CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Introduction

Over the years, there have been many programs done in schools to help
increase the English language proficiency in Malaysia. Different
approaches were adapted from the various theories and researches done
in the past to improve the language performance among students in
Malaysia. Among some of the programs implemented in schools by
teachers are A word A day, English Week and Spell It Right where these
programs have the same aim which is to develop English language
awareness among students.
There have been a number of evaluation studies done to improve
the programs that were implemented. Evaluation done on program is also
seen as a part of a conducting a research where it involves the process of
investigating the success or failure of a program. A program evaluation
however is not set out to uncover theory or test a theory like the usual
research study but it is more to improving the program itself and whether
the program has reach what it was meant to achieve (Royse, Thyer and
Padgett, 2010). Evaluation and assessment in education have become an
important part that educators need to understand more about in order for
them to be able to assess themselves on test administered or programs
implemented in a classroom or school.

1.2 Problem statement

Students achievements in SPM English paper have been a concern among

language teachers as students are not aware of the marking scheme and
answering techniques for their paper. Therefore this kind of program was
designed to expose students with the right information for them to be fully
prepared for Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) 1119 paper. This concern has
caused stakeholders to think of beneficial programs such as the Silk Road
 that was aimed to improve and to help students to excel in their English
papers.

1.3 Aim of study

The aim of this research study was to assess the Silk Road Programme in
achieving its objective in which student will be equipped with SPM
answering techniques to help them score in their examination. The Silk
Road program was aiming to help potential students to strive for
excellence in their SPM examination. From this program, they were
exposed to SPM answering techniques that was presented by a well-known
SPM examiner in Sabah. Therefore it was hoped that this program will be
able to help the students personally and by their SPM examination can
help them to answer confidently.

1.4 Objective of study

The objective of the study is to evaluate the Silk Road Program using
Tylers Objective model. Tylers Objective model is an evaluation model
that measures students progress towards achieving the Silk Road Program
objectives. Result from this evaluation study will then give feedbacks to
the stakeholders on the program that they had implemented and
understand from the participants point of view on what aspects of the
program that can be improved on in the future if it is to be continued.

1.5 Research Framework

The research framework used in this research is Tylers Objective Model.

An evaluation on the program was done using this model to find out
whether the program implemented is effective in tackling the concerns
among English language teachers.
 Figure 1.1 Tylers Objective Model
This evaluation model was developed by Ralph Tyler in 1949 where it has
four stages which are:
i) Defining Appropriate Learning Objectives
ii) Establishing Useful Learning Experiences
iii) Organizing Learning Experiences to Have a Maximum
Cumulative
Effect
iv) Evaluating the Curriculum and Revising Those Aspects That
Did Not
Prove to be Effective

1.6 Research question

The purpose for this study is to evaluate the program where it measures
students progress towards achieving the programs objective. Therefore
the research question for this research study was:

1) What are the effects that can be seen on students achievement in

the

students SPM style examination scores?

1.7 Research hypothesis

The research hypothesis for this research study are :-

Null Hypothesis :
There is no significant difference in the mean of the SPM style examination
scores before and after Silk Road Programme in the group.

Research Hypothesis :
There is a significance difference in the mean of the SPM style
examination scores before and after Silk road Programme in the group.

1.7 Conclusion

The whole chapter have discussed this research study which was an
evaluation of the Silk Road Program using Tylers Objective Model. The
research question and research objectives guided the whole process of
evaluating the Silk Road Program whether it has managed to achieve its
objective as suggested in the earlier planning and after the
implementation.
 CHAPTER 2

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Introduction

This chapter looked at Tylers Objective Model in detail and related past
literature reviews on evaluation done by other researcher using different
evaluation models.

2.2 Tylers Objective Model

Tylers objective model is a curriculum evaluation model developed in
1930s and 1940s by Ralph Tyler. In making sure that educational system
was working successfully, the outcomes of education was measured. This
model became the tool used to measure students performance and
helped to evaluate whether teaching was effective (Kirk, Nauright,
Hanrahan, Macdonald and Jobling, 1996).

According to Kirk, Nauright, Hanrahan, Macdonald and Jobling (1996),

there are four questions involved in this model which are :
i) Defining Appropriate Learning Objectives
ii) Establishing Useful Learning Experiences
iii) Organizing Learning Experiences to Have a Maximum Cumulative
Effect
iv) Evaluating the Curriculum and Revising Those Aspects That Did Not
Prove to
be Effective
 Based on this four questions, the program or teaching was planned and
implemented. At the end of the implementation then an evaluation on the
whole program or teaching was done to find out whether the program
achieved its objective. Using this four questions, the Silk Road Program
was designed to help students who are facing the SPM examination and
score better.

2.3 Evaluating educational program using different models

There are other evaluation models that can be used as a guideline in

evaluation programs. For Tylers Objective Model, it focused on the
whether the objective was achieved and therefore the program are said to
be effective. However other evaluation model such as the Context, Input,
Process and Product (CIPP) Model looks at evaluation at a whole new
different angle. An evaluation done Abdullah Coskun (2013) on the
effectiveness of English Language Teaching preparatory program in Turkey
was based on the CIPP evaluation model where the evaluation looked at
perceptions of different program dimensions. The content and process of
the program was evaluated to find out certain drawbacks that occurred
during the program. This evaluation is different to the evaluation done on
Silk Road program as it did not look at the content and the process of the
program but instead evaluation on the end product.

2.4 Conclusion
In conclusion, this chapter looks at Tylers Objective model and how it is
different compared to other evaluation model in evaluating programs. This
next chapter will be on the methodology used to do evaluation on the Silk
Road Program.
 CHAPTER 3

METHODOLOGY
3.1 Introduction

This chapter discussed about the methodology involved for this research
which included the research design used, the research procedure,
methods of data collection as well as the research instruments used to
collect the data necessary in order to answer the research questions
proposed in chapter 1. This chapter also looked at the validity and
reliability of the instruments used and the statistical data analysis that
was used.

3.2 Research Setting

Setting in a research refers to the population of the chosen sample by the

researcher. In this quantitative research, researcher will select a setting
and samples that can help understand the central phenomenon (Creswell,
2014). The setting for this research was based in in Pitas, Sabah. Pitas is
one of the district in Sabah where the population are mainly of the Rungus
and Sungai ethnic. According to the statistic of population and
demography that was last updated in year 2010, the total population in
Pitas are estimated to be 37 808 people. Based on the current statistic
 from the Academic Department in Pejabat Pendidikan Pitas (PPD), there
are six secondary schools in Pitas with the total number of students to be
4483 student altogether.

Out of the six schools, one school was chosen by the researcher to
be the population of the research. The school was Sekolah Menengah
Kebangsaan Bongkol with a total of 384 form one until form five students.
There were reasons as to why this specific population was chosen. One of
the reasons was because of the academic performance in this school that
have produced many previous top achievers among the six schools in
Pitas. Therefore, the researcher would like to investigate on the English
language performance among the students. Another reason for choosing
this setting was because the researcher found it easier to monitor the
participants of the research in this setting because of the location that was
accessible for the researcher.

3.3 Participants

The participants in this research were 30 secondary students. The

participants were seventeen years old with mixed proficiency in the
English language. This is most probably due to the status of the English
language as a foreign language as it is not a language that is widely used
in their community. The language that is commonly used in their daily
conversation is the Rungus language, the Malay language and the Bajau
language.

The participants were selected based on criteria a) available to

participate in this research study, b) had completed the consent form to
participate and c) all are taking SPM in the year 2015. For this research
study, there were 18 females and 12 males involved.

The participants were chosen based on probability sampling where

the researcher selected form five students in one of the secondary schools
in Pitas. Creswell (2014) mentioned that by using probability sampling, the
researcher can claim the sample is the representative and therefore can
make the generalization for the population involved. The researcher used
simple random sampling where only one school was selected from the
 population that can help the researcher to investigate in details the effects
of implementing the Silk Road Program towards student performance in
the English 1119 paper for SPM.

3.4 Research Design

This research was a quantitative type of research where it identifies a

research problem and how the variables affect one another. In a
quantitative research there are three different type of research design
namely the experimental research, correlational research and survey
research. This research study is a quasi-experimental design

3.5 Instruments

For this research, it uses quantitative instruments in collecting data. For a

quantitative research, there are a number of instruments that researcher
can choose to use in collecting their data. The instrument used can be
formed by the researcher himself or herself or it can be adapted from an
existing instrument (Creswell, 2014).

A pre test and post test was used as the main instrument to collect
data from the participants for this quantitative research. A detailed
explanation on the test was discussed in the next sub content.

3.5.1 Pre Test

The pre test was an SPM style examination where the formats of questions
were of the standards of SPM examination. It was divided into Paper 1 and
Paper 2 where for Paper 1 it has two sections which were the Directed
Writing and Continuous Writing. Meanwhile for paper 2, there were four
sections consisting of Rational Cloze, Information Transfer, Reading
Comprehension and Summary Writing and the last section will be
Literature Component. The total marks for both paper 1 and paper 2 is 155
marks. The pre test was taken by all 30 students before they were
involved in the Silk Road Program.

3.5.2 Silk Road Program

 The program was a one-day program held in SMK Bongkol, Pitas and the
English Panel invited Madam Audrey Koh to be the presenter for the Silk
Road Program. The presenter has taught English for five years and was
known to be an inspiring English teacher in her district. In the program,
the presenter exposed students to answering techniques as well as
teaching them how to score in every section. It started at 8 in the morning
and ended at 4.30 in the evening.

3.5.3 Post Test

The same SPM style examination test for the pre test was re-tested for
post test to compare the means of the two test to evaluate whether the
Silk Road Program has effects towards students achievement and whether
it has managed to achieve its objective. All 30 participants took the post
test two weeks after they joined the program.

3.6 Data collection procedure

The procedure of data collection and data analysis for an experimental

research design is shown in the table below.

Step 1 Selection participants.

Step 2 Gain permission/consent

Step 3 List different types of data

Step 4 Locate, modify and develop instruments

Step 5 Data collection for quasi-experimental design.

Table 3.1 : Steps in data collection

3.7 Data analysis method

For quantitative data, the data analysis processes are carried through
descriptive statistic and inferential statistic. Descriptive statistic describes
the characteristics of subjects in population using descriptive indices such
as mean, mode, frequency and percentage collected from the entire
population. Inferential statistic however describes the characteristics of
sample using statistical test such as t-test and ANOVA test as it involves
numerical data taken from selected sample (Chua, 2013).

This evaluation research analyzed the data using inferential

statistics where scores for the SPM style examination were keyed into
Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) and analyzed using a
Paired Sample T-Test to investigate whether the program is effective. A
comparison between the performance of the participants and whether the
objective was achieved was done as an evaluation on the Silk Road
program.

3.8 Validity of the research instrument

According to Creswell (2014), validity refers to the development of sound

evidence that the test interprets according to its proposed use. He also
mentioned that the focus of in doing validity is in using scores from the
instruments involved.

Therefore in any research study, it is important to ensure the

validity of the instruments. For this research study, the pre test and post
test are both using the same test which were retested on the group of
participants. By using the same test, the researcher was able to find if
there are any significance difference in the mean of the scores for before
program and after program was implemented.

3.9 Conclusion

As a conclusion to this chapter, we have looked at the research

methodology that will be used in this research. This quantitative research
design is using a quasi- experimental design where it looked at the data
 collected and analyzed using SPSS in finding the results that matches
regarding the effect of Silk Road Program in students academic
achievement in their SPM style examination. The setting and participants
as well as the research instruments that were used were also discussed in
details in this chapter. The data collection for this research was done in the
period of one month. This whole chapter will contribute significantly to the
continuation of the next chapter in this quantitative research.

CHAPTER 4

DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS

4.1 Introduction

This chapter discussed about the data analysis gathered from the research
instruments used in this study. The research instruments that were used to
answer the proposed research questions in chapter 1 of this research
study includes pre test and post test, and questionnaires. The data
analysis which was done by SPSS 17.0 was then discussed using both
inferential and descriptive statistics.

4.2 Presentation of findings

4.2.1 What are the effects that can be seen on students achievement in
the students SPM style examination scores?

The participants for this evaluation research study were required to

answer a pre test and post on SPM style examination as data to find out
the effects that can be seen on students achievement after the Silk Road
Program. The pre test was implemented first and then the post test after
the participants participated in the program. The scores for pre test and
post test was shown in table 4.1.
Table 4.1 Scores for pre test and post test
The results from their pre test and post test were analyzed in SPSS 17.0
using a T-Test statistical test where means for each pre test and post test
were compared. Since the sample were measured twice using the same
test, the paired sample t-test was used to compare the mean of the pre
test and the post test. the mean of both the tests were shown in table 4.2.

Table 4.2 Paired Sample Statistics

From the table above, it is shown that the mean score for the SPM style
examination after the program was exposed is higher than the mean score
of the SPM style examination before the program was exposed. The
differences in the mean score of the post test as compared to pre test
suggest that the Silk Road program does give a positive effect on
students achievement. Thus this also means, that the program achieved
its objective which is to improve the academic achievement among
students.

Table 4.3 Paired Samples Correlation

Table 4.4 Paired Sample Test
 Based on table 4.4, the result of Paired Sample Test (t = -5.211, df =29,
p<.05) shows that there is significant differences between the mean of the
pre-test and post-test. Thus, the null hypothesis was rejected. By this, it
means there is a significant difference in students academic achievement
in the SPM style examination after being exposed to Silk Road Program.

4.3 Reliability Statistics of Research Instrument

A reliability test was also tested on the research instrument which were
the pre test and post test. It was calculated using SPSS 17.0.

4.3.1 Test-Retest Reliability Method

The researcher had conducted the test-retest reliability test to check the
reliability of the data collected. The result for reliability test was presented
in the table shown.

Table 4.5 Test Retest Reliability Test

The reliability test showed a reliability value of .946. According to Chua

(2013), this value falls into the high reliability value therefore the
instrument used which were the pre test and post test are suitable to
obtain data.

17
4.4 Conclusion

This chapter discussed about the data analysis methods, the data
gathered and analyzed using SPSS 17.0 as well as the presentation of the
findings. The finding in this chapter was answering the research questions
proposed in chapter 1. The differences in the mean score of the post-test
as compared to pre-test suggest that the Silk Road program managed to
achieve its objective which was to expose student to SPM answering
techniques.

The result of Paired Sample Test (t = -5.211, df =29, p<.05) shows

that there is significant differences between the mean of the pre-test and
post-test. Thus, the null hypothesis was rejected. This means that there is
a significant difference in students academic achievement after being
exposed to Silk Road Program.

18
 CHAPTER 5

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

5.1 Introduction

From the first chapter, it was mentioned that this research study was an
evaluation study on the Silk Road program using Tylers Objective Model
and how the outcome of the program was compared to the objective of
the program itself. In this chapter, we will look at what can we learn from
the findings to make an overall evaluation using Tylers Objective Model on
the Silk Road Program.

5.2 Summary of study

This research study is a quasi-experimental research that looks at the

effect of Silk Road Prrogram towards students academic performance.
There were 30 form five students involved as participants in this study
where they were required to do a pre test and a post test on SPM style
examination. After the pre test, the participants were exposed to one day
answering SPM English techniques which were presented by a well-known
and experienced English teacher.

5.3 Discussion

The objective of the Silk Road programme was to improve the academic
performance
among form 5 students. With that, this programme was designed to
achieve a positive outcome on students performance and the content of

19
 the programme was catering to the students needs. The three stages of
Tylers Objective model which was objective, content and organisation had
been covered during the implementation of the programme itself. The last
stage was to evaluate the effectiveness of the programme by comparing
the performance and the objective.
By using the findings for the mean score difference, an evaluation
on the program using Tylers evaluation model was able to be made. It was
found that the Silk Road program managed to achieve its objective which
was to improve form 5 students academic achievement. Overall, the
finding corresponds with Tylers Objective Model where it measure
students progress towards achieving the objective of the program.
Programs like this can be implemented in schools to improve academic
performance.

5.5 Limitation of study

In any research, there are bound to have limitation during the
implementation of the research. For this research, the limitations will be
related to the designs used in this research. Only the before and after
program scores were used and it is possible that there were other program
involved in improving students academic performance.

Another limitations found by the researcher was the inadequate

data to support the findings as the research design only uses pre test and
post test. The feedback gained was not thoroughly focused on the
program where it only focuses on evaluating whether the objective was
achieved. Other aspects of the program such as the weaknesses and
strengths were not discussed in this study.

5.6 Conclusion

Therefore as a conclusion to this evaluation research, based on the

findings in this study, there is an effect of Silk Road Program on students
academic achievement which tells us that this program is beneficial to be
used by language teachers. Based on Tylers Objective model, the program
has achieved its objective and can be implemented again in the future
with further improvements on certain aspects. Evaluation like this can help

20
 improve the programs implemented in schools from time to time and in
the end of the day will help improve the English language performance
among students.
If the participants were in a larger scale, perhaps a more thorough
evaluation can be done as everyone who participated will be able to give
their own feedbacks and the evaluation can give the stakeholders more
information on which aspects of the program to be improved on and so on.
From the aim of this evaluation in evaluating whether the Silk Road
program managed to achieve its objective, the researcher came to a
conclusion that this program did achieve the intended product as
suggested from the implementation of program

References

Chua, Y.P. 2013. Mastering Research Statistics. Malaysia. McGraw-Hill

Education Malaysia

Cokun, A., 2013. An investigation of the effectiveness of the modular general

English

language teaching preparatory program at a Turkish university. South

African Journal

of Education, 33(3), pp.00-00.

Creswell, J.W. 2014. Educational Research: Planning, Conducting and

Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative Research. United Kingdom.

Pearson Education

Kirk,D., Nauright, J., Hanrahan, S., Macdonald, D. & Jobling, I. 1996. The
Sociocultural

Foundations of Human Movement. Australia. MacMillan Education.

Royse, D. , Thyre, B.A & Padgett, D.K.2010. Program Evaluation: An introduction

5th Ed.

21
 Canada. Wadsworth Cengage Learning

Appendix A :SPM Style examination

Paper 1

Section A : Directed Writing

[35 marks]

[Time suggested: 45 minutes]

A pen friend from another country is planning to come to Malaysia for a camping trip. Write
a letter to your friend and suggest a few types of places that are interesting in Malaysia.

Rakan pena anda dari negara lain bercadang untuk datang dan berkhemah di Malaysia.
Tulis sepucuk surat untuk mencadangkan beberapa tempat yang menarik sebagai tapak
perkhemahan di Malaysia.

Use the notes below to write your letter:

In forest reserves
- wild animals
- beautiful plants
- cool and green
On the beach
- swimming
- snorkelling, scuba-diving
- lots of local food
Trekking up hills and mountains

22
 - waterfalls
-beautiful scenery
- Orang Asli villages

When writing the informal letter, you must remember :

to use the appropriate address, salutation and closing

your friend is from another country
to include all the points given.
give two reason why Malaysia is the best for a camping trip.

Section B : Continuous Writing

[50 marks]

[Time suggested : One hour]

Write a composition of about 350 words on one of the following topics.

1 Describe a place you remember during your childhood.

2 If I have RM 10, 000,000.

3 Mobile phones are important for a teenagers safety. Discuss.

4 Write the story about a tourist beginning with:

As I stepped down from the plane, I

5 Write an essay on the proverb Dont judge a book by its cover.

23
Paper 2

Section A
[15 marks]
[Time suggested :25 minutes]
Questions 1 8

For each of the question, read the question first and then study the information given to find the best
answer. Then, circle the answer A, B, C or D.

24
25
26
 Questions 9 - 15

Read the passage below and choose the best answers.

Having landed a job in the fashion industry even before graduating, Liyana or Lyn as ___________(9)
friends call her, is a girl whose determination and goals in life are as vibrant as her clothes. She is not afraid to
______________(10) her bubbly persona through her choice of statement-making outfits, and she is doing a
spectacular job looking good inside and out. Is there any colour ____________ (11) girl can't pull off?

