English Learning A Way of Seeking Wisdom

1

Portfolio

English Learning

A Way of Seeking Wisdom

Eunji Suh

Graduate School of TESOL

Sookmyung Women’s University

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Table of Contents

I. Prologue 2

II. Teacher : Guide of the process of seeking wisdom 3

Resume

Teaching Philosophy

Certificates & Awards

III. Class : People who seek wisdom

Place where people find wisdom 15

Profile of students

Needs analysis

Diagnostic assessment

Syllabus

Lesson plans & Reflections

IV. Action Research : The process of seeking wisdom 35

V. References 72

VI. Appendices 73

VII. Epilogue 92

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Prologue

The career as a teacher seems to be the way of looking at myself and the world

and the relationship between the two. As for me teaching has been the process

of raising questions and seeking answers for the questions. And learning is the

way of seeking the answers for how to build the relationship with the world. In

other words, how we should view the world and what role should we play for

what purpose.

Studying in SMU TESOL program has been a way for me to find the answers

to these questions. As an English teacher, I tried to find the reasons why we

should study English and how we should use English for what purpose. I tried to

connect these questions in my teaching. I wanted to find the answers myself and

teach them to my students. I wanted to teach my students why they should learn

English, for what purpose, what kind of people they should be to fulfill the goals.

The practicum and the action research of this semester, the last semester in

the TESOL program, is a step for me to take toward the adventure of seeking the

answers to my questions. I remember I was fascinated when I first heard Dr.

Rozells’ presentation about wisdom education at the symposium in June, 2013. I

was very glad to find that wisdom education is possible in the field of English

education. I thought that may be an answer to my old questions about teaching

and learning.

The action research included in this portfolio is the first try of implementing

wisdom education in my teaching career. I start without clear visions of the end.

It is like taking a journey without destination but with only direction. Still I am

happy to start this adventure. I cannot imagine what is waiting for me at the end

of the adventure but I am sure it is worth to take.

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Teacher

Guide of the process of seeking wisdom

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RESUME

Name : Eunji Suh

Address : Sangye-dong, Nowon-gu, Seoul, Korea

Phone Number : 010-3669-****

E-mail : [email protected]

EDUCATION

Sookmyung Women’s University

TESOL MA (Expected graduation) 2014

Korea University

Bachelor of Arts, English Education 1993

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

Changwon Elementary School 2011 – Present

English teacher

Head teacher of English department 2014

Shinsanggye Elementary School 2006 – 2010

Homeroom teacher

In charge of Educational Welfare Program

Shinwha Elementary School 1999 – 2005

Homeroom teacher (2003 ~ 2005)

English teacher (1999 ~2005)

mailto:[email protected]

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TRAINING

Training for school underachievement and learning disability

Goodteacher 2014

Teaching English Phonics

Korea Online Teachers Training Institute 2014

Storytelling Teachers Training

International Graduate School of English 2013

Tesol IIETTP – Fall Semester

Sookmyung Women’s University 2011

Intensive English Training Program for Seoul Elementary School Teachers

California State University San Bernardino Korea Center 2011

Intensive Communication Skills

Institute of Foreign Language Studies, Korea University 2010

SDA Language School program

SDA Language School 2009

Training for Alternative Education

People’s Solidarity of Alternative Education 2005, 2006

Elementary School English Teachers Practicum

Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education 2001

Teacher’s training course for Elementary Education


Teacher’s training course for Elementary English


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CERTIFICATES

Certificate of YL-TESOL

Sookmyung Women’s University 2012

Certificate of 1st Class Elementary School Teacher


Certificate of 2nd Class Elementary School Teacher


Certificate of English Teacher of Elementary School


Certificate of English Teacher of Secondary School

Korea University 1993

ADDITIONAL EXPERIENCE

Teaching at Naranhi Local Child Care Center 2007 – 2011

Member of Educational Welfare Program Committee of Seoul Metropolitan Office

of Education 2007 – 2008

Lecture at Alternative Education Conference 2007

Member of English Storybook Reading Club 2010 – 2011

AWARDS

Honor Award of Outstanding Academic Achievement 2012

IIETTP, Sookmyung Women’s University

Outstanding Scholastic Achievement Certificate 2009

SDA Language School

Citation of contribution for Educational Welfare Program 2007

Ministry of Education

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Teaching Philosophy

I believe education should be a thing of human growth. I believe education should contribute

to the growth of the mind, personality, humanity, spirituality and the whole being of a learner.

Human societies, for centuries, have been preoccupied with education of knowledge

and cognitive skills in schools. As a result, it is reported that IQs have been rising at a rate of

9 points per generation. Korea is not an exception. Under the slogan “Knowledge is power”

and “Modernization of the nation”, governments have been focusing on how to increase test

scores in education. Owing to the efforts, Korean students get high scores in many

international tests, and have become well-known as the hardest workers in the world.

However, there rises a question on this situation. Has the world become better as much as the

rise of IQs? Have people become happier than before since their knowledge increased?

Probably many people would not agree with these questions. It seems it is the time to

consider an alternative direction of education.

There are some theorists who suggest we should turn to education of wisdom instead

of education of knowledge or information. Sternberg is one of them. He states, “The purpose

of education is to develop not only knowledge and skills, but the ability to use one’s

knowledge and skills effectively” (p. 144) Hart (2001) also argues, “in a world flooded with

information and increasing in complexity what may be required for fulfillment and even

survival is not simply acquisition of more information or skills but the ability to use this

knowledge wisely.” (p. 3). According to Webster’s new world dictionary, wisdom can be

defined as the ‘power of judging rightly and following the soundest course of action, based

on knowledge, experience, understanding, etc.”

Therefore, we should turn from the education of information and knowledge to the

education of self-awareness and values, and the education of critical, creative, and practical

thinking in the service of common good. I think it is true with all subjects. English is not an

exception. I believe English subject should be helpful for the growth of the mind of a learner.

But I am not sure it is always the case in the real classroom situation.

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As far as I know, the goal of learning English has become getting a high score in the

university entrance exam, getting a good job, or earning much money. It is not difficult to

hear the same answer from even elementary school students. I feel sorry about that. In

addition, it seems that many people regard English as a tool subject, that is, a subject that is

used as a tool for studying other subjects or doing other business. It is true to some extent.

However, still I have a question in my mind. Is that all? Can’t English be of a use for the

learner’s growth as a human being? As an English teacher, I hope students learn valuable

things and build up their minds and thoughts through English class. That will be the goal of

my career as far as I am a teacher.

From my experience, both direct and indirect, people learn well when they are

moved deeply in their hearts. They learn better when learning is related to their lives or when

they are inspired than when they learn as a duty or as a way of getting high scores in exams,

etc. This is what I believe about learning and what I hope happens in my class.

Therefore, a teacher should be a guide of inspiration for the students’ learning and

also their lives. As an English teacher, I have tried to show an example to my students how

English can be used for a good purpose in the real world. I participated in a voluntary work in

a poor area in the Philippines and I volunteered in Yeosu Expo in 2012 as an interpreter to

help foreign visitors. I told my students these experiences to inspire them to want to become

English users for a good purpose not just for getting high scores in exams or earning much

money.

I hope my English class can touch students’ soul, their spirit, their mind, not just input

knowledge of vocabulary or sentences. I consider three ways to implement in my class to

achieve this goal. First, I think children’s English literary books that contain values or moral

lessons can be a usefully used in class. Students can learn values and morality as well as

language through those texts. Second, cooperative work is also helpful in building friendship

among students. By doing cooperative group work, they can internalize the value of

cooperation. Third, writing on the topic can be adopted for this purpose, too because writing

will enhance students’ thinking power. And also writing on self-reflection is a good way of

being aware of what they learn during the lesson. I think this activity can help students

ponder over the lesson deeply and encourage the growth of their mind.

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CERTIFICATES & AWARDS

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http://sachimaniar.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/the-mad-rush2.jpg

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Class

People who seek wisdom

Place where people find wisdom

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In this section I want to describe my class, about the students, their levels, their needs, and

how they learn in class. This section includes profile of students, needs analysis, diagnostic

assessment, 6th

grade syllabus, lesson plans and reflections.

Profile of Students

My school is Seoul Changwon Elementary School. It is an ordinary public elementary school

located in the northern part of Seoul. General level of the students’ academic ability is not

high comparing to the other schools in the northern part of Seoul. There are twenty-four

classes in all including four 6th

grade classes in my school. The participants for my research

are the students in one of the four 6th

grade classes, Class 6-1. There are 25 students in the

class, 15 boys and 10 girls. Among them 3 students are from families of high poverty who get

some extra financial supply from the government.

According to the students’ need analysis, 14 students get private English education after

school. Most of them attend private institutes more than three days a week, which is very

common among elementary school students in Korea. Generally the students like English

subject, but not many of them think they are good at English. According to the diagnostic test

administered by the school, three students are labeled as underachievers, whose scores are

under 50 points and five students got over 80 points (maximum is 100 points). The result of

my diagnostic assessment shows similar distribution. According to it, four students got less

than 50 points and three students got over 80 points (maximum is 96 points).

They have three English classes a week, two with me and a native co-teacher, and one with

me alone. One class lasts for 40 minutes. They study English in the English classroom. When

they learn English, they move to the English classroom from their homeroom where they stay

all day except when they learn special subjects such as English, art, music, home economics,

and physical education.

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STUDENTS NEEDS

Needs Analysis

For the analysis of the students’ needs I administered a test with 21 questions about English

learning, learning history, English class at school, preference of activities, etc. (See Appendix

1) My students answered generally positively to the questions that ask their preference of

English and English class. But they answered less positively to the questions that ask their

confidence in their ability. I think these results indicate that the students generally like

English and feel easy to study English while they do not have confidence in their ability as

much.

I assume the reason can be found from the results of question 6, 11, 12. Most

students answered that the goal of studying English is ‘to go to a good university’ and ‘to get

a good job’. About 60% of the students answered they get private English instruction mostly

at hagwon. And about 56% among them attend hagwon more than three days a week. I think

these results indicate that many students study English as a way to success in the future. It

can explain why there is a gap between their preference and their confidence. Although they

like English and English class, they have to study English as a burden.

For the reason why they like studying English, they gave really various reasons.

Some like speaking, some like reading, some like teachers, some say it’s useful for the future,

and some say just because, etc. But in short, they seem to feel interested in English. The word

‘interest’ appeared most frequently in the answer sheets. Interestingly they pointed teachers

(native and Korean) as the main reason they like school English class.

The main reason why they dislike studying English is because they feel it difficult. It

seems the answers came from low-level students. Another main reason found on the answer

sheets is because they want more game. ‘Game’ is the most frequently appearing word.

Students chose ‘game’ as the most preferable activity during the class. I think students are too

much dependent on games. Especially those students who study at hagwon so much seemed

to want to relieve stress through games.

In regard to learning material, those who are more positive and have more confidence

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in learning English answered positively toward both school textbook and storybook. Those

who say they like to learn with school English textbook also like to learn English through

storybooks. For activities during the English class, they want really various activities: most of

all game (quiz) and role-play, art and craft in order.

For question 9, 10 out of 24 students chose ‘average’, which means, in my opinion,

not many students are aware of what they are learning during the class. And 14 students

answered ‘average’ for the question of value learning during English class, which indicates

that students do not think they learn values useful for their lives through English class.

Result of Needs Analysis

1. Do you like studying English?

Answer Very much Much Average Little Never

Number 3 10 6 3 1

2. Do you feel confident when you study English?


Number 3 5 10 4 1

3. How do you feel about English class? Easy or difficult?


Number 2 8 10 3 3

4. Do you think you are good at English?


Number 2 2 11 7 3

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5. Write the reason why you like/dislike English.

Like: It’s interesting. I like watching videos/activities/conversation/reading. English

is useful in the future. I like Chloe(native teacher), etc.

Dislike: I don’t like role-play. I don’t know even spelling. English is difficult. I can’t

understand or speak. It’s boring, etc.

6. What do you think the goal of studying English is?

Answer

To get high

scores in

exams

To go to a

good

university

To get a

good job

To become

a useful

worker in

the world

To form a

good

personality

Number 2 13 15 2 3

7. Do you think studying English is helpful in development of your thoughts and

personality?


Number 9 7 7

8. Does studying English help you to have a positive attitude toward yourself?


Number 2 13 5 3 1

9. Do you think you are aware of what you have learned in English class?


Number 4 5 10 4 2

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10. Do you think you learn values useful for your life in English class?


Number 2 8 14 1

11. Do you get private English lesson outside school class?

Answer Yes No

Number 14 10

12. How many days do you have private English class in a week?

Answer 1 day 2 Days 3 Days 4 Days 5 Days &

more

Number 1 3 3 4 5

13. Is English class at school interesting?


Number 6 13 5 1

14. Write the reason why you like/dislike English class.

Like: Chloe teacher is funny. Ms. Suh teaches English well. I like teachers.

Dislike: I am not good at English. I don’t like role-play. English is difficult.

15. Do you think English textbook is interesting?


Number 5 9 6 4

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16. Write your thought about the English textbook?

There are not many games. It looks pretty. Songs in the textbook are not useful.

It’s boring. I like it because there are various activities.

17. Have you ever read English storybook?

Answer Yes No

Number 20 4

18. Write your thoughts about English storybooks.

I can remember better when I learn through storybooks. I can guess the story by

looking at pictures. It’s boring and uninteresting. Etc.

19. Would you like studying English through storybook?


Number 4 10 6 3

20. What activity do you like to do during the class?

Answer Storytelling Song &

chant

Game

(Quiz) Role-play Art & craft

Number 5 2 19 8 14

21. Write whatever wish you want to about English class including your favorite

activities, your preferable style of learning, etc.

Scary stories easy books, fantasy, detective stories, books with easy words, etc.

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DIAGNOSTIC ASSESSMENT

I administered a diagnostic assessment to find my students’ English proficiency. I provided a

writing test because they would do writing activities in the intervention lessons. The test

consists of eight questions with different situations. The students wrote about their thoughts

or decisions in the given situations. (See Appendix 2) To measure their language proficiency

and perceptions about themselves and others, I build the criteria of evaluation with four

categories: contents, production, language, and perception. The table bellows describes the

criteria more in detail.

Criteria of evaluation

Points Contents Production Language Perception

3 The answer is appropriate for the topic.

Three or more sentences

No or little linguistic errors

Positive attitude toward themselves and others

2

The answer is generally acceptable for the topic.

Two sentences Some errors but make sense

Generally acceptable attitude toward themselves and others

1 The answer is not connected to the topic.

One sentence Too many errors to make sense

Negative attitude toward themselves and others

Students Contents Production Language Perception Points

(Total)

S1 22 11 20 21 74

S2 19 9 15 17 60

S3 17 11 19 16 63

S4 23 17 16 22 78

S5 15 6 8 15 44

S6 23 12 15 17 67

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S7 11 8 10 11 40

S8 20 9 13 19 61

S9 23 15 21 22 81

S10 23 14 18 19 74

S11 22 9 19 18 68

S12 22 1 2 17 42

S13 24 4 7 19 54

S14 24 4 12 19 59

S15 3 1 2 3 9

S16 24 6 14 23 67

S17 24 6 17 22 69

S18 22 13 23 22 80

S19 23 14 20 24 81

S20 22 11 13 18 64

S21 19 21 15 12 67

S22 19 17 23 12 71

S23 24 9 20 21 74

S24 24 10 19 18 71

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Syllabus of Elementary English for Grade 6 2014. 1st semester

<Week 1 ~ Week 2>

How’s It Going? 1. Goals Students learn this chapter during the first two weeks of March, the new beginning of the new school year. They meet new teachers and friends at this time. The goals of this lesson are learning and using the expressions of greetings. It also aims that the students ask and answer about the position of the classrooms in the school. 2. Objectives

Communicative

Function

Greetings •How’s it going? – Fine. Asking and answering about factual information •Where is your classroom? – It’s on the second floor.

Language Form •Where is ? – It’s on the floor.

Topic Private life, school life

Vocabulary •floor, same, stair, grade, elementary, miss, fine •first, second, third, fourth, fifth, etc.

<Week 3 ~ Week 4> How Do You Spell It?

1. Gaols Telephone call is a necessary way of communication in everyday life. This lesson aims at learning and using the expressions of telephone calling, asking and answering about how to spell names and people and places. 2. Objectives

Communicative

Function

Making and answering phone call •Who’s calling, please? Asking and answering about spelling •How do you spell ?

Language Form •Who’s calling, please? •How do you spell it?

Topic School life, social life

Vocabulary •doctor, poor, problem, solve, spell, classmate, victory, address, factory, message, hear

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<Week 5 ~ Week 6>

There is a Chocolate House

1. Goals

This lesson aims at learning the expressions of describing positions of things and people.

2. Objectives

Communicative

Function

Describing facts •There is a chocolate house. Asking agreement •You are a magic bus, right?

Language Form •There is/are .

Topic School life, home life

Vocabulary • delicious, store, garden, word, candy, street, every, table, under, building, famous

<Week 7 ~ Week 8>

I Want to Be a Dancer

1. Goals

Through this lesson students can learn the expressions of asking and answering about

their future dreams based on their interest and use them.

2. Objectives

Communicative

Function

Asking and answering about future dreams •What do you want to be? – I want to be a dancer. Praising someone •You are good at playing soccer.

Language Form •I want to be . •You are good at .

Topic Private life, future plan

Vocabulary • newspaper, practice, law, pilot, report, own

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<Week 9 ~ Week 10>

How Do You Earn Pocket Money?

1. Goals

In our daily lives we often talk about the events in the future and repeated events in the

present. Through this lesson students learn how to express their hope and will in these

situations, and how to express the present facts.

2. Objectives

Communicative

Function

Asking and answering about someone’s hope or will •What will you do? – I will water the flowers. Asking and answering about the present facts •How do you earn pocket money? – work for it.

Language Form •What will you do ? – I will . •How do you ?

Topic Private life

Vocabulary •concert, dish, try, will, money, pocket, other, earn

<Week 11 ~ Week 12>

I Have a Toothache

1. Goals

In this lesson, students learn how to express responsibilities and how to ask and answer

reasons. It also aims at expanding the opportunities of using these expressions in

everyday life in relation with the expressing about sicknesses.

2. Objectives

Communicative

Function

Expressing about responsibility •You have to see a dentist. Asking and answering about reasons •Why? – Because I have a toothache.

Language Form •You have to . •Because I have a .

Topic Private life, social life

Vocabulary •because, dentist, office, rest, why, wrong, headache, stomachache, toothache, medicine, hospital, mouth, sweet, tooth, brush

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<Week 13 ~ Week 14>

For Here or To Go?

1. Goals

The goals of this lesson are learning the frequently used expressions of ordering food

and using the expressions naturally in the real world.

2. Objectives

Communicative

Function

Ordering food •May I take your order? – I’d like a hamburger. •For here or to go? – For here, please.

Language Form •I’d like a/an .

Topic Private life, life habit

Vocabulary •fish, or, onion, else, fry, order, anything, people, ring

<Week 15 ~ Week 16>

May I Try It On?

1. Goals

In this lesson, students learn the expressions of buying things which are most useful and

frequently used in everyday life.

2. Objectives

Communicative

Function Buying thing •May I help you? – I’ll take it.

Language Form •I’m looking for . •How about .

Topic Social life

Vocabulary •minute, sock, kid

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LESSON PLANS & REFLECTIONS

Lesson Plan of Week 2

Mar 19th

Objectives -Review of Lesson 1

-Ss will be able to make and talk about the school map.

Language

points

-English room is on the fourth floor.

-It’s next to the music room,

Instructors Eunji Suh (Me) → T (Me)

Chloe (Native co-teacher) → NT (Native Teacher)

Students A class of 6th grade of elementary school

Procedure Contents Time Material

Note

Warm-up

Main

activity

◈ Review of Lesson 1

-NT guides Ss review what they learned in Lesson 1.

-Ss review ordinal numbers, directions, names of rooms in

the school.

◈ Talking about the school map

-T shows a simplified school map to Ss and asks “Where is

the teachers’ room/science room/art room, etc?”

-Ss answer “It’s on the 1st/2nd/3rd/4th floor” looking at their

school map.

◈ Making a new school map

-T introduces a new activity, ‘making a new school map’. She

distributes a sheet of paper with a picture of a school on it

and a set of pictures of classrooms.

-T informs that they are going to do a group work, that if

they do cooperative work well in the group, T will give them

extra stamps.

-Ss discuss about how to arrange the classrooms on the

map or what kind of rooms they can create themselves.

◈ Presentation

-Each group comes to the front and present what they

5’

5’

15’

PPT

School map

Pictures of a

school map,

Classrooms

Encourage

Ss to

participate

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Wrap-up

made. They introduce their school map saying “The teachers’

room/science room/art room is on the 1st/2nd/3rd/4th floor. It’s

next to the … room.”

-T gives each group stamps according to their work. Each

group gets one stamp, and if everyone in the group

participates in the presentation, the group gets one more

stamp.

15’ and

cooperate in

group work.

What I did

This class was an open class to parents and the last period of Lesson 1. So the main

objective was to review what we learned through this lesson. And because it was an

open class, I planned a group work and a group presentation. Most parents want to

watch their child speak up and do some active things during the class.

The main activity is to make a simple school map in groups. Before the main activity,

students reviewed what they learned, greetings, ordinal numbers, giving directions with

the native co-teacher. Then they talked about the places of some classrooms in their

school, looking at the real school map. Then they are given a large paper with the

picture of a simple and empty school and a set of pictures of classrooms. They discuss

and make a new school with the group members. After finishing the map, each group

comes to the front and present what they made before the class.

What worked well

I told the students that the main activity is a group work so cooperation is important,

and if they do a good cooperative group work, I will reward them with an extra stamp.

The students are much interested in collecting stamps to get a prize. It had an effect.

They tried to work together and participate in the presentation. Almost all the students

said something in front of the class. It was very good to watch every student participate

during the class, especially speaking.

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What didn't work well

When the class practiced talking about the positions of classrooms with the real school

map, the interaction occurred between me and the students. I asked "Where is the

English room/Science room/Art room, etc.?" and students answered "It's on the

first/second/third/fourth floor." I think there was not interaction between students. Now I

think it would have been better if I had prepared an interactive activity between the

students, such as information gap game, instead of practicing between the teacher and

the students.

What I can do better

Even though there was cooperative work among students through a group activity, the

interaction between the students using the target language didn't occur. So I think I can

give the students opportunities to use the target language next time.

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Lesson Plan of Week 4

Mar 27th

Objectives -Ss will be able to make a story using ordinal numbers.

Language

points

-first, second, third, fourth

-nouns: pillar, snake, spear, cliff, fan, rope

-adjectives: sturdy, supple, wide, sharp, breezy, stringy

Instructors Eunji Suh (Me) → T (Me)



Note

Warm-up

Main

activity

Wrap-up

◈ Review of ordinal numbers

-The class reviews ordinal numbers.

◈ Reading a storybook

-T introduces new vocab used in the story.

-T reads aloud the story Seven Blind Mice.

-While reading the story, T asks Ss questions to provide them

opportunities to guess the story, and thus to participate in

the story-reading activity.

T: What do you think the mouse says?

Ss: It’s a pillar.

T: What color?

Ss: Red. … etc.

-At the part “Mouse Moral” at the end of the story, T has Ss

think of the moral and give the answer. Then T presents the

Mouse Moral in PPT.

◈ Making a story in group

-T distributes a set of four pictures to each group. Ss put the

pictures in order and create a story in groups. They write the

story on the paper.

◈ Presentation

-Ss present their story in front of the class, group by group.

-T rewards Ss with stamps, one stamp for every group, two

stamps for the groups who did good cooperative work.

1’

15’

15’

4’

Storybook

PPT

Pictures

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What I did

This was the first class I adopted a story in my class. As the review of Lesson 1, I used

the story The Seven Blind Mice because there are ordinal numbers in the story. This is a

story about seven blind mice who say different things about an elephant by examining

only some part and arguing they are right. This story has a moral issue about having

prejudice and judging quickly and believing it is true. My purpose was having the

students think about the moral issue. I read aloud the book first. Then the students were

given four pictures and put them in order and wrote a story out of the four pictures.

What worked well

I think group talking was effective in facilitating the students’ thinking. I could see the

students talking, suggesting, giving and sharing their ideas with their group members.

While I was watching the group work in my class, I thought if they worked individually

they could have hard time making up a story by themselves. However, because they

worked together, they could get useful help from their peers.

What didn’t work well

I think there was too much work in the class. They read a story, a new story different

from what they have learned in the textbook. And then they had to create another story

as a writing activity. It looked too much work for elementary 6th graders to do for 40

minutes. They had to digest new vocabulary and expressions to understand the story the

teacher read aloud and also they needed to generate totally new vocabulary and

expressions to make up a new story out of the pictures given by the teacher.

Another problem I found is that only one person wrote the story in each group, who

may be thought to be best at English among them. It seemed that the students helped

each other in putting ideas into the story, but the writer was only one and the others

didn’t write. I wonder if I could say that they all did writing.

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What could be done next time

First, I think I can try to connect the story with the lessons of my school textbook to

lessen the burden of too much input and too much work on the part of my students. I

can retell or rewrite the story into an easier version with the language from the textbook.

Second, I can provide some examples to the students to help them before they write

their own work. Third, I think I need to give more opportunities to write individually.

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Action research

The process of seeking wisdom

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Enhancing Students’ Writing Ability and Perceptions about Themselves and Others

through Storybooks with Moral Issues

1. Introduction

Education has its meaning when it contributes to human growth. All forms of education,

whether it is public or private, whether it is conducted in school or home or any other

institutes, should focus on the growth of the learner’s whole being. However, education has

put priority on acquiring knowledge and information. Education has been regarded as a tool

of development of the society and the nation. At the individual level, education has been

degraded to the way of achieving higher positions in the social hierarchy.

It is true with English, too. English education may be the subject where this trend is

most seriously and excessively found. It is easy to hear from elementary school students that

they regard the goal of studying English is to get a good job and make more money.

Regrettably it is the reality of English education in Korea. For this reason so many parents

spend astronomical budget on their children’s private education and English education has

become the field where students experience heavy competition as a result.

In my class I can see students who are losing interest and joy in learning English

even though their English ability is very high. They are attending expensive private institutes

and exhausted to do heavy assignments from the institutes. I can also see students who are

very good at English but very competitive and selfish. Some students lost their interest

because they think English is very difficult and they are not good enough to follow up other

classmates.

The result of the students’ need analysis supports this trend. It shows that most

students regard the goal of studying English as to go to a good university and to get a good

job. It also shows that many students attend private institutes after school more three days a

week. According to the result of the need analysis, many students do not feel confident about

their English ability as much as they like English, and they do not think they learn values

useful for their lives through English class.

39

The result of the diagnostic assessment indicates that the students’ writing ability is

very low. The rate of generating English sentence is 41.3% and its comprehensibility is

62.6%. The result also indicates that their language ability does not always match their

morality. Three students of high level acquired scores below average and six students below

average in language area acquired more than average in morality category.

2. Research Question

Based on the findings above, I planned interventions with English storybooks that

contain moral issues in the content and cooperative writing in groups. Thus, I intended to

enhance the students’ writing ability and their perceptions about themselves and others at the

same time. The research question is as following:

How can I use storybooks with moral issues to enhance students’ writing ability and

perceptions about themselves and others?

3. Intervention

My intervention began at week 5 and continued for six weeks until week 10. I planned to

adopt storybooks in writing activity. To answer the research question I used three techniques:

storybooks, cooperative writing, and reflection.

3.1. Storybooks

I used storybooks with moral issues, especially self-esteem and relationship with others in the

intervention lessons. The aim of adopting the stories is to raise the students’ awareness of the

moral issues. I started the each story with a preview question which is related to the topic of

the story. Through the preview section the students had an opportunity to think about the

issue facilitating their background knowledge. To connect the stories to the lessons of the

school textbook that they were learning, I adapted the text using the language items of the

textbook. The stories I used are as follows: Swimmy by Leo Lionni, Mr. Road, Mr. Hand by

Gwon Jung Sang, Leo the Late Bloomer by Robert Kraus, Mixed-up Chameleon by Eric

Carle, The Empty Pot by Demi, and You Are Special by Max Lucado.

40

3.2. Cooperative writing

To enhance the students’ perception about others, I adopted cooperative writing in the

intervention. I provided writing tasks after reading the stories that involved cooperative group

work. The tasks were mainly creative writing of various forms that could facilitate

brainstorming and discussion among the group members. I also changed the seat arrangement

to facilitate effective cooperation among the students. I made mixed-level groups so that the

low-level students could learn through scaffolding from high-level students and high-level

students could have opportunities of helping low-level students. I intended that the students

could experience helping each other through the group work. Kagan (1998) asserts that

cooperative learning is a good way for students to learn how to live in this complicated

society and to facilitate learning for both high-level and low-level students. He also suggests

that the school has to provide this opportunity to the students. I also used a reward system at

the end of every lesson. In this reward system the students who did better cooperative group

work got more stamps.

3.3. Reflection

I had the students write brief reflection on their work and learning during the lesson at the

end of each class. I gave a reflection paper with five short questions asking how well they did

cooperation, how well they learned the language, how well they learned values, and what

they thought of felt about the lesson. I aimed at raising the students’ awareness of what they

learned during the lesson. Boud at al. (1985) emphasized the importance of reflection

reporting the reactions of the participants in a research in that it promotes learning, and it

opens up insights into the inner journey, and it helps to learn about oneself. I intended that the

students could ponder on the values in the stories and the language they were learning, and

their relationship with the other students while working together, through the reflection.

41

Curriculum

Date Title Language Activity Week

April 9th Swimmy -There is/are ….

Imagine. You are Swimmy. You want

to encourage other little fish to come

out and see the wide sea. Describe

the sea using “There is/are ….”

Week 5

April 16th Mr. Road,

Mr. Hand

-There is/are …

in front of/next to/

behind /under/on ….

Mr. Road is a blind man and Mr.

Hand is a crippled man. They go

together, the blind holding the

crippled in his back. The blind wants

to see what are there in the world.

Now you are the crippled. Create a

picture of a place and describe the

wonderful world for him.

Week 6

April 23th

Leo the

Late

Bloomer

-He is good at ….

-You are good at ….

Even though you seem to be a late

bloomer, everyone has some

strengths like Leo. Write some things

your partner is good at on the rolling

paper and return it to him/her.

Week 7

April 30th Mixed-up

Chamelon

-I am good at ….

-I like …ing.

-I want to be a ….

Being oneself is important. Write a

plan for your future dream and

interview your partner about their

future dreams on the interview form.

Week 8

May 14th The Empty

Pot -I will ….

Honesty is good but needs courage.

What will you do if you are Ping?

Make a four-cut cartoon with your

group, using the verb “will”.

Week 9

May 21st You Are

Special

-I will ….

-He will ….

Punchinello is blames a lot by

people. He is in desperate need of

help. What will you do if you are

Punchinello. Imagine what will

happen next and write a script for a

role-play.

Week 10

This curriculum is built on the basis of the procedure of the school textbook. I tried to

connect the story with the target language of the school textbook.

42

4. Process: lesson plans and reflections

To describe the process of the intervention more in detail, I include here my six lesson plans

and the reflections of the six intervention lessons.

4.1. First intervention – week 5

Lesson Plan

April 9th

Objectives -Ss will be able to describe the sea using “There is/are ….”

Language

points

-tuna fish, jelly fish, lobster, seaweeds, eel, sea anemone

-There is a …. There are …s.

Instructors Eunji Suh (Me) → T

Chloe (Native co-teacher) → NT



Note

Warm-up

Main

activity

◈ Learning vocabulary

-T shows some pictures of sea creatures and introduces the

vocabulary Ss will meet in the story

: tuna fish, jelly fish, lobster, seaweeds, eel, sea anemone

◈ Preview of the lesson

-Ss think about their experience of having friends who are

afraid of some danger and discouraged to face challenge.

The question is, “Do you know some friends who are

nervous and cowardly? If you know some friends who are

afraid to go out, what can you do?”

◈ Storytelling

-NT and T tell the story Swimmy to Ss.

-T revised the story to introduce the target language, “There

is/are ….”

-NT and T cut the story in the middle where Swimmy, the

main character meets cowardly little fish and asks what they

can do to encourage the little fish to come out to the wide

2’

3’

5’

worksheet

pictures

word cards

PPT

43

Wrap-up

world.

◈ Writing a description of the sea

-T gives Ss a task to write a description of the sea scenery. T

distributes a piece (1/4) of a picture to each student so that

all four pieces can make the whole picture.

-Every student describes what they have in their paper first

and put the pieces of paper together to make a whole one.

Then they write a description of the picture together.

-T tells them they can add more things on the picture if they

want.

◈ Presentation

-Ss present their work in front of the class, group by group.

-NT and T encourage every student to participate in the

presentation and reward with one more stamp for the

groups who did good cooperative work.

◈ Reflection

-Ss reflect on what they learned and how they worked

during the lesson on a worksheet.

15’

12’

3’

Pictures

Paper

worksheet

This lesson aims at writing a description of the beautiful sea to encourage cowardly little

fish who are afraid of big fish. I chose the story of Leo Lioni, Swimmy, for this lesson. It is

a story about a small fish who lost all his family and became sad and lonely, but

eventually found wonderful things in the sea and became stronger in the end. I revised

the story into a simpler and easier version so that the text matches the language points

of the school textbook. The target language of the present chapter of the school

textbook is “There is/are ….” So I revised the story with “There is/are …” and gave the

students the task of writing a description of the sea using “There is/are ….”

I cut the picture of the sea into four (or five) pieces so that every member of the group

has one piece of paper. First, each student describes what is in his/her own picture in

turn, and then the group members put their puzzle pictures together to make a whole

picture. Then they write a description together in groups. After they wrote the

44

description, they presented their work in front of the class.

What went well

I think one of the intervention strategies, seat arrangement worked well. I changed seats

of some students to make each group heterogeneous in terms of their English

proficiency. At first, some students seemed unhappy about the seat change, especially

the girl who sat with one of the lowest-level boys made a frowning face. But as time

passed I could see they worked well and tried to cooperate.

Students tried to cooperate in their group work. I could see some groups take turns to

write and when someone had difficulties in writing, others helped them, telling the

spelling of words. They also tried to include every student in the presentation. Especially

the girl, who did not like sitting with the low-level boy, helped him to say the sentence.

It was a nice scene to watch. I think puzzle work was also a good idea. Because every

student had a piece of paper and described what they had, every student had a chance

to speak at least one sentence. I think this activity could facilitate the students’

participation in the group work.


Time management was a problem again. I could not finish all the procedure in the lesson

plan. I finished up to presentation and could not do the reflection part. So I think I am

going to do reflection in the following class, tomorrow.


Some students drew additional things on the picture and added the things on their

writing. I thought that is children. Children must be creative by nature. For the next class

I am planning a more creative work. I am going to let them draw scenery as they want

and describe it. I expect there will be more diverse and creative outcomes.

45

4. 2. Second intervention – week 6

Lesson Plan

April 16th

Objectives -Ss will be able to describe the scenery using “There is/are … + a prepositional

phrase of place.”

Language

points

-crippled, stick, because, take care of, carry on the back, help each other

-There is/are … + a prepositional phrase of place.





Note

Warm-up

Main

activity


-NT shows some pictures and introduces the vocabulary Ss

will meet in the story

: crippled, stick, because, take care of, carry on the back,

help each other


-Ss imagine a situation where they have weaknesses and

they have a friend who has weaknesses, too. Ss think about

the possibility of complementing each other ’s weaknesses

with the question, “Imagine. You are weak. You can’t do

many things. One day you meet a friend who is also weak. I

can do what he can’t do and he can do what I can’t do.

What will you do?”

◈ Storytelling

-NT and T tell the story Mr. Road and Mr. Hand to Ss.

-T translated and revised the original story by Gwon Jung-

Sang into an easy English version.

-NT and T cut the story in the middle where Mr. Road guides

Mr. Hand on the road and asks how they will guide Mr. Hand

if they are Mr. Road.

2’

3’

5’

pictures

word cards

PPT

46

Wrap-up

◈ Writing a description of the scenery

-T gives Ss a task to write a description of the scenery. The

purpose of the task is to help Mr. Hand in the position of Mr.

Road telling him what is there around him.

-T distributes a big piece of paper. The paper has a large

empty space with the two characters from the story at one

corner. Ss draw a scenery as they like and describe it on

another piece of paper using “There is/are … + a

prepositional phrase of place“

-Ss take turns in writing.

◈ Presentation

-Ss present their work in front of the class, group by group.

They show what they drew to the class and tell them what

they wrote.

-NT and T again encourage every student to participate in

the presentation and reward them according to how well

they did cooperative work.

◈ Reflection


during the lesson on a worksheet.

15’

12’

3’

pictures

paper

marker

checklist

The objective of this lesson is writing a description of the scenery that the students drew

themselves. While in the last lesson the students used the sentence structure “There

is/are ….”, in this lesson they were instructed to use the structure “There is/are … + a

prepositional phrase of place.” The story I used today is Mr. Road, Mr. Hand by Gwon

Jung Sang. I translated and revised the Korean storybook into an easy English story. This

is a story about two disabled men, the crippled and the blind, helping each other and

complementing each other ’s weaknesses. Mr. Hand, the blind, carries Mr. Road on his

back and plays the role of his legs. Mr. Road plays the role of Mr. Hand’s eyes.

Students’ mission was to guide Mr. Hand themselves in the place of Mr. Road. Different

from the last lesson when they were given the picture they should describe, they were

47

asked to create the scenery themselves. First, they drew scenery on a paper as they liked

and described it using the sentence structure, “There is/are … + a prepositional phrase of

place.”

What went well

Generally, I think, the students seemed to get involved with the task more creatively and

they seemed to enjoy the activities because they drew the picture as they wanted. Every

group produced a unique picture and writing.

The students did cooperative group work better than the last class. Still some problems

were observed, though. I told them to take turns in drawing and writing. They mostly

took turns in drawing but I could see some groups did not take turns in writing. I asked

why and found they assigned different roles to different group members according to

their strengths for themselves. For example, in a group there was a drawer, a writer, two

idea givers. Especially the drawer was very impressive because I had never seen him

working so actively in English class before. Actually, his assessment score was very low

and he seemed to do almost nothing during the English classes. Today I found that his

drawing ability is very good. I didn’t know it before, but the students knew it so they

could assign him this role for their group. I think, sometimes it could be better to let the

students make their own decision.


Time management was also a problem in today’s lesson. My co-teacher covered the

beginning part—vocabulary and preview—briefly, so it took shorter than the last class.

But the main activity part took longer time than the last lesson because of the drawing

activity. The students looked really involved in the drawing activity so it took longer than

I planned. So I had to stop the drawing activity and tell them to begin writing. Because

we ran out of time, we had to do the presentation and the reflection part in the

following class on Thursday.

48


Even though the students did cooperative group work better, still there were some

problems. One boy, Jihong, still is not welcomed among students. So, next time, instead

of making him highlighted by changing seats, I could change other students around him

to make the group more heterogeneous in terms of their ability. And the very excellent

girl, Eunbyul is still dominating in the group. I intervened this time and told her to give

chances to other students. I found that she is too much concerned with the quality of

the outcome. She wants to do very well. So next time I would emphasize again that

cooperation and care for others is more important than excellent performance.

49

4.3. Third intervention – week 7

Lesson Plan

April 23rd

Objectives -Ss will be able to write about their strengths using “You are good at ….”

Language

points

-bloom, bloomer, eat neatly, word, sentence, I made it

-You are good at …, He is good at ….





Note

Warm-up

Main

activity


-NT introduces new vocabulary Ss will meet in the story with ppt

: bloom, bloomer, eat neatly, word, sentence, I made it


-Ss think about themselves with the question, “Have you ever

felt sad because you are not good enough at something or you

are slow in learning something? Do you know someone who is

like this? What can you do at the moment like this?”

◈ Storytelling

-NT and T tell the story Leo the Late Bloomer to Ss.

-T revised the story to introduce the target language, “He is (not)

good at ….”

◈ Writing strengths for group members in rolling papers

-T gives Ss a task to write a sentence saying some strengths of

every group member in the rolling paper.

-Every student is given a small piece of paper with the name of

another student of the group member on the top. The students

write one or more sentences about the strengths of the student

whose name is on the paper. They use the sentence “You are

good at ….” After writing the sentences, they pass the paper to

the next student. In this way they pass the rolling paper in the

2’

3’

5’

15’

PPT

Rolling

paper

50

Wrap-up

group and write their sentences for every group members.

-After finishing writing about the strengths of their group

members, every student has his or her paper. Then they read

what their classmates write about them.

-While doing this activity, the students think about what their

group members are good at.

◈ Guessing game

-Ss play a guessing game with the rolling papers.

-One student from each group chooses a rolling paper from

their group. And then they read the sentences without saying

who it is about. The students in other groups guess who it is. All

the groups take turns.

-While playing this game, the students find what strengths their

classmates have.

◈ Reflection

-Ss reflect on what they learned and how they worked during

the lesson on the checklist paper.

12’

3’

The objective of this lesson is to write about strengths of the group members. The

sentence structure the students used is “You are good at ….” The story is Leo the Late

Bloomer by Robert Kraus. This is a story about a little tiger, Leo, who can’t do anything

right but in his own good time blooms. I revised it a little to introduce the target

language be good at …, for example, he is not good at reading, he is not good at

drawing, he is good at writing, etc. After reading the story, students write some strengths

of their group members. They pass a piece of paper to the next person repeatedly until

every student writes at least one sentence for all the group members. After that, they

played a game guessing “Who is it?” with the paper.

I hoped that the students could be encouraged by the story if they feel they are not

good enough at something. And I wanted that the students might think about what

strengths their classmates have while doing the activities.

51

What went well

Writing the rolling paper was very good, I think. (My native co-teacher said rolling paper

is Konglish, though.) Because every student had to write at least one sentence for each

group member, all the students participated in writing activity. I could see even the

lowest-level students struggling to write some things their friends are good at. I also

could see the students trying to find some strengths from their classmates. I think the

students willingly participated in this activity because it was about their real friends and

themselves. In general, today’s lesson created positive atmosphere in the class.

What didn’t go well

My original intention was to use “You are good at …” for writing the rolling paper

because they are writing to their classmates and to use “He/She is good at …” for

guessing game because they are introducing their group members to other students. But

I found it difficult for elementary school students to switch between persons freely. At

first I instructed them to say “He/She is good at …” instead of “You are good at …” when

they introduce their group members for the guessing game. But I could hear some

students say “He is are good at ….” This is the case of high-level students. Many students

seemed to not notice the instruction. So I just let them say as they wrote in the rolling

paper later.


Because every student had to write on the rolling paper, every student participated well.

Even Jihong, who had usually marked very low score for the question about the

participation, this time marked the highest score for the same question. His answer for

the checklist is amazing. The answers for all the questions marked higher scores than

before. I learned from this lesson that assigning appropriate role for the student is

important. Next time I need to prepare activities that every student can have their

specific role and so participate in the group work.

52

4.4. Fourth intervention – week 8

Lesson Plan

April 30th

Objectives -Ss will be able to write about their future dreams.

Language

points

-chameleon, turn, sand, tongue, polar bear, flamingo, deer, giraffe, turtle, seal,

myself

-I am good at …. I like …-ing. I want to be ….





Note

Warm-up

Main

activity


-NT introduces new vocabulary Ss will meet in the story with

ppt

: chameleon, turn, sand, tongue, polar bear, flamingo, deer,

giraffe, turtle, seal, myself


-Ss think about themselves with the question, “What do you

want to be? Do you want to be like other people? Or do you

like being yourself? Think about what you like doing and

your dream.”

◈ Storytelling

-NT and T tell the story The Mixed-Up Chameleon to Ss.

-T revised the story to introduce the target language, “He is

good at …, He likes …-ing, I want to be ….”

◈ Writing about the future dream

-T asks Ss “What is the message of the story?” and

emphasizes the importance of self-respect.

-T gives Ss a task to write about their future dream on a

paper. They guide Ss to use the sentence structure, “I am

good at …. I like …-ing. I want to be ….”

-This is an individual work.

2’

3’

5’

15’

PPT

paper

53

Wrap-up

◈ Interviewing the partner

-After writing about their dream, Ss interview their partner

and fill in the reporting form.

-They make a folding screen with the four reporting paper of

the group.

-After making the folding screen they present their future

dream to the class.

-While doing this activity, the students find out the dreams

of their classmates.

◈ Reflection


during the lesson on the checklist paper.

12’

3’

Interview

form

Colored

paper, glue

The objective of this lesson is to write about their dreams. The target language is “I am

good at …. I like …ing. I want to be ….” The story for this lesson is The Mixed-Up

Chameleon by Eric Carle. This is a story about a chameleon who feels envious of other

animals and wants to become like them, but eventually finds out that being ‘himself’ is

what he wants the most. I introduced this story in the hope that my students realize that

their own selves are the more important than any other beings. I revised the story with

the sentence pattern, “I want to be …” to match the story with the school textbook.

After reading the story, the students wrote about their future dreams. This was also the

school assessment, so I used the same writing format that I had used for three years. I

presented some sample sentences at the bottom of the paper. After this individual

writing activity, the students did the group work. They interviewed their partner about

their strengths, their likes, and their future dreams. They wrote down the findings on a

reporting form. Each group made a folding screen with the four reporting forms after the

interview. And then finally, they presented the future dreams of their group members in

front of the class.

What went well

Last class, I could observe the students’ participation was getting improved. The scores

54

for the question about participation in the group work were becoming higher. Especially

Jihong’s answer was improving. In the checklist of the last intervention class, Jihong

marked 5-5-5-3 for the four closed-ended questions. The statement he marked 3 points

is “I helped someone in my group in this lesson.” That is the question he had marked 1

point in the previous two intervention classes. To help him and other students feel they

are useful for other people, I planned role assignment. I assigned different roles to the

students. Those roles are Distributor, Collector, Maker, Presenter. The students decide the

roles themselves according to their strengths. The answers of their refection were

generally good. Jihong also marked the highest score for the statement, “I helped

someone in my group in this lesson.” He showed great satisfaction for this lesson

marking 5-5-5-5 points for all the closed-ended questions. I think assigning a specific

role for every student may have been effective in facilitating the students’ participation

and allowing the students the emotion of usefulness.


I think this lesson generally went well except some trouble in a group and a comment of

a boy student. There seems to be a conflict in a group. A girl wants to do whatever she

wants to do. Two boy students wrote complains on their reflection paper. They said she

is selfish. I think I need to talk with her. Another problem I found is the self-esteem of a

boy student. His name is Hyun-woo. His English proficiency is very low. His reflections

show that he thinks he learns a lot through the English classes but he doesn’t think he is

helpful in their group. I think it resulted from his low self-esteem. He marked 1 point for

the statement, “I helped someone in my group in this lesson,” even though he really did

help his group members by fulfilling his role. I think I need to talk with him, too.


Because it seems assigning specific roles is effective in facilitating participation and

promoting the students’ perceptions, I will continue it in the next class. And I will think of

an activity that every student should take part in.

55

4.5. Fifth intervention

Lesson Plan

May 14th

Objectives -Ss will be able to write sentences using “will”.

Language

points

-country, empty, pot, seed, soil, grow, plant, choose, laugh at

-I will …. He will …. They will ….





Note

Warm-up

Main

activity



ppt

: country, empty, pot, seed, soil, grow, plant, choose, laugh

at


-Ss think about the value ‘honesty’ with the preview

question, “Do you think you are honest? Have you ever

thought honesty doesn’t pay? What will you do in such

cases?”

◈ Storytelling

-NT and T tell the story The Empty Pot to Ss.

-T revised the story to introduce the target language, “will”

-NT and T stop the story in the middle in order to give Ss a

task.

◈ Making a cartoon

-T asks Ss “If you are Ping, what will you do?” Ss talk about

their thoughts.

-T gives Ss a task to make a four-cut cartoon using the word

“will”. Each student in a group draws a cut and writes a

sentence so that all four cuts can make a cartoon.

2’

3’

5’

15’

12’

PPT

paper

56

Wrap-up

-NT and T show a sample cartoon to the students.

: I will make a beautiful flower with paper. -> I will go to the

palace and show the king my flower. -> The king will think

my flower is beautiful. -> I will be the new king!

◈ Presentation

-All groups present their work in front of the class.

-T rewards the Ss according to their group work.

◈ Reflection



3’

Reflection

paper

The objective of this lesson is to write sentences using “will”. Students made four-cut

cartoons as a group work with the sentences including “will”. The story for this lesson is

The Empty Pot by Demi. The topic of this story is honesty. This is a story about a boy,

Ping, who is honest and so passes the test of the king and eventually becomes the next

king of the country. I and my native co-teacher told the story up to the part when Ping

is worried and hesitating to go to the palace, and asked the students to think about the

question, “If you are Ping, what will you do?” After discussing in their group, the students

made four-cut cartoons and wrote sentences with “will” below the pictures.

What went well

Students made very creative cartoons. A group made a cartoon very similar to the

original story. They wrote, “I will bring the empty pot. -> I will show the empty pot. ->

King will say, “You are honest.” -> I will be the new king.” Other groups made very

beautiful and funny cartoons. A group wrote, “Ping will cry because nothing is in the pot.

-> One tear will fall in the pot. -> And big and beautiful flowers grow. -> The king will

choose Ping.” Another group wrote, “I will put the dog pooh in the pot.” -> A beanstalk

(will) grow and grow and grow. -> Ping, on the cloud, will go straight to the palace. -> I

will meet the king.”

57

When the class was making the cartoon, I found Ji-hong did not participate in the group

work. He was busy doing something else. I talked to him and he promised that he would

participate more in the presentation. He kept his promise and did a good job in the

presentation.

Gun-young is a very active girl, sometimes dominating in the group. She said her group

wanted to present by role-play and I allowed them to. They presented their cartoon by a

role-play. Although it was very short and simple, I think they did a creative work,

especially for having only 1~2 minutes to prepare the presentation.


To facilitate the participation in the group work of the students, I let the students decide

role assignment themselves. They could choose assigning different roles to different

students or assigning a cut of the cartoon to each student. In some groups they carried

out different roles and in other groups each student drew a cut of the cartoon. However,

in the groups where they had different roles, I could observe some students who did not

participate. So, after making the cartoon, I mentioned about this matter and encouraged

them to participate more. In the presentation, they did better. All the students took some

part in the presentation.


The story for the final intervention lesson is You Are Special by Max Lucado. The value in

this story is ‘self-esteem’. I plan to do the role-play for the final intervention. I hope the

students learn the value of self-esteem through this story. And I expect every student

have opportunity to cooperate through the role-play.

58

4.5. Sixth intervention – week 10

Lesson Plan

May 21st ~ 22nd (40 minutes + 40 minutes)

Objectives -Ss will be able to write a play using “will”.

Language

points

-wooden, woodcarver, golden, dot, talented, feel better, fall off

-I will …. He will …. They will ….





Note

Warm-up

Main

activity



ppt

: wooden, woodcarver, golden, dot, talented, feel better, fall

off


-Ss think about self-esteem with the preview question, “Do

you think you are special? Have you ever been discouraged

because someone blamed you? What will you do if you are

in this situation?”

◈ Storytelling

-NT and T tell the story You Are Special by Max Lucado to

Ss.

-T revised the story to introduce the target language, “will”

-NT and T stop the story in the middle in order to give Ss a

task.

◈ Writing a play

-T asks “What will happen next? Can you guess?”, then gives

Ss a task, “Discuss in your group about what will happen

next and write a play.”

-T tells them to try to use the word “will” as much as

possible in their script.

◈ Preparing the play

-Ss decide their roles for the play and make a list of props

5’

3’

10’

18’

4’

PPT

paper

59

Wrap-up

and submit it to T so that T can help them to prepare the

play.

◈ Practice

-Ss practice the role-play with their script.

◈ Presentation

-Ss do the role-play based on their own work. All groups

present their work in front of the class.

-T rewards the Ss according to their group work.

◈ Telling the end of the story

-T tells Ss the end of the story, what really happened to

Punchinello.

◈ Reflection



10’

20’

5’

5’

script

props

Reflection

paper

The objective of this lesson is to write a play using “will”. I planned this lesson to do for

two days. On Wednesday the students wrote a play, and on Thursday they did the role-

play based on their script. Today’s story is You Are Special by Max Lucado. The important

value of this story is self-esteem. This is a story about a boy named Punchinello who got

many bad stickers because he was blamed for many poor performances. One day he

meets a girl named Lucia who has no golden stars (symbols of praise) or gray dots

(symbols of blame). The stickers don’t stay on her. Punchinello wants to be like her and

Lucia suggests him to visit Eli, their maker. He feels a conflict on whether to visit Eli or

not. I stopped the story at this part and had the students write a play about what will

happen next.

Students did brainstorming on what will happen next and wrote a script based on their

discussion. After writing the script they decided their roles and wrote some props for the

play so that the teachers could prepare. This is the Wednesday lesson. On Thursday, the

students did role-play based on the script they wrote.

What went well

I did the same lesson for all the four classes of the 6th grade that I teach. They had about

60

20 minutes to do brainstorming and writing the script for the play. Every class has 6

groups of 4 students. But only in my experimental class all the six groups finished their

group work. In other classes one or two groups could not submit their work until the

end of the class. I could also observe that my experimental class did group work better

than the other classes. In other classes some groups were hesitating to work on the

writing and cooperation did not occur easily. I think it is because my intervention class

has been well trained through reflection every week.


Generally students gave positive answers on the reflection. Especially some active

students seem to be very satisfied with the role-play. But some other students answered

it was difficult. I talked with two boys after class who marked low scores on the checklist.

A boy who has low proficiency and little confidence answered it was too difficult to read

and memorize the sentences because there were difficult words in the script. So I think

this kind of activity can be challenging to low-level and shy students. I think preference

of activities really depends on the students’ strengths and personalities.


My six intervention lessons finished. I am not sure what to do after the intervention. But

I think I can do group work with a little more controlled activity for the low-level

students and some creative activity with a story in turn for the following lessons.

61

5. Findings and discussion

5.1. Introduction

My research question is “How can I use storybooks with moral issues to enhance students’

writing ability and perceptions about themselves and others?” To answer this question I used

children’s storybooks with moral issues, especially with topics about self-esteem and care for

others. To connect the stories to the language contents of the school textbook, I revised the

sentences. The stories I used for my intervention are Swimmy, Mr. Road, Mr. Hand, Leo the

Late Bloomer, Mixed-up Chameleon, The Empty Pot, You Are Special. Before reading, the

students had time to think about the topic of the lesson with a preview question. After reading

the stories, the students did creative writing with cooperative activities in their groups. To

promote cooperation among them, I changed the seat arrangement a little.

5.2. Students’ reflection on the lesson

At the last stage of each intervention, the students wrote reflection on the lesson. The

reflection questionnaire has five questions, four closed-ended questions and one open-ended

question. The students chose the score from 5 to 1 in the Likert scale according to the degree

of their agreement to the statement for the four closed-ended questions. And they write freely

about what they learned or anything about the lesson for the open-ended question. (See

Appendix 4) The questions are as follows:

1. I learned values useful for my life through this lesson.

2. I learned English well through this lesson.

3. I participated in the group work in this lesson.

4. I helped someone in my group in this lesson.

5. Write freely about what you learned or what you felt from this lesson.

Before discussing some findings from the reflection, I want to address the numbering

system of my school to help understand the charts and figures. The boy’s ID number begins

with 1 and proceeds 2, 3, 4, and so on. And the girl’s ID number begins with 51 and proceeds

52, 53, 54, and so on.

Generally speaking, it seems the interventions were successful. I have the results of

62

the students’ reflection for six intervention classes. Generally, the scores of the students’

answers increased. From the outcome in the <Table 1> below it could be said that for all the

questions from 1 to 4 the scores have increased through the intervention.

<Table 1> Scores of the reflection of 6 interventions

Intervention Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Total

1 3.75 3.46 3.75 3.79 14.16

2 3.96 3.96 4.28 3.88 16.08

3 3.83 3.92 4.38 3.79 15.28

4 4.08 4.08 4.38 3.83 16.38

5 4.24 3.96 4.36 4.40 16.96

6 4.32 4.04 4.28 4.24 16.88

<Figure 1> Mean score of the whole class

12.5

13

13.5

14

14.5

15

15.5

16

16.5

17

17.5

1 2 3 4 5 6

Tota

l Sco

re

Mean score of the whole class

Intervention

63

I compared the scores of intervention 1 and intervention 6. Among 25 students, 17

students’ scores increased, while 4 students’ scores did not change and 4 students’ scores

decreased. The graphs below show the results. I divided the class into three groups:

increasing group, unchanging group, and decreasing group.

<Figure 2> Scores of the increasing group

The students in the increasing group also wrote many positive remarks for Q5, the

open-ended question. The most frequently appearing answers are “It’s interesting.” The

second most frequent answer is about value. They answered they learned various kinds of

values through the lesson, such as honesty, cooperation, self-esteem, etc. Next is about group

work and English learning. They answered they liked group work and they learned English

better through the lessons. Among them two boys, the student No. 1 and 5, answered

negatively for Q1. They wrote, “It was boring.” But, their answer changed as the intervention

lessons went on. In my opinion, the change resulted from the type of the tasks. I used more

controlled activity in the first intervention, but later I used more creative activities. The

students seemed to be more enjoying creative activities.

0

5

10

15

20

25

1 3 4 5 7 8 9 11 12 13 14 51 52 53 54 56 57

Sco

re

Student No.

Increasing group

Invervention 1

Intervention 6

64

<Figure 3> Scores of the student No. 13 and 52

Above are the graphs of two interesting results. The student No. 13 began with the

score 14 and ended up with the score 20, the maximum score. He wrote in the open-ended

question of the first intervention, “I can’t read English.” He was always a quiet boy just

sitting and doing nothing during the classes. An interesting thing is he found his talent during

the lesson of week 6 when they were creating their own picture to describe. He was the

drawer of his group and he did a wonderful job. So, in the lesson of week when they were

writing the sentence pattern “You are good at …,” everyone in his group wrote for him, “You

are good at drawing.” He seemed to be happy about the fact that he did an excellent job and I

was also glad that he did something very hard in the English class.

The other student is a girl student, No. 52. The scores of her reflection continuously

increased and she also wrote some interesting comments on her reflections. She usually wrote

about values she learned in the lesson. The examples are as follows: I learned that even

though something looks difficult, we can do it in cooperation; I learned that what my friends

are good at; It was interesting. I am special.

Some other interesting answers include: I could build cooperative relationship with my

friends, and even with a little conflict, I could learn better about friendship; I learned what

strengths my friends have and I have; I could share my dreams with my friends. I found out

my friends’ dreams. There are more interesting and positive comments from the students. I am

very glad that my students felt the lessons were so interesting and useful.

0

5

10

15

20

1 2 3 4 5 6

Sco

res

Intervention

Student No. 13

14

16

18

20

22

1 2 3 4 5 6

Sco

res

Intervention

Student No. 52

65

<Figure 4> Scores of the unchanging group

Four students belong to the unchanging group. Although the scores did not change

between intervention 1 and 6, their scores increased and decreased a little bit through the

intervention. Different from the increasing group, their answers include some negative

remarks for the open-ended question. The student No. 10 wrote there were some conflicts in

his group and he felt difficult doing the role-play. The student No. 55 wrote for intervention 5

that the story was not interesting because she already knew the story. However, still there are

more positive answers for Q5 than negative answers among the students in the unchanging

group.

<Figure 5> Scores of the decreasing group

Invervention 1Intervention 60

10

20

10 55 59 60

Sco

re

Student No.

Unchanging group

Invervention 1

Intervention 6

0

10

20

30

2 6 15 58

Sco

re

Student No.

Decreasing group

Invervention 1

Intervention 6

66

Four students belong to the decreasing group, too. The gap of scores of the student No.

