Spelling Errors Among Nigerian Secondary Schools Students, Effects On Their Performance And Possible Remedies
CHAPTER ONE
OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY
The objectives of the study are;
- To ascertain the problem of spelling errors among Nigerian secondary school students and its effects on their general performance in English language
- To ascertain whether spelling necessary in the teaching and learning of English language
- To examine what is responsible for poor spelling among Nigerian secondary school student
- To ascertain the possible remedies can be establish to spelling errors
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
METHODS USED TO TEACH SPELLING
During this century different methods have been used to try to develop good spelling skills in children. Each method has had ‘ its supporters but there have been virtually no scientific research to discover if one method is more successful than any other. Although there are a number of spelling methods and programmes available, two approach have achieved a higher level of acceptability and popularity than the others. It is interesting to note that they are the opposites of each other. One method has been to encourage the development of spelling skills by concentrating on reading and the production of written work. The assumption is that children will learn to spell words as they read and write them. The other method has been to compile lists of words to be taught in formal spelling lessons. The lists could be derived from the mistakes made by individual children; by counting the number of times children of various ages try to write each word and then teaching the words at the appropriate age; or by grading words for difficulty and listing the easiest words first (Bennett, 1972; Horn, 1957; Peters, 1985). Three of the other methods that have been used to help children learn to spell include: programmes designed to improve visual memory (Peters, 1985); programmes designed to develop knowledge of phonemes (sounds) and graphemes (letters used to represent sounds) (W.A. ‘s Spell it Programme); and morphographic programms, which teach spelling by concentrating on the small units of meaning that combine to make words, for example unlikely = unlikely (Robinson & Hesse, 1981). Spelling is usually taught as an adjunct to reading and writing. Most of the commercially available teaching and testing material is designed for younger children and ceases to be of general use for children above Grade 7 (Larsen & Hammill, 1986). There seems to be an assumption that older children do not require continued instruction in spelling, although both Davis (1987) am Henderson (1980) have shown that teenagers benefit from continued class teaching. Additionally there is plenty of evidence available to show that some older children and adults require a great deal of remedial work (Barr, 1987; Bostock, 1989; Coggan & Foster, 1985).
POOR SPELLING
Before reviewing what research has shown about the process, I believe it is necessary to try to define what poor spelling is. The first point to note is that there are no generally accepted standards to be met by good spellers. In Western Australia the current K-7 English Language Syllabus indicates that “spelling and punctuation need to be learned in the process of reading and writing”. While the Primary English Syllabus (Spelling), which accompanies the My Word Book series advises teachers that “spelling ability is not necessarily revealed in a test based on a list of words, but in consistent accuracy of spelling in … written communication” (p. 1). (‘!his is an interesting observation as the programme followed in the books was based on lists of words derived from national and international sources, and not the child-‘ s own work. current thinking is that teaching is more successful when it is based on the child’s specific spelling needs {Peters, 1985; Bouffler, 1988}. The Ministry of Education no longer recoI1D11ends the use of the series but has not withdrawn the books from the publications list because of the continuing demand for them by schools. This appears to be evidence of the ministry’s desire not to impose a policy on schools and counters an opposite claim made by teachers in Chapter Six.) Within the secondary school system the Unit Curriculum English indicates that spelling is one of the process objectives to be considered when assessments are made. This curriculum was developed from recommendations in the 1984 Report of the Committee of Inquiry into Education in Western Australia that students should be able “to write standard English sentences with correct word choice and spelling” (p. 125). nte fact that spelling should be asses~ed in the context of written work has also been recognised by education authorities overseas. In England, for example, the National Curriculum in English requires that children should “spell correctly, in the course of their own writing, words which display patterns in English spelling” (p. 17). The patterns are identified as including simple monosyllabic words (see, car, man), common letter strings (:ing, -ion, =mous.) and words using prefixes and suffixes.
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
RESEARCH DESIGN
The researcher used descriptive research survey design in building up this project work the choice of this research design was considered appropriate because of its advantages of identifying attributes of a large population from a group of individuals. The design was suitable for the study as the study sought to spelling errors among Nigeria secondary school students effect on their performance as possible remedies
SOURCES OF DATA COLLECTION
Data were collected from two main sources namely:
- Primary source and
- Secondary source
Primary source: Personal interview was conducted with the staff of first bank of Nigeria plc.
