Action Research Report

1. Title of the Research

“The Use of ICT to Teach Articles in Grade- Nine”
2. Introduction
The English language has its grammar governed by rules. Effective communication skill
is one of the mottos of teaching grammar in our context. In our country, since English is
learnt as a second language, English grammar is taught from the school level. The
teaching of English grammar is essential in order to make students able to construct well-
formed sentences. Learning English grammar develops students’ fluency, accuracy and
their confidence in writing and speaking as well. However, the teaching and learning of
English grammar involves so many problems that result in the grammatical errors in the
students, their hesitation to learn and speak, and boredom. Such grammatical errors in our
students range from subject-verb agreement, tense, articles, prepositions and many more.
I have been teaching English grammar for more than fifteen years. In my long experience
of teaching English grammar, I have come across many problems and difficulties.
Recently, I have been teaching English to the students of grade- Nine, at Shree Shyambal
Secondary School. There are 47 students. Among other things, I found much problem
with students in using articles appropriately. So, I decided to conduct an action research
to find out the possible causes and remedies to help students use articles appropriately.
This action research shows how the use of ICT and learner centered method in teaching
helps students overcome their problems in using articles.
3. Objectives of the Study
 Help students learn to use articles appropriately
 Grow motivation
 Increase learning achievement
4. Significance of the Study
This action research was significant enough to develop students’ confidence in using
articles appropriately. It helped them to learn with motivation and ultimately increase
their learning achievement.

5. Limitation of the Study

This action research is related to Grade- Nine, students of Shyambal Secondary School.
Since this was typically a classroom-based research dealing with a single problem, this
focused on the appropriate use of articles.

6. Methodology
This study was a classroom-based action research. I initiated this in class-Nine in my
school for a week from 2077/12/20 to 2077/12/27. The following methodologies were
used to conduct the research.
 Pre-test followed by a post-test
 Questionnaire
 Group discussion
 Interview

1
 Action Research Report

7. Identification of the problem

While I was teaching grammar and writing activities to my students in grade- nine in my
school, I witnessed so many problems of the students. Among them using appropriate
articles was really troublesome for them. They were found using articles randomly
without having any knowledge. This could result in the poor performance in the exam
too. So, I decided to conduct an action research so as to help them learn to use articles
appropriately.

8. Plan
After I identified and selected the problem, I made a plan for an action research to
develop students’ confidence and accuracy to use articles. First of all, I decided to look
for all the possible causes of the errors in using articles.
a. Causes of the problem
 Continuous use of traditional grammar translation and deductive method in teaching
grammar
 No use of ICT in teaching
 Low use of teaching materials
 Students irregularity
 No feedback after homework correction

 Lack of proper use of songs and rhymes

 Lower level of motivation
 Lack of pre-knowledge
 Use of Nepali language to teach grammar
 No family support etc.
After finding out the different problems, I decided to concentrate only on the first and
second problem mentioned above. Then, I consulted with the Head Teacher, my
colleagues and went through some books on methods of teaching English. Finally, I got
different techniques for teaching to help them use articles appropriately. I made the
following strategies.
 Use of ICT to teach grammar
 Presenting grammar using inductive method
Having decided on the techniques and strategies; I planned to implement them in the
classroom as the first cycle of my action from 2077/12/20 to 2077/12/27.
9. Intervening actions
 I used ICT to teach articles to my students. For this, first of all I prepared some slides on
PowerPoint. The slides followed the inductive way of teaching grammar. The attractive
slides with pictures and examples were quite motivating for the students. The slides were
followed further by an article quiz which provided them more opportunity to practise.
 I used inductive method to help them learn to use articles appropriately. When I used this
method, students got more chances to involve themselves in active learning. I hardly had

2
 Action Research Report

to dictate them any rules, rather they themselves enthusiastically involved in discovering
the rules. I presented varieties of examples to show the proper uses of articles in different
conditions and made them guess the rules. They were given much time for practice.
10.Observation
Action and observation went almost simultaneously. When the intervening strategies
were used, students became highly motivated and started to learn with greater enthusiasm.
Since the action started with the pre-test of the target group students on articles, it came to
an end with a post-test and interview with students about the overall action. The
achievement rate of the students satisfactorily improved. When interviewed, students also
said that they felt easy to learn and understand. They even demanded more quizzes on
other lessons, too. The table below shows the achievement level of students in the pre-test
and post-test.

Table-1

Pre-test Post-test
Students scoring 8- 10 1 7
Students scoring 6- 8 6 15
Students scoring 4- 6 15 14
Students scoring below 4 22 8
Absent students 3 3

11.Reflection
One of the most important things I learned from my study is that students have a vast
range of capacity to learn. We can help them learn by changing our methods and
techniques. I am satisfied with the outcomes of my action plan. I will find other problems
and do similar action in the days to come.

Thank you
ShreeKrishna Dahal
English Teacher- Secondary Level
Shree Shyambal Secondary School
Sandakpur Rural Municipality-2, Maimajhuwa, Ilam