2, 15, and 58 is not big, and through the six interventions their scores are a little bit increasing

and decreasing. So it can be said the decrease is not significant with these three students.

However, the scores of the student No. 6 are decreasing gradually. This is the only student

whose scores are constantly decreasing. Below is the graph that shows the changes of his

scores.

<Figure 6> Scores of the student 6

Although his scores are decreasing he still generated generally positive answers for

the open-ended question. He wrote, “Because I did a group work, it was not difficult and

interesting. I feel like I approached one step closer to English. I didn’t know a single English

alphabet in the 5th

grade, but I learned a lot this time. I was very interested to learn about

future. I am glad that I am learning English. I think my group didn’t do a good job because of

me. I want to study English hard and become more proficient in English.” From the interview

I could understand the reason why his scores decreased. I used a more controlled activity for

the first intervention and the more and more creative activities gradually through the

intervention. But his English proficiency is low. So, I think the task level was challenging for

him. Still it is hopeful he showed positive attitudes towards English learning.

0

5

10

15

20

1 2 3 4 5 6

Sco

re

Student No. 6

Intervention

67

5.3. Survey on students’ perception

To examine how the students’ perception about themselves and others changed I used pre-

and post-survey. The survey questionnaire has ten closed-ended questions. Like the reflection

questions, the students were asked to choose the score from 5 to 1 in the Likert scale

according to the degree of their agreement to the statement for ten closed-ended questions.

(See Appendix 3) The questions are as follows:

1. I think I am a valuable person.

2. I think I have a good personality.

3. I can work well with other people.

4. I have a positive attitude toward myself.

5. I am satisfied with myself.

6. I have a lot of strengths.

7. I think I am a useful person.

8. I can make friends easily.

9. I help my family or friends well.

10. I want to help poor people when I see them.

I administered the pre-survey at the beginning of the intervention (April 3rd

) and the post-

survey at the end of the intervention (May 29th

). There is not a dramatic change of the

students’ perceptions, but the result shows that the total score of the post-survey slightly

increased. (See Table 2 for more information)

For all the questions there is a little increase and decrease. But for the question 1 and

7 a little more increase can be found. It is interesting because both the two questions are

about self-esteem. Question 1 is I think I am a valuable person, and question 7 is I think I am

a useful person. (See Figure 8) It can be implied that my intervention may have influenced

the student’s perception about themselves in a positive way. The story used in the last

intervention lesson was about self-esteem. It contains a strong message that every human

being, no matter how little he may look, is a precious creature. There is a probability that this

story may be a cause influence on the students’ perception about their own value. The result

68

of Q1 of the reflection also supports this probability. (See Table 1) The score for Q1 of the

reflection is constantly increasing as the intervention continues. The score for the sixth

intervention is the highest, when I used the story You Are Special which says the strong

message that every human being is precious on his own.

<Figure 7> Scores of pre- and post-survey on perceptions about themselves and others

It may be a hasty conclusion and there may be some other factors that have

influenced the students’ perception. For example, one of my students said that her present

situation of the relationship with her friends influenced her answer of the post-survey.

Another student also said the situation in her family affected her answer in a negative way.

She said she was in trouble with her mother who pushed her to study harder. Because of that

she was feeling stress. Likewise, there could have been many other factors that might have

influenced the results. In my opinion, these questions are too broad and general to measure

the change of the students’ perception in relationships with people in general just after six

forty-minute classes of intervention.

3.4

3.6

3.8

4

4.2

4.4

4.6

Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 Q6 Q7 Q8 Q9 Q10

Sco

re

Question

Pre- and post-survey

pre

post

69

70

5.4. Discussion

Sternberg (2007) suggests balance theory to integrate wisdom in education. In his theory he

introduces three concepts: (a) intrapersonal, (b) interpersonal, and (c) extrapersonal interests.

People should use these three kinds of interests in order to achieve a balance among (a)

adaptation to existing environment, (b) shaping of existing environment, and (c) selection of

new environments. In short, he summarizes wisdom as “not just about maximizing one’s own

or someone else’s self-interest, but also about balancing off various self-interests

(intrapersonal) with the interests of others (interpersonal) and of other aspects of the context

in which one lives (extrapersonal), such as one’s city or country or environment or religion”

(p. 145). He emphasizes education of values, and education of critical, creative, and practical

thinking in the service of common good as a desirable way of fostering wisdom.

In my action research I focused on the two aspects among the three of Sternberg’s

balance theory: intrapersonal and interpersonal interests. To enhance the students’ awareness

about these two aspects I used stories with themes of self-esteem and relationship with others

for the intervention lessons. The result from the student’s reflections provides supporting

outcomes of the effectiveness of adopting those stories in regard of Sternberg’s balance

theory. <Table 1> shows the scores for all four closed-ended questions increased.

<Table 1> Scores of the reflection of 6 interventions

Among them question 3 and 4 are related to the formation of the good relationship

with others. Question 3 is “I participated in the group work in this lesson” and question 4 is “I

helped someone in my group in this lesson.” Following is the graph for Q3 and Q4.

Intervention Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Total

1 3.75 3.46 3.75 3.79 14.16

2 3.96 3.96 4.28 3.88 16.08

3 3.83 3.92 4.38 3.79 15.28

4 4.08 4.08 4.38 3.83 16.38

5 4.24 3.96 4.36 4.40 16.96

6 4.32 4.04 4.28 4.24 16.88

71

<Figure 8> Scores of the reflection of Q3 and Q4

This graph indicates that the students have not only learned importance of the good

relationship with other students but they have also experienced the formation of the good

relationship with other students through the intervention classes. This, according to Sternberg,

can be stated that the intervention classes were a process of learning wisdom in terms of the

interpersonal aspect.

In addition to the stories with moral issues, I also used the structure of cooperative

learning for the students’ group work with the aim of enhancing the positive relationship

among them. Kagan (1998) suggests that schools should adopt cooperative learning in the

classrooms. He asserts that students today have less opportunity to experience the process of

the traditional socialization, which results in the lack of awareness of the importance of

cooperation with each other. According to him, the traditional competitive classes are not

appropriate for the students to get prepared to live successfully in the complicated society

where they are required to have highly interdependent social skills. The graph above shows

that the students’ participation in the group work, their efforts to help other people increased

through the intervention. It can be stated that adopting the structure of cooperative learning

was effective to enhance the positive relationship among the students.

3.4

3.6

3.8

4

4.2

4.4

4.6

1 2 3 4 5 6

Sco

re

Intervention

Reflections for Q3 and Q4

Q3

Q4

72

Sternberg (2007) emphasizes teaching values as a way of wisdom education. As I

wrote in my teaching philosophy, I agree with him and therefore used stories with values in

my action research. The values contained in the stories used in each intervention lesson are

cooperation, care for others, self-esteem, self-esteem, honesty, and self-esteem, respectively. I

monitored the students’ reactions to value learning by examining the answers to Q1 of the

reflection paper. Question 1 is “I learned values useful for my life though this lesson.” <Table

1> shows that their answers are scoring more and more through each intervention class.

Following is the graph for Q1.

<Figure 9> Scores of the reflection of Q1

According to this graph the students’ perception on value learning through the class is getting

more and more positive. It indicates that adopting stories with moral issues is effective for

value education.

Boud at al. (1985) emphasized the importance of reflection reporting the reactions of

the participants in a research, “This helped to raise their level of awareness, so that they came

to be more observant in recognizing situations which might lead them to deeper insights” (p.

59). My observation on the sixth intervention supports their claim. I found my experimental

3.4

3.5

3.6

3.7

3.8

3.9

4

4.1

4.2

4.3

4.4

1 2 3 4 5 6

Sco

re

Intervention

Reflections for Q1

Q1

73

class did better job in cooperation and the writing task (see p.58) and it can be regarded as the

effect of the reflection they did at the end of every intervention class. It can be assumed as the

students were answering the questions of the reflection about group work and cooperation,

they could internalize the behavioral directivity contained in the questionnaire, which means

reflection was effective for enhancing the students’ awareness of what they learned during the

classes.

6. Conclusion and limitations

My intervention was designed with three important elements: storybooks with moral values,

cooperative writing, and self-reflection. The results imply that these methods were effective

in influencing the students’ perception about themselves and others in a positive way. The

results of the students’ reflection indicate that the intervention influenced their answers for all

four closed-ended questions positively. This result explains that the intervention affected the

students’ perception about their learning values, learning English, their participation in the

group work, and cooperation by helping someone through the lesson. The answers for the

open-ended question also show that the students’ satisfaction with the lesson increased, they

learned values useful for their lives, experienced cooperation through group works, and made

stronger friendship with other students.

The result of the survey implies that the intervention affected the students’ perception

on themselves. It showed they acquired higher self-esteem than before the intervention.

However, the results for perceptions about others did not show meaningful difference before

and after the intervention. It is assumed it is because the questions are too general and there is

a high probability that other elements in the students’ real lives could influence the results.

That is the limitation of this research.

Therefore, I would like to close this action research report by suggesting that there

need to be more considerations and careful plans on the research design, especially with the

aspects of method and period, to examine the students’ perceptions about themselves and

others. To measure perception, a longer period may be needed and more specific questions

may be effective.

74

References

Boud, D., Kaogh, R., & Walker, D. (1985). Reflection: Turning Experience into Learning.

New York. Routledge.

Demi. (2002). The Empty Pot. Square Fish.

Carle, E. (1984). The Mixed-Up Chameleon. New York: Harper Trophy.

Hart, T. (2001). Teaching for wisdom. Encounter: Education for Meaning and Social Justice.

14(2), 3-160.

Gwon, J. (2006) Mr. Road, Mr. Hand. Kookminsuguan. [권정생. (2006) 길아저씨 손아저씨.

국민서관]

Kagan, S. (1998). Cooperative Learning. Seoul: Timothy Publishing House.

Kim, H., Chun, Y., Kim, W., Lee, E., Jung, C., Park, S., O, J., Kim, M., & Park, K. (2012).

Elementary School English 6. Seoul: YBM. [김혜림 외 8인. (2012). 초등학교영어6.

