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

1.      http://www.weblearn.in/active- passive/ 22 November 2016.

2.      www.studyandexam.com/active-passive/ 23 November 2016.

3.      http://www.research.net/publication 23 November 2016