Competitively and happily the groups to get more marks. I

think this type of activities can be used in combined classes
when there is a shortage of teachers. These activities can
improve thinking ability of students too. However, one group
of students from grade ten wanted to join this class. I told them to join in 2014 because the
research had been stared. I thought it would be better If I allowed them to join. I decided to
call them back.

Furthermore, I decided to make use of the materials prepared for this project in my
monthly visits to schools for supportive teaching. Thus, I understood how the researcher
too can be developed his/her professional qualities as well as the sample of students.
Therefore, unlike other types of researches an Action Research can play a prominent role
specially in the field of education.

“Research needs freedom and the closeness of the researcher to the point of impact of
his findings. Otherwise research degenerates to a mere academic exercise. It implies
deep self examination and introspection. It has the potential of developing both the
teacher and the pupil to continuing higher levels of attainment. This we believe is the
kind of research that really matter in Education” (Jayathilake, 1999 p:16)

Phase two (from the middle test up to the final test)

The third day of the researching process was the 18th of October 2013. There were five
newcomers who had missed the previous set of activities. However, they were given the
same placement test. I had planned to hold the middle test which too was based on
writing about people and places/things. (Refer Appendix B). From the sample only six
students (C, D, E, G ,Q and R) were present. With the newcomers the number was eleven.
Thus, it was the 2nd of November on which I held the middle test.

However, The day’s work had been divided into two parts; the first was done by doing
language activities and games and the second was given for the middle test. There was a
special activity at the beginning. It was a brain storming one to improve vocabulary.
Within a minute the students had to write a category of words; words ending with “ly”

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An extract from the task-sheets of the sample

This is the worksheet of student R. After brainstorming too the students expected
marks.

That was their objective of doing the activity. So a teacher can provide activities in order
to practice not only vocabulary but also any structure of grammar. Then they learn
grammar unknowingly. With regular practice the grammar items can be internalized.
Therefore, the classroom should be a place full of various activities.
After marking the middle test papers I could collect a set of mistakes done by the
students. Then I constructed a set of sentences for revision. (Refer Appendix C). They
had to do this individually on the fifth day. Thereafter, They were introduced a diagram
to show the differences of verb formation in the simple present tense. Through the
diagram I could easily explained the subject verb agreement in relation to the respective
nouns used as the subject of a sentence. I used two colours to show the difference
between the addition of do and does to form the correct form of the verb. However,
addition of do, cannot change the appearance of the verb but that of does can change the
appearance of the verb showing the‘s’ ending clearly.

When I gave the chance to explain the difference after me they did it well in the mother
tongue. There were only four students present from the sample. No newcomer was present.

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Writing in English

Chart 4.4 Verb formation in the simple present tense

I
We
read read
You
They do
eat eat
People
run run
Teachers
Students work work

go go

He
read
She reads
It does eat
eats
Ravi
run
Menaka runs
work
works
go
goes

Phase three (The final test and reporting)

On the sixth day too I had to divide the time of two hours into two parts; one for
revision and the other for the final test. (Refer Appendix D). I could revised what I did
go
during the past five days.

There were seven students from the sample. They answered the test paper individually
sitting separately. They did not communicate with each other. Therefore, I thought that I
would be able to evaluate their performance realistically.
After the test I collected their responses anonymously.

4.3 Analysis of Data

Although I planned to have sessions weekly I had to work once a month due to other
programmes related to teaching learning process. For instance, once some students had
to participate in an aesthetic competition. One day our subject director called me for a
seminar. Thus, proper continuation of the process was very difficult. Therefore, student
might have forgotten the previous day’s work. However, some students who were
regular attendants have improved their writing to some extent. By and large some
students made the same mistake at the end too. Therefore, the next cycle, on the basis of
findings of this action research is to be started. This is only a small attempt to dive to the
bottom of the national issue.

