Perceptions and Practices of Secondary Level English Teachers towards Letter Grading System

Abstract

The present thesis entitled Perceptions and Practices of Secondary Level English Teachers towards Letter Grading System is an attempt to explore the secondary level English teachers’ perceptions and practices and to find out the problems while implementing letter grading system. Survey research design was used in this study. This is both qualitative and quantitative type of research. To meet the set objectives, 20 secondary level English Language teachers from 14 schools, along with a copy of answer sheet they checked of Kathmandu district were selected. They were selected by using simple random sampling strategy as on this strategy a researcher chooses sample randomly. Each individual has the same probability of being chosen to be a part of a sample. Teachers were also asked to provide a copy of answer sheet they checked in order to observe what they practice. Questionnaire was used as the main tool for extracting the required information. The answers of the respondents were interpreted quantitatively. It was found out that letter grading system address the overall facets of students without any unfair competition. But in practice it is observed that the teachers did not provide grades to their students in their examinations, rather they firstly give the numbers and later the numbers are converted into grades. It is also found out that while providing grades to students, teachers found difficulty in ensuring the accuracy, competitiveness, difficulty in coping with the issues like lack of creativity, lacking innovations in students work, convincing some particular students and parents about the evaluation system and difficulty in giving grades to similar type of students.

This thesis consists of five chapters. The first chapter incorporates background of the study. It also presents statement of the problem, objectives of the study, research questions, significance of the study, delimitations of the study and operational definitions of the key terms. Similarly, the second chapter consists of the review of the theoretical literature, review of empirical literature, implications of review for the study, and conceptual framework. The third unit consists of design of the study, population and sample, sampling procedure, data collection tools and procedures of data collection. In the same way, chapter four consists of analysis and interpretation of the information obtained from the selected respondents. The final fifth chapter deals with summary, conclusion, and implications along with some recommendations.