KWAME NKRUMAH UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

USING IMPROVISED LANGUAGE GAME TO IMPROVE THE SPELLING

SKILLS OF ST. GABRIEL BASIC TWO ‘B’

Latifa ZAKARIA

BACHERLOR OF EDUCATION

2023
KWAME NKRUMAH UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

USING IMPROVISED LANGUAGE GAME TO IMPROVE THE SPELLING

SKILLS OF ST. GABRIEL BASIC TWO ‘B’

Latifa ZAKARIA

9870419

A Project in the Tamale College of Education, Submitted to the

Facultyof Educational Studies in Partial Fulfilment of the

Requirements for the Award of Degree of

Bachelor of Education

July, 2023
 DECLARATION

Candidate’s Declaration

I hereby declared that this project work is the result of my original research

and that no part of it has been presented for another Degree in this College or

elsewhere.

Candidate’s Name: …………………………………………………………….

Signature: …………………………... Date: ………………………………

Supervisor’s Declaration

I hereby declare that the preparation and presentation of the project work were

supervised by the guidelines on supervision of project work laid down by the Kwame

Nkrumah University of Science and Technology.

Supervisor’s Name: …………………………………………………………………

Signature: ……………………………. Date: ……………………………...

iii
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

To Allah be my glory, for He has given me the strength and knowledge to carry

out this project to a successful end.

My sincere thanks go to my supervisor Mr. Mahama Fuseini for his tolerance,

patients and sincere guidance in supervising this project work.

My dearest gratitude also goes to my parents Mr. Adam Zakaria and Madam

Memuna Iddrisu who gave birth to me and brought me up to this stage. I say thank

you to them and that their contribution to my education cannot be measured.

iv
 DEDICATION

I wish to dedicate this piece of work to the Almighty Allah who has given me

the knowledge and enthusiasm to produce this work and to all those who supported

me throughout this project.

I also dedicate this project to my parents, parents Mr. Adam Zakaria and Mrs.

Memuna Iddrisu and to my entire family. This is also to my supervisor, Mr. Mahama

Fuseini, may Almighty Allah richly bless you and your family. Finally, to my mentor,

Madam Radiatu Abdulai for her care, love and guide throughout this study.

v
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION iii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iv

DEDICATION v

TABLE OF CONTENTS vi

LIST OF TABLES ix

ABSTRACT x

CHAPTER ONE 1

INTRODUCTION 1

Overview 1

Background of the Study 1

Statement of the Problem 4

Purpose of the Study 5

Research Questions 5

Significance of the Study 6

Delimitation of the Study 6

Limitation of the Study 6

Definition of terms 7

Organization of the Study 7

CHAPTER TWO 9

LITERATURE REVIEW 9

Introduction 9

Meaning of Spelling 9

vi
Causes of Students Spelling Difficulties 10

Strategies of Teaching Spellings 13

b. Modern techniques 14

Summary 16

CHAPTER THREE 17

METHODOLOGY 17

Introduction 17

Research Design 17

Population 17

Sample and Sampling techniques 18

Research Instruments 18

Test 18

Observation 19

Data Collection Procedure 19

Pre-Intervention 20

Intervention 20

Post-Intervention 26

Data Analysis Plan 26

CHAPTER FOUR 27

RESULTS, FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS 27

Introduction 27

Post-test Results 28

Observation 29

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CHAPTER FIVE 30

SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 30

Introduction 30

Summary 30

Conclusions 30

Recommendations 31

REFERENCES 32

APPENDICES 34

APPENDIX A 34

APPENDIX B 35

Sample Racing Game 35

viii
 LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: Sex of Students 27

Table 2: Age range of Students 27

Table 3: Results of Pre-Test 28

Table 4: Post - Test Results 29

ix
 ABSTRACT

This study was on using improvised language game to improve the spelling

skills of St. Gabriel basic two B. The study was action research. The population of the

study was 68 students of St. Gabriel basic two B. A total of 21 students were purposiv

ely sampled for the study. Test and observation were the main instruments for data col

lection. Data from the study were analyzed using frequency distribution tables and per

centages. It was observed that the students’ inability to spell was as a result of the inap

propriate techniques used in teaching spelling and also the less attention paid to teachi

ng spelling. The study revealed the importance of language games to improve the spel

ling abilities of students. Thus, the use of language games and appropriate teaching an

d learning activities improve students’ spelling abilities. Appropriate use of instruction

al methods and materials by teachers were recommended.

x
 CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Overview

This chapter comprises of the background of the study, statement to the problem,

purpose of the study and formulation of research questions which the study seeks to

address. It also takes a look at the significance of the study, delimitation and limitation

of the research. Finally, it ends with the organization of the study.