Secondary source: The secondary formed the major theoretical part that was derived through critical review of library and also other related literature (material written by others researchers).
POPULATION OF THE STUDY
Population of a study is a group of persons or aggregate items, things the researcher is interested in getting information on spelling errors among Nigeria secondary school students effect on their performance as possible remedies. 200 staff of selected secondary schools in Ikeja Lagos state was selected randomly by the researcher as the population of the study.
CHAPTER FOUR
PRESENTATION ANALYSIS INTERPRETATION OF DATA
Introduction
Efforts will be made at this stage to present, analyze and interpret the data collected during the field survey. This presentation will be based on the responses from the completed questionnaires. The result of this exercise will be summarized in tabular forms for easy references and analysis. It will also show answers to questions relating to the research questions for this research study. The researcher employed simple percentage in the analysis.
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
Introduction
It is important to ascertain that the objective of this study was to ascertain spelling error among Nigeria secondary school students effect on their performance as possible remedies
In the preceding chapter, the relevant data collected for this study were presented, critically analyzed and appropriate interpretation given. In this chapter, certain recommendations made which in the opinion of the researcher will be of benefits in addressing the challenges of spelling error among Nigeria secondary school students effect on their performance as possible remedies
Summary
This study was on spelling error among Nigeria secondary school students effect on their performance as possible remedies. Three objectives were raised which included: To ascertain the problem of spelling errors among Nigerian secondary school students and its effects on their general performance in English language, to ascertain whether spelling necessary in the teaching and learning of English language, to examine what is responsible for poor spelling among Nigerian secondary school student, to ascertain the possible remedies can be establish to spelling errors. In line with these objectives, two research hypotheses were formulated and two null hypotheses were posited. The total population for the study is 200 staff of selected secondary schools in Ikeja, Lagos state. The researcher used questionnaires as the instrument for the data collection. Descriptive Survey research design was adopted for this study. A total of 133 respondents made principals, vice principals administration, senior staff and junior staff was used for the study. The data collected were presented in tables and analyzed using simple percentages and frequencies
Conclusion
This study has shown that students in the study area commit a great deal of errors which are identifiable and can be categorized in their essay writings and quite a lot of reasons are responsible for this problem. This problem of spelling errors has also contributed in a way to their poor performance in English language, especially in essay writing. Teachers and students alike seem not to be making concerted efforts in order to ameliorate the problem of spelling errors as it is seen from the responses of the respondents. Spelling as a skill requires intensive practice and efforts to be able to achieve competence in it. If appropriate measures are put in place therefore, the problem can be tackled.
Recommendation
It is therefore recommended that the teaching of spelling, especially at the secondary school level should be made a major aspect of the English language curriculum and there should be concerted effort at teaching it on weekly basis. Course book writers should also lay emphasis on spelling as a writing sub-skill in their books. Teachers should also be encouraged to collect corpus of their students’ writing in order to identify areas of spelling problems among their students in order to device better spelling teaching methods. Students also, should in deliberate practice that can help them improve on their spelling competence level. Appropriate textbooks should also be made available in school libraries for students and teachers to be able to use.
REFERENCES
- Abdulkareem, M. N. (2013). An Investigation Study of Academic Writing Problems Faced by Arab Postgraduate Students at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM). Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 3(9), 1552–1557.
- Al-Jabri, F. (2006). Common English spelling difficulties of Omani Learners. Sultanate Of Oman: Ministry of Education.
- Al-Jarf, R. (2005). The effects of listening comprehension and decoding skills on spelling achievement of EFL freshman students. ETAK (Journal of the English Language Teachers in Korea), 11, 2, 2005
- Al-Ta’ani, M. H. Al. (2006). An Investigation of Spelling Errors Found in Written Composition of Second and Third Secondary Students in the United Arab Emirates. Sudan University of science and Technology.
- Al-zuoud, K. M., & K. Kabilan, M. (2013). Investigating Jordanian EFL Students’ Spelling Errors at Tertiary Level. International Journal of Linguistics, 5(3), 164–176.