서울. ㈜와이비엠]

Kraus, R. (1971). Leo the Late Bloomer. Windmill Books.

Lionni, L. (1991). Swimmy. New York: DragonFly Books.

Lucado, M. (1997). You Are Special. Wheaton: Crossway Books.

Sternberg, R. J. (2007). Teaching for wisdom: what matters is not just what students know,

but how they use it. London Review of Education. 5(2), 143-158.

75

APPENDIX 1

영어 공부에 대한 설문 조사

6학년 ( )반 이름: ( )

※ 다음 문제를 읽고 해당되는 번호에 √표 하세요.

I. 영어 공부에 대한 생각

1. 영어 공부 하는 것을 좋아하나요?

① 매우 그렇다 ② 조금 그렇다 ③ 보통이다 ④ 그렇지 않다 ⑤ 전혀 그렇지 않다

2. 영어 공부를 할 때 자신감을 느끼나요?


3. 영어 공부를 좋아하는 또는 좋아하지 않는 이유를 쓰세요.

(좋음:

싫음: )

II. 영어 공부의 목적

4. 영어 공부를 하는 목적이 무엇이라고 생각하나요?

① 시험을 잘 치기 위해서 ② 대학을 잘 가기 위해서

③ 국제 사회에서 많은 일을 하기 위해서 ④ 훌륭하고 좋은 사람이 되기 위해서

5. 영어 공부가 자신의 생각과 인격이 성장하는데 도움이 된다고 생각하나요?


6. 영어 공부가 자신에 대한 긍정적인 생각을 갖게 하는데 도움이 되나요?


76

III. 영어 사교육

7. 학교에서 하는 영어 수업 외에 영어를 더 배우나요?

① 네 ② 아니오

8. 영어를 더 배운다면 어디에서 배우나요?

① 학원 ② 방과후 원어민영어교실 ③ 집에서 ④ 기타 ( )

9. 영어 사교육을 받는다면 일주일에 며칠 하나요?

① 1일 ② 2일 ③ 3일 ④ 4일 ⑤ 5일 이상

IV. 학교 영어 수업

10. 학교에서 하는 영어 수업이 재미있고 도움이 되나요?


11. 영어 수업이 재미있다면 그 이유를 쓰세요.

( )

12. 영어 수업이 재미없다면 그 이유를 쓰세요.

( )

13. 수업에 사용하는 교과서는 재미있나요?


14. 학교에서 사용하는 교과서에 대한 생각을 자유롭게 쓰세요.

( )

77

V. 영어 이야기책에 대한 생각

15. 영어로 쓰여진 이야기책을 읽어본 적이 있나요?

① 네 ② 아니요

16. 영어 이야기 책에 대한 자신의 생각을 자유롭게 쓰세요.

( )

17. 학교 수업 시간에 영어 이야기책을 읽으며 공부를 한다면 좋을 것이라 생각하나요?


18. 수업에서 영어 이야기책을 읽는다면 어떤 이야기를 읽고 싶은가요?

( )

VI. 좋아하는 활동

19. 지금까지 영어 수업 시간에 해 본 활동 중에서 좋았던 활동은 무엇인가요?

① 퀴즈 ② 노래와 챈트 ③ 게임 ④ 역할극 ⑤ 만들기 또는 그리기

20. 앞으로 영어 수업 시간에 해 보고 싶은 활동이나 자신이 좋아하는 공부 방식 등 영

어 수업에 대해 하고 싶은 말을 자유롭게 쓰세요.

(

)

감사합니다. ^^*

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APPENDIX 2

Diagnostic Assessment

Answer following questions in 3~4 sentences.

Situation 1> Have you ever felt envious toward other people because they have more or

they look better than you? How would you respond in this situation? (Self-esteem)

-

Situation 2> If you met a bully who looks very strong and rude, and your fiends were

afraid of him and behaved cowardly, what would you do? (Courage)

http://www.teapartytribune.com/2012/07/16/will-covetousness-destroy-america/envious-480x3401/

https://www.google.co.kr/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&docid=S5sNJJ0O3dEHYM&tbnid=KETrXNKE4fnxZM:&ved=0CAYQjRw&url=https://eweb.psdschools.org/students/bully/login.aspx&ei=5S4oU_ubFKKriAfYooG4Bw&psig=AFQjCNEs74DmidA8QOPkfHKvKdhBE7aigA&ust=1395228488974015

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Situation 3> If you meet a friend in need, and you have what he/she wants, how would

you respond? (Generosity)

Situation 4> Write three things you are proud of about yourself. (Self-esteem)

Situation 5> Imagine! One day a new student came to your class. He looks very different

from you and your classmates. His skin color is different. Sometimes he speaks a strange

language. Your classmates do not want to make friends with him. What would you do in

this situation? (Generosity, Tolerance)

http://www.google.co.kr/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&docid=i2orkDbJAUSWdM&tbnid=6mcCRVETWGLgUM:&ved=0CAYQjRw&url=http://jehanara.wordpress.com/2009/05/13/psha-launches-relief-drive-for-idps-help-us-help-them/&ei=vzAoU_elEOeeiAe4pICABQ&psig=AFQjCNGXKXMDqoKJFFWKfnVcWuqnglNrQg&ust=1395229209092452

http://www.google.co.kr/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&docid=sxvhVNcjpTwhUM&tbnid=GpwYSrb5xF9xcM:&ved=0CAYQjRw&url=http://www.thebody.com/content/69948/what-are-hiv-community-members-most-proud-of.html&ei=8TEoU5iuK4PZigfM64GwBg&psig=AFQjCNHkKzXWjDc3CoqwaOCWK7w1SF1bMA&ust=1395229414314083

http://www.google.co.kr/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&docid=P0A7dSSwdIxVCM&tbnid=LbTTDj6PmSxYGM:&ved=0CAYQjRw&url=http://lifeasahuman.com/2010/parenting/attack-of-the-bitches/attachment/bully_girls_high_res/&ei=iS4oU9uDLuiOigfd1IG4CA&psig=AFQjCNEs74DmidA8QOPkfHKvKdhBE7aigA&ust=1395228488974015

80

Situation 6> Have you ever been criticized by other people for being no good for

anything? How would you overcome it? (Self-esteem)

Situation 7> Have you ever felt that you were treated unfairly and so become angry?

What would you do in this situation? (Self-control)

Situation 8> Which do you think is more important, the big or the little? Why do you think so? (Inner value)

http://www.google.co.kr/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&docid=d-sFFGDxxezW4M&tbnid=DA4ggBfNMKkK6M:&ved=0CAYQjRw&url=http://cutwallpapers.blogspot.com/2011/04/friends-big-and-small-dogs.html&ei=wUQpU56xDIWCiQfY14GoAQ&bvm=bv.62922401,d.dGI&psig=AFQjCNEjw5xkHo8nggNtaYbdB2r7dkAyfg&ust=1395299789636879

http://integratis.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Man-Explain-With-Friends.png

http://www.google.co.kr/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&docid=EfLzI88hbH9AjM&tbnid=R5IEbbfh5DERLM:&ved=0CAYQjRw&url=http://www.hark.com/collections/snrbgwyxkn-angry&ei=fSYpU8GqNOS4iQe3y4CABQ&bvm=bv.62922401,d.dGI&psig=AFQjCNGqFpne6Kq4wlZ0iiBX8-lU85MEzA&ust=1395291961254578

81

APPENDIX 3

Perceptions on myself and others

※ Mark the number corresponding to the degree you agree with the statement.

(5: Very strong … 1: Very weak)

1. I think I am a valuable person.

5 4 3 2 1

2. I think I have a good personality.

5 4 3 2 1

3. I can work well with other people.

5 4 3 2 1

4. I have a positive attitude toward myself.

5 4 3 2 1

5. I am satisfied with myself.

5 4 3 2 1

6. I have a lot of strengths.

5 4 3 2 1

7. I think I am a useful person.

5 4 3 2 1

8. I can make friends easily.

5 4 3 2 1

9. I help my family or friends well.

5 4 3 2 1

10. I want to help poor people when I see them.

5 4 3 2 1

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APPENDIX 4

Grade 6, Class ( ), Name ( )

Reflection

(오늘 수업을 되돌아보아요)

※ 다음 물음에 자신에게 가장 가깝다고 생각되는 답에 ○표 하세요.

(5: 매우 그렇다, 4: 그렇다, 3: 보통이다, 2: 그렇지 않다, 1: 전혀 그렇지 않다)

1. 나는 이번 수업을 통해 삶에 도움이 되는 가치관을 배웠다.

5 4 3 2 1

2. 나는 이번 수업을 통해 영어를 잘 배웠다.

5 4 3 2 1

3. 나는 이번 수업에서 모둠활동에 열심히 참여하였다.

5 4 3 2 1

4. 나는 이번 수업에서 우리 모둠의 누군가를 도와주었다.

5 4 3 2 1

5. 오늘 수업에서 배운 것, 수업에 대한 소감을 자유롭게 써보세요.

83

APPENDIX 5

84

85

86

87

APPENDIX 6

Week 5 First Intervention

88

Week 6. Second intervention

89

Week 7 Third Intervention

90

Week 8 Fourth Intervention

91

Week 9 Fifth Intervention

92

Week 10 Sixth Intervention

n

93

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Epilogue

Here I am. I am standing at the end of my first adventure of seeking wisdom.

This is the end of the practicum and also the end of the whole TESOL program. It

has been a very meaningful time for me. I am very glad that I found some

valuable treasure through this adventure. I could get some successful results from

my action research. I could find that my students like English class and are

waiting for it with expectations. Some students ask me, “Why don’t you do the

special classes these days?” “When do we have the special lesson again?” I am

very happy when I hear these questions.

But I know this is not the end but the beginning of another adventure of

seeking for wisdom. I have a plan for the next semester. I will open a special

program on Saturday with storybooks and writing activities. I know I have to find

more materials and ways to implement teaching values in classes. It may be a

long and difficult way to go. But it is a way worth to take and a way that

someone should take.

I thank God for guiding me this way so far. I also thank all the professors

in SMU TESOL, especially Dr. Rozells for helping me find a wonderful treasure. I

believe this adventure will be a firm base for my future career.

Documents

English Learning A Way of Seeking Wisdom