PROBLEM FACING TEACHING AND LEARNING OF ORAL
ENGLISH IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS
CHAPTER
ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background
of the study
There
is hundred of language source spoken n Nigeria. The major languages are Hausa,
Igbo, Yoruba, Ibibio, Edo, Fulfulde, and Kanuri. The official language of
Nigeria English (the former colonial language) was chosen to facilitate the
cultural and linguistic unity of the country. English however remains an
exclusive preserve of the country urban elite and is not widely spoken in the
rural areas which comprise three quarters of the country’s population
(Wikipedia 2015).
Speaking seems to be the most important skills
of all the four skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing) because
people who know a language are usually referred to as speakers of that language
(Faloye, 20015). The major goal of all English language teaching should be to
give learners the ability to use English effectively, accurately in
communication.However, not all language learners after many years studying
English can communicate fluently and accurately because they lack necessary
knowledge
A
number of problem confront the teaching of Oral English on Nigeria Secondary
School with particular reference to Secondary School in Agbor Local Government of delta state
These
problems which do not only include external factors such as lack of laboratory
materials but also teacher’s incompetence, have negative affected the teaching
of spoken English.
One
of the Chief characteristics of human being is the ability to communicate to
his fellows complicated messages concerning every aspect of his activity. A man
possessing the normal human facilities achieve in-exchange of information
mainly by means of three types of sensory stimulation, auditory and visual. A
child will learns from a very early age to respond to the sounds and tunes
which elders habitually uses in talking to him and in due course from a need to
communicate, he begins to imitate the recurrent sound patterns with which he
has become familiar (Gimson 2000) However, the teaching of spoken English presents particular difficulties.
This has been an enigma over the years that students in secondary schools
complain bitterly. This has greatly contributed to the rampant poor performance
of students in English both in internal and external examinations.
According
to Obiri (2007). “Although many concerned pundits have charted numerous ways to
simplify its teaching many more problems are mounting and need to be thoroughly
addressed urgently as they are alarming.
According
to an article “Nigeria poor Oral English necessitates communication development
skills” posted on the website of Nigerian. Tribune in 2010, as part of the
continual effort of the government to sanitize education primary and secondary
school levels, an independent three day training.
The
Tramers workshop was organized for selected teachers by the universal Basic
Education Boards in Nigeria held in Lokoja, Kogi State, Courtesy of the natural
organizing committee, presidents, school debate programme and development
planning and management consultants. Abuja the workshop looked into various
strategies to boost oral communication skills of Nigeria Students at all
levels. One of the major strategies considered in workshop was the
re-introduction of debate in school curriculum from primary school level.
Kennedy
and Bolitho (1994) opine that students or Nigeria children attitude towards the
English language might be as a result of exposure. Attitudes to an English
course maybe influenced by students previous learning of the English language
where the learning has not been successful, there is bound to be negative
feelings towards the learning.
The
English language becomes inevitable in Nigeria due to its functions. It is
regarded as the language of communication co-operation and better
understanding. It is the language of government and politics.
Bamisaye
(2006) define language as a means of communication between individual and
between groups. This implies that language can be used in interpersonal
communication and inter-group communication. Communication within the same
person and the same group, respectively. In either of interpersonal and
intergroup communication, language is invariably the medium employed.
Language
according to Oxford dictionary (18th edition) is the system of communication in
speech or writing that is used by people of a particular country or area.
Language as a linguistic endowment is one of the major distinguishing features
between man and animal. Both man and animal communicate the former employs
language in communication while they later lack the ability to use language to
communicate. Nigerians believe that without the English language, we cannot do
anything, which led to lingua franca. It has been observed that in Nigeria
schooling system, the English language has advantage in private schools over
public schools because of their mode of teaching. The learning of English by
the Nigerians (blacks) is the effort of the colonial government. There was an
ordinance that compelled private system schools in Nigeria to teach English. It
is stated that the subject of teaching shall be reading and writing of English.
According
to Oyinloye (2000) the basic language skill are Reading, Writing, Speaking and
Listening. Oyinloye (2007) asserts that reading is another skill which
linguistics generally described as a receptive skill. People read in order to
collect or retrieve information. The teaching of reading has to begin at the
elementary stage. The teaching of course is usually combined with listening,
the learner has to listen to the articulation of sounds or words produced by
the teacher and later initiate.