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Writing in English

4.3.1 The composition of the Sample

The sample of students was twenty from grade ten of Weediyabandara Navodya Maha
Vidyalaya. Each student was the first child, the second child or the only child in a
nuclear family according to the data collected through the questionnaire administered
by the students themselves. Moreover, they have started learning English formally from
the grade three itself.
Graph4.1 Sex composition of the sample

8 Male
12 Female

4.3.2 Attendance of the students

In the process of research six sessions were held. The fist was for diagnosing the sample
academically and socially. The last was for revision and the final evaluation. The middle
four were reserved for intervention.

Table 4.4 Distribution of the percentage ranges of attendance by student groups

Percentage Ranges Frequency

Below 20 06
21 – 40 04
41 – 60 02
61 – 80 03
81 - 100 05

The Table 4.4 displays the distribution of the percentage ranges of attendance of the
students of the sample. There are six students whose percentage of attendance was
below 20. They have participated in the diagnostic test only. They are the students H, I,
J, M, N, and P. Among them only P was a female student. There were eight students
whose attendance was fluctuating between 61% - 100%. All these eight students were
female. They were A, C, D, E, Q, R, S, and T. Among them only E had a percentage of 100.
However, for the final test nine students from the sample and two newcomers were
present. No male was present.

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Writing in English

4.3.3 Performance of the sample

After the diagnostic test there were stages of intervention. The performance of sample
was evaluated mainly through the middle test and the final test. Although students are
improving some mistakes have become as a habit. For instance, some students tend to
write My mother name instead of My mother’s name. This extraction has been taken
from the diagnostic paper of student H.

He has tried to write about the topic “My mother”. But this shows how poor his
performance was. He has not attempted the last question on writing about a place.
Actually, my intention was to improve writing skills of this type of students. However,
he had come only one day. So this study does not show a success in that sense.
However, there are students who are slightly improving in writing.

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Writing in English

An extract from the final answer script of student Q

This extract belongs to the student Q and it shows the performance of Q in the final test.
Though there are some mistakes there are several good points. They are
1. capitalization 2. Punctuation 3. Clarity

Still there are difficulties in writing about people and places; the problematic areas are:
1. pronouns (She is used instead of Her)
2. articles ( a is used in unnecessary places)
3. verb forms ( the verb ‘love’ is used with the subject She )
4. spelling (the word Maths is used instead of Mathematics)
Therefore, feedback is necessary to clarify the use of verb forms and articles.
Among the seven students who participated in the final test student C, D,R and S have
achieved the objective about 80%. They have made only slight mistakes; use of
unnecessary articles once or twice. Student E too has written grammatically correct
sentences but has used no full stop at the end.

4.3.4 The professional development of the researcher

I always appreciate teaching through activities as it is meaningful. For instance, if
students can use the target language (the language one needs to teach/learn) when they
are playing acquisition of language takes place. In another word language is internalized
without an effort. Therefore, I make use of language activities and games in my day to
day work by means of prepared cards of sentence patterns. The wonder is that not only
students but also teachers like this. For instance, recently I had to do a seminar on

24
Writing in English

Activity Based Oral English (ABOE) for a set of primary teachers in my division. There
too I used some activities. At the end I collected the teachers’ responses anonymously. I
asked them to response in Sinhala, Tamil, or English. One had written “Romba Nallam”
in Tamil. Some had wrote in Sinhala and a few in English.

This extract belongs to a non-English teacher who is teaching English from

grade 3 -5 due to lack of English teachers in Walallawita division.

A response from a student in the sample

25
Writing in English

26
Writing in English

Chapter Five - Suggestions and Recommondations

Male participation in English studies shows a lower rate according to this action
research. In 2014, this set of students will sit for the GCE(O/L ) examination. Therefore,
it is essential to plan and implement a special English teaching project to help the
students of heterogeneity. For this, all the English teachers can do commitment and they
can decide areas to be taught according to their will. The project should help not only
the male students but also the female students. This issue , however, leads to a national
issue in near future unless it is addressed promptly and appropriately. The labour force
local and foreign will require employees and employers who are fluent in English.