Background of the Study

English is a language spoken by the people of England. It is used as either at the

primary or secondary levels in many countries. The increasing importance of the

English language in Ghana is widely recognized. English according to the syllabus for

primary English issued by Ministry of Education (2007) is the official language of

government, administration, the learned professions, business and the media. It is

most widely used language for international communication and also the dominant

language of the internet. It is used as an official language in the country’s educational

institutions. Language and culture constitute a medium by which individuals can

communicate and be identified and distinguished from people of other cultures.

English language is very important to the Ghanaian child since it is the official

language of the people of Ghana and most countries in the world making it

internationally popular and widely used. It is an open secret that one can live and

study in almost any part of the world once he/she can read, write and speak English

1
well. That apart, English language is being used as a medium of instruction in our

schools, colleges and the universities. So, there is the need for the Ghanaian child to

study and learn English language. The child’s ability to use letters to form meaningful

words and sentences is basically essential in his/her academic life. It is basically true

that the use of letters to form correct words is very important in the study of English

language. Any expression of thought that is carried out wrongly verbally or in written

becomes meaningless. As a result of this assertion, correct spelling of words is very

paramount in the study of English language in our various schools, colleges and the

universities. So the writing of English language very well depends on one’s ability to

spell words in English language correctly.

As stated by Tsadidey (2002), English traditionally could be said to be the

language of the ‘Whiteman’ specifically it is the language that is native to England

and other countries. Today, it may not be completely correct for us to consider English

as a language that is native to only a few. Many countries and people all over the

world have in one way or the other compelled by circumstances to adopt English as a

national language. The kind of adoption cannot be without serious negative

consequences on the indigenous language or language of adopted nations. The effect

of such an adoption on the culture of a people is quite great since language and culture

cannot be separated. Much in the same way speaking of a native language greatly

influences and impacts the speaking of a second language.

Based on Tsadidey (2002) further mentioned that in Ghana, our first contact with

English language took place at the same time formal education was introduced by the

2
missionaries of English origin. English is the official language of administrative

machinery of law, of national press and above all it is the language used as a subject

on the timetable for first three years of formal education and there after becomes the

medium of instruction.

As explained by Tsadidey (2002), English of educated Ghanaians deviates from

the standard or received pronunciation (RP) for various reasons. Closely related to

this is the complexity due to irregularity of English language itself which makes it

difficult to learn it by applying rules. This situation makes life uncomfortable for us

and drives us into finding linguistic short-cuts which results in errors. It appears

therefore that some students in our basic schools today have serious challenges in all

aspects of the English Language and hence the need to find a lasting solution. This

study therefore seeks to investigate the situation of poor spelling of words among

basic two (2) B learners of St Gabriel primary school.

St Gabriel Primary school block B is located at choggu within the Sagnarigu

municipality, Tamale. The natives of the community occupation are mainly farming

and trading. The local dialect spoken by the people of the community is Dagbani. The

subject studied in the school are; Mathematics, English, Science, R.M.E, P.E, Our

World Our People, Creative Arts, History and French. The school currently has a total

population of 445 of which 202 are boys and 243 are girls, there are 11 professional

teachers, 7 males and 4 females. It was established in the year 1984 and was managed

by the reverence sisters. In 2014, the school was divided into two blocks (Block A and

B) and further divided into three blocks in 2019 (Block A, B and C) due to large

3
population/enrollment of learners to the school. St Gabriel primary “B" was formally

established on the 1st September, 2014. The school consists of two classrooms blocks

where each block has three classrooms making all to be six. St Gabriel primary school

also has football field, one office, one learning center, common market, toilet and

urinal pit for both boys and girls.

The people around St Gabriel comprise of Muslims and Christians with Muslims

being the dominant. The researcher in her English lesson at St Gabriel Primary School

basic two (2) ‘B’, observed that most of the learners could not spell simple words in

class and this compelled the researcher to investigate the difficulty in spelling and

provide appropriate remedy to the problem.

Statement of the Problem

Spelling has traditionally been considered to be a component of the English

among most educators and the public, spelling retains its traditional definition, the

knowledge and application of the conventional written representation of words in the

process of writing, and the instruction necessary to develop this knowledge

(Tempeton , p197 ) .