"I love playing with colours, especially when my outfit is too dark or dull - a bright necklace can always
___________ (12) that!" says Lyn.

We couldn't help but fall in love with every outfit change she made while sharing her tips on looking
dynamic without going over the top.

"I found my style flipping ____________ (13) magazines! Page after page of the latest trends really got me
____________ (14) about fashion. First impressions ____________ (15) not important, all of them are. You
got to look good and stay true to your personality at the same time; that way you will be able to pull off
anything!" she says.

9 A his 13 A over
B her B from
C him C through
D hers D beneath

10 A show off 14 A ridicule

B show up B passionate
C put off C irresistible
D put on D compassion

11 A this 15 A were
B that B was
C these C are
D those D is

12 A fixing
B fixed
C fixes
D fix

27
 Section B
[10 marks]
[Time suggested : 25 minutes]
Questions 16 - 25
Read the following text and answer the questions that follow.

The book, The Life of Mahatma Gandhi is written by Louis Fischer and has been hailed as
the best biography of Gandhi. It narrates the life of Gandhi who led the fight for Indias
independence from British rule and the many issues that led to his assassination by a Hindu
fanatic a few months after freedom was won.

The biography shows Gandhi as a great human being a leader who was gentle,
conscientious and honest. He stood for righteousness. Gandhi gave up all his desires and
sacrificed his life for the sake of the country. He went through many fasts, demonstrated
against colonial powers in a peaceful manner and went to jail so that his country could be
free.

Reading the book, reminds me of what Enstein said of Gandhi. Generations to come
will scarce believe that such a person ever walked in flash and blood upon this earth.

It is a real pleasure to read about Gandhi. This book is very relevant in todays world
of corruption and greed. It is a must-read for those interested in reading biographies.

Reviewed by Karen Grant

Title: 16 ______________________________________________________

Author: 17 ______________________________________________________

Type of book: 18 ______________________________________________________

Gandhis life: He fought agains the 19 _____________________________________

He was killed by a 20 _______________________________________
Qualities of Gandhi: 21 ______________________________________
22 ______________________________________________________

28
Gandhi sacrifice his life so that his country could be 23 ______________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
Einstein said that people will not believe that someone like Gandhi ever lived on 24 _______
__________________________________________________________________________
Reviewers opinion of the book:
25 _______________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________

Section C
[25 marks]
[Time suggested: 50 minutes]

29
30
31
32
 ANSWER SHEET FOR QUESTION 31

....................................................

33
 Section D
[20 marks]
[Time suggested: 35 minutes]

32 Read the following poem and answer the questions that follow.

The Living Photograph

My small grandmother is tall there,

Straight back, white, broderie anglaise shirt,
pleated skirt, flat shoes, grey bun,
a kind, old smile round her eyes.
Her big hand holds mine,
white hand in the black hand.
Her sharp blue eyes look her own death in the eye.
It was true, after all, that look.
My tall grandmother became small.
Her back round and hunched.
Her soup forgot to boil.
She went to the awful place grandmothers go.
Somewhere unknown, unthinkable
But there she is still,
In the photo with me at three,
The crinkled smile is still living, breathing.

Jackie Kay

a) Howoldwasthepersonawhenthephotographwastaken?
_______________________________________________________ [1mark]

b) Whichlineinthepoemtellsusthegrandmotherhasbecomeforgetful?
________________________________________________________ [1mark]

c) Giveonemoralvalueonecanlearnfromthepoem.
________________________________________________________ [1mark]

d) Sometimesanelderlymemberofthefamilyissenttoanursinghome.
Doyouagreewiththispractice?Provideyourreason.
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________ [2marks]

33. The following are the novels studied in the literature component in English Language.

34
 Dear Mr. Kilmer Anne Schraff
Sing To The Dawn Minfong Ho
Captain Nobody Dean Pitchford

Choose any one of the novels above and answer the question below.

Write about a character that you like from the novel.

Support your answer with close reference to the text. [15 marks]

35