Teaching English in primary classes should be done more attentively in order to

reduce doing mistakes continuously. Students tend to make the same mistake as a habit
so that it will be difficult to prevent in later stages.. Sometimes non-English teachers are
teaching English in the primary classes. Then the result would be worse because
students do not like to hear what his/her teacher taught was wrong. Therefore, teaching
should be monitored regularly.

In supervision of teaching the performance of the student should be assessed as

well as the teacher’s performance. Both should be appreciated where necessary to
encourage for future work.

Both the teacher and the student can be awarded for required performance in each
grade. In lower grades correction of written exercises should be done before the
student. Normally, teacher collects a bundle of books to correct later.

The grade three is a significant class where formal English teaching is started. So,
before the end of the year writing difficulties should be identified and be remedied so
that handling upper classes will be easier.

Today parents want to teach English to their children before schooling formally.
Therefore, the responsible authorities can monitor the teaching in preschools too.

27
Writing in English

References
Jayathilake L. (1994). Education for freedom – Issues of Development Individual Goals
and social Priorities on C.W.W.Kannangara Memorial lecture (7). National Institute
of Maharagama.

Karunaratne I.M. (2003) ”Teaching English In Urban Sri Lanka: Some Pedagogical
Issues” Paper submitted for the 9th International Conference on Sri Lankan Studies,
Department of Sociology, Monash University, Melborne Australia.

Pandit, G.H. (2005). Global Student Migration Patterns reflect and strengthen the
hegemony of English as a global lingua franca: A case study of Chinese students at
three tertiary institutions in Cape town in the period 2002 – 2004. University of
the Western Cape.

The department of examinations (2012). GCE (O/L) Examination - 2011 Evaluation

Report. State Printing Corporation

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Writing in English

Appendix A
Diagnostic Test
Grade 10 Name:- ………………………………….
Answer all the questions. Time 2 hours
1. Arrange the following names alphabetically.
(10 marks)

Nirosha 1. ………………………. 6. ………………………….

Harith 2. ………………………. 7. ………………………….
Punsara 3. ……………………… 8. ………………………….
Amal, 4. ……………………... 9. ………………………….
Janith 5. ………………………. 10 ....................……………
Chathura
Tekla
Tharaka
Devinda
Kesara

2. Write the following figures in words. (09 marks)

a) 3 three f) 50 ……………………………….
b) 9 …………………… g) 59 ……………………………….
c) 13 ……………………. h) 89 ………………………………
d) 30 ……………………... i) 97 ………………………………..
e) 45 …………………….. j) 100 ………………………………

3. Write two sentences using suitable words given in the box. (06 marks)

Raja bus to
novels

goes We by

school newspapers
go
read

1. …………………………………………………………………………………
2. …………………………………………………………………………………

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Writing in English

4. Write your best friend’s name and address on the envelope.

(05 marks)

……………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………….

……………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………

5. Fill in the form given below using information about yourself.

(10 marks)
i) Full name ……………………………………………………………….
ii) Name with initials ……………………………………………………………….
iii) Date of birth ……………………………………………………………….
iv) Home address ……………………………………………………………….
v) School address ……………………………………………………………….
vi) Hobby ……………………………………………………………….
vii) Favourite subject ……………………………………………………………….
viii) Name of the English teacher ……………………………………………………………….
ix) Date ……………………………………………………………….
x) Signature ……………………………………………………………….

6. Rearrange the following jumbled sentences.

(15 marks)
eg:- is / Kumari / beautiful / a / girl → Kumari is a beautiful girl.
i) clever / Manoj / artist / a / is → …………………………………………….
ii) are / kind /they / very → ……………………………………………
iii) mine / this / pencil / is → ……………………………………………
iv) studies / in / Gayan / ten / grade → ……………………………………………
v) friends / were / they / good → ……………………………………………

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Writing in English

7. Underline the suitable verb given in the bracket.

( 09marks)
i) I always (help, helps, helping) my parents.
ii) We (are, were) in grade nine last year.
iii) Mr. Perera ( goes, go, went ) to Kalawana yesterday.

8. Fill in the blanks with the suitable question words.

( 06 marks)
eg:- What is your favourite drink? Mine is orange juice.
i) …………… are your names? We are Janakie and Ruvini.
ii) ……………… do you live? I live in Kalutara.
Iii) ………………. old is he? He is sixteen years old.

9. Fill in the blanks with suitable pronouns given below.

( 06 marks)
He, I, It, They, She,
I am Nirmal. …………… live in Colombo. …………….. is a big city. My parents live in
Kautara. ……………… are teachers.

10.Select the grammatically correct sentence and put a √ in the box.

( 04 marks)
i) I goes to school with my sister.

ii) Dilmini likes to play volleyball.

iii) I have story book.

11. Write five sentences about one of the following.

( 10 marks)
i) My mother
ii) My class teacher
iii) A brave person

12. Write five sentences about one of the following.

( 10 marks)
i) My village
ii) My country
iii) A beautiful place in Sri Lanka

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Writing in English

Appendix B
The Middle Test
Grade 10
Time: one hour
Answer all questions on this paper itself.

(01) Fill in the blanks using suitable words.

1. My father's name ……….……………………………. He is a driver. ………….
……………………. fifty years old.

2. This …… my house. It ……. small. ………. has ……….. rooms. These rooms
…………… ……………. My room ………………….

3. I ………………………….. I have ……………………….. My best friend

…………………………………. She ……………………..…. Matugama. … ………. school
…….. C.W.W. Kannangara M. M. V. It …… the biggest school in the Matugama
Education Zone.

4. My village …………………………….. It …………………………………… There are

……………….. families in ………………………………………... Some ………… are ………….

5. Moragala is a small village. It …… between Meegahatenna …….. Polgampola.

There ……. a school …………….. in Moragala. …………………………… Primary.

(02) Select three topics and write short paragraphs of ten sentences.
1. My mother
2. My favourite actor
3. My country
4. A beautiful place in Sri Lanka

Appendix C
Revision
Correct these sentences.
1. My mother name is Damayanthi. …………………………………………………
2. She is job is Police oFFisa. ……………………………………………………….
3. She live in minikandala. ………………………………………………………….
4. My country is a Sri Lanka. ……………………………………………………….
5. Sri Lanka is a very beautiful. ……………………………………………………..
6. Sri lanka is very beautiful place in the world.…………………………………………………..
7. beautiful place is a nuwara Eliya. ………………………………………………..
8. My Mother’s name Kumari. …………………………………………………….

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Writing in English

9. Sri Lanka have many water fall, rivers and Mountain. ……………………………………...
10. My mothes name is Manjula. ……………………………………………………..
11. She teach English. ………………………………………………………………...
12. she has a long hear. ……………………………………………………………….
13. she has a one sister. ………………………………………………………………
14. She Don’t like Milk. ……………………………………………………………..
15. Sri Lanka is fortunate country. …………………………………………………...
16. She is a very kind. ………………………………………………………
17. To visit Sinharaja came to many tourist. …………………………………………
18. I like to Nuwara Eliya. ………………………………………………………….
19. My mother name is Sumanawathie. ……………………………………………..
20. She is love to me and my brother. ………………………………………………

Appendix D
The Final Test
Grade 10
Time: One hour
Select at least two topics from each part and write about five topics. (Write eight
sentences about each topic.)

Part A
1. My best friend
2. My mother
3. My class teacher
4. My favourite actor
5. My favourite writer

Part B
1. My school
2. My village
3. My favourite tele-drama
4. A beautiful place in Sri Lanka
5. My country

(20 marks for each)

