Journal Screenshot

International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences

Open Access Journal

ISSN: 2222-6990

Application of Writing Skills’ Action Motor Among form Four Students

Khawidah Abd Samad, Wan Muna Ruzanna Wan Mohammad, Zamri bin Mahamod

http://dx.doi.org/10.6007/IJARBSS/v11-i7/10630

Open access

Learning to write essays necessitates students to ultimately employ the cognitive skills they hold so that the essays delivered are of superior quality and can match the essences of well-composed essays. This research aimed to explore the writing skills’ action motor, one of the motor skills of writing skills proposed by Levine (2003). This study was conducted among 11 Form Four students in Johore and the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur through an interview method. The outcomes reported the writing skills’ action motor could be categorised into four aspects, namely (i) essay writing based on essay framework; (ii) time management; (iii) essay review activities; and (iv) reinforcement activities. The interviews discovered that the essay framework provided before the writing activity was used as a guide to writing a complete essay. Modifications were also made to the essay framework to satisfy the questions’ explicit requirements and organise more related concepts. Additionally, most study participants reviewed their essays before submitting them to their teachers. Nevertheless, reviewing the essays were often impossible during exams due to ineffective time management. Students who did not manage time to write well were unable to review the written essay and did not write the conclusion section of the essay well and productively. The data also determined that most of the study participants did not conduct reinforcement activities to assume corrective actions on essays that the teachers reviewed; in fact, students rarely discussed it with teachers. Therefore, the research conclusions could be used as a guide by teachers to promote students’ writing skills and actions that need to be done by students and teachers. It is imperative so that the weak action motor could be improved and students’ level of proficiency and achievement in writing the Malay language essays would be augmented.

Jalil, A. G. (2016). Behaviours and Processes When Writing an Open Response Essay for Low-Performing Students. International Seminar on Generating Knowledge Through Research. UUM-UMSIDA. 25-27 October 2016.
Sariyan, A. (2007). The Order of Essay Writing: The Rhetorical Basis for Students and Educators. Kuala Lumpur: Institute of Language and Literature.
Gathercole, S. E., & Alloway, T. P. (2007). Understanding Working Memory: A Classroom Guide. London: Harcourt Assessment
Mohamad, H. (2016). Improving Essay Writing Skills Through the Use of Track Changes. Malaysia Journal of Learning and Instruction. 13. 135–159.
Kellogg, R. T. (2008). Training writing skills: A Cognitive Developmental Perspective. Journal of Writing Research. 1(1). 1 - 26.
Malaysia Education Ministry. (2013). Kupasan Mutu Jawapan of the Malay Language Paper 1 1103/1 SPM Year 2012. Putrajaya: Examination Board
Malaysia Education Ministry. (2014). Kupasan Mutu Jawapan of the Malay Language Paper 1 1103/1 SPM Year 2013. Putrajaya: Examination Board
Malaysia Education Ministry. (2015). Kupasan Mutu Jawapan of the Malay Language Paper 1 1103/1 SPM Year 2014. Putrajaya: Examination Board
Malaysia Education Ministry. (2016). Secondary School Curriculum Standard of the Malay Language: Standard Curriculum and Assessment Document for Form 1. Putrajaya: Curriculum Development.
Malaysia Education Ministry. (2017). Kupasan Mutu Jawapan of the Malay Language Paper 1 1103/1 SPM Year 2016. Putrajaya: Examination Board
Malaysia Education Ministry. (2018). Kupasan Mutu Jawapan of the Malay Language Paper 1 1103/1 SPM Year 2017. Putrajaya: Examination Board
Zuki, M. K. N. (2017). The Role of Schools in Shaping Pupil Language Culture. VIII Regional Education Seminar (2017).
Abd Samad, K., & Mohammad, W. M. R. (2019). Application of the Theory of Motor Learning Network in the Malay Language Writing Skills Among Form Four Students. Journal of Sultan Alauddin Sulaiman Shah - Special Issue. 118 - 133.
Kielmann, K., Cataldo, F & Seely, J. (2011). Introduction to Qualitative Research Methodology. Department for International Development.
Legard, R., Keegan, J., & Ward, K. (2003). In-depth Interviews in Qualitative Research Practice: A Guide for Social Science Students and Researchers. London: SAGE Publications.
Levine, M. (2002). A Mind at a Time. New York: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks.
Levine, M. (2003). The Myth of Laziness. New York: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks.
Lewis, J., & Ritchie, J. (2003). Generalising from Qualitative Research in Qualitative Research Practice: A Guide for Social Science Students and Researchers. London: SAGE Publications.
MacArthur, C. A., & Graham, S. (2016) Writing Research From A Cognitive Perspective in MacArthur, C.A., Graham, S., & Fitzgerald, J. (eds.), Handbook of Writing Research Second Edition. New York: The Guilford Press.
Yusoff, M. (2004) Behaviour and Process of Writing the Malay Language Essay. Kuala Lumpur: University of Malaya.
Merriam, S. B. (2009). Qualitative Research: A Guide to Design and Implementation “Revised and Expanded From Qualitative Research and Case Study Applications in Education”. USA: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Ali, N. H., & Othman,Y. (2018). Learning Strategies Writing Skills in the Malay Language as a Second Language Students among Melanau students in Daro District. Journal of Educational Malay. 8(1) 33-41.
Idris, N. (2013). Research in Education. Selangor: McGraw-Hill Education (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd.
Abdullah, N. A., Mahamod, Z., & Shaid, N. A. H. (2016). Factors Affecting the Malay Language Essay Writing Among High School Students. Malay Education Journal. 6(2). 1-9.
O’Mealia, S. (2011). How Can Prewriting Strategies Benefit Students? http://fisherpub.sjfc.edu/education_ETD_masters/14
Servati, K. (2012). Prewriting Strategies and their Effect on Student Writing. http://fisherpub.sjfc.edu/education_ETD_masters/242.
Nachiappan, S. (2006). The Use of Language Styles and Information Processing in Essay Writing Through Hermeneutic Analysis. Tanjung Malim: Sultan Idris Education University.
Nachiappan, S., Yin, G. S., & Shegar, S. C. (2018). Application of Cognitive Abilities in the Teaching of the Malay Language Writing in the SJK (Chinese) Sabak Bernam District. PENDETA Journal of Malay Language, Education and Literature. 9. 32-40
Torrance, M. (2017). Understanding Planning in Text Production in MacArthur, C.A., Graham, S., & Fitzgerald, J. (eds.), Handbook of Writing Research Second Edition. New York: The Guilford Press.
Williams, J. D. (2003). Preparing to teach writing: Research, theory, and practice. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Ahmad, Z. A. (1958) Chapter 1. Pelita Bahasa Melayu Kuala Lumpur: Institute of Language and Literature.
Jusoh, Z. (2016). Motivation Student Involvement in Learning the Malay Language Writing Skills. Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities. 11(1). 213-226.
Mahamod, Z., Ab. Ghani, K. A., & Mohammad, W. M. R. (2016). Use of the Malay Language Learning Strategies Among Chinese Students Based on the attitude and language skills. Journal of Educational Malay. 6(1) 38-51.

In-Text Citation: (Samad et al., 2021)
To Cite this Article: Samad, K. A., Mohammad, W. M. R. W., & Mahamod, Z. bin. (2021). Application of Writing Skills’ Action Motor Among form Four Students. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 11(7), 1437–1448.