Pehas (2001) cites Diane Snowball and Fayel bolt that the only authentic purpose

for students to learn how to spell words in their conventional form is to assist others

read difficulty in re-reading their own writing if they did not develop some consistent

spelling of words, they are using. Learning how to spell is not memorizing words, and

spelling activities should not be isolated from class and individual writing needs.

During my out programme, I was assigned to teach three (3) subjects which is

4
Maths, Science and English in St Gabriel Primary Basic two (2) B. I observed my

mentor’s lesson for one week before I started teaching. From my observation I

realized most of the students had difficulty in spelling simple words which had made

reading very difficult for them. I went through their exercise books, I realized that

most of them performed poorly in dictation exercises. Graham et al (1997) cited in

Kathleen (2007) postulated that poor spelling is linked to overall essay quality, which

determines performance. With the intention of identifying a problem and providing a

remedy for my research work, I soon became interested in this phenomenon and

hence decided to investigate the causes of students’ spelling difficulties and use

appropriate activities to help them overcome their difficulty.

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of this study was to identify the causes of Basic two (2) learners of

St Gabriel Primary Block ‘B’ spelling difficulties and to find appropriate ways to

improve their spelling competence. Specifically, the study seeks to;

1. Find out the causes of pupils’ inability to spell words correctly.

2. Demonstrate the effect of improvised language games in improving students

spelling abilities.

Research Questions

The following questions were outlined to serve as a guide to the study.

1. What are the causes of Basic two (2) learners of St Gabriel Primary B spelling

difficulties?

2. How effective is the use of improvised language games in improving the

5
spelling abilities of students?

Significance of the Study

This study will be very relevant for the following reasons; the study will unveil

the causes of students’ spelling difficulties. The causes of their spelling difficulties are

identified; appropriate strategies can be put in place to solve the problem among

teachers, parents and the students themselves. It will also help teachers in particular to

adopt appropriate strategies and materials to help students to overcome their spelling

difficulties. Also, it will help develop students’ expressive language skills both orally

and in written. It will help the students to read fluently with meaning and this will go

a long way to help them in their academic and career progression.

Delimitation of the Study

The study was conducted in St Gabriel Primary B in Tamale Sagnarigu

Municipality. This is because the researcher was assigned to this school for teaching

practice and identified the problem in this school. Also, the study involved only Basic

two (2) learners because; this is where the problem was identified. It has also been

confined to only spelling because the researcher suspected that the students’ poor

performance in English could be as a result of their poor spelling abilities.

Limitation of the Study

One of the limitations the researcher encountered during the intervention was that

some of the pupils felt reluctant to spell words for fear of making mistakes or being

laughed at. Another limitation was that some of the pupils were truant and were not

6
present in school throughout the period of intervention and this affected the results of

the study.

Definition of terms

Spelling: is the writing of one or more words with letters and diacritics. In

addition, the term often, but not always, means an accepted standard spelling or the

process of naming the letters.

Improvised: Improvised is to compose and perform or deliver without previous

preparation.

Language: Language is the principal method of human community, consisting of

words used in a structured and conventional way and conveyed by speech, writing or

gesture.

Game: A game is a structured form of play, usually undertaken for entertainment

or fun and sometimes used as an educational tool.

Improvised game: Improvised game are activities designed around participants

acting or role - playing a scene spontaneously and without a script.

Primary school: A school usually including the first three grades of elementary

school but sometimes also including kindergarten.

Organization of the Study

The study was organized in five chapters. The first chapter considered the

background of the study, statement of the problem, the purpose of the study, research

questions, significance of the study, delimitations and limitations of the study. Chapter

two dealt with review of related literature. Chapter three covered methodology

7
comprising research design, population, sample and sample selection, research

instrument, data collection procedure and data analysis procedure. Chapter four

considered the presentation of data and discussion of findings. The last chapter five

highlighted the summary, conclusions drawn from the study and the recommendations

based on the findings of the study.

8
 CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

Introduction

This chapter of the research work basically involved discussion of previous

researches that have been done about this phenomenon and other relevant literature

that help to understand the various parts of the study better. It will focus on the

following:

1. Meaning of spelling

2. Causes of students spelling difficulties

3. Strategies of teaching spellings

Meaning of Spelling

The World Encyclopedia (1998), states that, spelling is the way we combine

letters to write words. Learning to spell correctly is part of learning a language. The

English language has only twenty-six (26) letters. But the several hundred thousand

words of the English language can be spelt with these twenty-six letters. Spelling

Coleman (2005) is forming words with the letters in the correct order. Faye (2005)

also defined spelling as the ability to spell that is the correct way of writing a word.

