ABSTRACT
This study
was carried out to assess the factors affecting Students performance in
shorthand. In order to achieve this, four
specific objectives were raised among which is identifying the problems faced
by students of shorthand. As a guide for the researcher, four research
questions and four Null hypotheses were formulated. Survey design was used for
the study. The population of the study consisted of 300 students out of which 37
students were sampled using proportional random sampling technique.
Questionnaire was used to collect data from the respondents. The data collected
were analyzed using frequency distribution, percentages and means. The study
found among others, that poor punctuations, misinterpretation of words and
inability to distinguish between heavy and light strokes constitute the major
problems of studying shorthand to students. It was also found that shorthand is
indispensable in the modern office management. Based on these findings, it was
concluded that poor enrolment of students in the subject may eventually lead to
disengagement of shorthand teachers. If there are no students that enroll for
shorthand there might be no teachers of shorthand and that could lead to the
stoppage of the course. In view of these findings and conclusion, it was
recommended among others that; there is the need for students of shorthand to
have constant practice of consonants in order to master the heavy and light
strokes in shorthand so as to reduce the academic problems of studying
shorthand. It was also recommended that there is the need for government at all
levels and stakeholders to show commitment to secretarial education by
provision of facilities (e.g. shorthand textbooks, dictation machine, and tape
recorders).
TABLE OF CONTENT
TITLE
PAGE
APPROVAL PAGE
DEDICATION
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
TABLE OF
CONTENT
ABSTRACT
CHAPTER
ONE
1.0 INTRODUCTION
1.1
BACKGROUND
OF STUDY
1.2
STATEMENT
OF PROBLEM
1.3
PURPOSE
OF STUDY
1.4
SIGNIFICANCE
OF STUDY
1.5
SCOPE
OF AND LIMITATION
1.6
RESEARCH
QUESTION
1.7
RESEARCH
HYPOTHESIS
1.8
DEFINITION
OF TERMS
1.9
PLAN
OF THE STUDY
CHAPTER
TWO
2.0 REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
2.1
INTRODUCTION
2.2
FACTORS
AFFECTING STUDENTS PERFORMANCE IN SHORTHAND
2.2.1
THE
ROLE OF LECTURERS
2.2.2
STUDENTS
ATTITUDE
2.2.3
POOR
BACKGROUND OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE
2.2.4
POOR
OUTLINE REPRESENTATION AND RECOGNITION
2.2.5
LACK
OF SPEED
2.2.6
FEAR
OF UNKNOWN
2.2.7
INSTRUCTIONAL
EQUIPMENT AND FACILITIES
2.2.8
LACK
OF INTEREST
2.2.9
SUMMARY
OF THE LITERATURE REVIEW.
CHAPTER
THREE
3.0
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1 INTRODUCTION
3.2
POPULATION
OF THE STUDY
3.3
SAMPLE
AND SAMPLING TECHNIQUE
3.4
METHOD
OF DATA COLLECTION
3.5
RESEARCH
INSTRUMENT
3.6
POPULATION
OF THE STUDY
3.7
METHOD
OF DATA ANALYSIS
CHAPTER FOUR
4.0
PRESENTATION OF ANALYSIS
4.1 INTRODUCTION
4.2
RESEARCH
QUESTION 1
4.3
RESEARCH
QUESTION 2
4.4
RESEARCH
QUESTION 3
4.5 RESEARCH QUESTION 4
4.6 RESEARCH QUESTION 5
4.7
LECTURERS’
RESPONSE.
CHAPTER FIVE
5.1
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
5.2
SUMMARY OF THE MAJOR FINDINGS
5.3
CONCLUSION.
5.4
RECOMMENDATION.
APPENDIX
BIBLIOGRAPHY
CHAPTER ONE
1.0 INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF STUDY
Prior to the emergence of industrial
revolution, man’s choice of occupation was influential by such forces as
heredity, culture and traditions. Then little consideration was giving to such
factors as aptitude, interest and ability. Today, things have changed. One
needs to choose an occupation, which will enable him to move forward for full
development. This development was followed by the recognition of mechanical
skill as being important role in business offices. Business executives and
professionals were eager to use this devices in order to enhance business
transaction. As such, shorthand had been invented in the past ages as a system
of recording spoken language. Since it can be written rapidly, millions of
people have used this system as a means of earning a livelihood, and today
throughout the world, whenever accurate and immediate legible recording of
spoken sound is required in particular and congresses, in business sector,
court of justice and again in offices of every size and sort. This technical
innovation later on led the invention of pitman’s shorthand by sir Isaac pitman
in 1873and this has been the widely acceptable system of shorthand and happened
to be his first edition followed by the second edition which appeared in
1840.also there was an invention of the viable typewriter in 1813 by
Christopher Lethan soles and as these, this two skills were combined later and become
useful in business world. In Nigeria, the uses of shorthand during the colonial
period were run mainly by private schools. However, from 1960’s federal and
state government began to establish staff training centers where among other
business courses shorthand was thought.
According to pitman, shorthand is an act of represent spoken sound with written
signs while chamber dictionaries defined it as a method of swift writing using
strokes and dots to show sound. The essence of its study or learning is to be
able to write at a faster rate far beyond the maximum speed at which longhand
(English language) can be written. It is by this means that proceeding; address
and other information are recorded. Due to the importance of shorthand, most
teachers of shorthand spend more time in teaching their students. The students
are taught to grasp the rudiments of shorthand, which the principles are stated
simply and briefly completed in sequence similar to their presentation. The
consonants, the vowel, diphthong, trip hones, etc. The practice gives the
students better foundation in their study of shorthand.
