ISSN: 2226-6348
Open access
Narrative writing is the most common type of writing being taught at school especially to primary school learners which involves descriptions of an incident. However, past research showed many second language learners had difficulties producing a good narrative composition as they lack practice and mastery of other language elements such as vocabulary and grammar. The Covid-19 pandemic had greatly impacted the teaching and learning of writing skill and had dampened the process in many ways due to a lot of restrictions. The aim of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of using Micro-W to improve primary ESL learners’ narrative writing skill and enhance engagement in learning writing in the new normal. Micro-W is a writing template which utilizes Microsoft Word Visual Basic Application (VBA) to enhance learning experience. The template has many features and can be personalized according to the content and theme. It is user-friendly, reusable and promotes autonomous and interactive learning. Micro-W is cost-effective, practical, and accessible in urban and rural areas, online and offline. A research was conducted to 30 Year 5 of low intermediate pupils studying in an urban and a rural primary school in Selangor, Malaysia. A pre-test and post-test were conducted to identify pupils’ improvement in writing skill before and after using Micro-W. Pupils’ perceptions and engagement in learning writing using Micro-W were evaluated using a 4-point Likert scale questionnaire. The findings showed a significant improvement on pupils’ narrative writing skill after using Micro-W. Pupils also responded positively and were more engaged in learning writing. The pandemic had caused great adversity to the teaching and learning processes and had shifted education settings to a more resilient and mobile method of learning. Thus, innovation and improvisation in teaching and learning methodology are highly demanded to cope with the new normal.
Adas, D., & Bakir, A. (2013). Writing difficulties and new solutions: blended learning as an
approach to improve writing abilities. International Journal of Humanities and Social
Science, 3(9), 254-266.
Bawa, K., Rabiu, A., & Zubairu, I. (2021). Application of Microsoft Office Suite in Teaching and
Learning. Application of Microsoft Office Suite in Teaching and Learning. May. 62-73.
Benacquisto, K. M. (2021). The new normal: Carrying Lessons from writing instructions during
Covid-19 forward. Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 6(11), 951–952., May, 1–77.
Bernard, M., Sumarna, A., Rolina, R., & Akbar, P. (2019). Development of high school student
worksheets using VBA for microsoft word trigonometry materials. Journal of Physics:
Conference Series, 1315(1), 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/1315/1/012031
Bird, J. and Edwards, S. (2014). Children learning to use technologies through play: A Digital Play Framework. British Journal of Educational Technology, 46: 1149–1160.
doi: 10.1111/bjet.12191
Branch, R. M. (2009). "Instructional Design: The ADDIE approach." Springer. Accessed December 12, 2021.
Charles M. M. & Natalia D. J. (2016). A comparison of the effectiveness of EFL students’ use of dictionaries and an online corpus for the enhancement of revision skills. ReCALL, 28, pp 3-21. doi:10.1017/S0958344015000142
Cole, J., & Feng, J. (2020). Effective Strategies for Improving Writing Skills of Elementary English Language Learners. Science and Education, 1(7), 241–243.
Creswell, J. W. (2014). Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods
Approaches, 4th Edition (4th edition). SAGE Publications, Inc.
Dimitrov, D. M., & Rumrill, P. D. (2003). Pretest-posttest designs and measurement of change.
Work, 20(2), 159–165.
Drougas, D. V. A. (2021). How Can Microsoft Word Program Helps to Reduce Language
Inequalities Created by Refugees in the New Greek Schools. Uniqbu Journal of Social
Sciences (UJSS), 2(2), 1–10.
Fitriati, S. W., Solihah, Y. A., & Tusino, T. (2018). Expressions of Attitudes in Students’ Narrative
Writing: An Appraisal Analysis. Lingua Cultura, 12(4), 333. https://doi.org/10.21512/lc.v12i4.4789
Ghulamuddin, N. J. A, Mohari, M. S. K., & Ariffin, K. (2021). Discovering Writing Difficulties of Malay ESL Primary School Level Students, International Journal of Linguistics and
Translation Studies, 2(1), 27-39. http://dx.doi.org/10.36892/ijlts.v2i1.105
Grenner, E., Åkerlund, V., Asker-Árnason, L., van de Weijer, J., Johansson, V., & Sahlén, B. (2020). Improving narrative writing skills through observational learning: a study of Swedish 5th-grade students. Educational Review, 72(6), 691–710. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131911.2018.1536035
Guan, N., Song, J., & Li, D. (2018). On the advantages of computer multimedia-aided English
teaching. Procedia Computer Science, 131, 727–732. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procs.2018.04.317
Harun, H., & Abdullah, M.K.K. (2020). Errors in writing made by Malaysian rural primary school
pupils, Studies in English Language and Education, 7(2), 438-456.
http://dx.doi.org/10.24815/siele.v7i2.17009
Hayes, J. R. (2011). Kinds of Knowledge-Telling: Modeling early writing development. Manuscript submitted for publication.
