USING FLASHCARD TO IMPROVE PUPILS SVA (Subject Verb Agreement)

Abdul Aziz Bin Shamsul Bahari

ABSTRACT
This is an action research on using flashcard to improve pupils SVA. The aim of this research is to
improve pupils understanding on SVA through the use of flashcard. The participants consisted of 5 pupils from
year 4 Bestari. Their English proficiency is average and they need guidance from the teacher. The data from this
study was collected from the pupils work, field notes and interview. Flash card is a card that has words,
numbers, or pictures on it and that is used to help students learn about a subject (Merriam-Webster, n.d.). My
flashcards contain pictures that show the subject and the words below the picture is the verb that corresponds
with the picture or subject. Corresponds here means that the verb or words below the picture agree with the
picture either it is singular or plural subject. The pupils felt that the flashcard helped them in improving their
understanding on SVA and they had shown significant improvement in the test that was carried out. I learnt that
learning in grammar should be done in a fun and interesting way so that it can attract pupils attention.
Keywords: Flash card, subject-verb-agreement (SVA), improvements

Introduction
The Context/Background of the Study
This action research was carried out in a primary school called SK Lelasari (pseudonym). It is a rural
school located somewhere in Sungai Petani. The year 4 class consists of 35 pupils with 12 males and 23
females. From my observation, the pupils English proficiency is average. I also observed that the pupils were
defensive in terms of learning English as they are afraid of making mistakes in trying. Since English is a second
language, the pupils mainly use mother tongue in their daily conversation even during English lessons. My
method of teaching is overt where I explicitly explain the rules of grammar or in this research, SVA rules. In
order to engage them during the lesson, I use flashcard to attract their attention because flashcard has pictures.
The usage of pictures is important as it can give sense of context of the language, a specific reference point or
stimulus (Wright, 2001).

A Reflection on Past Teaching Experience

Throughout the three phases of practicum, I had changed gradually as a teacher or soon to be
teacher. During my first practicum, I was doubtful of my own teaching and managing ability but I improved
gradually with the help of my lecturer, family and friends. The pupils in year 4 Bestari were facing a few
problems in their English subject where they have problem responding to my question due to their inability to
understand a few words in English. I act out the words in English and then I resorted to pictures to make them
understand.
Focus of the Study
There are three problems that I had indentified during my observation which is vocabulary, spelling
and Subject Verb Agreement. According to McCray Hill Grammar Dictionary, subject-verb agreement is the
rule of grammar that states that singular subjects must agree with singular verbs and plural or compound
subjects must agree with plural verbs. I chose Subject Verb Agreement as the focus of my study. According
to Munir (1991), subject verb agreement is the most problematic area faced by Malaysian learners of
English. (Nayan & Jusoff, 2009, p. 190-191) states that majority of English learners have problems in subjectverb-agreement because Bahasa Malaysia doesnt have rules regarding subject-verb-agreement. Bahasa
Malaysia have no rules in SVA as all subjects have the same form of verb regardless of singular or plural form.
Bahiyah & Basil Wijayasuria (1998) as cited by Surina and Kamaruzaman (2009), state that Malay learners
have difficulty in the subject-verb agreement because Bahasa Malaysia does not differentiate between people.

Objective of the Study

This research aims to:
1.

Improve pupils SVA through the use of flash cards.

Research Questions
1.

How does the use of flash cards improve pupils SVA?

Methodology of the Study

Target Group/Participants
The target group is selected from Year 4 Bestari. 5 pupils were chosen and they consist of 2 males and
3 females aged 10 years old. Their English proficiency is average which means that they are able to complete a
task as long as teachers help them. I chose them based on their previous monthly test score whereby the target
group score is mostly around 60.
Action Plan and Its Implementation
White and McNiff Action Research Cycle is used as the framework of the research. This model
consists of five steps which is observe, reflect, act, evaluate and modify. Below is the model

Figure 1: The Whitehead and McNiff Action Research Cycle

The first step is observation where I observe and identify the problems. Second step is based from what I had
identified; I need to reflect on the best techniques and strategies that would help them. The third step is from
what I had devised in the second step, I will act or implement it. After all that, I will evaluate the success of the
techniques and strategies that I had implemented. This cycle will be ended with a plan to modify the action and
move in new and improved directions (Goh, 2012, p. 10).

Suggestions for
improvements were made
from the analysis of the
data

Pupils keep making mistake

in SVA.
1.
2.

Flashcard
Tests
3. Observation notes

1.

Using flashcard in
lesson
2. Conducting test
3. Taking notes
Data are collected and
evaluated.

Data Gathering Method

Students work
This method was applied during the research because this form of data can act as a concrete evidence of pupils
learning as it can demonstrate quite clearly the developments in the students understanding. The students work
is the pupils answer after the pre and post test were carried out. After I had collected the data, I analysed it
Field notes
A few notes about the pupils reaction towards my lesson were jotted down. This is to found out whether my
lesson is interesting to them and can help support my claim or to further solidify my findings. I asked my
practicum partner to help me in this process as I will be involved in the lesson. He observed on the pupils
reaction and participation during the intervention.
Interview
A semi-structured interview comprising five questions was administered to five selected research participants.
The participants answers were then transcribed selectively. The session was recorded with a voice recorder and
it was then transcribed. This phase was necessary to investigate the pupils perception towards my technique of
intervention and their response whether my technique works or not.

