This set of slides shows a conceptual framework of teaching essay writing. It focuses on how to use the 'TAFI' framework to help students understand and plan an essay.

1. English Unit
Kolej Matrikulasi Pahang
ACTION RESEARCH
2017
USING “TAFI” CONCEPT TO ENHANCE
STUDENTS’ UNDERSTANDING OF ESSAY QUESTIONS &
FULFILMENT OF WRITING TASKS
CHEONG LAI WAH
HAWA BINTI A. HAMID
NOOR FIRDAUS BINTI RAMLI @ YUSOF
NORHASLINA BINTI NORUDIN (Group leader)

2. ABSTRACT
ESSAY WRITING is a challenging task to students. Many
students tend to go off-focused when elaborating the main
points in body paragraphs of the essay. Therefore, this study
aims to examine the feasibility of using TAFI concept in order
to solve the students' essay writing problems. This action
research was carried out with 11 target students, who often
write out-of-focus. The study was conducted in two cycles.
TAFI box concept was used in the first cycle. Improvement was
made in the second cycle by incorporating a formulaic
concluding sentence in the body paragraphs of the essays. The
instruments used in this action research were TAFI box
template and 2 sets of questionnaires. The result from the
second cycle, and the findings of the questionnaires showed
that students have improved in writing body paragraphs of the
essay.

3. 1.0 INTRODUCTION
Kemmis & McTaggart (1988)
SUBJECT
English
TOPIC/LANGUAGE SKILL
Writing (extended essay writing)
SUB-TOPIC/SUB-SKILL
4.8 Use principles of critical thinking,
problem solving and technical
proficiency in the development of
expository and argument
ACTION RESEARCH MODEL
Kemmis & McTaggart (1988)

4. 2.0 REFLECTION ON PREVIOUS LESSONS
EVIDENCE
•Classroom observations
•Students’ answer scripts
•Informal discussions
Relevant
main point
Elaborated with
off tangent
example
Relevant
main point

5. 2.0 REFLECTION ON PREVIOUS LESSONS
STUDENTS’ WEAKNESSES
•Incomplete application of critical
thinking skills
•Going off at a tangent when trying to
elaborate the main points
CHALLENGES FACED BY LECTURERS
•Making students fully understand what the
essay question means exactly and how it
should be answered
•Emphasizing to the students that their ideas
are often not cogently linked to the given
angle or point of view on subject matter
stated in an essay question

6. 3.0 RESEARCH FOCUS/MAIN CONCERN
MP1
+
elaborations
MP2
+
elaborations
MP3
+
elaborations
The existing 5-paragraph model
is insufficient to show the
critical thinking process
involved in really
understanding and planning an
essay.
Cali & Bowen, 2003
The quality of writing improves when students are taught to
use five Features of Effective Writing (Focus, Organization,
Elaboration, Style & Conventions).
McKnight, 2012
Graphic organizers support students by enabling them to
literally see connection and relationships between facts,
information and terms.
Swales, 1982
In order to understand the essay question, it is useful to
analyze the question and to search for the Topic, Aspect,
Focus, and Instruction components.

7. 4.0 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
4.1 GENERAL OBJECTIVE
This study aims at using supplementary graphic
organizers, mark-up comments and formulaic
prompts to help students interpret essay questions
and fulfill the MUET writing tasks
4.2 SPECIFIC OBJECTIVE
To investigate the effectiveness of using TAFI
concept to ensure 6 out of 11 of the target
students are able to interpret and relate essay
questions correctly and fulfill writing tasks at one
sub-level higher than their previous level.

8. 5.0 TARGET GROUP
TUTORIAL GROUP
2M1S13
SAMPLING SIZE
11 target students
(4 males & 7 females)

9. 6.0 RESEARCH PLAN & IMPLEMENTATION
6.1 TYPES OF DATA
•Qualitative
o TAFI Box
o Essay body paragraphs
•Quantitative
o 2 sets of
questionnaires
6.2 INSTRUMENTATION
•Questionnaires
•TAFI Box templates
•Essay answer scripts
•Scoring guide