Hayes, J., & Berninger, V. (2014). Cognitive Processes in Writing: A Framework [Chapter]. Oxford University Press.
https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199827282.003.0001
Herdi, H. (2015). An Analysis On Factors Influencing the Students’ Writing Skill. ELT-Lectura
Studies and Perspective in English Language Teaching, 2(2), 19-22. https://doi.org/10.31849/elt-lectura.v2i2.465
Ien, L., Yunus, M., & Embi, M. (2017). Build Me Up: Overcoming Writing Problems Among Pupils in a Rural Primary School In Belaga, Sarawak, Malaysia. Jurnal Pendidikan Humaniora. 5. 1-7. 10.17977/um030v5i12017p001.
Keshta, A. S. (2013). The Effectiveness of a Blended Learning Program on Developing Palestinian Tenth Graders' English Writing Skills. Education Journal, 2(6), 208-221.
http://dx.doi.org/10.11648/j.edu.20130206.12
KPM. (2020). Manual Pengurusan Pengajaran dan Pembelajaran di Rumah.
Kumar, T., Malabar, S., Benyo, A., & Amal, B. K. (2021). Analyzing multimedia tools and language teaching. Linguistics and Culture Review, 5(June), 331–341. https://doi.org/10.37028/lingcure.v5nS1.1400
Kusumawardhani, P. (2015). Error Analysis in Writing an English Narrative Composition. Lingua Cultura, 9(2), 132. https://doi.org/10.21512/lc.v9i2.824
Leow, F. T., & Neo, M. (2014). Interactive multimedia learning: Innovating classroom education in a Malaysian university. Turkish Online Journal of Educational Technology, 13(2), 99–110.
Mayer, R. (2014). Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning. In R. Mayer (Ed.), The Cambridge
Handbook of Multimedia Learning (Cambridge Handbooks in Psychology, Pp. 43-71). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/CBO9781139547369.005
Nishino, T., & Atkinson, D. (2015). Second language writing as sociocognitive alignment. Journal of Second Language Writing. 27. 10.1016/j.jslw.2014.11.002.
Palinkas, L. A., Horwitz, S. M., Green, C. A., Wisdom, J. P., Duan, N., Hoagwood, K., Angeles, L., & Northwest, K. P. (2016). Purposeful sampling for qualitative data collection and analysis in mixed method implementation research. HHS Public Access, 42(5), 533–544. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10488-013-0528-y.
Pertiwi, C. M., Rohaeti, E. E., & Hidayat, W. (2020). the Students’ Mathematical Problem-Solving Abilities, Self-Regulated Learning, and Vba Microsoft Word in New Normal: a Development of Teaching Materials. Infinity Journal, 10(1), 17-30.
https://doi.org/10.22460/infinity.v10i1.p17-30
Qasem, M. A. N., Almoshigah, T. S., & Gupta, S. (2014). The Effect of Number of Alternatives on Validity and Reliability in Likert Scale. International Journal of Innovative Research & Studies, 3(6), 325–333.
Rao, P. S. (2019). The Significance of Writing Skills in ELL Environment. Academia: An International Multidisciplinary Research Journal, 9(3), 5-17.
http://dx.doi.org/10.5958/2249-7137.2019.00035.1
Schleicher, A. (2020). The Impact of COVID-19 on Education Insights from Education at a Glance 2020. Retrieved from: https://www.oecd.org/education/the-impact-of-covid-19-on-education-insights-education-at-a-glance-2020.pdf
Ibragimovna, S. N. (2019). Using multimedia for vocabulary teaching. International
Journal on Integrated Education, 2(6), 73–74. https://doi.org/10.31149/ijie.v2i6.204
Siddek, N. A. J., & Ismail, H. H. (2021). Understanding Learners’ Difficulties In Narrative Writing
Among Malaysian Primary Learners. Asian Journal of Research in Education and Social
Sciences, 3(2), 244–255.
Sintema, E. J. (2020). Effect of COVID-19 on the Performance of Grade 12 Students: Implications for STEM Education. EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed, 16(7). https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/7893
Williams, G. J., & Larkin, R. F. (2013). Narrative writing, reading, and cognitive processes in middle childhood: What are the links? Learning and Individual Differences, 28, 142-150.
Younes, Z., and Albalawi, F. (2015). Exploring the most common types of writing problems among English language and translation major sophomore female students at Tabuk University. Asian Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences, 3(2).
In-Text Citation: (Zulkarnain et al., 2022)
To Cite this Article: Zulkarnain, N. S., Jamaluddin, U., & Yunus, M. M. (2022). Micro-W: Teaching Narrative Writing to Primary ESL Learners in the New Normal. International Journal of Academic Research in Progressive Education and Development, 11(1), 939–952.
Copyright: © 2022 The Author(s)
Published by Human Resource Management Academic Research Society (www.hrmars.com)
This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) license. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this license may be seen at: http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode