A Study on The Proficiency of Grade VIII Students in The Use of Articles

Abstract

The main purpose of this study is to find out the proficiency of the Eighth Graders of Parbat district in the use of articles by comparing different variables in terms of area and gender. This study differs from the other previous studies in its sample population, area of the study, statistical tools applied and findings. For collecting data, the researcher took one hundred twenty students studying in Grade Eight from ten secondary and higher secondary schools (five from rural area and five from urban area) of Parbat district. Twelve Eighth Graders in equal sex ratio were randomly selected from each selected school and administered the test item to them. The study found that the average score of eighth graders of Parbat district in articles is 35.94. Majority of them (59.16 Percent) were above the average score. Students of urban area schools were found to be more proficient than those of students from rural areas schools by 65%. In terms of sex, boys were more proficient by 16.67 percent than girls. The study has been presented in four chapters: introduction, methodology, analysis and interpretation, findings and recommendations. The first chapter deals with general background, articles in English review of related literature, objectives of the study significance of the study and definition of terms. The second chapter deals with methodology, sources of data, population of the study, sampling procedure, tools for collecting data, process of data collection and limitations of the study. The third chapter consists of item wise analysis and status of proficiency in using articles by the Eighth graders of Parbat district, comparison of different variables with the average of each item, analysis and interpretation of total proficiency of the students, comparison of total proficiency by type of school and sex. School wise comparison of proficiency of total (ten) schools with average score and comparison of proficiency with lower secondary level norm. The fourth chapter presents the findings obtained from analysis and interpretation of the data and some recommendations on the basis of the findings. In the final section of the study references and appendices are included.