UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION, WINNEBA
INSTITUTE FOR TEACHER EDUCATION AND CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL
DEVELOPMENT
BIA-LAMPLIGHER COLLEGE OF EDUCATION
USING MAYA AND MAYA’S GAME TO HELP BASIC ONE LEARNERS IN
ADABOKROM E/A PRIMARY SCHOOL TO SPELL TWO TO THREE LETTER
WORDS CORRECTLY
FELICIA OPOKU
(BLCE/PRI/200045258)
A Project Work Submitted to the Institute for Teacher Education and Continuing
Professional Development, Bia-Lamplighter College of Education, in Partial Fulfilment
of the Requirement for the Award of Bachelor of Education Degree in the University of
Education, Winneba
JULY, 2023
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Introduction
This chapter comprises the background of the study, which gives an insight into the study,
statement of the problem, highlighting the existed and newly found problems about the study,
the objectives of the study, the significance of the study, which identifies the people and
organization that will benefit from this scope of the study, limitations of the study, the
definition of key terms used in this chapter and how the study is organized. This chapter
provided the reader with an overview of the research.
i.Background of the Study
Spelling according to Collins Corbulid’s Active Learners Dictionary is the correct sequence
of letters in a correct form. It is an attempt to spell a word correctly.
The vocabulary of any language is huge and its acquisition takes time even for a native
speaker. English language which a widely spoken and used as a channel of communication in
most part of the world is not without challenges to its users. This is because in Ghana,
English language is used as a second language and the mother tongue or (L1) naturally have a
negative impact on the intonation of some words, and this have a negative effect on the
spelling of some words. In this regard, the research would like to address the problem of
spelling (two and three letter words) by using a game to assist basic one learners of
Adabokrom E/A primary school
The populaces of Adabokrom community are mostly farmers, most of the parents over there
do not value education, but despite this fact, some parents see the need for education thus sent
their wards to school at a very tender age. Most learners in my class can speak good English
to but find it difficult to spell and write most of the English they speak.
This alarmed the researcher to observe the learners to find out their problem. From my
observation during the teaching of English language (spelling and dictation). The researcher
realised that a lot of learners could not join alphabet (consonants and vowels) to form two and
three words. They also find it difficult to pronounce even the written words correctly.
ii.Statement of the problem
In the course of internship at Adabokrom E/A primary school, it was discovered that the
learners of basic one has problems in spelling two and three letter words during English
reading lesson. This prompted the researcher to come out with a research question which
reads ‘strategies to assist basic one learners to spell two and three letter words easily’.
iii.Purpose of the Study
The research is an attempt to enrich the vocabulary (spelling) level of learners at the primary
school level. The study will also look at the extent to which lack of spelling affect learners
reading. The research will also come out with a suitable methodology to help learners to spell
Again, this research work will be of great help to teachers in the teaching and mentees who
will come across this work and use this method to help beginners acquire good spelling skills
(through the use of the language game ‘Maya and Maya’s ‘technique).
Finally, the researcher aimed at helping to raise the standard of education, especially English
language which is deteriorating at a fast rate in Adabokrom E/A primary two and three letter
words easily in primary school.
iv.Research Question
The following questions served as a guide which were answered to solve the problem. In
other words, they helped the researcher to attain the following objective of the study.

What are the causes of learners’ inability to spell two and three letter words?

How would a game (maya and mays) game be used to help pupil to be able to spell
two and three letter words easily?

How interesting will the game be in order to help solve the problem?
v.Significance of the Study
The research is meant to find solution to the problem encountered in the classroom to make
learning of English language very interesting. The researcher plan to use a play activity and
games to help pupil to spell two and three letter words easily this is because, children learn
best through play activities and games. The study is also to help other teachers in the field to
adopt the approach to make teaching and learning of the topic very easy. When this is
achieved, learners will develop the love for the subject as a whole. To add to this, the
research will widen pupils’ knowledge in English language since English language cut across
the curriculum.
vi.Limitation of the study
The following difficulties were encountered during the study. Due to parents engaging their
wards at home, some of the learners were sometimes not presents during the pre-intervention
observation.
In addition, the learners felt reluctant to speak the English language for fear of making
mistakes and being laughed at. Some also refused to pronounce simple words due to shyness.
Others were also not present due to high level of truancy affecting the results of the study.
vii.Delimitation of the study
The problem of spelling and dictation of English language exists in most schools in Ghana
but the researcher has narrowed this study to only learners at Adabokrom E/A Primary one
The study is also restricted to oral English and not the other aspect of English such as writing
and grammar.
Lastly, this research could not cover all aspects of spelling. The researcher could not delve
into various aspects of the spelling, like long words which could cause many problems to the
learners at basic one. The researcher dwelt on how to assist learners to spell two and three
letter words correctly.
viii. Definitions of Terms
The terms that follow are defined to clarify the concepts of spelling on which this study is
focused.

spelling is defined as the use of letters to form words. More especially, the terms
spelling and its synonyms and orthography usually imply that, the letters are used
according to accepted conventions or rules.

Reading literacy: is the ability to arrange letters in the correct order to make words
that are communally understood. It also supports reading and writing, and vice versa (
Adoniou,2016,p.11)

Cognitive skills: These are any mental skills that are used in the process of acquiring
knowledge. These skills include reasoning, perception, and intuition. Midcontinent
Research for Education and Learning (1998) describes the importance of cognitive
skills in acquiring literacy skills as follows: "Reading and writing rely on a specific set
of cognitive skills such as attention, memory, symbolic thinking, and self-regulation‛.

Spelling methods: A spelling method is a set of teaching and learning materials and/or
activities often given a label, such as phonics method, and syllabic method.
(International Reading Association, 1998).
ix. Organization of the study
The project work consists of five chapters which are follows:
Chapter one: Introduction to the study, statement of problem, purpose of the study, research
questions, significance of the study, limitation of the study, delimitation and organization of
the study
Chapter two: Review of related literature. It talks about what other researchers, educationalists
and other scholars have discussed on similar works, and also serve as a guide to research
questions hence creating a literature review summary.
Chapter three: Methodology of the project work which involves sample size, action research
design, interventions using observation questionnaire tests and interview. On the other hand,
to obtain correct data for presentation, research design and methods are employed in the work.
Chapter four is the presentation of data and analysis. The data collected are based on the
researcher’s questions, discussions in chapter one of the project work.
Chapter five: Summary, conclusion and recommendations. A general overview of phonetic
problems and methodology are included here for future study.