Professional Documents
Culture Documents
most of our students find it difficult to speak good English when they get
to secondary schools. No wonder you see a graduate of other disciplines
find it difficult to communicate effectively in English. It has even come to
a stage that, when you see professors in other disciplines apart from
English speak a jaw breaking grammar that have concord disagreement.
We should know that English is an official language in Nigeria, and
whatever you want to do, you have to communicate in English. As a
result of this you cannot escape English language throughout your lives in
your career of choice. If you want to study engineering, law, medicine,
accounting and other subjects in the university, English language is
compulsory as a prerequisite for entering into the university. English and
the use of English are compulsory in Jamb for all candidates seeking
admission into the university. That is why it is compulsory for English
language learning to be taken serious at the beginning of ones education.
Most of the problems that affect the teaching of English arise from the
fact that our government could not train adequate English experts to be
teaching English in most of our secondary schools. Imagine a teacher of
history teaching English. It is a belief that teachers of arts subjects like
History, Government, CRS, Yoruba, and French should be able to teach
English effectively. This is an erroneous notion since most of these
people do not know the structure of English, the syntactic, phonetic and
phonological aspect of pronouncing English currently. Researchers have
their
success
in
academics.
The
major
policy
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
of education in Nigeria. Oluwole (2008) was of the view that having difficulty
in grasping fully the content and concept of the various subject of the
curriculum taught in target language seems to be one of the most serious
problems that English as a first language student face in their particular course
of study. This might br due to their weaknesses in English language (the
medium of instruction) which may have negative consequences to their overall
performance.
Human communication which specifically is called language is the
human vocal sounds or the arbitrary graphic representation of these sounds in
writing used systematically and conventionally by a speech community for
purposes of communication. We can then say that human communication or
language operates at two levels; the level of vocal sounds and the level of
graphic representation. The vocal sound, otherwise called speech forms oral
communication while the graphic representation also called writing is written
communication. Human beings use communication for:
[A]
Phatic communication;
as an instrument of action;
Self-expression;
[F].
Influencing people;
As a vehicle of thought.
Language presents the main focus of all educational reforms and plans in
any country. In some countries, two or more linguistic groups through the
historical or geographical causes have become one.
Language is more important in the building of national characters than
any other factor. English is the language of education in Nigeria. It is the
medium of instruction from the primary school level to the university level. An
individual may in his or her early infancy be taken from his or her native soil to
another county. Through the language of his or her foster parents, the individual
will grow up as one of them sharing their tradition and prejudice naturally.
The English language is widely used as a second language throughout the
world. The estimate of the number of speakers with varying degrees of
proficiency ranges between 100million and 400million. It is one of the official
languages in some developing countries. For instance, India, Philippines and
Nigeria use the language in official capacity alongside some indigenous
languages. (Kolawole 2005)
actively and effectively in all these activities in which literacy is normally in his
culture of group.
Alongside with the nations development, English language has continued
its development to a point that right now in Nigeria, it is Nigerias second
language. It is the language of commerce, Law, Politics, Education,
Administration, Sports, and culture at all levels above the local.
English is a marker of status in Nigeria. A good use of the language is
highly cherished and such gives the user a defined status. Opubor (2006) in a
foreword to Uyo, (2006) Rite, It Right: Analysis of Writing Errors in Nigeria
Mass Media posits that,
English is a Language of the Nigerian elite.... Mastery of the Language is
a defining attribute of elite status; since it correlates with other social markers
such as post secondary or professional education, a good job and a comfortable
income that comes with it... acquiring a mastery of English is one of the goals of
those aspiring to elite statuses.
Since English language is used to teach other subjects in the school either
science, business studies, Arts and technology, there is a need to make it
effective in secondary schools. Our orientation in Nigerian societies has been
shifted from learning and teaching to grabbing of national cake, the idea of
getting rich quick syndrome, coupled with negative attitudes to loading culture
in our society have caused havoc in the affective teaching and learning of
English Language in our society. Charity begins at home, an average Briton
often start teaching his child how to speak good English at an early stage.
