ABSTRACT

This study was carried out to assist pupils in Rhema International Primary School in Yendi to

improve upon their handwriting. Twenty-three pupils were selected for the study. Interviews and

their responses were analyzed. Observation and test was also conducted to collect data from

pupils. Interventions which were put in place were. Firstly, weekly activities in teaching

handwriting were put in place which was supervised by me. The work was marked and scored.

Again, test items were administered and those who performed below average were given the

needed attention. Moreover, it was recommended that, in teaching handwriting, teachers should

employ different approaches, techniques and use of varied models in teaching and learning of

handwriting especially at the primary level.

Keywords: Writing, Handwriting, Writing difficulties, Basic Pupils

 CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

This chapter presents the insight as well as the background to the study which sought

to improve students’ handwriting skills using teaching and learning materials. It includes how

the problem was identified, pre-intervention, diagnosis of the problem, description of the

study area, statement of the problem, purpose of the study, research questions, and

significance of the study, limitations, delimitation of the study and organization of the study.

Background to the Study

‘Handwriting is an art of writing using the hand and a writing instrument’. This definition

is derived from the Longman Active Dictionary, Student Edition (2000). Handwriting is a skill

which, like reading and spelling, affects written communication across the curriculum. At

different times in history, the quality of handwriting has varied considerably. Ancient Roman

Handwriting style comprised of Roman cursive and more calligraphic rustic capitals, the letter of

which forms the basis of modern capital letters and was used in the stone inscriptions. Writing

instrument and materials were easy to come by. One’s ability to write a way that is both legible

and efficient affects school performance and academic advancement because writing is the

primary means for students to communicate and display what has been learnt. Often, in

examination, credit is given to candidates with legible and efficient handwritings but when

another person’s handwriting is not legible and efficient, examiners find it very difficult to read

and comprehend what is being said. Legible handwriting is also necessary for people to carry out

academic activities but difficulties with handwriting on the other hand can interfere with related

writing process such as planning and generating ideas. In my experience at Rhema International

Primary School in Yendi, a farming community within the Yendi Municipality in the Northern

Region of Ghana, it came to light that pupils suffer from defects of handwriting. According to

Katya P Feder, Annette Majnemer (2007), Failure to attain handwriting competency during the
school‐age years often has far‐reaching negative effects on both academic success and self‐

esteem.

Many of the basic problems involved in handwriting have been studied for centuries and

much have been learned about difficulties in learning to write well. In this regard, at Yendi, I saw

that many basic school pupils have problems with handwriting so I decided to embark on a study

in engaging them in early preparatory writing activities in order to improve upon their

handwriting. For school-aged youngsters, handwriting is a crucial skill. Handwriting problems can

affect a child's ability to participate fully in school and play activities, potentially resulting in poor

academic achievement and leading to low self-esteem. It is, therefore, a must that a teacher

teaches the skill of handwriting, which is one of the most significant abilities in a student's

academic life. Additionally, because handwriting is a fine motor skill, teachers must use effective

instructional approaches to help children consolidate their handwriting skills through extensive

practice (Blazer, 2010). Moreover, in order for pupils to learn any style of handwriting, teachers

must devote sufficient instructional time as well as time for students to practice their skills (Sharp

& Brown, 2015). Years passed by teachers still used the same methods they used to teach

handwriting to improve the students who have difficulties writing. First-grade teachers apply the

methods in the same previous order: repeating, overwriting letters, writing on the board, doing

exercises by holding a student’s hand, and overwriting dotted letters (Arslan, 2012). The benefit

of handwriting can be invested in implanting the basics of academic writing from the elementary

stages (Graham and Herbert, 2010). Furthermore, according to Medwell et al. (2009), training the

hand in writing leads to the training of the memory, so that the hand and memory work together to

generate good writing. The aim of this study was to develop a tool to enhance the writing skills of

grade one pupils in order to foster students’ development with handwriting.

 Pre-Intervention

The problem of teaching and learning handwriting in Rhema International Primary School

was identified by the use of observation, interview and test. Evidence was gathered from the use

of the aforementioned instruments. I embarked on this, both on the teacher who handled the class

and the learners. It was revealed that the teacher and pupils were all beset with problems that

contributed to poor performance in handwriting in the school. The problems included the

following;

a. Less practice by pupils

b. Inappropriate teaching and learning activities and resources

c. Improper sequencing of technique in teaching and learning handwriting

d. Sensory – motor integration dysfunction where pupils have poor motor control.

e. Incorrect holding of the pencil and bad sitting posture when writing.

In coherence with the problems posed, I conducted a test to find the truth of these problems. A

sentence was written on the whiteboard clearly and neatly for pupils to write. For example;

The pupils were supposed to write the sentence five times in their books. Explanation was given

to

pupils to be certain of what was to be done. Half an hour was allowed for pupils to write the

sentence. Pupils were given numbers in the order in which their names were written in the

admission register. The books were collected and marked. During the test I made a personal

observation to ascertain the evidences of the problems and to do away with all prejudices.
 Results and Discussion

Pre-intervention Results

Twenty-three pupils took part in the pre-test and their scripts were scored out of ten points.

