1.

0 INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND OF STUDY

The issue of off-task behavior is a problem in the educational setting. Across Malaysia
today teachers deal with off-task behaviors such as talking out, inappropriate verbalizations,
being out of ones seat, inactivity, or noncompliance (Mather & Goldstein, 2001). Off-task
behavior or inattention has been shown to negatively affect learning. Teaching students the
skills they need to become attentive and actively engaged in school is very important. There are
a number of theories for teaching students to stay on-task. Some of these are, behavior
management, teaching listening skills, and motivational activities. Behavior management is a
complex process which requires teachers to be clear, individualize strategies based on student
needs, reflect on the effect of the program, and provide consequences.

In order to address this issue, on-task behavior must be encouraged and cultivated in a
classroom. Teachers must provide activities that can keep students to be on-task. Activities
which motivate students to become engaged need to be challenging, authentic, and
multidisciplinary can be used. Thus, ensuring an optimum learning setting which can benefit the
students in the long run. Apart from that, keeping the students on-task create a functional
teaching and learning process.

The purpose of this action research is to explore the

possibilities of this type of activities in motivation on-task behaviour amongst primary school
students.

1.2 RESEARCH CONTEXT

This action research was conducted at School S which located at the centre of Bukit
Mertajam, Pulau Pinang. It is located in an urban residential area along Jalan Rees. It is an
urban type school with the general population of 670 with the students being 620, teachers 42
and administrative staffs 8. It is a Grade A school with sufficient facilities both for academic and
co-curricular purposes. Students of the school consist only of male students varying from
Indians, Malay and Chinese with Indians being the majority. Most of the students are fluent in
spoken English as they use it as a primary medium of communication while the other spoken
language such as Tamil and Bahasa Melayu play a secondary role. The high usage of spoken
English in the school plays an important part to the this study. The overall academic
performance of the school is commendable and ranks amongst the high achievers in the state.
The threshold for this action research was a year 3 class. This class consists of 29 male
students and is the first ranking class of the year. The population of the class consists of 19
Indians, 8 Malays and one Chinese student. Most of the students in the class come from a
higher socio-economic background and can be considered well-off. Most also have highly
educated parents. The general English proficiency is at an impressive level for their age. They
are able to use English as a medium of communication throughout their lessons. They
understand instructions well and can carry out tasks and activities as instructed without any
major difficulties. These students have high dreams and are active in class and give full
participation to any activities conducted.

1.3 REFLECTION OF PAST TEACHING EXPERIENCE

Being a teacher, nothing thrills me more than the first day I enter a school. This is what I
experience during my practicum phase. I was excited; I was enthusiastic and had many ideas
on how I wanted to carry out my teaching. Then, the first class session came and I all those
ideas just deteriorated because what I expected was far from the actual situation. The students
are not like what I imagined. Class control suddenly became the main priority because the
students did not participate in the lesson. They were disinterested with the lesson. All the things
I did appeared to be a clich to them. I was assigned to teach a Year 4 class. Thus, throughout
the whole one month of my first phase of my practicum, I find that I had a hard time getting the
students to participate in the activities that I had planned. Not once in that whole month that I
actually had an English class which I could be proud of. Although my grade for that practicum
was good, I was not satisfied with my lessons. I feel that I had not achieved what I set out to do.
I felt quite discouraged.
For me, I believe that a teaching and learning process is a two way situation. Teacher
and students must have an active relationship in order to get the best out of the lesson. This is
what I always strive to do in every of my lesson. Students must participate actively in the lesson
because the lesson is for them. They must take part in order to achieve greater understanding.
My belief of active participation is that the students must listen, understand, think and inquire on
the topic or lesson that is being presented. By doing this, not only will the students understand
what is being taught, their cognitive process will also develop. What I identified from my first
practicum session is the main reason why the students did not participate in the lesson was
because they could not understand and reason why they could not understand was because
they did not participate. It is a never ending loop which results in English deficiency among the
students.

Due to this, before my second practicum phase came, I tried to readied myself with the
skills and approaches with should improve my students participation. I had discussions with my
lecturers and find myself reading materials to help me prepare for my practicum session. I
looked for ways to attract my students attention and encourage them to participate in the
lesson. Then I go about planning my lessons which I initially believe were better than that of the
previous ones. I felt confident with my lessons and felt that this time around I was well prepared.
I entered my first class which this time was a Year 5. I conducted my first lesson and I
when quite good. The students participated despite their English proficiency level was not high. I
delighted and was encouraged for the next classes. During the first two weeks the students
participated well. However, in the next following weeks the students participation were
decreasing and I had no idea why let along had a solution to the problem. I was confused, so I
had discussions with my lecturer and my supervising teacher. Thankfully, through the
discussions I manage to understand the root cause of the problem. It turns out that I had been
using the approaches and ideas in my lesson and my students were growing tired of them. They
no longer find my methods attractive and interesting. My lecturer advised me to mix up my
approaches and always try to do something different in all of my lessons. My supervising
teacher advised me to find out what my students interests are and try to conduct my lesson
based on them. This helped me greatly. For the last few weeks of my practicum my lesson were
getting better. The students participated well and what I realised was that they were actually
having fun.
The improvements that I did with my lessons during the last few weeks were to stimulate
my students with different things. I used visual aids, audios, pictures and videos in order to
attract their attention and encourage them to participate in the lesson. I also used simulations in
my teachings which responded well with the students. The most important improvement that I