Writing
is also a productive skill like speaking linguistics often describes inviting
as a means of externalizing what has been internalized. It is a skill that can
be taught at any stage of language learning. What to write depends on the
ability of the students or the learners. For a beginner, writing can take the
form of making stroke or curves and later the alphabets. One interesting thing
about these language skills is that they cannot be target in isolation.
It
is however, strongly speculated that the use of English language in Nigeria
pre-dates the first known written English by Equiaro in 1789 and the use of
language through British missionary and administration activities. There are
some set of people who through schooling became part and parcel of the language
and these people were likely found to be the students of private schools. They
are raised up by literate parent where they have been developed morally,
intellectually, financially and even physically. This study is concerned with
the learning and use of the English language by children in selected Nigerian
schools. It is important that we need to understand the position (status and
functions) English in the society.
Moreover,
the Nigeria local languages also have their individual and collective status
and functions quite distinct from those of the English language. In addition,
we shall examine the concept of Language acquisition and Language learning.
I
wish to maintain that though efforts have been put in place to improve spoken
English, a good result is yet to be seen. Students in secondary schools
contribute to perform below average in Oral English . The cause of this
negative development is certainly because a lot of energy are being channeled
only towards the learners problems and not the problem of teaching. The
problems confronting the teaching of Oral English in Nigeria arise from teacher
incompetence, inadequate instructional materials disgust for the emphasis on
British accent, poor teaching skill, poor motivation for the students and other
problems which could have been caused by school proprietors or the government.
This
research work is therefore designed to investigate the problem facing teaching
and learning of Oral English among secondary schools students in Agbor Local Government of Delta State.
Statement
of the Problem.
The
English language has affected students in the learning of various aspects of
English skills most especially the area of spoken skill which leads to their
poor grammatical expressions within and outside the school environment.
Also,
for most Nigeria English learners, learn the ability to speak and write
intelligible and acceptable expressions in the target language is a task yet to
be accomplished.
The main concern of the this
investigation is to identify problems that are negatively affecting the
teaching and learning of Oral English in Secondary Schools. The inquiry will
also look at the efforts that have been put in place to tackle the problem of
teaching and learning of spoken English.
The work identifies workable solutions to the teaching of Oral English in
Secondary Schools
Objective
of the Study.
The major objective of this study is to
investigate the problem of teaching and learning of Oral English in selected
secondary schools in Agbor Local
government.
The specific
objective is to;
i.
To determine the problem secondary
schools students and teachers face in teaching and learning of Oral English
ii.
To investigate students attitude towards
learning of English language
iii.
To determine if teacher qualification
and working experience have effect in teaching and learning of spoken English
iv.
To find out if mother tongue
interference have effect on students Oral English
Research
Question.
For the purpose of this
research the following questions will guide the study:
1.
What are the problems secondary schools
students and teachers face in teaching and learning of spoken English?
2.
Does students attitude have effect on teaching
and learning of English language?
3.
To What extent does teachers
qualification and working experience have effect in teaching and learning of
spoken English?
4.
Does mother tongue interference have
effect on students spoken English?
Research
Hypothesis
The following research
hypothesis will be tested at 0.05 level of significance
i.
Problem facing teaching and learning of Oral
English have signifant effect on students spoken skills
ii.
Teachers qualification does not have
significance effect on teaching and learning of Oral English
iii.
Mother tongue interference does not have effect on students Oral English
Significance
of the Study
The
study could be useful to students, teachers, educational agencies and the
society as a whole. It will help them to know the importance of spoken English.
The outcome of this study could be useful in convincing various schools,
authorities and educational agencies.
Also,
it will enable teachers to encourage students to communicate often in English
language and not to be shy while they want to say anything.
This study is significant to the
extent that it will help to elevate the current status of Oral English which
must have been responsible for the turning out of students who are only
half-educated in English Language students undergo courses in English both at
the primary and secondary schools levels and still get out only to speak bad
English. This study hopes to unveils some of the mysteries surrounding the
aspects of English by trying to understand what the teachers understand by Oral
English as they are pupils and students,
this significance of this study will be beneficial to the principal and
proprieties in secondary schools. Thus, English teaching should enable the
students to think for themselves and express ideals clearly and secondly in
realistic situations.
Scope
of the Study
This study is aimed at investigating
the problem in teaching and learning of Oral English in some selected secpndary
schools in Agbor Local Government Area
of Delta State. The study would cover five randomly selected secondary schools
in the local government.
