Improving the Spelling Skills of Grade Four Pupils in Tulay Elementary School through Word Recognition

Abstract

INTRODUCTION

Spelling is an important skill which pupils must acquire before they could excel in speaking, listening, reading, and writing. Spelling is an important part of literacy because much of learning deals with written literacy tasks. In the field of literacy, the ability to spell is mostly used as a benchmark for whether our educational systems are failing or not. The undertaking of this research was done in accordance with one of the anticipated pupil aspirations-that every child can obtain bilingual proficiency allowing them to work in either a Filipino or English language environment upon leaving school. Proficiency is included in the mastery of language, for information and interpersonal purposes.

METHODS

There were two groups of respondents in the study; composed of 20 Grade IV-1 pupils and teachers teaching English in Tulay Elementary School, Ibaan District, Division of Batangas. The pre-test, post-test, and survey questionnaire were the major instruments used in gathering the data needed. The study used two sets of exams, pre-and post-tests, and a set of questionnaires intended for teachers. The teachers' questionnaire was divided into two parts: Part I was about the respondents' perceptions of difficulties pupils meet in spelling correctly. Part II was the perception of respondents regarding the causes of pupils' inability to spell words properly.

RESULTS

Forty-five (45) Grade IV-1 pupils were given a pre-test to find out the ability to spell 1-3 syllable words in English. Twenty-five (25) of them were found to have an average performance while twenty presented a very low performance level. The results of the pre-test made the researcher eager to conduct the action research to find out the difficulties pupils meet in writing the correct spelling of words, the causes of pupils' inability to properly spell words, and the significant difference of their pre-and post-test after remedial teaching. Results indicate that the performance level of the 20 Grade IV-1 increased/ changed from a “very low” performance to an “above average” performance level.

DISCUSSIONS

Teachers believe that a major cause of spelling difficulty is that "pupils can't spell unfamiliar words"-this statement having obtained the highest mean. Limited vocabulary and unfamiliarity were the biggest factors and cause of pupils' inability to spell words. This implies that the remedial teaching given to the pupils was of great help and was effective.