An Action Research on Making Correct Use of Capital Letters

 

1.    Topic: “An Action Research on Making Correct Use of Capital   Letters”

2.    Background of the problem:

Bhadrapur Higher Secondary School was established in 2002 B.S. It is located at Bhadrapur-5, Nayabazar, near the bank of Mechi River. There is not primary level in this school. 

There is only lower secondary level to higher secondary level. Almost all of the students who study in this school are from poor family background. The parents are poor and uneducated. They don’t give attention to their children.

They are not worried about their children’s future. So, most of the students are week in English language. They often make mistakes in using capital letters when they write English language. 

It is essential to know the correct use of capital letters while writing English sentences. So if the students have no the knowledge of correct use of capital letters, they will make many more mistakes. 

On the other hand, if they have good command over the use of capital letters, they are motivated to write English language. 

So, the researcher has researched how to make the students of class eight use capital letters at Bhadrapur Higher Secondary School Bhadrapur-5.

3.    Objectives:

After completion of research, the students will be able to:

a.     Make correct use of capital letter.

b.    Develop their language skills.

 

4.    Effect of their problems:

The correct use of capital letters is also one of the major problems of the class viii students at Bhadrapur Higher Secondary School. The class viii students have made many more mistakes to use the capital letters. 

So, it causes bad effect upon the students English language learning. Due to the wrong use of capital letters, the following negative effect of the problems can be seen in students learning process.

a.     Wrong use of capital letters has made them negligency in learning writing skills.

b.    The students have failed psychological weak in writing skills.

c.     They are not motivated to develop their writing skills.

d.    They feel they are weaker than others.

e.     They don’t get good marks in the exam.

5.    Causes of the problem: 

There are some causes behind any problems. It is certain that there must be some causes of wrong use of capital letters in English language. 

So, the researcher has tried to find out some causes of wrong use of capital letter at grade viii at Bhadrapur Higher Secondary School. He has found out the following major causes of problems.

a.     The students were not practised to use capital letters at the beginning stage.

b.    They were not taught to use capital letters properly.

c.     The English teachers at the Fidder School were careless about the correct use of capital letters.

d.    The English teachers at Bhadrapur Higher Secondary School didn’t have enough time to improve the students learning process of correct use of capital letter since there is no primary level (1.5) at school.

e.     The parents are not aware of their children’s learning at home.

6.    Methodology:

The researcher has adopted the following methodology.

a.    Collection of data:

The researcher has selected the students of grade eight of Bhadrapur Higher Secondary School. He has taken the permission with the principle for the collection of data. 

He has made all the staff and principal clear about his research and objectives. He has collected information from the students by making them right dictation in the paper.

 

b.    Presentation:

After the data collection, the researcher has presented the information at the following table.

 

Use of capital letters	Correct	Wrong	Half Correct	Total
No of students	_	88	10	98

c.     Analysis and Interpretation of the Data:

After the collection of data, the researcher has presented the information in the table above. There are 98 students at class eight. 

The researcher has found out that out of 98 students, 88 students made completely mistakes to use capital letters, 10 students made half mistakes to use capital letters, whereas even single students could not make correct use of capital letters. 

The table clearly shows that almost all of the students are unable to use the capital letters at the right places. This is the miserable condition of the students.

If the students can’t make correct use of capital letters, they can’t develop their language skills. So, it is essential to teach the students to use capital letters.

7.    Plan:

The researcher has used internet service to search how to use correct capital letters. He has collected some guidelines for using capital letters. After that, he has divided the students into four groups in each section. 

He has selected a leader for each group. He has made the following plan to make the students use capital letters properly.

a.     First the researcher will divide the students into four groups.

b.    Then he will select a leader for each group.

c.     After that he will present some guidelines for using capital letters on the white board.

d.    Then he will describe every point with examples to the students.

e.     He will ask them to copy the points in their exercise book.

f.       The researcher will ask them to copy some paragraph in which they will find all those guidelines for using capital letters.

g.     He will go round each group and check their activities.

h.    After that the researcher will describe the points once.

i.       At last, he will ask them to use capital letters carefully while writing sentences in English language.

8.    Action:

After making the plan the researcher has gone to the class and has divided them into four groups. He has asked them to choose their group leader from each group.

Then he has presented the following guidelines for using capital letters on the white board.

a.     Capitalize the first word in a sentence.

Your mother is in here with us, Hancie. Would you like to leave a message?

b.    Capitalize the pronoun I.

I’m sorry, but I don’t want to be an emperor.

c.     Capitalize the names and nicknames of particular persons and characters.

Shahil, Pretty, Ginny, Harry, Milind, the Bishnu Lal family, my sister Bina.

d.    Capitalize titles that come before the names of particular persons and characters.

Doctor Sanjay Gupta, Professor Harry Limbu, Queen Elizabeth II.

e.     Capitalize the names of specific places (planets, countries, streets, and so on), both real and fictional.

Mars, London, Prithivinagar-5 Road, Narnia.

f.       Capitalize the names of deities and holy books.

God, Shiva, the Bible, the Mundhum, Allah.

g.     Capitalize the names of particular business, buildings, schools, and organizations.

Google, General Motors, the Salvation Army, Oxfam International.

h.    Capitalize the formal names of government units, agencies, and divisions.

White House, House of Representatives, Supreme Court.

i.       Capitalize the formal names of acts, treaties, and government programs.

Declaration of Independence, the Act of Union.

j.       Capitalize the official titles of armies, navies, and other military and police units.

Army National Guard, the Royal Australian Air Force, the Armed Forces of the Nepal.

k.     Capitalize the names of wars and major battles.

Second World War, the Gulf War, Spanish Civil War.

l.       Capitalize the names of particular historical periods, events, and documents.

VE Day, the Middle Ages, the Great Depression.

m.  Capitalize legally protected brand names and trademarks.

Xbox 360, Coca Cola, Kit Kat, Addidas.

n.    Capitalize the names of days, months, holidays, and special days of observation.

Wednesday, June, Christmas, Mother’s Day.

o.    Capitalize the principal words in the titles and subtitles of books, movies, plays, magazines, journals, TV shows, video games, musical compositions, and places of art.

War and Peace, Avatar, Entertainment Weekly, Grand Theft Auto IV, the Starry Night, War in the North Game.

p.    Capitalize the name of awards, prizes, and scholarships.

Rotary Youth Leadership Awards, the Nobel Prizes, National Merit Scholarship.

q.    Capitalize each letter in an acronym or initialism.

NATO, CNN, TV, DVD, BBC.

 

Then he described all the points to the students. He has asked them to copy all the points in their exercise book. 

Then the students have been asked to copy some paragraph with all guidelines for using capital letters. He has gone round each group and has checked their activities.

 He has asked the group leaders to help their friends. The students have been asked to repeat their activities time and again.

9.    Observation:

There are two sections at class eight. There are 98 students altogether. The researcher has provided the students three weeks to practise for using Capital letters.

 After three weeks, the researcher has asked the students to make dictation to check their knowledge for using capital letters. Then he has checked their paper. 

He has found that 80 students have been able to use capital letters correctly; only nineteen students have made some mistakes to use capital letters.

10.             Reflection:

  After observation the student’s activities, the researcher has found that almost eighty percent students have been able to use capital letters correctly whereas nineteen (19) students are still unable to use capital letters correctly.

This data shows that there is a good result of the research. Positive outcome has been seen from the research. It is clear that the research can help the students use the capital letters correctly. 

It is essential to research if there is some problem in learning process. So, it has been helpful for the students.

 

a.    Replanning:

Out of 98 students there are nineteen students who have made mistakes to use capital letters. They can’t use capital letters at the right place properly. So, the researcher has replanned for the remaining students.