Hornsby (2005), spelling is defined as the act of forming words correctly from

individual letters. The English language alphabet has twenty-six letters that one can

use to form over thousands of words. It is therefore not the matter of a person being

educated on word spelling but the ability of the person to use spelling to enable him or

her communicate his or her thought in writing for other persons to quickly and easily

9
understand what he or she wants to put across. Leaney (2005), gives the definition of

spelling as ‘the ability to form words by writing or naming the letters in order.’ Lan

(1970), emphasizes that to spell means to name all the letters of a word, divide the

letters into distinct syllables and then join them together in order to read and

pronounce them rightly. The definitions so far given point to the fact that, spelling is

the act of putting together any of the twenty-six letters of the alphabets into

meaningful order to make a word. Spelling can therefore be explained as the ability to

put together the acceptable letters to form a word or group of words in order to write

them correctly.

Causes of Students Spelling Difficulties

Thompson (1999), we should pave way with the one-way routine of spelling

which makes spelling boring. To him spelling games would make the spelling

programme more interesting, with this, pupils will develop positive attitude towards

spelling. As demonstrated by Tsadidey (2002), says a big problem facing pupils’

understanding of English language is the absence of teaching and learning materials

from our school. This of course is being directly related to the national problem of

scarcity of educational materials in our schools.

On the authority to Tsadidey (2002) says the difference between our own

language and target language –English-constitutes a major problem and places a low

ceiling over our heads on as far as the level of competence is concerned. If English

were a tonal language as our own indigenous language and observe the same basic

grammatical pattern, we would have found its study easier. For example, the English

10
language has a lot of words with the same pronunciation but different spelling is that

we have lot of different spellings for the same sound, for example the (k) sound can

be spelt with several different letter combinations such as /c/ (cake), /ck/ (sick), /qu/

(quite) /ch/ (choir). Therefore, horrible overlapping of spelling (in English)

compounds learning difficulties enormously. Pehas (2000) using the work Gentry R

and Jean Wallace Gillet writes that spelling is a tool for writing. The purpose of

learning spelling is to make writing easier, more fluent, more expressive and more

easily to read and understood by others. Without writing there would be little purpose

in learning to spell. From the point of view of Tsadidey (2002) says that mistakes in

language learning are of course developmental and learners will usually grow out of

them. Even the most competent users of a language will make mistakes at one time or

another, this being the results of interplay of various factors such as anger, tiredness,

anxiety, the effects of Pidgin English and often a misguided desire to sound learning.

According to Sharp (1997), identified similarity in sounds like ‘e’ and ‘a’ which

make it difficult for pupils to know which letter to bring at a particular point in time

during spelling lessons. One cannot tell how to exactly spell an English word by its

pronunciation or how to pronounce it by its spelling (Baugh, 1986). Baugh is carrying

across how English words are pronounced differently and spelt differently. So he is

saying whether we should spell words the way they are pronounced or they should be

pronounced the way they are spelt. If we don’t know the sound of a word (in English),

we cannot know how to spell it. If we know the spelling, we can know how to

pronounce it (Otto, 1998). Otto is of the same view as Prof. Baugh. He also agrees

11
that certain English words have different pronunciation and different spelling all

together. English spelling is admittedly a badly spelt language compared with other

languages. The difficulty is greatest in the vowel “a”, for instance, spells and

mentions untypical words like “many” and the sound for second /a/ in comparative.

Beside the limitation of the alphabets, there is also difficulty because English spelling

failed to keep pace with the gradual steadily changing pronunciation. Our spelling

tradition was established by the thirteenth (13th) century and was stabilized chiefly by

the printers of the sixteenth and seventh centuries. Since then pronunciation of many

words have changed. (Benton, 1998). Benton related the cause of poor spelling to the

twenty-six (26) alphabets English. He talked about how some letters or group of

letters are used to duplicate the work of other letters. He cites examples like “c”, “qu”

and “ch” are used for sound /k/. He also argued that spelling has failed to keep pace

with the gradual changing of pronunciation. This means that pronunciation of certain

English words has changed but the spelling of these words has not changed. Spelling

in English is difficult to learn. It would be much easier if each phoneme of language

had one grapheme, but that is not the case. There are two hundred and fifty -one (251)

different spelling for the forty-four (44) sounds of English (Hull, 1998) contains many

irregulars spelt words (words with the same pronunciation but different spelling).