English language should start at the elementary school. I mean, from prenursery, primary and gradually to secondary school.
In our present day secondary school particularly public ones, students are
in most cases sitting on the floor and windows during their lessons. In some
cases, students are living under trees or living in dilapidated classrooms. In
addition to that even where there are enough classes, they are overcrowded and
language laboratories are lacking. All these cannot allow tor proper learning of
English language and other subjects hence lead to poor performance. Saad
(2007) was of the view that teaching and learning take place effectively when
classes are moderate. But the present day Nigerian class is overpopulated with
student over 120 and this cannot allow for proper teaching and learning.
Another important cause of poor performance of English language in
Nigerian secondary schools is the teachers attitude towards innovation and use
of instructional media. Most Nigerian secondary school English language
teachers fail to take into account the dynamic nature of English curriculum but
they continued to bore students with definitions and drills in grammar,
vocabulary and speech work. The traditional content/knowledge oriented
teaching is still very much practiced by them. Abdulahi, (2003) was of the view
that teachers mostly infer the use of traditional ways of teaching which they
have been familiar with or as they were taught, which do not necessarily aid
proper learning.
Nigeria teachers used to face an uphill task of teaching the language
effectively. Students on the other hand have failed to acquire the much-needed
language. At the end of the day more failure is recorded. This will lead us to the
following question. What are the problems facing the teaching and learning of
English language in our school? The above question has motivated this study
with a view to identify the problems facing the teaching and learning of the
language in some selected secondary schools in Ogun Waterside, Ogun State.
1.2
towards the language, i.e. how often they use the language inside and outside
the school environment are bad. Finally, the effect of mother tongue in the
teaching of English in Nigeria is discouraging.
1.3
1.5
those information and data that had not existed before and it is generated by the
application of self-structured questionnaire. Therefore, frequency percentage
distribution table is used to represent the data acquired from the questionnaire
administered.
1.6.
concerning the problems facing the teaching and learning of English language
in our secondary schools will go a long way in solving the problems facing the
teaching and learning of the language in our secondary schools. Moreover, it is
hoped that the outcome of this study will provide useful hints to English
language teachers, language(s) teachers, educational administrators, SPEB
(State Primary Education Board), teaching service commission, and others who
are interested in the study.
1.5
i.
ii.
1.5
RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS.
Certain questions which this study aims to answer came up while
5.
1.5
DELIMITATIONS.
This study is limited to Ogun Waterside Local Government area of Ogun
state. The financial and time constraints have militated against making this
study a highly involving and extensive one that ought to have covered the whole
Ogun State or even Nigeria.
The selected schools for the purpose of investigation are:
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.
G.
H.
1.6
DEFINITION OF TERMS.
The under listed terms which will be used in the essay are defined as
follows:
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.
G.
RESPONDENTS: Participants.
H.
I.
J.
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
2.1
the Western languages. English, however, is not the most widely used native
language in the world. Chinese, in its eight spoken varieties, is known to 1.3
billion people in China alone. Some of the European languages are comparable
to English in reflecting the forces of history, especially with regard to European
expansion since the sixteenth century. Spanish, next in size to English, is spoken
by about 330 million people, Portuguese by 180 million, Russian by 175
million, German by 110 million, French by 80 million native speakers (and a
large number of second-language speakers), Italian by 65 million. A language
may be important as a lingua franca in a country or region whose diverse
populations would otherwise be unable to communicate. This is especially true
in the former colonies of England and France whose colonial languages have
remained indispensable even after independence and often in spite of outright
hostility to the political and cultural values that the European languages
represent.
French and English are both languages of wider communication, and yet the
changing positions of the two languages in international affairs during the past
century illustrate the extent to which the status of a language depends on extra
linguistic factors. It has been said that English is recurrently associated with
practical and powerful pursuits. Joshua A. Fishman writes: In the Third World
(excluding former Anglophone and francophone colonies) French is considered
more suitable than English for only one function: opera. It is considered the
equal of English for reading good novels or poetry and for personal prayer (the
local integrative language being widely viewed as superior to both English and
French in this connection). But outside the realm of aesthetics, the Ugly
Duckling reigns supreme.
period of isolation from the West (between 1640 and 1854) during which time
several European languages were establishing the base of their subsequent
expansion.