On the other hand, the teachers in
public commercial schools. Many times they rush the shorthand lesson without
allowing the students to grasp the rudiment of it. This practice is not
encouraging because it affected student’s performance in shorthand.
The Nigeria society has a lot to gain
and nothing to regret of by a full development of the knowledge in shorthand as
course. A good system of education according to Sir Alex clergy (1963) “auris
at admitting all children of an area and exposing them to a variety of
practical, social intellectual experience and offering the greater possibility
of adjusting educationally to meet the needs of individual.
1.2 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM
The general notion has been that
shorthand is a difficult subject. Its difficult nature can only be compared
with that of mathematics according to students’ belief.
A good number of students believed
that shorthand is beyond human comprehension and as a result of this attitude;
many of them have lost interest in the studying of the course.
Some student due to the previous fear
they have for shorthand even before the dictation start, begin to shiver
thereby putting their outlines wrongly and find it difficult to be able to
transcribe well
Taking cognizance of this negative
attitude developed by students in this topic as a solution to his problem of
poor performance in shorthand.
1.3 PURPOSE OF STUDY
Many students who opt do either
secretarial studies or business education (secretarial option) finds the
mastery of shorthand an obstacle to the realization of their education
ambition.
This research will focus on
identifying the factor that influence students’ performance in shorthand. It
will also find out the factor responsible for student believe that shorthand is
a very difficult course, highlight some of these factors and also suggest some
possible solutions.
This approach will remove some fear
that shorthand is for the never-do –wells. To also cushion the ideas that
shorthand is a very difficult Subject. To encourage the students of the values
gained after the completion of the Course. And also to find solutions to some
fault in the teaching methods etc.
1.4 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
This research work will be of a great
advantage to the entire students of secretarial
Studies to be aware of the factors
that affect them in learning shorthand and produce adequate solution to these
problems.
It helps them to develop good
attitude towards shorthand that help them in increasing their knowledge of the
course in order to meet up.
The result will be of benefit to
business establishments especially those businesses that require the service of
confidential secretaries.
The researcher believes also that the
study will help as an extra curriculum for planners, teachers and institutions
of learning as well as examining bodies in future. Also teachers will benefit by adopting
methods that will provide facilities to improve students’ performance.
Furthermore, it will help shorthand
writers mostly the beginners who are venturing into the unknown to get the
basic principles and techniques behind this course.
Finally, it is hoped that the society
at large will enlightened the more of the importance of learning shorthand.
1.5 SCOPE AND LIMITATION
This study was delimited to the college of business and management
studies students who offer shorthand, in the Departments of office technology
and management Jigawa state Polytechnic Dutse It was further delimited to NCE
Students offering secretarial option. The study was delimited to these
students because the students have finally made up their minds to take
secretarial education as their career and they will be able to provide relevant
information for the study.
1.6 RESEARCH
QUESTION
In order to conduct this study, the
following research question are formulate
1. Why is shorthand a problem course
offered by secretarial studies?
2. Does background knowledge of English
language contribute any quota to the learning of shorthand?
3. Does student attitude,
belief, interest orientation have any influence in the mastery of the subject.
4. Does the method of teaching
influence the understanding of shorthand?
5. What measurers can be
adopted to improve student mastery of shorthand?
1.7 RESEARCH HYPOTHESES
In line with the research questions formulated, the following
null hypotheses were postulated and tested:
1.
There
is no significant difference in the mean score of respondents of the problems
in the learning process faced by the students studying shorthand.
2.
There
is no significant difference in the mean score of respondents on the causes of
the learning/practical problems faced by students studying shorthand.
3.
There
is no significant difference in the mean score of respondents on the prospects
of students studying shorthand.
4.
There
is no significant difference in the mean score of respondents to the
employment/job prospects of students of shorthand.
1.8 DEFINITION OF THE KEY TERMS
FACTORS: A term in multiplication. Divisor, an integer which evenly
divides a number without leaving a remainder. Factorization, the decomposition
of an object into a product of other objects. Integer factorization, the
process of breaking down a composite number into smaller non-trivial divisors.
AFFECTING: According to Tomkins,
optimal mental health involves maximizing positive affects and minimizing
negative affects. Affect should also be properly expressed so to
make the identification of affect possible to others.
STUDENT: is primarily a
person enrolled in a school or other educational institutionand who is under learning with goals
of acquiring knowledge, developing professions and achieving easy employment at a particular field. In
the broader sense, a student is anyone who applies themselves to the intensive
intellectual engagement with some matter necessary to master it as part of some
practical affair in which such mastery is basic or decisive.
PERFORMANCE: is an act of staging or presenting a play, concert, or
other form of entertainment. It is also defined as the action or process of
carrying out or accomplishing an action, task, or function.
SHORTHAND: is an abbreviated
symbolic writing method that increases speed and brevity of writing as compared
to longhand, a more common
method of writing a language. The process of writing in shorthand is called stenography, from the Greek stenos (narrow) andgraphein (to write).
1.9 PLAN OF THE STUDY
These
research has contain a five chapters, the chapter one contain, introduction,
background of the study, statement of the problem, arms and objectives,
hypothesis, significance of the study and purpose, scope and limitation of the
study and definition of key terms, plan of the study.
-
Then
the chapters two contain literature review, theoretical frame work and
introduction.
-
The
chapter three it contain, research methodology, introduction, types of sources
of data and instrument of data collection.
-
The
chapter four has contained data presentation interpretation and analysis.
This chapter five contains summary, recommendation and conclusion.
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