did was using my students interests in my lessons. By catering to their interest, the students
feel that they are a part of the teaching and learning process.
From my second practicum session, my belief has change slightly. Though I still believe
active participation is important, I know have a clearer understanding of how I feel active
participation should be. I believe in active participation the students must listen, understand,
think and inquire but also have fun at the same time. The students should be engaged at all
times. They must enjoy the lesson and have a great time participating in the lesson.
Thus, I hope this action research can help me provide a wonderful learning experience
for the students and encourage towards self-education.

2.0 RESEARCH FOCUS

This chapter discusses about the focus of the research involving how the focus was identified
and confirmed.
2.1 IDENTIFICATION OF RESEARCH FOCUS
The issue at hand is that students on-task behaviour was lacking throughout the English
language lesson. Students were distracted from being on-task and are not doing their work
promptly. They did not finish their work on time and ended up not submitting their work at the
end of the lesson. This is not because they lack the language skills or knowledge but they have
no desire to work on their task.
It can be seen that during tasks students were talking about unrelated topics, they were
playing around with each other, some were idling and some even disturbed their friends.
Students have less or no desire to finish their work on time. Therefore these students must be
motivated to ensure that they are being on task.
On-task behaviour has been defined in many ways throughout the years. Although it is
relatively new concept or theory many research have been conducted to refined its validity. This
theory addresses directly the students behaviour. Behaviours that have been identified such as
commenting on class related topics, participating in class discussion, reading aloud, raising
hands, and working on assigned class activity, and making eye contact with the teacher
(Naturalistic Observations of Interaction Patterns in the Classroom, 2003). Therefore, in order to
increase on-task behaviour students must be motivated to stay on-task by a means that is
attractive, interesting and meaningful (Mather & Goldstein, 2001).
Certain arguments have been made that a simple way to ensure on-task behaviour;
teachers are expected to provide rewards which commonly can be done in the form of treats
and gifts. However, Murray and Mitchell (2004) stated that rewards given should be beneficial to
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the students. They proposed that the reward given can provide further understanding to the
students education. In other words, rewards must be a form of reinforcements of the students
studies.

2.2 PRELIMINARY DATA COLLECTION

Preliminary surveys were done for this research and were conducted in two different
approaches with the first one being a field observation on the behaviours of the students. The
second one was taken from the teaching log which in this study is the daily lesson planner.
Field observation Survey 1
An observation of the students behaviour was conducted during and English Lesson and
was carried out during the practice and production stages of the lesson. The observation was
carried to observe behaviours that were preventing them from being on task. (Appendix A)
From the observation done, students can be clearly seen idling when doing the task
given. They play around with their friends and would fine excuses to not be on-task for example
cleaning their friends place, walking around the class or even playing with each other. It can
also be clearly seen that some students are prevented from completing their task because they
were disturbed by their friends who have finished. This shows that students are demotivated to
complete the task at hand. They have no form of motivation to finish the task promptly.
The figure below shows a clearer representation of the students behaviour.
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1

Figure 2.2.1. Chart of Students Behaviours

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Teaching log (Daily lesson planner) Survey 2

The next preliminary survey was taken from the teaching log, the record of two lessons
conducted. In both of the lesson, a similar reflective feedback (Appendix B) was highlighted.
One similar problem from the two lesson record was students showed off-task behaviours when
they are finished and waiting for others to finish the task given to them. This caused the
transition between stages to be inefficient as students focus and attention must be regained in
order to advance to the next stage of the lesson. From these two recorded lessons it is clear
again that the students on-task behaviour is depleting with every task or activities carried out.
Besides this, the teaching log also shows that this issue will primarily occur in writing and
reading lessons where the students are asked to write individually.
Students work Survey 3
To reinforce the results of the two previous preliminary surveys, a third survey was
conducted which was the checking of the students work. From samples of the students work
(Appendix C), it was found that students were able complete the task given without any
problems and all got good marks in the task given. This can serve as proof that students have
the understanding and proficiency to complete the task given with good language skills and
usage. It seemed that the decreasing of on-task behaviour was not due to lack of understanding
or even lack of language skills from the students.
Conclusion
The preliminary surveys confirm that the cause of the problem which in this case is the
decreasing of on-task behaviour of the students is caused by students are not motivated
enough to complete the task and the absence of a post activity after the main task is completed.
These problems must be address quickly in order to maintain an efficient and effective lesson.
Moreover to ensure the need of a meaningful lesson is fulfil.
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2.3 RESEARCH MODEL AND ACTION TAKEN

