COMPARISON OF THE LEVEL
OF PERFORMANCE OF SECONDARY SCHOOL PUPILS IN GRAMMAR
ABSTRACT
It is anticipated that pupils level of performance
in English language is less due to their lack of knowledge in grammar. The
purpose of this study is to investigate the level of performance of secondary school children in SNDPHSS
Edappariyaram. The study examines a comparison of level of performance in grammar
especially in passive voice.
INTRODUCTION
English is the most widely spoken language in the
world and it stands out as the most popular and influential on earth. It is
being spoken almost all over the world and has gained a prominent place in the
minds of hearts of people especially even the rural students want to learn the
second language by any chance. Even though it is a second and alien language,
many parents want their children to learn English for which they are ready to
spend any amount of physical labour and financial assistance.
Grammar is defined as total
mechanism of a language that helps to communicate correctly and appropriately. Each
language has its own rules, which the native speaker learns inductively. In Indian
context, second language learners have little exposure to English and a rare
opportunity to use the language. It is only through the textbook and teacher
that they get the exposure to it. Therefore, grammar has been taught
inductively and deductively.
Inductive
approach is one way of teaching grammar in which the examples are given to the
students. Out of the examples, the rules are induced. This is known as
inductive approach. In deductive approach, the students are taught the rules of
grammar and the students are expected to apply those rules while learning
sentences.
NEED
OF THE PROJECT
Now a day, in the school curriculum, teaching of
grammar is not given much importance. They have to use correct grammar in
writing. If they don’t know grammar, their writing will be imperfect. The
investigator wanted to know the level of performance of the pupils in the area
of grammar and to compare their level of performance of secondary level pupils.
STATEMENT
OF THE PROBLEM
The present study
focuses on the effectiveness of teaching the rules of passive voice to the
pupils. This study is entitled as ‘COMPARISON OF THE LEVEL OF PERFORMANCE OF
SECONDARY SCHOOL PUPILS IN GRAMMAR’
OBJECTIVES
OF THE STUDY
The present study is based on certain
objectives. They are;
·
To find out the level of performance of
the VIII and IX standard students in the case of English grammar, especially in
using the passive voices.
·
To compare the level of proficiency
among VIII and IX standard students.
HYPOTHESIS
·
There should be difference among both
VIII and IX standard students on the basis of using passive voice.
·
The level of performance should be
varied at each stage, and the IX students are mo re proficient than VIII
standard students.
LIMITATIONS
Testing the level of performance among secondary
school pupils faced some limitations. Some of them are stated below;
·
There are certain common rules for
converting the active voices in to passive voices. Most of the rules were not
known to pupils.
·
The investigator would not give any
further instructions because of the time limit.
·
Most of the pupils were not aware of the
passive voices.
·
The pupils failed to use the correct
tenses.
METHEDOLOGY
METHODS
OF THE STUDY
After
a detailed study about certain sentences, the investigator conducted a test
based on converting of active sentenceinto passive sentence for both VIII and
IX standard students. The test items included various sentences with different
meaning and form. The investigator prepared a questionnaire in which there were
10 questions was formed on the basis of the knowledge of the secondary school
students. The question paper itself contained space for writing the answers.
Most of the questions were based on their textbooks. The pupils were asked to
write the answers according to their knowledge. At first, the investigator
rendered the questionnaire for VIII standard students. After testing them the
investigator went to IX standard and distributed the same questionnaire for
them. Their condition was not as exception like those VIII standard students.
There were 15 respondents in VIII
standard and 31 respondentsin IX standard. The investigator distributed the
same questionnaires for both the classes in order to evaluate their level of
performance. So, that’s why the investigator planned to give passive voice, as
most of the students failed to give correct answers by converting the active
sentence in to passive sentence.
PASSIVE
VOICE
·
Passive voice is used when the focus is
on the action. It is not important or not known, however, who or what is
performing the action.
Eg: A letter was written.
The focus is on the fact that a
letter was written. We don’t know however who wrote it.
·
Sometimes a statement in passive is more
polite than active voice, as the following example shows;
Eg: a vase was broken.
Here, the focus is on the fact that a vase was
broken, but we don’t blame anyone.
