Use of Computer for Teaching English Grammar

Abstract

The present study aims to assess the effectiveness of use of computer for teaching English grammar. Main focus of the study was directed on how effectively can grammar be taught by using computer and what its impacts with regard to communicative ends of learning English as second or foreign language would be. The study, being action research, is believed to be relevant in offering a realistic picture of the impact of using computer as a motivation aldevice for teaching grammar to suggest possible measures in the campaign of making it a result oriented discipline. The study was carried out using both primary and secondary sources of data. For primary data, class ten students ofan English Medium School were taught English grammar with the help of grammar soft ware in computer lab by the researcher in direct involvement and their actions (problems, actions and solutions) were recorded in rough sketch which were daily translated into the report formats. As teaching grammar is taken as stressful liability on the part of teachers and students, the study bears the facts of better results of use of computer for teaching English grammar in the sense that all the students passed the tests and more importantly, a few students were able to score full marks. Only a few students showed problems in subject-verb agreement. The students also showed positive results in the items such as ‘reported speech’ and ‘if clause’ in various forms along with skills taught and tested subsequently. The study is divided into four main chapters and their sub-chapters. The firstchapter contains general background, historical background of Englishlanguage, learning language, grammar with its meaning and place in language,second language learning, CALL, comparative assessment of CALL andgrammar teaching, problems in grammar teaching, definition and theory of action research. The chapter also includes the literature review, objectives andsignificance of the study. The second chapter deals with the methodologyapplied in the study as, the sources of data, sample population, samplingprocedure, tools for data collection, and data collection procedures. The chapteralso states the limitation of the study. The third chapter presents data throughanalysis and interpretation. The fourth chapter consists of the findings andrecommendation based on the analysis and interpretation of data. Referencesand appendices are attached at the end.