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In order to motivate students on-task behaviour a form of reward was provided to

the students so that they have something to look forward to when doing their task. The
form of reward were reinforcement activities which was to enhance their cognitive
function and develop their knowledge even further. Treats and gifts then followed these
reinforcement activities as extra reward for the children and can also make the learning
fun and meaningful.
A research conducted by the Southern California Diagnostic Centre of Education
stated that reinforcement is something that happens after a behaviour that makes the
behaviour more likely to occur again.

In order to achieve this, I designed a corner

during the lessons. This corner was given the name Our Fun Corner (OF corner). The
usage of our in the name was intentional so that the students would have the sense
that the corner is theirs and have the tendency to look after the corner and keep it in
good condition. The OF corner is an idea where a small designated area of the
classroom was dedicated to store fun activities and language games for the students as
a motivation to increase on-task behaviour.
Bear in mind that all the activities provided and the extra content were aligned
with the theme and the topic of the English lesson for a particular week. This corner was
available to the students during English lessons. This corner will be open during the
production stage of the lesson. This corner acted as motivation for them to be on task
and provide enrichments for the development of their knowledge.
This corner is practical to the target group as it provides reinforcement to
advanced students. The activities that were provided challenged their minds and tested

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their understanding of the topic. They also obtained new knowledge which is what
reinforcements are all about.

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3.0 RESEARCH OBJECTIVE AND QUESTIONS

This chapter states the research objectives and questions of the research.

3.1 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

This research aims to:
-

investigate whether the usage of Our Fun Corner can promote on-task behaviour of
year 3 students in an ESL classroom.

explore how Our Fun Corner can promote on-task behaviour of year 3 students in an
ESL classroom.

3.2 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

- Can the Our Fun Corner promote on-task behaviour of year 3 students in an ESL
classroom?
-

How can the Our Fun Corner promote on-task behaviour of year 3 students in an
ESL classroom?

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4.0 RESEARCH PARTICIPANTS

The research participants for this action research will be all the students of a Year 3
class from School S. The class consist of 29 male students and have a high level of proficiency
in the English Language. One of the reasons for high proficiency level is that the students come
from well-educated families where the usage of English as a medium of communication is
maximised in the homes. Another reason is the school itself promotes the usage of English for
communication. It can be observed that English is regularly used for communicative and
instructional purposes. Due to these factors, these students can carry out activities in lesson
without any major problems such as lack of understanding. They are able to understand
instructions clearly and can communicate efficiently to complete the tasks given in the lessons.
However, a number of students in this class have a problem from being on task. They usually
send in their work late and have the tendency to be distracted from completing their task.

Apart from the students, I was also a participant of this study. My role in the study was
as the teacher and also the researcher. The research that I conducted was done in the class
that I taught. The students were familiar and already comfortable with me when the research
was conducted.

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5.0 RESEARCH IMPLEMENTATION PLAN

The implementation of the Our Fun Corner will be further explained in this chapter.

5.1 IMPLEMENTATION OF ACTION

The Our Fun Corner (OF corner) was used in a duration of two weeks. The first week
was conducted by myself while during the second week was conducted by my
collaborative teacher. This is to ensure the validity and reliability of the action. The OF
corner was put at a corner at the back of the classroom. The corner was available to the
students only during the production stage. This is because students must finish their
task first before they are allowed to visit the corner. This is to motivate the students to
stay on task and finish their work. The arrangement or the floor plan of the corner is as
shown in the figure below.

Figure 5.1.1. Our Fun Corner floor plan

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A variety of activities was provided to ensure that the students have a choice and
can choose any of the activities to their liking. The selection of the activities was based
on enhancing the development of their reading and writing skills. These activities was
different from their lesson and acted as the reinforcement to their lesson. The fun facts
also provided additional knowledge for the students. The students was be able to learn
more about the topic of the lesson and used them to complete the activities in the
corner. Every time that the students take an activity from the corner, they were required
to fill up a daily usage log. This was to keep track of the students activities and also to
collect raw data. The finished activities was submitted to the teacher and at the end of
the week. The student who was able to complete as many activities correctly was
awarded a prize.
The information board was used to display the word of the day and quote of the
week. This was for the students to obtain new vocabulary and have a higher
appreciation of the English language. The treats provided acted as a small reward for
those who have finish their work or task. However, one student was only allowed to take
one sweet or treat from the corner in one lesson. A floor mat was also available to
provide the students a place to do the activities from the corner. Students must take off
their shoes while on the mate to ensure that the corner stays clean. Students were only
allowed to do the activities from the corner either on the floor mat or at their own table.
The students were not force to visit the OF corner as it is to encourage selfdevelopment and self-education. They are encouraged to better themselves with extra
knowledge by their own will. This will in turn train them to have a good study habit.