This is shown in Table 1.

Table 1: Pre-Test
Pupil’s serial number Pre-Test Score
01 1
02 1
03 2
04 3
05 1
06 5
07 5
08 1
09 2
10 2
11 2
12 7
13 3
14 0
15 2
16 5
17 0
18 3
19 4
20 6
21 2
22 0
23 8
Table 1 shows the raw scores of pupils in the pre-test. This was to investigate how effective

the techniques used in teaching handwriting was.

Table 2: Frequency Table showing scores of pupils in pre-test

Scores (x) Frequency fx

0 3 0
1 4 4
2 6 12
3 3 9
4 1 4
5 3 15
6 1 6
7 1 7
8 1 8
9 0 0
10 0 0
Total 23 65

Table 2 shows the frequency distribution of scores obtained by twenty-three pupils in the

pre-test. The table reveals that only one pupil obtained eight marks, which represent the

highest mark in the test.

Also, three pupils scored zero representing the lowest mark. Nobody scored the maximum of

10 marks. 73.9% of the pupils scored less than five. Again, mean score for the pre-test was

2.83.
 Description of the Study Area

Per the 2010 national population and housing census, Yendi is a community with a

population of about 117,780 inhabitants. It is a community where daily activities such as

agricultural, forestry and fishery are carried out with farming being the dominant.

This study was conducted at Rhema International School; Rhema International Primary School

and Rhema International Junior High School. The primary school was established in 1982, with

three (3) teaching staff and pupil's population of twenty-fixe (25). Male pupils constituted ten

(10) whiles the remaining number was females. The Junior High School was established in

September 2017. The primary school has about 110 pupils and the Junior High School has 35 for

2020/2021 academic year. Teaching staff in the schools are eleven (11). Four (4) of them teach at

the Junior High School whilst the rest at the primary. The schools are sited in one geographical

location.

Statement of the Problem

The problem of poor handwriting has been identified by me at Rhema International

Primary School. During the first three weeks of my internship in the above-mentioned school, I

identified that the basic one pupils found it difficult to write. Meanwhile, they practice writing

often and receive individual instruction. I believe that the use of appropriate resources and

activities in teaching handwriting will help the learners to master their writing skills.

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of this study is to use appropriate teaching and learning resources to help basic

one pupils of Rhema International Primary School, Yendi, to write effectively with no difficulty.
 Research Questions

The following research questions guided me during my study;

1. What is the cause of difficulty in writing among Basic One pupils of Rhema International

Primary School?

2. What Teaching and Learning Resources (TLRs) can be used in solving the problem?

3. What Teaching and Learning Activities can be used in solving the problem?

4. To what extent would the use of appropriate teaching and learning resources help solve

the aforementioned problem among the pupils in focus?

Significance of the Study

The results of this work will remind parents that, handwriting is one of the most important

skills that children needs to acquire and use throughout the school years as part of their

occupation as students and as such, parents have to perform their roles in terms of provision of

writing and reading materials, giving them fewer house chores at home and ensuring that they

constantly practice before and after school at all times. Since education is to ensure the total

development of the child, this research will help basic one pupils of Rhema International Primary

School to be fully develop. It is my hope therefore that, the results of this work will help address

the problem of inability to write effectively as observed in the basic one.

Finally, teachers will also appreciate the use of good and appropriate teaching and learning

materials and correct approaches in teaching writing, to enable pupils have the interest in writing

in Rhema International Primary School and can serve as the bases for further research too.

Delimitation of the Study

 A sample of twenty-three students made up of thirteen girls and ten boys was used for the

study. This constituted basic one pupils of Rhema International Primary School. Their ages

ranged between five and six years.

The reason why my study focused on handwriting skills but not any other aspects is that, the

students are unable to write effectively taking into consideration proper placement, direction,

spacing and alignment of text, therefore, the focus on the handwriting skills will enhance their

writing while they climb the academic ladder.

There are more students in the class who are facing the same challenge but could not be covered

by this study due to time and resources

Limitations

During the study, I encountered the following problems; first of all, the pupils did not

avail themselves for the remedial classes I organized as expected. Also, books were not easily

available to me for the review of related literature since available libraries in town have no such

books.

Furthermore, some students could not even talk or say anything about the questions asked by the

researcher.

Organization of the Study

The study was organized into four chapters; Chapter one talked about the background to

the study which includes how the problem was identified, pre-intervention and diagnosis of the

problem, description of the study area, statement of the problem, purpose of the study, research

questions, and significance of the study, limitations, delimitation of the study and organization of

the study. Chapter two dealt with the review of related literature. These is where textbooks,
journals, magazines and many more represents theoretical perspective, conceptual review and

empirical data that had been conducted by renowned researchers in the area under study.

While chapter three, methodology, which explained the procedure that had been used in this

study. The main component included the research design, population of the study, sample and

sampling, instrumentation, data collection, intervention design and data analysis.

Last but not least, Chapter four pointed out data presentation and data analysis and discussion of

results, presentation of data and discussion of the results. It also includes the conclusive part of

this report which is made up of the summary of key findings, suggestions, conclusion,

recommendations and areas for further research.