1.0 Introduction
1.1 Background to the Study
Shorthand is the art of representing spoken sounds by written signs pitman shorthand provide a ways of representing every sound heard in English words.
Samaha (1973: 112) defines shorthand as a method of writing rapidly by substituting characters, abbreviations, or symbols for letters, words or phrases.
Isaac pitman published the first edition of his shorthand system in 1837. He spent half a century improving it, and the great work has since been continued by several generations of expert writer and teachers.
Millions have used this system as a means of earning a livelihood, and today, throughout the world wherever accurate and immediately legible recording of spoken English is reguired in parliament and congresses of every size.
Isaac pitman devised his system after profound and epock making study of the phonetic structure of the English language. The system is a result of his scientific analysis. Systems before pitman and even systems in use today, could achieve speed only through the laborious memorization of hundreds of special forms and arbitrary abbreviations. In pitman shorthand speed and facility of writing and safety of reading are achieved by following a coherent and comprehensive scheme: each individual sound has its signs and sounds of the same family have signs with an appropriate family likeness, after a little practice the signs seen to produce themselves like snapshots from the sounds and the sounds themselves seem to speak from the written page.
Historians date the beginning of shorthand with the Greek historian xenophobe, who used an ancient Greek system to write the memos of secretes. in the fourth century B.C Marcus Tulluis Tiro, a secretary to the Roman Orator cecero, invented a shorthand system called Tiroman According to stoddard and scalter good (1983:93) the time that Tiro invented his system was not quite clear and some people so as far as to say that he stole a system used in Greece. However, most agree that Tiro's notes were the first organized system that enabled a writer to take down notes as fast as they were said.
Although, shorthand writing has undergone many modifications since its invention, the gregg and pitman methods are the beast known system using symbols. About 1913, shorthand written by machine was introduced and Gregg simplified version of shorthand written by machine was introduced in 1949 revised in 1963) and in the latter part of 20th century, the use of shorthand machines became widespread.
In 1973, institute of management and technology started offering secretarial study as a course.
In 1989, the N B Y E introduced advanced transcription in the curriculum and course specification studies lectures in this department relied on dictation and general principles and techniques of writing and subsequently transcription in type writer. Shorthand and has been the bare of most students. Shorthand as the name suggests spells terror and doom to the students with exeption of a far.
The pitman organization has carried out series of research and emerged with some teaching methods, techniques and even the publication of books, programmed to enable students so through this course with minimum rata of failure. However the government infura approved several commercial schools and colleges where shorthand is being taught attend extra classes in the evening. Like institute of management and technology, students are being divided into groups to create attentiveness and interest from the students.
Inspite of these the problem of high rate of failures in shorthand still persist.
1.2 Statement of Problem
Shorthand in business today is basically English. Writers/ students in this country have had to endure lots of problems in the writing of shorthand due largely good facilitators ignorance on the part of student etc. this leads to the high rate of failures in shorthand.
The problem of shorthand is not hinged on the subject propert. Most students come in with already ill convinced belief that shorthand is a difficult subject; every subject is difficult, and there are experts in all subject. This has been identified as contributory toward students high rate of failures in the subject, shorthand like mathematics is expected to have its peculiar methods and problems among others. Student ill-convinced motion that shorthand is a difficult subject inflicted a lot of psychological damage to their understanding of shorthand. It gave rise to many needs and imagined problems which hinder the much desired progress in shorthand.
Some students are interested in the course but when they encounter minor problems, their interest fizzle out, the high rate of failures in shorthand is also due largely to the fact that students treat shorthand like any other suject. They study only at the approach of an examination (i.e. when it is already too late to get the skill and the speed students should know from the earlier stage that shorthand is a delicate subject and must be learned with assurance confidence, and consistent studying habits. It is not learned with nervousness.
1.3 Purpose Or Objective of the Study:
The falling are in purpose of their study survey mirity high rate of failures in shorthand.
The study will
- Survey the high rate of failures in shorthand
- To identity the high rate of failures in shorthand.
- Find out if the students are responsible for their failures
- Find out if the teachers are responsible for the student failures.
- Identify the role of the school authorities in alleviating the problems facing the teaching and learning of shorthand.
1.4 Scope of the Study
This research work covers the department of the secretarial studies institute of management and technology Enugu.
1.5 Research Questions
- What are the causes of high rate of failures in shorthand?
- How can problem be solved?
- Would you attribute this failure rate to the students?
- Could the rate of failures be attributed to the lecturers?
- What are the contraption of the school authorities alleviating the problem?
1.6 Significance of the Study
The important of the study is to survey on the high rate of failures in shorthand. The study is contributing to the remedy of high rate of failures among the students. it will help education planners to find lasting solutions to the problems created by the by the subject to students there by improving their performance in the subject and creating more positive altitude towards it.
The study shall also be beneficial to new intakes who are about to commerce studies in shorthand. It will help them to have the right altitude and orientation in the field of shorthand. It will also serve as a source of information to those aspiring to do shorthand at higher levels. The study will help facilitators lectures to visualize the type of problems student of shorthand are bonnbd to encounter and to device ways of handling then it will also help the researcher in widening her know ledge of shorthand.
1.7 Research Hypothesis
The following research hypothesis are to be answered before the end of this work:
- Shorthand is the most problematic course among all courses offered by secretarial studies.
- One particular sex perform better in shorthand than the other.
- Problem of shorthand hinges on lack of teaching material for the course.
- Past students of secretarial studies land shorthand as a difficult courses.
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