Abstract:

English is the language of Shakespeare and Milton. It has gained laudable place among the languages of the world. Colonization of British people in different parts of the world and the establishment of their governments there had enabled the people of those countries to learn English mainly for administrative and communicative purpose. Therefore, even after the colonial rule came to an end in those countries, even after years of emancipation, English is being learnt and used.

In a multilingual country like India, the importance and value of English are too well known to be elaborated. It acts as an integrating and cementing force. It is used to get scientific and technological knowledge and is a tool for intellectuals and writers to express themselves.

The standard of teaching English as well as its grammar and comprehension of students has declined over the years because of examination oriented methods of teaching and pupil’s dependence on digests and guides, learning by rote memory etc. hamper the development of right method of teaching of English Grammar.

The present study examined the effects of teaching English grammar of standard VIII through CAI and Conventional methods in development of positive attitude and enhancing achievement of students in English grammar. Basically, the students at primary education level require learning the basic concepts and principles of English grammar. So, it is essential to determine the best ways to integrate technology of teaching and content of English grammar. Keeping this purpose in view, the present study has been designed.

In this Experimental research pre-test and post-test parallel group design was used. Both Control and Experimental groups were matched on the bases of intelligence scores. In this Experiment both the CAI method and Conventional method of teaching English Grammar were the independent variables and Attitude towards English grammar and Achievement in the English grammar were the dependent variables. The CAI package was developed by using suitable softwares. The study drew 50 students each from the Control and Experimental groups from vernacular (Kannada) medium from rural India. The tools used for the study were Non-verbal group intelligence test for matching the 2 groups, Attitude scale towards English grammar for students and Achievement test of students in English grammar. The reliability and validity of Attitude scale and Achievement test was tested. In pursuance of the purpose of the present study 2-way ANOVA, Scheffe’s Test and‘t’ Test were used to test the hypotheses. Since the obtained ‘t’ value 30.98 is greater than the table ‘t’ value 2.01with df 48 at 0.05 level, the difference is significant. Therefore, it can be concluded that change in the attitude of VIII standard students towards the English grammar in experimental group is significant. Since the obtained ‘t’ value 7.85 is greater than the table ‘t’ value 2.01with df 48 at 0.05 level, the difference is significant. Therefore, it can be concluded that achievement of VIII students in the English grammar in experimental group is significant. Thus the findings revealed that Teaching English Grammar through CAI is more effective than the Conventional method for changing the attitude of students towards English Grammar and enhancing achievement of students in English Grammar. The result of the study is in concurrence with some studies abroad and India.

Keywords:

CAI, Attitude, Achievement.