FORM
OF PASSIVE VOICE:
When rewriting active sentences in
passive voice,
·
The object of the active sentence
becomes the subject of the passive sentence.
·
The form of the verb is the appropriate
form of to be + the past participle.
·
The subject of the active sentence
becomes the object of the passive sentence.
DATA
COLLECTION
Data collection is the process of gathering and
measuring information on variables of interest, in an established, systematic
fashion that enables one to answer research questions, test hypothesis and
evaluate outcomes.
SCORE SHEET
VIII STANDARD
STUDENTS
No
|
Name
|
Score
|
1
|
Renjith
|
0
|
2
|
Subash
|
0
|
3
|
Ahosh Sajeev
|
0
|
4
|
Sreela S
|
2
|
5
|
Abhay Suni
|
0
|
6
|
Midhun M K
|
0
|
7
|
Abhijith T R
|
0
|
8
|
Sreelekshmi S
|
0
|
9
|
Prajith
|
0
|
10
|
Sangeetha
|
0
|
11
|
Anila Anil
|
0
|
12
|
Abhinav V
|
1
|
13
|
Rino Mathew
|
0
|
14
|
Shahina
|
1
|
IX STANDARD STUDENTS:
No
|
Name
|
Score
|
1
|
Kiran K
|
5
|
2
|
Anoop N
|
0
|
3
|
Akash T R
|
4
|
4
|
Vysakh Nair
|
5
|
5
|
Nived Krishna
|
5
|
6
|
Akhil C R
|
2
|
7
|
Aswini S
|
1
|
8
|
Jolly Jose
|
1
|
9
|
Akash A
|
3
|
10
|
Kripa Mariam
|
0
|
11
|
Keerthana P
|
0
|
12
|
Amal T O
|
0
|
13
|
Sruti Raj
|
0
|
14
|
Athira Vijayan
|
0
|
15
|
Gopika Raj
|
0
|
16
|
Amala P
|
0
|
17
|
Anusha S
|
0
|
18
|
Richi
|
0
|
19
|
Aparna S
|
0
|
20
|
Nandhu S
|
0
|
21
|
Amal S
|
0
|
22
|
Ajay
|
0
|
23
|
Richu P
|
0
|
24
|
Reshma O
|
0
|
25
|
Adhina V
|
1
|
26
|
Akash A
|
1
|
27
|
Akash V
|
1
|
28
|
Anjana T
|
3
|
29
|
Aradhana
|
1
|
30
|
Kavya Rajan
|
2
|
31
|
Sita
|
3
|
ANALYSIS
AND INTERPRETATION
The investigator went to SNDPHS Edappariyaram with
sample questionnaires. It is revealed from the study that most of the children
would not have any grammatical rules. For testing them the investigator
selected converting the active voice into passive voice. There were 10
questions. The investigator’s aim was to make a comparative study among the
secondary level students on the bases of certain grammatical rules. So, the
investigator selected VIII, IX students and distributed forty-seven
questionnaires to students.
There
were fifteen respondents in VIII standard. Ten students got zero marks, only
one student got three mark, and three pupils got only one mark. Out of
thirty-one students in IX standard, sixteen students got zero marks. Twelve
students got marks ranging from two to three. Four students got highest mark as
five.
It
is revealed from the study that majority of the pupils from VIII standard would
not know any idea about grammatical rules. The IX standard is not an exception,
but while making comparison, half of the students correctly answered than that
of VIII standard students.
CONCLUSION
The
pupils imbibe their mother tongue as it is a necessity to satisfy their basic
needs. They learn it unconsciously with their continuous practice. But in the
case of a foreign tongue, pupils are forced to study the language for academic
performances. This makes them consider studying English as a burden. If the
pupils are given sufficient training in the four skills of listening, speaking,
reading and writing with the help of trained teachers, they will start to learn
it unconsciously.
Grammar
should be taught inductively. That is, rules must be learned only after
understanding the item through examples. The investigator identified that, as
the class level increases the level of using and handling English would be
easier. The teachers should train their students. Along with other items of
teaching, it will be better if the teachers give practice to pupils in the use
of grammatical items.
REFERENCES
