1.1 Introduction
Shorthand is the art of writing rapidly and legibly by means of characters or signs in place of the conventional letters or worlds. The oxford English Mini Dictionary (1995) defines shorthand as “a method of writing rapidly with quickly made symbols”. It is said that shorthand is one of the cornerstone subjects of business education system of shorthand, were based on the alphabetical spelling of words, in contemporary shorthand, which are generally phonetic and based on speech, sounds, dateline circles, dashes and other easy way to write characters for recording sounds, syllabus and phrases frequently used.
As a prelude to other parts of this study, this chapter will discuss the background upon which this study was initiated, the statement of problems that led to this study, the Aim and Objectives of the study. Others are Significance of the study, Scope of work, Research hypothesis and questions, Limitations of the Study and Definition of technical terms.
1.2 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.
Therefore, in Nigeria where the research was carried out, the activities that was conducted is to know the Factors Affecting Students Performance in Shorthand.
1.3 Statement of Problems
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.
1.4 Aim and Objectives of Study
The aim of the study is to ascertain the Factors Affecting Students Performance in Shorthand using IMT Enugu as a case study. In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives were laid out as follows:
- To identify the factor that influence students' performance in shorthand.
- To find out the factor responsible for student believe that shorthand is a very difficult course
- To suggest some possible solutions towards eradicating the factor that influence students' performance in shorthand.
- To encourage the students of the values gained after the completion of the shorthand Course.
1.5 Research Questions
The study came up with research questions so as to be able to ascertain the above stated objectives. The specific research questions for the study are stated below as follows:
- Why is shorthand a problem course offered by secretarial studies?
- Does background knowledge of English language contribute any quota to the learning of shorthand?
- Does student attitude, belief, interest orientation have any influence in the mastery of the subject?
- Does the method of teaching influence the understanding of shorthand?
- What measurers can be adopted to improve student mastery of shorthand?
1.6 Research Hypothesis
In order to pursue the objective of this study, the following generalized statements have been designed to guide and aids in obtaining the result for the experiment to be conducted. For this work, the null hypothesis will be represented with H0 while the alternative hypothesis will be represented with hypothesis H1.
- H0: There is no significant method of teaching that influences the students' understanding of shorthand course
- H1: There is a significant method of teaching that influences the students' understanding of shorthand course
1.7 Significance of 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.
1.8 Scope of Study
This study is limited to one of the institutions of learning in Enugu metropolis- this institution of management and technology IMT Enugu and it emphasis on the negative factors affecting the student's performance in shorthand. This investigation will also be limited to students of the department of Secretarial Administration IMT Enugu.
1.9 Limitations of the Study
During the course of this study, many things militated against its completion, some of which are:
- Time Constraint: The time frame given to accomplish this project was very short due to school academic calendar and it was carried out under pressure which made the researcher not to implement some necessary features.
- Research material: availability of research material is a major setback to the scope of the study.
- Frequent power failure: This made the researcher append more money on fuel to ensure sustainable power.
- Financial Constraint: Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).
1.10 Definition of Terms
Shorthand: This is the art of representing spoken words by character or signs.
Vowels: These are sounds produced when the mouth passage is left so open as not to course audible friction. When the mouth is left so open as not to cause audible friction. We have twelve (12) simple vowels
Diphthongs: These are two consecutive vowels pronounced in separate syllabus or separately pronounced.
Tripthongs: This refers to a small tick attached to a diphthong representing any vowel immediately following the diphthong.
Performance: This refers to the level of attainment of students in the art of learning shorthand.
Rate: It refers to a value measured by its relation to some other amount.