Analysis and Interpretation of Data/Discussion of Findings

Test results

Comparison of Test Results Before and After Interventions

120
100
80
Score

Series 1

60

Series 2

40
20
0
A

Pupils

Figure 2: Comparison of Test Results Before and After Intervention

Based from figure 2, all five pupils showed a significant improvement in their test scores after interventions.
Field notes
Session
1

Activities
Introducing singular and plural subject

Pupils Reaction
Subject A did not pay attention
looking at outside the window
Able to identify what subject is and
whether it is singular or plural
Introducing singular and plural verb
Able to identify verb in sentence.
Able to identify whether the verb is
singular or plural
Introducing SVA in a sentence
Able to identify the correct singular
or plural verbs that match the
subject
Table 1: Observation of pupils reaction.

Table 1 shows that throughout the session conducted the pupils slowly progressed until they are able to
identify whether the subject and verb is singular or plural. During the first session, Subject A did not pay
attention because he said that he was sleepy. I tackled that problem by asking all the pupils to stand and sing
head, shoulders, knees and toes while doing the action.

Interviews
Interview Questions

1) Do you understand SVA before I teach?

2)
3)

4)
5)

Keywords from respondents answer

Analysis

All respondents say that they dont understand SVA

before I teach them
After I had taught you, do you understand it
All respondents said that they now know what SVA is
Yes
now?
after I had taught them.
What is SVA?
3 out of 6 respondents were able to minimally explain
Subject and verb must agree
Example single/plural subject must agree with about SVA.
2 out of 6 respondents were able to explain about SVA
single/plural verb.
with example.
Did my flashcards help you to understand it?
All respondents said that the flashcards help them to
Yes
understand it.
How does it help?
5 out of 6 respondents were able to minimally explain
The picture shows singular or plural subject.
The text below can show singular or plural verb. about how flashcards help them to understand SVA.
1 respondents was able to fully explain how flashcards
Can make connection between the two.
helps her to understand it
Table2: Coding the textual data based on semi-structured interview
No

Discussion of Findings
Subject

Test Before
Interventions
(%)
0.0
50.0
33.3
17.0
50.0

Test After Intervention

(%)

Percentage of
Improvements
(%)
67.0
50.00
50.0
83.0
50.0

A
67.0
B
100.0
C
83.3
D
100.0
E
100.0
Table 3: Difference in the SVA Test Scores Before and After Interventions

Table 2 shows that all pupils achieved a higher score in the test after the interventions compared to the
score before interventions. This shows that the intervention has brought about a significant change in the pupils
test after the interventions. Based on the results, I can deduced that the interventions administered managed to
enhance the pupils understanding of SVA as the pupils test mark was generally better during the test after the
interventions as opposed to the test before interventions.
Based on Table 2, it showed that all respondents said that they did not know about SVA before I taught
them. For the second question, all respondents said that after I had taught them, they know what SVA is. For my
third question, I would like to verify whether they understand about what is SVA. 3 out of 6 respondents were
able to barely explained about what is SVA with their answer mainly consist of subject and verb must agree
with each other. Subject B were able to explain about what is SVA and give example whereas Subject C were
able to explain about what is SVA complete with an example sentence. For my fourth question, all respondents
agreed that my flashcards were able to help them in learning SVA.
Conclusion and Reflection
To conclude, pupils should be exposed with techniques and strategies in learning English especially the
use of visual aids so that they are able to understand or make sense of the words. However, the teacher must first
be equipped with the knowledge of these strategies and techniques so that they when, where and how to use it.
Overall, the use of flashcard to teach SVA has been found to be an effective way to teach. The research
has also indicated that the research question made during the initial part of the research was true. Thus,
Malaysian pupils should be exposed to more grammar learning strategies throughout their learning period so
that they can improve their proficiency in English Language
Suggestion for Further Research
From the findings that I had collected in this research I believe that there are still some suggestions for
further research. More interventions could be implemented in the future to increase the rate of improvement
among pupils. It would also be good to include more pupils during the interventions as this may help more
pupils to improve in their grammar and subsequently writing.

References
Bahiyah Abdul Hamid & Basil Wijayasuria. (1998). English Grammar for Malaysians. Bangi: Universiti
Kebangsaan Malaysia.

Goh, L. H. (2012). Understanding action research. In A practical guide to writing your action research (p. 10).
Puchong, Selangor: Penerbitan Multimedia Sdn. Bhd.

Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Flash card - definition for English-language-learners. Retrieved July 26, 2015, from
http://www.learnersdictionary.com/definition/flash%20card

Munir Shuib (1991). An analysis of Malaysian learners English agreement errors. University of Essex

Nayan, S., & Jusoff, K. (2009). International Education Studies. A Study of Subject-Verb Agreement: From
Novice
Writers
to
Expert
Writers, 2(3),
190-193.
Retrieved
from
http://www.ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/ies/article/viewFile/3314/3031
.
Wright,A.(2001). Why Use Pictures?: Pictures for Language Learning. Cambrige: The Press Syndicate of
University of Cambridge