Format: MS WORD | Chapter: 1-5 | Pages: 65-80 | .
FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH MASS FAILURE OF STUDENT IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
English language was introduced in Nigeria in the early 19th century by the British colonial administration. English language has come to stay in this country. English language is a foreign language to Nigeria, in the sense that it is not indigenous but widely used in Nigeria as a second language. Ever since it was introduced in Nigeria, it has survived many decades and still survives till date as it assumes a more vital state in Nigeria. Bamgbose (2005) sees English language in Nigeria as one of the legacies of colonial administration, which has succeeded in eliminating the problems of multiple languages in Nigeria.
English language has played a vital role in Nigeria. It is a language of communication in Nigerian society. It is a language of instructions and our lingua franca. English language is used in our education, government, business, commerce, mass media and most of internal and external communications. It is a language of communications between teachers and learners in school. English language is a compulsory subject to be taken to qualify students to enter the university and to pass WASSCE, NECO, NABTEB and other external examination. Formal education in Nigeria today is a product of English language, without English language there is the possibility that there may not be anything more than the elementary formal education in Nigeria. Despite the importance of English language, the performance of students over the years has being on downward tread. Nigeria national policy on education (2001) states that school education should equip students to learn the use of English language. Media reports shows that the performance of students in written, reading and spoken English is not encouraging. Boge (2004) has this to say, “one major educational problem is preparing the young people to cope with the intellectual and cultural environment characterized by rapid changes”, it is assumed that the young people should have some basic understanding of English language, which will enable them to perform well in other subjects offered in school.
The statistics of results from the West African examination council (waec) however, revealed that year in year out, only fewer than 30% of candidates who writes English language pass with a credit or distinction level. English language is a major school subject at all levels of education into post- secondary institutions. Lack of knowledge of spoken and written English language in Nigeria means that such individual is disqualified linguistically to play a full part in the national affairs and in the society. The acquisition of the knowledge of English language has a major role to play in social and economic development in Nigeria. It is unpleasant, at least academically to note that performance of Nigerian secondary school students has progressively declined.
For instance, of all secondary school students who registered for English at the West African school certificate examination in 2005, only 14.5% passed at the credit level. These results indicated that over three years, the failure rate ranged from 84.94% to 90.68% the implication of this mass failure in English language may be that most secondary school students who leave school are convinced that they are loaded in English and certainly are not able to use their mother tongue with confidence outside the limited purpose of their immediate social group. It is an attempt to discover the factors that are associated with mass failure of secondary school student in Nsukka local government area that leads to carrying this research work.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
For some years now, students have been performing very poor in English language and this has become a source of worry to parents, guardians and teachers. Closer monitoring has revealed that performance of students in English language at senior secondary certificate examination has then continued to become poorer at every passing year. Some students in the Secondary School find it difficult to speak English or even write in English language. (Otagburuagu 2007)
Perhaps not much attention has been given to the performance of students in junior secondary school subjects in recent years. This neglect, no doubt has relegated this junior subject to the background in our junior secondary certificate examination. A close look at the 2004/2008 JSSCE result records, confirms that students’ performance has been very poor generally and the increase number of school dropout in the area of study is a clear pointer of the theme. The poor performance is caused by many factors such as; students ineffective study techniques, quality of teachers and method of teaching, the parent’s inability to provide useful materials like textbooks, exercise books and school fees and problem of inadequate instructional materials for teaching and learning of English language in schools.
In philosophical view of these causes, this study therefore is specifically designed to assess the factors associated with mass failure of English language in junior secondary school certificate examination in Nkanu Local Government Area of Enugu State.
1.3 Objectives of the Study
The main objective of this study is to find out the factors associated with mass failure of English language in junior secondary school certificate examination. The interests of the researchers are to examine critically and identify the factors associated with mass failure of English language in junior secondary school certificate examination specifically, the study sought to find out if:
1. There are enough numbers of qualified English language teachers and instructional materials for teaching of English language.
2. The previous socio-economic background of the students affects them in studying English language.
3. The attitude and interest of students towards the nature of English language contribute deeply to their mass failure in JSSCE especially in English language.
1.4 Research Questions
To carry out a detailed study of the research, the following research question will guide to study:
1. Are there enough numbers of qualified English language teachers and instructional materials for teaching English language?
2. Does the previous socio-economic background of the students affect them in studying English language?
3. Does poor attitude and low interest of students towards the nature of English language contribute deeply to their mass failure in JSSCE especially in English language?
1.5 Significance of the Study
The student will be able to appreciate the importance of the effective domain like interest and motivation in improving their performance. With this awareness, the student might put up a positive attitude towards English language which will increase their performance and enhance higher grades in junior secondary school certificate examination. Teachers will also be able to adjust their teaching methods and offer remedial helps where they find out that students are putting up a low attitude. State government will also see the need of guidance and counseling in each school, the ministry of education and curriculum planners for better organization of junior subjects in education.
1.6 Scope of the Study
The scope of this study was focused on the factors associated with mass failure of English language in junior secondary school certificate examination in Nkanu Local Government Area of Enugu State. Due to military factors such as time and other resources and the inconvenience of handling a large scope, the researchers focused only on Junior English language.