33
Writing in English

Appendix E
m%Yakdj,sh

fuu f;dr;=re fuu wOHhkh i|yd muKla Ndú;d lrk nj i,lkak

.e,fmk ms<s;=re wxlh rjqï lrkak

01 ia;%S$mqreI nj
1 ia;%S 2 mqreI

02 Tn cSj;a jkafka
1 Tfí foudmshka iuÕ
2 Tfí foudmshka iShd$wdÉÑ iuÕ
3 fjk;a ×;shl== iuÕ
4 fjk;a

03 Tn mjqf,a lSjeks <uhdo@

1 m<uqjeks 2 fojeks 3 ;=kajeks 4 y;rjeks

04 Tn we;=¿ mjqf,a orejka ixLHdj 1 2 3 4

05 Tfí ksjfia cSj;ajk wh

1 foudmshka iy orejka
2 foudmshka iShd$ wdÉÑ orejka
3 orejka muKs

06 Tn ksjfia we;s my; i|yka WmlrK bosrsfhka ^√ & fhdokak

07 Tfí úfkdaodxY
1 2

08 Tn m%d:ñl wOHdmkh ,enqfha fjk;a mdi,lskao@

1 Tõ 2 ke;

09 Tn bx.%Sis bf.k .;af;a lSjk fY%aKsfha isgo@ 3 4 5

10 Tn uq,skau bx.%Sis bf.k .;af;a .=re;=ful=f.kao@ .=re;=ñhlf.kao@

11 Tng bx.%Sis bf.k .ekSfïoS fuf;la we;sjQ wvqmdvq fudkjdo@

1 kshñ; fõ,djg fm<fmd;a fkd,enSu
2 kshñ; fõ,djg jevfmd;a fkd,eîu
3 .=rejrhl= fkdue;sùu
4 fjk;a

12 Tng mdif,ka msg; bx.%Sis f.or jev lr.ekSug iyh ùug flfkla isákjdo@
1 Tõ 2 ke;

34
Writing in English

13 Tõ kï ta ljqo@

14 bx.%Sis bf.k .ekSug Tn leu;so@

1 Tõ 2 ke;

15 wlue;s kï fya;=j$fya;= i|yka lrkak

16 lue;s kï fya;=j$fya;= i|yka lrkak

17 Tn bx.%Sis m%jD;a;s j,g ijka fokjdo@

1 Tõ 2 ke;

18 Tõ kï
1 oskm;d 2 i;sm;d 3 l,d;=rlska

19 ke;akï fya;=

20 Tn fm<fmd;a jevfmd;a j,g wu;rj bx.%Sis fmd;am;a lshjkjdo@

1 Tõ 2 ke;

21 Tõ kï
1 oskm;d 2 i;sm;d 3 wjia:djla ,enqKq úg

22 Tng bx.%Sis .=re;=fula fyda .=re;=ñhla m%Yxid lr ;sfío@

1 Tõ 2 ke;

35
Writing in English

Appendix F
Students’ Marks of the Diagnostic Test by Question

Code A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T
.
Q.No.
01 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 00 00 00 00 02 08 00 00 10 10 10 10 03
02 01 02 07 07 07 05 04 00 01 01 03 05 03 06 01 01 09 05 07 01
03 00 00 06 06 03 00 00 00 00 03 02 03 00 03 00 03 03 06 03 00
04 04 05 05 05 03 02 05 00 02 05 05 05 05 02 00 05 05 05 05 04
05 07 05 08 08 07 06 10 00 04 03 07 07 07 07 08 09 10 10 10 10
06 06 03 15 11 06 08 12 00 03 05 06 09 10 11 07 03 15 12 15 06
07 03 03 09 09 03 09 06 00 03 03 00 03 03 06 06 03 06 09 09 06
08 00 02 06 06 06 02 04 00 00 00 02 00 04 02 00 00 06 06 06 00
09 05 02 06 06 05 06 06 02 00 04 06 06 00 06 05 04 06 06 06 04
10 00 00 00 00 00 04 04 00 00 00 00 00 00 04 00 00 00 04 04 00
11 00 02 07 06 05 05 04 00 00 00 03 06 02 03 02 04 05 08 08 02
12 02 03 07 06 10 04 04 00 00 00 04 04 02 02 03 04 08 09 06 02
Total 38 37 86 80 65 61 69 02 13 24 38 50 44 52 32 46 83 90 89 38

Appendix G

36