According to Hull, the sounds of English have many different letters representing

them, and because of this, it has made spelling more difficult. A speller may not know

which letter to bring to represent a sound at a particular point in time.

Comparing all the above on causes of poor spelling, one could realize that the

12
main causes of poor spelling are irregularity in spelling and poor method employed by

some teachers to teach spelling.

Strategies of Teaching Spellings

A study conducted by Ruance (1992) on strategies to improve spelling suggested

that children need to:

1. Develop an interest in words

2. Feel safe about trying words not just they are sure about

3. Learn about;

a. The way words are spelt by using syllables.

b. Basic spell pattern about English.

c. Memorization strategies

d. The meaning of words.

e. Prefixes and suffixes.

4.a. Write for their own enjoyment

b. Write without the fear that they will be criticized

5. Read for pleasure.

Twain (1992) conducted a study on some rules and suggestions about spelling.

According to him, even one who has a difficulty in spelling of words correctly desire

some comfort from another knowing that some very good writers have been notorious

bad spellers. It is also comforting to bad spellers to know that this business of spelling

seems to have to do with intelligence. It has more to do with how we remember

things. Some people, once they have seen a word spelt correctly, they will never

misspell it again. If you have strong visual learner but learn in other ways, you will

13
have to learn some other tricks to be a strong speller. According to Fianu (2005), the

following are good sources of materials for spelling lessons:

1. New words from pupil’s reading message

2. Word list from pupil’s textbooks and teacher’s books

3. Word list about places and things connected with pupil’s experiences. For

example; word list about classroom, the police station, the post office etc.

4. Common errors from pupil’s work

Fianu (2005) allocated the activities and techniques which a teacher can use to

spell words. Basically, these techniques are divided into two main categories. Namely;

traditional and modern techniques.

a. Traditional techniques

i. The teacher puts a list of words on the chalkboard which pupils copy and send

home. The pupils are to learn the words. The next day they tested on such

words.

ii. The teacher puts a list on the chalkboard while pupils watch. The teacher then

read out as pupils listen. Each word is divided by the teacher alphabetically or

word by word. The teacher then cleans the words from the chalkboard. This is

followed by a written test in the spelling of the words.

b. Modern techniques

I. Word matching: In this techniques, pupils are given word cards to arrange

several words. Some of these words are on the word cards should recur several

times. Example, three, four or six, seven times. The task of the pupils is to

14
 match similar words that can be recognized by them in terms of similarities in

the spelling of such words. This activity according to Fianu (2005), is useful

for pupils in lower primary.

II. Copying correctly spelt words: The technique involves producing writing of

words written on the cardboard or chalkboard. The duty of the pupils is to

copy correct spelt words into their exercise books or state the words on the

cards. As pupils make effort to copy the words, they are in effective learning

of how to alphabet that makes the words.

III. Filling in the blank space: in this technique, pupils are given word cards but

with missing alphabets in the words. The teacher can also use the chalkboard.

As stated by Raban (1984), to help children spell words, it is essential to give

them regular opportunities to write words. After copying stage, once children

are reasonable sure of how to spell words, they should begin to write them

without copying. The books or picture dictionaries needs to be available so

that children can develop the habit of turning to them for reference. Based on

Dunn (1984), since children have the difficulty in remembering long words, it

would be better if those words are broken up into syllables. Children can count

syllables which make the easier to remember. For example;

Going – Go-in

Football – Foot-ball

Elephant – Ele-phant

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Summary

The researcher has looked at the work of some other earlier researchers on the

topic at hand. The meaning of spelling and the complexity regarding spelling in

English

Language was seen. The importance of spellings was also identified as it contributes

to the overall students’ educational success. He realizes that most of the researchers

focused their work on; teaching and learning materials, provision of conducive

learning environment. Though they have come out with good approaches to learning

spelling, they have actually failed to use concrete materials which involve the use of

the sense of sight and touch. Their approaches also lack motivation praising and

coercing. The following were some strategies of teaching spelling.

1. Traditional technique which involves the teacher putting a list of words on the

board for pupils to copy.

2. Modern technique which includes; word matching, copying spelt words correctly

and filling in the blank space.

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 CHAPTER THREE

METHODOLOGY

Introduction

This part of the research is gives the description of the research design and

procedures employed in gathering data for the study. The sub headings of this chapter

includes; research design, population and sample selection, research instruments,

intervention process and data analysis plan.

Research Design

This study was an action research. Action research is the research design used in

the study. Action research was chosen by the researcher because it deals with

immediately identified problems in a particular local setting. Action research guides

the teacher to understand what actually goes on in the teaching and learning situation.

Action research was used for this study because the study involved a classroom

problem which needed to be solved using appropriate intervention.

Population

This involves all the processes and strategies the researcher will use to reach

respondents. The population for the study in this research is made up of all the pupils

of St Gabriel primary school. The total population is 445 of which 202 are boys and

243 are girls.

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Sample and Sampling techniques

The sample of the study is twenty-one (21) and out of which ten (10) were girls

and eleven (11) were boys. The sampling technique used for the selection of pupils

was purposive sampling. Purposive sampling is a non-probability which is selected on

the

basis of assumption that with good judgement, one can hand-pick element of case in a

population and develop samples which are satisfactory to ones needs. Out of this

about nine percent of pupils were below average in spelling lessons. Base on pre-test

the researcher hand-picked twenty-one (21) of the pupil out of a lot to represent the

pupils of St Gabriel primary two (2) B. The sample was used to pilot testing of

instruments. This sampling procedure was used to select all the twenty-one (21)

pupils because all these pupils were affected by the problem.

Research Instruments

The study employed the following instruments test and observation for data

collection.

Test

Test is an instrument intended to measure a test-taker’s knowledge, skill, aptitude,

physical fitness or classification in many other topics. A test maybe administered

verbally, on a paper, on a computer, or in a confined area that requires a test-taker to

physically perform a set of skills. Tests vary in style, rigor or requirements. Test could

be formal or informal, close or open book, standardized and non-standardized and of

course essay type test and objective test. This instrument was employed because it

18
assisted the researcher to clearly identify the weaknesses and strengths of pupils’

ability to spell. This instrument was used to collect information to appreciate the

extent of the problem before and after the intervention. The test involved pre-

intervention and post-intervention tests.

Observation

Observation is one of the oldest methods of data collection. Literally, it means a

method of data collection that employs vision as its main means of data collection. In

observational studies, researchers collect data on the current status of subjects by

watching them and listening and recording what they observe rather than asking

questions about them. There are so many types of observation. Among the numerous

of them are; structured and unstructured, natural and laboratory, open and hidden.

This instrument was chosen based on the following reasons; it offers first-hand

information without relying on reports from others and it is relatively inexpensive.

The instrument was used by the researcher to actually find out how long the problem

has stayed with the pupils. She did this by taking a look at pupils’ exercise books to

ascertain the extent of the spelling problem with the pupils. The type of observation

used was unstructured observation. This made the researcher to observe pupils

exercise books and note books in a natural setting. The researcher also closely

monitored pupil’s exercise books to appreciate the extent of progress made after the

intervention activities.

Data Collection Procedure

The data collected from the respondents were organized in tables using frequency

19
which were converted into percentages.

Pre-Intervention

A pretest was conducted to diagnose and identify the extent of the students

spelling difficulties. This test involved 10 words selected from the student’s textbook

based on a reading passage. Each of the 10 questions was assigned 1 mark. There was

10 marks in all. The results of the test are shown in Table 3.

Intervention

This is the stage where the researcher adopted a series of concrete measures or

approaches to solve the problem the pupils were faced with. Due to the difficult nature

of the problem, it took the researcher three (3) weeks to implement the approach

adopted for the purpose of solving the problem identified. The main strategy that the

researcher adopted was the use of spelling activities as well as games to enhance

correct spelling of words. In all three (3) activities or games were used.

The researcher used three (3) weeks in all to help the pupils to improve upon their

spelling skill. During these three (3) weeks, five (5) lessons were organized. Each

lesson had duration of 35 minutes. The researcher made sure that before the

intervention was implemented the pupils were conversant with the various games or

activities.

WEEK ONE (1)

ACTIVITY 1: Using the Spelling Race Games

PURPOSE: This provides practice in visually discriminating spelling of words

20
correctly.

MATERIALS: On two charts a race track was drawn and illustrated in figure 1,

scrambled spelling words were placed from the start to finish as illustrated.

PROCEDURE: All spelling list on each chart was used but the order was varied.

The pupils were divided into two teams (team A and team B). A member from each

team goes to each chart to unscramble the first word. As quickly as possible, he/she

gives the pen or pencil to the next person in his or her team to unscramble the second

word. If a pupil does not know the word, he is allowed to ask for clues from his/her

team, only two clues are allowed for each word. If still he/she cannot, the next pupil

tries the same word. Team A was the team which was able to unscramble all the words

and they reached the finished line first. Therefore, team A emerged the winners of the

game.

Start

Finish

Scrambled words

3. frou. 2. btture, 3. etme, 4. reahc, 5. Praeg

Unscrambled words

1. four, 2. butter, 3. meet, 4. reach, 5. grape

ACTIVITY 2: Blending Sounds to Form Words

STAGE 1:

The words to be used were written on the marker board and pupils taken

through their pronunciation and meaning.

Bad

21
Bat

Shop

Mango

STAGE 2:

The researcher further broke the words into their respective sounds.

B-a-d

B-a-t

Sh-o-p

m-a-n-g-o

STAGE 3:

The researcher then asks pupils to spell the words by blending the

sounds of the words.

Bad

Bat

Shop

Mango

WEEK TWO (2)

ACTIVITY 3: Using the Dictation Activity

STAGE 1:

The words to be used were written on the marker board and pupils taken

through their pronunciation and meaning.

3. book

4. animal

22
5. basket

STAGE 2:

The researcher further broke the words into syllables for pupils to observe

and appreciate its usefulness in spelling. E.g.;

book – b-o-o-k

Animal – ani-ma-l

Basket – bas-ket

STAGE 3:

The words were cleaned from the marker board and the researcher

pronounced them one after the other for the pupils to spell them in their exercise

books.

After the ten words were spelt the researcher mentioned them over once for the

pupils to check their spelling. Below were the words that were used in administering

the

test.

Book, animal, basket, food, eat, late, sleep, come, feet

STAGE 4:

The researcher then scored the work over ten (10). Each word correctly spelt

attracted one mark.

STAGE 5:

Words that were spelt wrongly were corrected and remarked for the pupils to

refer to them. The pupils were then asked to write the words into their word bank

books

23
for easy references to do look-over-write-check.

ACTIVITY 4: Filling in the Blank Space

STAGE 1.

The words are written on the marker board and pupils are taken their pronunciation

and meaning.

Eat

Late

Food

STAGE 2:

After that, the researcher omitted some letters in the words written on

the board and asks pupils to find and fill the missing letters to complete the words.

E-t

L-te

- -od

STAGE 3.

The researcher then took their books; marked, recorded the marks and

the corrections were made.

WEEK THREE (3)

ACTIVITY 5: Using Comical cards

PURPOSE: To promote correct spelling

MATERIALS: The current spelling list of words are placed on cards, one set with

correctly spelt words and the other set with incorrect spellings. One set of cards was

given to each pair of players.

24
 PROCEDURE: players were grouped into pairs. In all, there were three (3) sets of

pairs and one set of cards was given to each pair of players. The teacher distributes the

cards, players then match any pairs such as eat, tae, sleep, seelp, feet, fete and placed

them down with the correctly spelt words on top and the incorrect spelt words at the

bottom. If a player puts down a pair with the incorrect spelling on top, the other player

takes those cards. The player with the most matched cards correctly placed emerged

the winner.

Fig. 3: Comical Cards

Top Bottom

Eat

Tae

Top Bottom

Sleep

Seepl

Top Bottom

Come

Cmeo

Top Bottom

Feet

25
 Fete

Post-Intervention

After a series of activities with teaching and learning materials (TLMs), a test

was

conducted to ascertain whether the pupils had improved upon their spelling skills. The

test was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention. Before the test

was organized, twenty (20) words were listed on the block board whiles pupils

watched. The researcher read aloud the words as pupils listen. The researcher then

cleaned the words from the marker board and it was followed by a written test. The

outcome of the test (Table 4) revealed that the spelling games as well as the activities

had helped the pupils to improve upon their spelling skills.

Data Analysis Plan

Data collected was analyzed using frequency distribution tables and percentages.

26
 CHAPTER FOUR

RESULTS, FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS

Introduction

This chapter dealt with data representation, analysis and discussion of results.

Presentation of demographic characteristics of the students were presented before the

results of the tests and findings from the observation.