How English Came to Nigeria
English did not come to Nigeria with colonialism; it came before it.
Though the exact date was not recorded, historians believe that English
was spoken in old Calabar as a result of about 400 years of cultural and
trade contact with Europe. In his Christian Missions in Nigeria (1965)
Ajayi says that English was the only European language spoken by
Calabar traders and that Hope Waddel did find intelligent journals of the
affairs of the region in English, as far back as 1767.
Nigerias earliest contact with Europe particularly the Portuguese was
in the 15th century in places like Warri, Brass and Calabar before the
slave trade. Communication between the natives and the Portuguese
merchants was initially very difficult. The result was an emergence of a
Pidgin English which was a mixture of the indigenous language and the
Portuguese dialect of the English language. The new pidgin soon
became influential and eventually displaced Portuguese as the language
of commerce. Further trade contacts with English traders and sea
captains made the Pidgin English the chief coastal trade language of the
earliest times.
2.2
2.3
EFFECTIVE
TEACHING
AND
LEARNING
OF ENGLISH
LANGUAGE
English language has some major problems in our educational setting
these days. This is more pronounced in the teaching and learning of the
language in our secondary school in Nigeria.
Solarin (1980) states that the greatest cry from all our schools is that the
standard of English has plummeted to the lowest level it can possible reach. He
explains further that anybody who declares that he is sitting with an irresistible
urge to write and speak good English, but who, at the same time, does not read,
could only have stung by a false urge. He asserted that the schools are not aware
that English language and the effective teaching and learning of it, remains a
living structure. It is necessary that one possesses mastery over whatever
language one wants to communicate in. The best method of acquiring mastery
in any language is reading through many books written in that language.
Therefore, somebody who goes all out and read enormously has all the
possibilities of standing shoulder higher in the use and writing of good English
Language than the more seemingly serious students who grind on painfully to
only the use of grammar in the language. The Nigerian teachers, both in the
primary and secondary schools, have not been teaching their pupils to read
English language textbooks and novels. The reason for this might be that they
too were never taught to read books written in English language. Solarin
pointed out that an English boy of about ten years must have read about 208
books before going to secondary school. Children from academic homes read
between 500 1000 books before they secure admission into secondary schools.
Whereas, in Nigeria, a university graduate might not have read up to twenty
five books other than those related to his/her area of specialization.
Iheoma (1984) believes that the teaching of reading comprehensive skills
is the job of every classroom teacher and not the exclusive task of reading
experts. What he is saying in essence is that it is the classroom teacher that is
endowed with the ability to teach reading comprehension. Therefore, the
reading experts should not be troubled unnecessarily.
Emenyonu (1984) says Reading is the most important language skill to
be learnt by children. He explains further that a child will learn very little in
todays world if he does not first learn to read properly.
Another area of concern is the inadequate training and re-training courses
and seminars for teachers. Hill et all (1978) reveal that one of the greatest
weaknesses of secondary school syllabuses is the rushing attitudes of majority
operators. The operators at times try to reach for more than possible in the time
available. There is too much of a rush at the Nigerian schools syllabus so that
the syllabus can be covered within a short period of time no minding the
effectiveness for the standard of Education.
Moreover, the government policy which has created a sort of dichotomy
between English language and Literature in English ought to be reviewed.
Literature in English must be included in the school curriculum as a compulsory
subject in order to compliment the efforts of teachers, and encourage the
students to perform better in English language examinations.
Akindele and Adegbite (1992) said that a situation whereby Literature in
English is treated in isolation from English language as optional subject in the
curriculum at this level does not truly reflect the learning objectives of
secondary school education. Literature in English as an embodiment of
language, should serve to make the teaching of English more realistic and
interesting and expose pupils to the beauty and potentials of language. The mere
fact that many secondary school students are alienated from the study of
Literature in English in the latter part of secondary school education have
militated against the acquisition of extensive reading skills as well as wider
experiences about life expressed by English literary texts.
In emphasizing the importance of effective teaching and learning of
English language, the number one ingredient is reading good English language.
The reader should be familiar with the English rules and correct arrangement of
English sentences, clauses, groups (phrases) and words before effective teaching
and learning could take place.
2.4
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
2.5
2.6
TEACHING AIDS
B.
C.
D.
2.7
IMPORTANCE OF TEXTBOOKS
The textbook is very important in the teaching aids. It requires a separate
consideration in this essay. The scope of the textbook is to reflect and establish
standards, i.e. it indicates what the students are required to know and what they
are supposed to learn.
Michaelis (1962) says, books are the greatest economizers of learning
and at their best are exceptionally valuable treasure of knowledge and
motivation. Textbooks help individualize instructions because they furnish a
variety of reading levels and sources materials. They also offer guidance on how
to study, read more effectively, weigh evidence and solve problems. It is the
work of the teacher to guide students on how to use textbooks.
2.8
2.9
daily practice of spoken English language, both in spoken and written form,
especially students who are from the lower class. English language teachers
generally find it so difficult to help such students in expressing their thoughts,
using English language.
Fafunwa (1967) and Parry (1979) both indicated that teaching a language
is not confined to the initial presentation of new words and structure. The
students need constant practice in the four language skills which are listening,
speaking, reading and writing, so that they will be able to communicate
effectively using the language.
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1
SELECTION PROCEDURE
Simple random technique was used in the selection of the schools. The
3.2
was designed for the English language teachers while the second set was
designed for the students.
The questionnaire that was designed for the English language teachers
was divided into three sections A, B and C section probed into the
qualifications of teachers, the years of teaching experience, the field of study, as
well as the subject(s) they are presently given to teach in their different schools.
that it covers all the dimension of the topic of the study. That is, the
questionnaire is fully exhausted on all that implied by the objectives and
hypotheses of the study.
3.4
firstly, by selecting a small sample from actual simple size and the study intends
to cover and administer on them and when there was no cases of inconsistencies
in the responses given by the respondents in the small sample, the instrument
was then administered on the actual sample size of the study.
3.5
PROCEDURE
The questionnaires were administered to the students in the selected
secondary schools with the assistance of their English teachers. The teachers in
each of the selected secondary school completed their own questionnaires by
supplying the necessary information.
3.6
RATING SCALE
From the data collected, the teachers qualifications, teaching experiences
60% - 69%
50% - 59%
40% - 49%
Below 40%
TABLE 2
TEACHERS
QUALIFICATIONS
POINTS
B.Sc./B.A./M.Sc./M.A
N.C.E/H.N.D.
POINTS
EXPERIENCE
Over 15 years
10
12 15 years
8 11 years
4 7 years
0 3 years
CHAPTER FOUR
4.1
This chapter deals with presentation and analysis of data collected. This is based
on the basis of hypothesis stated in chapter one of this study.
HYPOTHESIS ONE: Do you think teachers effectiveness/ teaching methods
can influence the teaching of English Language?
The term effectiveness means ability to produce desired results in the
cause of ones duties. This is one of the factors that can hinder effective
teaching. In order to effectively curtail this problem, the teachers effectiveness
research projects were conceived because there was paucity of teachers
effectiveness research in Nigeria. Also, the abundance of such research in the
highly developed western countries was unlikely to be valid for the Nigeria
milieu. The best of teachers effectiveness is how much and how well student
achieves. This includes, the achievement in all the Bloomfields taxonomy of
education, which are cognitive, affective and psychomotor. The three domains
are out-dated. Models and specimens are available in schools A and C. Files and
slides are not available in any of the school. Non availability of these materials
in any of the schools is due to bad financial position of the schools.
TABLE 4
S.NO
SCHOOL
INSTRUCTIONAL STUDENTS
MATERIALS
PERFORMANCE
RATING
IN ENGLISH
EXAMINATION
IN THE LAST
THREE YEARS
60%
58%
67%
60%
45%
42%
50%
55%
60%
50%
28%
40%
26%
37%
50%
45%
The table 4 above as shown that schools A, B, D, E, and H who have some
instructional material at their disposal had fair results in the WACE English
GRADUATE TRS
WITH
PROFESSIONAL
QUALIFICATION
GRADUATE
N.C.E
TEACHERS
HOLDERS
WITHOUT
PROFESSIONAL
QUALIFICATION
The table above shows the number of English teachers with their qualification
in each of the selected secondary schools. The table shows the schools C, F, and
G go not have graduate teachers with professionals qualification. School A has
the highest numbers of teachers, while schools F and G have the least. The
N.C.E holders are the trained teachers with the highest figure in the selected
schools. The graduate teachers without professional qualification are not many.
TABLE 6
TEACHERS QUALIFICATION AND YEARS OF TEACHING EXPERIENCE
SCHO
OL
TEACHERS
YEARS
SCORES IN
QUALIFICATI OF
QUALIFICATI
ON
TEACHIN ON
G
EXPERIE
CE
SCORES
IN
EXPERIEN
CE
TOTA
L
SCOR
ES
B.A. ED
10
11
B.A. ED
N.C.E
N.C.E
B.A. ED
18
10
15
B.A. ED
20
N.C.E
10
B.A
10
10
N.C.E
N.C.E
18
B.A. ED
20
10
15
B.A
N.C.E
N.C.E
B.A. ED
10
11
N.C.E
B.A.
10
10
B.A.
15
10
14
B.A. ED
20
10
15
N.C.E
10
The above table shows the compilation of the teachers qualification and
teaching experience in the selected secondary schools. This is done in order to
aid the analysis in table seven on how the teachers qualifications and teaching
experience had influenced student performances in the past.
TABLE 7
ANALYSIS OF STUDENTS WASC ENGLISH EXAMINATION 2012/2013
2012
62
32
51.6
30
48.4
2013
50
35
75
15
25
2014
45
35
80
10
20
2012
104
72
69.6
32
30.4
2013
98
66
67.3
32
32.7
2014
74
48
61.3
26
38.6
2012
72
40
55.5
32
44.4
2013
88
47
57.6
32
42.2
2014
70
52
74.3
18
25.7
2012
104
62
59.6
42
40.4
2013
116
74
63.8
42
36.2
2014
118
60
61
46
39
2012
50
32
59.6
18
40.4
2013
41
17
41.5
24
58.5
2014
37
19
51.3
18
48.6
2012
70
52
74.3
18
25.7
2013
88
40
45.5
48
54.5
2014
79
47
59.9
32
40.1
2012
50
20
40
30
60
2013
58
24
40
34
60
2014
35
25
74
10
26
2012
72
57
80
15
19.5
2013
98
32
32.7
66
67.3
2014
62
30
48.4
32
51.6
WAEC English examinations to some extent. The schools that are poorly staffed
recorded low performance in the examinations, while the schools that are
adequately staffed recorded good performance in the examinations.
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSION
SUMMARY OF THE FINDINGS
It was discovered in the light of the date collected and analysed that the
teaching and learning of English language in our secondary schools can be
hindered by insufficient professionally qualifies teachers. Schools with
professional and experienced teachers can boost corresponding high
performance in various examinations taken by their students.
Furthermore, some of these schools do not have instructional materials
which are relevant for the teaching and learning of the language.
Moreover, teachers effectiveness and teaching methods are said to be
another factors which can determine the success or failure of the teaching of
English language in our secondary schools.
6. the government should ensure that there are well equipped libraries in all our
schools. This will create on avenue for student to borrow textbooks that are
relevant to their subjects.
CONCLUSIONS
The problem facing the teaching and learning of English language in our
secondary schools can be deduced from the findings. Some of the problems are
shortage of professionally qualified teacher, non availability of instructional
materials, students uncared attitudes towards learning and failure of the
Government to organise periodic workshops and seminars for English language
teachers.
It is the belief of the researchers that if all the above recommendation are
carefully implemented, then most of these problems will be eradicated.