10. 6.0 RESEARCH PLAN & IMPLEMENTATION
• LEARNING & TEACHING
• LESSON
• INSTRUMENTS
• QUESTIONNAIRE 1
• TAFI BOX
• ESSAY BODY PARAGRAPH 1
• DATA ANALYSIS
• DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS
• LESSON (REPLANNED)
- TAFI BOX (IMPROVED VERSION)
- EMPHASIS ON ASPECT-FOCUS RELATIONSHIP IN TAFI
• USING IMPROVED TAFI BOX
• EMPHASIZING ASPECT-FOCUS RELATIONSHIP IN TAFI
• ADMINISTERING QUESTIONNAIRE 2
• DATA ANALYSIS
• TRIANGULATION OF ALL QUALITATIVE & QUANTITATIVE DATA
• DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS
• CONCLUSION
6.3 PROCESS
CYCLE
1
CYCLE
2
REFLECT
ACT &
OBSERVE
PLAN
REFLECT
ACT &
OBSERVE
PLAN
REFLECT

11. Women make better leaders than men. Do you agree? Discuss. Justify your
answer.
STUDENT’S WORK
Women
MP3: Critical thinking
MP1: Leadership quality
MP2: Being professional
ELABORATION: Women do not
have distinctive leadership quality
ELABORATION: Women have less
ability to strategize
ELABORATION: Women tend to
make decision emotionally
INSTRUCTION:
Discuss
TOPIC:
Better
leaders
FOCUS:
The characteristics
of a good leader
ASPECT:
How women cannot become
better leaders than men
Aspect Topic Focus Instruction

12. 7.0 QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS & FINDINGS
STUDENT’S ANSWER SCRIPT
Relevant MP
(main point)
Elaborated
with focused
example

13. 7.0 QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS & FINDINGS
Pre-TAFI
Post-TAFI

14. 7.0 QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS & FINDINGS
Pre-TAFI
Post-TAFI

15. 7.0 QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS & FINDINGS
Pre-TAFI
Post-TAFI

16. 7.0 QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS & FINDINGS
Pre-TAFI
Post-TAFI

17. 7.0 QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS & FINDINGS
STUDENT LEVEL OF TASK
FULFILLMENT (CYCLE 1)
LEVEL OF TASK
FULFILLMENT (CYCLE 2)
RESULTS
S1 Partial focus (mid-level) Off tangent Deteriorated
S2 Partial focus (low level) Partial focus (mid-level) Improved
S3 Focused Focused Remained the same
S4 Partial focus (low level) Partial focus (low level) Remained the same
S5 Partial focus (low level) Partial focus (low level) Remained the same
S6 Off tangent Partial focus (mid-level) Improved
S7 Partial focus (low level) Partial focus (mid-level) Improved
S8 Partial focus (low level) Partial focus (mid-level) Improved
S9 Partial focus (mid-level) Focused Improved
S10 Partial focus (low level) Focused Improved
S11 Partial focus (low level) Partial focus (low level) Remained the same

18. 7.0 QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS & FINDINGS
Remained
the same
(4 students)
Deteriorated
(1 student)
Improved
(6 students)

19. 8.0 CONCLUSION
From this action research, we can conclude that
we have achieved our research objective.
6 out of 11 of the target students were able to
interpret and relate essay questions correctly and
fulfill the writing tasks at one sub-level higher
than their previous level.
This shows that the TAFI concept helps
students to write their essays
effectively.

20. 8.0 BIBLIOGRAPHY
Cali, K. & Bowen, K. (2003). The Five Features of Effective Writing. Retrieved March 10,2017
from http://www.learnnc.org
EAP. (n.d.). Understanding the Essay Question. Retrieved September 18, 2016, from
https://writing-help/writing-essays/how-to-understand-the-essay-question
EWT. (n.d.). Writing: Common Problems. Retrieved Septem 18, 2016,
from http://www.essay-writing-tips.com/common-problems
Hyerle, D. (2004). Thinking Maps as a Transformational Language for Learning. Retrieved
March 16, 2014 from www.sagepub.com/upm-data/6577_hyerle_ch_1.pdf
Long, D. & Carlson, D. (2011). Mind the Map: How Thinking Maps Affect Student
Achievement. Networks; Vol. 13 (2). Retrieved March 16, 2014 from
http://journals.library.wisc.edu
McKnight, K. (2012). Use Graphic Organizers for Effective Learning. Retrieved March 10,
2017 from http://www.teachhub.com
Weis, L.A. (2011). The Effects of Thinking Maps on Students’ Higher Order Thinking Skills.
Retrieved March 16, 2014 from
http://www.thinkingfoundation.org/research/action_research.html