SOLVING THE PROBLEM OF NINTH STANDARD STUDENTS ON UNDERSTANDING QUESTION TAGS IN ENGLISH THROUGH ICT

SOLVING THE PROBLEM OF NINTH STANDARD STUDENTS ON UNDERSTANDING QUESTION TAGS IN ENGLISH THROUGH ICT

(i) Introduction
     Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) have become common place entities in all aspects of life.  The use of ICT in education leads itself to more student-centered learning settings.  The growing use of ICT in education is becoming more and more important and its importance will continue to develop in the 21st century. ICT is a valuable tool to enhance teaching and learning. It is a professional resource and a mode of classroom delivery for teachers. It provides opportunities to communicate more effectively and to develop their knowledge in English. Teachers can use a range of teaching tools such as discussion boards, forums, email, apps, web quests, video and digital photography, e-movies, and even mobile phones as tools for delivery of the grammar portions. Using ICT as a classroom tool has many benefits for teaching languages. It provides highly motivational activities for students. Initially computer-based activities can provide stimulus to undertake tasks that students may otherwise avoid. It increases opportunities for student interaction. It makes repetitive tasks more interesting. It illustrates complex processes or concepts. It provides access to resources. 
(ii) Significance of the study:
     Students studying in ninth standard find it difficult to learn English grammar in schools and as the result, their performance in the school examination is also poor.  Introducing the recent technologies in the classroom will certainly benefit the students to learn the grammar items. ICT has many benefits for the language teacher.  Most importantly however, the use of ICTs in the classroom signals a shift from the conventional position of power held by the teacher to a more collaborative approach to learning. Generally computer based activities allow the teacher to assume the role of facilitator whilst students take on an increasing responsibility for their own learning. The use of computer-based technologies can shift the emphasis of activities away from the teacher and towards the students, enhance social interaction and be empowering especially for students with low traditional language skills. The investigator during her school visits has seen the students’ difficulty in learning the grammar items such as question tags in the classroom. So the investigator has thought of teaching question tags for the ninth standard students by successfully integrating ICT into the English teaching -learning process.
(iii) Statement of the Problem
      Solving the problem of Ninth Standard Students on understanding Question Tags in English through ICT.   
(iv) Probable causes for the Problem:
1.Lack of understanding the basic rules in framing question tags.
2.Importance is not given  for learning the grammar portions from the ninth text book.
(v)  Objectives 
Ø To make the students understand the need for using question tags in sentences.
Ø To motivate the students to enrich their knowledge to communicate simple sentences using question tags.
Ø To find out the achievement of the ninth students by utilizing the ICT in understanding the question tags in grammar.
(vi) Action Hypothesis
 The problem of understanding the usage of Question Tags in English may be solved through ICT.
(vii) Sample
The sample comprises of 30 Ninth students of Govt. Higher Secondary Secondary  School, ********.
(viii)Instruction:
The Investigator has prepared and validated the Achievement Test Tool for conducting the pre test and post test.  After conducting the pre test, treatment was given for the ninth standard students in teaching the Question Tags.  Question Tags was taught using the power point presentation.  Question Tags were shown on the screen and answers were elicited from the ninth standard students. Activities done in the classroom situation using ICT has motivated the students to identify and understand the question tags.
(ix)Findings:
The results revealed that there was improvement in the performance of the students. It was found that the mean scores of the post test were better than the pre test. Post test mean percentage was 86 whereas; the pre test mean percentage was 36. The students have improved their ability in learning question tags. They have understood the usage of question tags in English. ICT usage has motivated the passive students to be more active in the class. Students were engaged in learning question tags. This research shows us that the use of ICT in improving the students’ understanding on question tag can help the students to solve their problems. So, it was found that the difficulty faced by the ninth standard students in understanding the usage of question tags was rectified through the usage of ICT.