Table 1: Sex of Students

Sex Frequency Percentage (%)

Male 11 53

Female 10 47

Total 21 100

Source: (Fieldwork, 2023)

Table 1 shows the sex distribution of the students in Basic two of St Gabriel

Primary B. It is apparent that 11 (53%) of them were males and 10 (47%) of them

were females. That is, they were more males in the class than females.

Table 2: Age range of Students

Age range frequency Percentage (%)

Below 6

6–9 18 86

Above 9 3 14

Total 21 100

Source: (Fieldwork, 2023)

27
 Table 2 also shows the age range of the students. It can be seen that none of the

students were below 6 years. Majority of them 18 (86%) were between 6 and 9 years

while the rest 3 (14%) were above 9 years.

Table 3: Results of Pre-Test

Range of marks Number of pupils Percentage (%)

0–2 11 51

3–5 7 35

6–8 2 10

9 – 10 1 4

Total 21 100

Source: (Fieldwork, 2023)

From the Table, it is evident that 11 (51%) of the students scored 0 in the pretest.

Seven (35%) of them scored between 3 and 5 while 2 (10%) of them scored between

6 and 8. Only 1 (4%) of them had scores between 9 and 10. It is therefore apparent

that the pupils had problem with spelling. This prompted the researcher to put in some

interventions to remedy the situation and hence the use of word games. The students’

results after the intervention is shown in Table 4.

Post-test Results

The pupils were given a similar test to evaluate the efficacy of the intervention.

28
Table 4: Post - Test Results

Range of marks Number of pupils Percentage (%)

0–2 1 4

3–5 6 29

6–8 12 57

9 – 10 2 10

Total 21 100

Source: (Fieldwork, 2023)

Table 4 depicts the students’ scores when a similar test was given to them after

the intervention. From the Table, it can be seen that only 7(33%) of the students had

scores below 6. Most of the students 14(67%) had scores between 6 and 10. This

shows significant improvement in the students’ scores. Comparing the results of the

posttest to the pretest, there is no doubt that the activities undertaken during the

intervention have been helpful in improving the students’ spelling abilities.

Observation

It was observed that, after the researcher had implemented the intervention

activities, pupils developed high interest in spelling lessons as well as reading and

comprehension. They spelt words with confidence and this also improved their

reading abilities.

29
 CHAPTER FIVE

SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Introduction

This chapter of research deals with summary of the project report, conclusion and

recommendation based on the report of the project work.

Summary

This study investigated the use of language games to improve students’ spelling

competence in St Gabriel Primary School Block ‘B’. The study was an action

research. The population of the study was the Basic two (2) pupils of St Gabriel

Primary ‘B’. A total of 21 students were purposively sampled for the study. Test and

observation were the main instruments for data collection. Data from the study were

analyzed using frequency distribution tables and percentages and also narratives. It

was observed that the students’ inability to spell was as a result of the inappropriate

techniques used in teaching spelling and also the less attention paid to teaching

spelling. The study revealed the importance of language games to improve the

spelling abilities of students. Thus, the use of language games and appropriate

teaching and learning activities improve students’ spelling abilities.

Conclusions

From the analysis drawn from the pre-test results, one could see that the poor

performance of the pupils in spelling was due to the irregularity of the teachers to

conduct dictations for the pupils, insufficient supplementary readers as well as

30
flashcards, irregularity of the pupils in the classroom. Therefore, teachers should

endeavor to use adequate teaching and learning resources, appropriate methodologies,

and enough reading materials since these have the potential to improve students’

spelling competence.

Recommendations

Based on the findings of the study the following recommendations are made:

1. Teachers should use appropriate teaching methodology and appropriate materials in

handling spelling lessons.

2. Adequate reading materials should be provided by government through the

Ministry of Education and Ghana Education Service to help pupils to endeavor to

read.

3. Students should develop the habit of reading and spelling if they want to take their

academic far. Parents and teachers must help students to develop positive

attitudes towards spelling.

Further studies should consider gender differences in spelling among students.

31
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33
 APPENDICES

APPENDIX A

Words for fill-in the gaps Copy and complete the following words.

E-t Eat

L-te Late

-inist-r Minister

F—d Food

B—k Book

An—al Animal

34
 APPENDIX B

Sample Racing Game

Start Finish

Scrambled words • frou. 2. bttuer, 3. etme, 4. reahc, 5. Praeg

Unscrambled words • four, 2. butter, 3. meet, 4. reach, 5. grape

35