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The OF corner is relevant as it provide meaningful and fun activities for the
students. These activities can motivate on-task behaviour of the students. On-task
behaviour can be motivated by the application of attractive activities that can challenge
the mind of students and continue to develop their cognitive function (Mather&
Goldstein, 2001).

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5.2 DATA COLLECTION METHODS

The whole process of the production stage was video recorded. Two video
recorder was used to record the students activities at in the whole class during the
production stage. While the video recorder recorded students activities at the corner.
The recorded videos was used to observe and collect data on the students on-task
behaviour. The video recording provided vital information which was used to answer the
research questions. The use of a video recording was chosen here as it can be watched
and re-watched over and over again to ensure the validity of the data obtained.
Each time the corner was used during lessons, a reflective journal is written to
reflect on the usage of the corner, how the students used the corner and how the
process was conducted. The reflection will be used to answer the research questions
and to see whether the corner was able to achieve the objectives of the research.
At the end of process, several students were selected to be interviewed and
asked regarding their views on the OF corner. The interviews were audio recorded and
scripted. The students selected was based on their number of their visits to the corner.
The interview questions was prepared beforehand. The students response from the
interview provided information on how the corner affected their learning habits. Not only
that, it helped in providing information on what improvements can be made to the corner
to make it more efficient and effective.

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5.3 DATA ANALYSIS

5.4 MANAGING RELIABILITY & VALIDITY ISSUES

Triangulation of data sources was carried using all the data collection methods.
According to Patton (1999), triangulation can be divided into four that are methods triangulation,
triangulation of sources, analyst triangulation and theory or perspective triangulation. In this
case, triangulation of sources was carried out in order to maintain the validity of the action
research. The purpose of data triangulation was to ensure consistent results and for the different
data sources to be supported by each other. Besides this, all data items such as interview
questions, observational checklist and reflective journal were checked by my supervisor or
cooperating teacher in order to maintain the validity of the data items.

5.5 ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS

1) Students/participants were made aware that they are being recorded

All the students participating in the research were made aware that they will be recorded
throughout the implementation of the research. The participants was asked to act normally and
that their lesson will be carried out normally without any interference from the recording.

2) All interview questions was clear and straight forward (no ambiguity)

Questions from the interview were not trick questions or questions that can be
considered bias to the results of this action research. Students were made to understand clearly
the questions and were asked to answer them truthfully. The names of the participants that will
were kept confidential and their personal privacy will be respected during the interview.
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3) Participants are not force to use the OF Corner

During the intervention, students were not force to visit the OF corner. They have a
choice whether to participate or not. The students who do not participate were not negatively
labelled. This is to ensure that the sanctity of research is preserved.

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6.0 FINDINGS AND DICUSSION

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7.0 REFLECTION

22

8.0 SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH

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REFERENCES

At task. Retrieved March 7, 2016, Web site: http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/gis8/edl725/class/data/task/index.html

Chapman, E. (2003). Assessing student engagement rates. College Park, MD:

ERIC Clearinghouse on Assessment and Evaluation. (ERIC Document
Reproduction

Service No. ED482269)

Elkhatib, L. (1991). Self recording of on-task behavior with learning disabled children.
Yarmouk University, CUHK Education Journal, 19(2), 161-168.

Goh, L.H. (2012). A Practical Guide to Writing Your Action Research. Selangor: Penerbitan
Multimedia.

Jarrett, O.S. Recess in elementary school: What does the research say? ERIC Digest.
Retrieved March 6, 2016, Web site: http://www.ericdigests.org/2003-02/
recess.html

Mather, N., & Goldstein, S. (2001). Learning disabilities and challenging behaviors: A
guide to intervention and classroom management. Baltimore, MD: Paul H.
Brookes Publishing Company.

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Meaningful, engaged learning. North Central Regional Educational Laboratory,

Retrieved March 4, 2016, from http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/engaged.htm

Murray, S. & Mitchell, J. (2004). Student disengagement from primary schooling: A

Review of research and practice. Retrieved February 15, 2016 from Web site:
www.cassfoundation.org

Powell, A. (2005). Keeping kids on task, Retrieved March 4, 2016 from Web site:
www.mspowell.com

Schoen, S. & Nolen, J. (2004). Decreasing acting out behavior and increasing learning.
Teaching Exceptional Children, 37(1), 26-29.

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APPENDICES

26

APPENDIX A

27

28

APPENDIX B

29

APPENDIX C
30

31

APPENDIX D

32

APPENDIX E
33

34