Abstract:

Grammar is considered as an important part in learning English and students are expected to require good grammar skills. Irregular verb is one of the grammar components that should not be underestimated by both students and teachers. Some teachers in Malaysia use conventional method by asking students to memorise irregular verb. Consequently, many ESL students have difficulties in remembering the forms and functions of irregular verb and they might get bored if it is taught explicitly. Many activities on irregular verb have been created before, however, little empirical research about their effects has been conducted. This study was conducted to evaluate the use Irregular Verb Wheel, a teaching aid which consists of three levels. The objectives of this action research were to determine how this teaching aid can improve students’ appropriate use of irregular verb and investigate students’ perceptions towards using the teaching aid in learning irregular verb. In order to fulfil the purposes of the study, two classes of primary five students acted as treatment and control groups. All groups completed a pre-test on irregular verb and after the pre-test, the treatment group learned irregular verb using Irregular Verb Wheel while the control group were taught by using irregular verb list. Then, both groups answered a post-test. To answer the second research question, a group interview was conducted after the lesson and the interview notes were analysed qualitatively. The scores of the groups were analysed through descriptive analysis and statistical analysis. The pre-test and post-test results showed that the use of Irregular Verb Wheel helped students in using irregular verb correctly. Besides, the participants reported an overall positive experience with the use Irregular Verb Wheel. It could be seen that students could use irregular verb in writing sentences well. It proved that the use of this teaching aid helped teachers in the teaching and learning process and affected the improvement of the students as the mean score of the post-test increased. The students’ engagement was high, and they actively participated in the classroom activities and completed the task eagerly. It can be concluded that this research shed light on the effects of this teaching aid on language learning as well as its ability to motivate students to learn English specifically in learning irregular verb.

Keywords:

grammar, irregular verb, irregular verb wheel, teaching aid, ESL students, action research