A STUDY OF SOME FACTORS INVOLVED IN SPELLING ERRORS AMONG SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY
Spelling is a difficult skill to master, especially in languages like English and French, where the autography differs from the way words are spelled. Beginning learners (children) suffer greatly from learning disabilities. This researcher’s goal is to identify some of the factors that contribute to spelling errors in some of Benin City’s secondary schools in the Ikpoba Okha Local Government Area.
1.2 THE PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
Human society communicates in both oral and written forms. Many people nowadays are very conscious of their spoken and written English, especially in parts of the world where English is the primary means of communication. Oral communication has greatly improved with the use of modern media such as telephones, tapes, phonograms (record players), and films for information transfer.
This modern trend, which can withstand written forms, is important in today’s social life. Some good examples of information transitions are everyday news/network on radio and television, world conference minutes, government announcements on radio and television, and examination answers, which rely heavily on oral and written communication. It is critical that words used for communication be correctly spelled because correct spelling motivates readers while poor spelling irritates them.
As a result, this researcher attempted to investigate some of the factors that are responsible for spelling mistakes made by some senior secondary school students in order to recommend ways to correct these errors that are overwhelming these students.
Because we were colonized by the British, English is now our secondary language (L2) of communication, and some Nigerian students who are learning English face difficulties in harmonizing or producing the elements of her mother tongue language, which is her first language, because each language has its own number of units of sound (phonemics), and two languages have an equal number of phonemics.
This shows that when learning a new language, the student is bound to encounter phonemics that are different from the ones she is already familiar with. Obviously, this will result in spelling problems, and it is these types of spelling problems, as well as some similar other ones, that the researcher wishes to investigate in order to save the situation because too much work has not been done by people to determine how to correct these types of spelling mistakes.
Furthermore, there has been the belief that mother tongue language is the best for each tribe’s indigenous people, and as a result, indigenous language learning begins very early in a child’s life. Secondary adults occasionally communicate with children in their native tongue, which helps them master their first language.
As a result, there is a problem with the effect of the mother tongue on English pronunciation, spelling, sentence structure, and word usage. An analysis of these spelling mistakes made by students on a good function for this subject and the analysis of these spelling mistakes made by students and the remedy suggested are ways of assisting English teachers in eliminating their students’ spelling problems.
1.3 QUESTIONS FOR RESEARCH
1. Does a lack of qualified personnel and facilities contribute to poor reading habits in secondary school students?
2. Is a lack of motivation for good reading habits the cause of a poor background?
3. Is there a high rate of failure in various exams as a result of poor reading habits?
4. Is a lack of experience and play materials a factor in poor reading habits?
5. Are spelling problems/mistakes caused by the phonetics of words?
LIMITATION OF THE STUDY
This researcher is a report on some factors that are responsible for spelling mistakes discovered in dictation exercises given to senior secondary school students from eight selected secondary schools in Ikpoba Okha Local Government Area in Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria.
This research does not seek to investigate errors such as pidgin English, factors that contribute to a child’s poor upbringing, or the impact of socioeconomic background on students. However, the emphasis is squarely on words that are frequently misspelled and the reasons for such errors.
TERMS ARE DEFINED IN STEP 1.5
Oral English: Spoken English includes language communication skills as well as the organs of speech and hearing.
Phoneme: A phoneme is a unit of sound work.
This is an English transcription symbol for phonetic.
Spelling is the manner in which spoken words are presented and pronounced.
Spelling is the representation of a sound by letters that approximate or represent the sound.
L1: Students’ native language
L2: The student’s second foreign language.
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A STUDY OF SOME FACTORS INVOLVED IN SPELLING ERRORS AMONG SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS