FACTORS AFFECTING POOR PERFORMANCE OF STUDENTS IN LITERATURE IN-ENGLISH.
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CHAPTER
ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background to the Study
The rate at which students generally run away from
literature as a subject in secondary schools needs to be assessed. This is clearly
in connection with the students lack of proper and deep knowledge about what
literature means and its values right away their junior classes.
Aulus (2001) said “Littera in antiquity is
simple the study of the arts and letters.
It can not be possible for literature to
limit itself to the Greek ideal of man only since it is an inclusive term. It
can also refer to all kinds of writing including those of erudite nature,
theology, philosophy and even natural science.
Gradually, the term is narrowed down to
what we call imaginative literature today. The poem, the play, the tale in
particular.
Jean George (2002) used literal as a
synonym of belles letter and narrowed it expressively to the epic, the tragedy,
the comedy, the ode the fable, history and eloquence. Thus, literature can be
used to refer to any thing in print. Literature can also summed as the totality
of human experiences about life. Also it is a channel through which an artist
exhibits his power of imagination.
Literature is like the work of a fine
artist who draws pictures. The difference is that, while the painter uses
paints to creates or realize his images, the creative writer creates literature
through words.
Poor
leadership is a problem that faces literature generally in our society today.
Daniel (2000) in his essay little “Learning English Language from literature
Nigerian junior secondary class pointed out that reading, is not an established
habit in many of Nigerian home. The Nigeria child generally sees
literature as a school subject to be studies either for an impending
examination or for classroom purposes like other school subject. It makes sense
to him only when the teacher takes time to explain it.
Literature
for children therefore is approached or remembered purely as a means to an end:
the passing of examination and the benefit thereof. In Nigeria for
example, a lot of people do not have time to read. Many have pleasure in
spending there time on business,
drinking, partying and other activities of no educative value.
These traits that lie persistently in most
Africa parents have been transferred to there
children. Many children do not like reading. Some are not even interested in
reading at all this is due to lack of understanding of what literature means.
Due to ignorance many children thinks
about literature as a subject that consist only of prose, drama and poetry. The
moment they are not interested in any of the three, it means they are not
interested in literature whereas they do not understand that anything in print
is literature, that literature is a broad term which covers all areas of human
disciplines.
This is the reason why we can talk of the
literature of mathematics, English, Geography etc. and the moment the students
do not develop interest in reading right away from the elementary school, such
student will find it difficult to make up for their inadequate when they got to
higher classes. This includes many of the reasons why a student fails the other
subject apart from literature.
Statement of Problem
For many years, now there have been expressed concerns
about the problems faced by most of the students in literature in English in
secondary schools.
Such problems include insufficient
training, inadequate facilities, poor teaching techniques, and inappropriate
language of communications. It has been observed that for many years, secondary
school students use to have massive failure in there literature in English
examination both terminal and school leaving examination (SSCE).
It is in view of this that the researchers
are interested in finding out the cause of the massive failure, putting into
consideration the effect of teacher behaviors. Literature in English, like many
other core subjects in secondary requires a lot of skill for proficiency in the
teaching and learning process. The problems of teaching literature in English
are not recent issues but have existed since the introduction of the subject in
the school curriculum. The major complaint in teaching literature in English
have always been associated with the behaviors of the teachers towards
literature in English. Among the noted of factors are:
A. Domination
of the class by the teachers alone
B.
Inappropriate language of communication
C. Discouraging
the student to ask question
D. Lateness’
and absent of the teachers from there lessons.
As a result of this, the researchers therefore aim at
looking into the factors affecting the poor performance of the students in
literature –in- English with regard to proficiency achievement of the students
in the subject.
Research Questions
The following questions will help us to investigate
the factors affecting poor performances of students in literature in English in
selected secondary schools in Akure South Local government Area of Ondo State
A. Does
the home make any significant impact on the performance of the student in
literature?
B. What
role has the library in the effective teaching of literature-in-English?
C.
Do the environment make any significant
impact in the teaching of literature in English?
D. Do
the teachers use instructional materials when teaching literature in English?
E. How
reliable, useful and suitable are the textbooks used in teaching
literature-in-English
Hypothesis
The following hypothesis are to be tasted in the study
A. There is no significant difference between the performance of student with rich parents and those with
poor parents.
B. There
is no significant difference between the performance of students in school with
library facilities’
C. There is no significant difference between
the performance of students in the
rural area and those in the urban areas’
D. There is no significant different between
the performance of students that there teacher used instructional materials when teaching literature in-English
E. There is no significant difference between
the performance of students that used
reliable and suitable textbooks in teaching
literature in-English
Purpose of the Study
The main purpose of this work is to study and identify
the causes of students poor performances in literature –in-English at the school
certificate level with a view to suggesting and recommending possible remedial
measures.
Significance of the Study
The study is significant because, the identification
of causes and possible remedies for poor performances of students in literature
in-English will help reduce the problems encountered in teaching and learning
of literature in-English on the parts of the teachers and students.
Scope of the Study
This study is limited to selected secondary school in
Akure South Local Government Area of Ondo State. For the purpose of a better
result, students offering literature in-English in SSS3 as well as teachers of
literature in-English in SSS3 in the selected schools will be asked to supply
information on the research.
Limitation
For the purpose of financial limitation, the study is
carried out in selected schools within Akure South Local Government. Some
factors have also determined the limit of the study to cover the area are:
A.
Provision of instructional materials for
the student
B.
Provision of conducive environment for the
learning
C.
Good qualify teachers for the students to
teach the literature in-English.
D.
Provision of library facilities for the
student.
