ABSTRACT
This study investigated instructional problems associated with poor performance in secondary schools by English language students in Enugu’s north local government area. Two sets of questionnaires were raised to guide the study, while two hypotheses were formulated and tested at a 0.05 level of significance. The study assessed the variables responsible for students’ poor performance in English language examinations. The primary data for the study were collected through the use of a questionnaire, while the secondary data for the literature review were collected from available literature on the topic. The data were presented using a table-tabular statistical system, and the research questions were analyzed using a simple 2.50 mean criterion for acceptance of items. The Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient (PPMCC) was used to test hypotheses 1, 2, and 3, while the t-test statistical analysis was used to test hypothesis 4. The findings of the research revealed that inadequately qualified English language teaching staff, inadequate laboratory facilities, and the use of ineffective teaching techniques by English language lecturers were the major causes of student’s poor academic performance in English language examinations. Given this, the research recommended that government and college managements should equip English language laboratories with adequate functional facilities, employ qualified English language lecturers, and encourage unqualified ones to go for further study and attend conferences and workshops to update their knowledge of the language
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Teaching is communication. In good communication, there are three important aspects. These include the person giving the information, the message to be passed, and the receivers.
According to the Wikipedia Encyclopaedia, instructional refers to the practice of maximizing the effectiveness, efficiency, and appeal of teaching and learning experiences. The process consists broadly of determining the current state and needs of the learner, defining the end goal of instruction, and creating some “intervention” to assist in the transition of knowledge. Instruction may be aimed at teaching learners problem-solving, thinking, and reasoning skills, including perception memory, language, etc. Many would agree that people learn better when they can build on what they already understand, known as “schemes,” but the more a person has to learn in a shorter amount, the easier it is to process that information in their working memory.
Dick and Carcy (2004) presented an instructional model that addressed instruction as an entire system, focusing on the inter-relationship between contest, content, learning, and instruction. According to Han, the components such as the instructor, learners, materials, instructional activities, delivery system, learning, and performance environments interact with each other and work together to bring about the desired student learning outcomes.
Horaby (2001) defined a problem as anything difficult to deal with or to understand; therefore, the problem associated with the use of instructional materials in teaching and learning processes could be centered on its misuse with the set objectives. It could be regarded as an obstacle to the smooth process of communication with the learners. According to Ashby (2001), performance refers to how well or badly somebody does something; meanwhile, the instructional problem affects the academic performance of the students. If the processes used in communicating with the students are not smooth or the instructional material is misused with the set objective, then the students will perform negatively. Instructional problems are therefore those obstacles that pose difficulty in dealing with in the process of communicating skills, attitudes, and values to the learner.
THESE OBSTACLES AMONG OTHERS INCLUDE:
Methodologies: According to Abdullahi (2009), methodologies are employed in any teaching matter in that they act as a driver that drives the instructions to the learner.
Meanwhile, if the wrong methodology is employed in a particular instruction while teaching it presents confusion to the learner.
Wrong usage of the instructional materials with the set objective: The set objective is a point of focus for the teacher while teaching. Akinsoba (2009) added that the usage of instructional material should be done according to the set objective; otherwise, it leads the learners far from what they ought to understand on a particular topic.
Improvisation of Instructional Materials: According to Dahar, M.A., Faize, F.A., Nywaz, A. and Dahar, R.T., (2010), improvisation is making something or someone using whatever is available usually because you do not have what you need. It presents an obstacle to communicating skills, attitudes, and values improvisation does not suit the topic because improvisations are made when there are no instructional materials. Okeke (2009) stressed the need to provide adequate instructions for the teaching and learning of the English language.
Lack of Instructional Materials: Some of the topics being treated or taught in the English language do not lend themselves to the usage of instructional materials. Onuigbo (2003) outlines some of the topics in the English language that do not lend themselves to instructional materials, these include word stress, sentence stress, intonation, and the second system of English. Nelson-Jones, R. (1996) published an influential taxonomy of what he termed the three domains of learning; cognitive (what one knows or thinks), psychomotor (what one does physically), and affective (what one feels or the attitude one has). These taxonomies as stated by him are what instructional material touches, so any topic that does not have instructional materials cannot reflect the cognitive, psychomotor, and affective domains of the learners. Sweller (2006), measured the effects of working memory load and found that lack of instructional materials has a direct effect on the performance of the learners.
Language of Instruction: The language used while teaching with instructional materials matters. Langdon (1998) added that the outcomes of this instruction may be directly observable, scientifically misused, or completed and assumed when it is used with the wrong language. Languages of instruction have far-reaching implications for the performance of students in various areas. One of the areas is in the School Certificate English language. Poor performances have been recorded in School Certificates in the English language in recent times. According to Richard (1999), the poor performance of students could be attributed to the misuse of instructions and the wrong application of methodologies to reflect the cognitive, psychomotor, and affective domains of the learners. It would not be out of place for one to blame these poor performances on the instructional process. Poor performance in school certificate English language is an unacceptable development in the student’s career.
In this study, instructional problems associated with the poor performance of students in school certificate English language will be determined, with particular reference to those in Enugu North Local Government Area of Enugu State
STATEMENT OF PROBLEM
The importance of the English language for the nation’s economic development cannot be overemphasized. In the same vein: the present poor performance of students in the English language as reflected in the Junior Secondary School Certificate Examination (JSSCE) report by the Chief Examiner on students’ performance cited in Enugu North Zone from 2001 to 2003 sessions is of utmost concern. According
to Okonlcwo (1995). inadequate qualified English language teachers result in poor
performance of students in the English language. ‘This poor academic achievement in
English language program in Nigeria is unsatisfactory. This state of affairs is very disturbing.
Many factors. include strategies adopted by Nigerian English language teachers. According to Ekunno (1994), poor teaching methods used in the English language give rise to inadequacy. Students’performance in the English language cannot be improved unless teachers adopt suitable methods and approaches to teaching the English language.
PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
Specifically, the study sought to:
- find out the extent the available English language teachers influence students‟ academic performance in the English language in secondary schools in Enugu North.
- find out the extent to which the teaching methods used by teachers influence students academic performance in the English language in Nugu North.
- Find out the extent to which the teacher’s‟ use of the available instructional facilities influences students‟academic performance in the English language in Enugu north.
- Establish the difference that exists between Secondary schools in Enugu North on the influence of teachers’‟ use of available instructional facilities and instructional methods on students‟ academic performance in the English language.
1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
The findings would be significant to student teachers, parents, school administrators, the Ministry of Education, as well as the general public. The result of this research would help the students in the advancement of their knowledge as well as increase their awareness and understanding of the subject. The result would also help teachers understand the effects of certain processes and, at the same time, increase their understanding of the appropriate skills, methods, and specific teaching behaviors. Similarly, the result of this research would help in increasing and understanding the awareness of parents as to the importance of the English language in the overall development of the economy of the nation in general, as well as knowing the remedies to their children’s failure in English language examination. The outcome of this research would also help school administrators, the Ministry of Education, and the government bring about better and improved practices in the English language to remedy the problems of teaching and learning the language in secondary schools. However, this study would provide insight to the general public, particularly for further study by researchers in this field.
1.6 SCOPE OF THE STUDY
This study instructional problems associated with poor performance in secondary schools by English language students in Enugu North local Government Area