IDENTIFICATION AND RANKING OF DIFFICULT TOPICS IN TEACHING AND LEARNING OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE AT THE BASIC LEVEL
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IDENTIFICATION
AND RANKING OF DIFFICULT TOPICS IN TEACHING AND LEARNING OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE AT
THE BASIC LEVEL
ABSTRACT
This had
been an attempt to identify and rank difficult topics in teaching and learning
of English Language at the basic level in Lagos State. In carrying out the
study, a descriptive survey research design was used. A total of two hundred
and thirty six respondents were drafted from English teachers and students at
the basic level from Education District IV of Lagos State. The researcher
designed ‘‘Teachers and Students questionnaire on Difficult Teaching Topics in
English Language”. The study found out that the topics which are difficult to
students in English language at the basic level are poetry, composition
writing, debates and active and passive verbs. The most difficult topic in English
language at the basic level is debate seconded by poetry. Teachers were of the
opinion that poetry,intonation, stress and rhythm, composition writing,
spelling are more difficult than active and passive verbs for students at the
basic level. It was concluded that pupils at the basic level do not understand
debate and poetry as well as some other topics. It is therefore recommended
that teachers should ensure that emphasis is made on the topics identified in
this study and that students need to be encouraged that they can master these
topics that seemed difficult to them. The researcher however suggested that the
study be replicated by other researchers using different location to confirm or
refute its validity and to expand the scope of work previously done.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background
to the Study
Despite all
efforts by the government, parents and teachers towards improving the teaching
and learning of English language at the basic level, students’ academic
achievement has not yielded the expected result. Therefore, this study is an
avenue to identify and rank difficult topics in teaching and learning English
language at basic level. It is also a process of showing or presenting the
topics in English language in order of level of difficulty as perceived by the
students and teachers of English language in primary and junior secondary
school levels.
The National
Policy on Education (2004) defined basic education as a 9 year education
comprising 6 years of primary education and 3 years of junior secondary
education. It also includes adult and non-formal education programmes at
primary and junior secondary education levels for the adult and out-of-school
youths. The aforementioned document also highlighted the goal of basic
education to include among others, permanent literacy and numeracy, and ability
to communicate effectively.
However,
this study is limited to only the 9 year education for primary and junior
secondary school children. The medium of instruction as mentioned in the
National Policy on Education is languages of the environment for the first
three years and from the fourth year; English language is expected to be used
as a medium of instruction. However, due to the fact that English language is
not the language of the environment, there are some difficulties especially in
some topics which conflict with the learning process in basic level
education. These difficult topics
arguably hamper students’ performance in English language as a subject at the
basic level.
The teaching
and learning of English language in basic level is not a simple task (Jolayemi,
2009). Being a second language, some students are not even familiar with the
language until they get to senior secondary school (Esan, 2011) as some primary
schools hardly use English language as the medium of instruction. Esan also
attributed this to poor performance in English language in both the common
entrance examination and junior secondary school certificate.
English
language in basic level consists of topics which include but not limited to
reading, writing, spelling, speaking, listening, comprehension, verbal and
vocabulary. For reading, Dairo (2008) observed that it is a lifelong activity
but also a complex cognitive process of decoding symbols in order to construct
or derive meaning. It is a means of language acquisition of communication and
of sharing of information and ideas. However, it is not only basic level
students that have been found to experience difficulty in reading, senior
secondary school students and all categories of reader are also affected.
Oyetunde & Udoh (2006) however list impediment to positive reading as lack
of materials, lack of interest, home background and lack of adult readers as
models.
A child's
ability to learn to read, known as reading readiness, begins in infancy, as the
child begins attending to the speech signals in their environment and begins
producing spoken language. Children make some use of all the material that they
are presented with, including every perception, concept and word that they come
in contact with. The amount of time that a child spends together with parents
or other important caregivers while listening to them read is a good predictor
of the level of reading that the child will attain later in life. As a child
sits with a caregiver, looking at pictures and listening to stories, he or she
will slowly learn that all the different lines on each page make different
symbols and then that together these symbols refer to words. Taking time to
read to children is the most important precursor to a child's development of
reading. Preschool-aged children with limited exposure to books and reading in
their home, including limited experience of being read to, are at risk of
reading difficulties.
Ojo (2011)
found that children with limited exposure to books and reading in their home,
including limited experience of being read to mostly identify reading as one of
the most difficult topics in English class. For example, these children tend to
have less exposure to literary phrases, such as "Once upon a time",
and have smaller vocabularies, both factors that affect the ability to read by
limiting comprehension of text. The environment in which a child lives may also
impact their ability to acquire reading skills. Children who are regularly
exposed to chronic environmental noise pollution, such as highway traffic
noise, have been known to show decreased ability to discriminate between
phonemes as well as lower reading scores on standardized tests.
Creative
writing is also another topic that has been reported by researchers as a topic
that often looks difficult to students in basic level classes. Studies that
have investigated why students perceive creative writing as difficult topic
have produced contradictory results over time. Ojo (2009) discovered that some
students are not exposed to creative writing method as a reason for identifying
creative writing as a difficult topic while some other researchers are of the
opinion that creativity is a gift and not all students can be creative in
writing. In this sense, creative writing
is a more contemporary and process-oriented than what has been traditionally
called literature. This branch of writing includes narrative, descriptive,
persuasive and expository writing.
Students at the basic level may not be enthusiastic writers but most
kids have active imagination in some areas or another. Creative writing is also
believed to focus on students’ self expression.
Ogunlewe
(2009) mentioned punctuation as another area which students find challenging.
Punctuation is the use of spacing, convention, signs and certain typographed
device as aids to the understanding and correct reading. In written English,
punctuation varies with language, location, register, time and are constantly
revolving while certain aspect of punctuation are stylistic and author’s
choice.
Grammar has
also been found to be very difficult for students in basic level to comprehend.
As a result of various new grammar rules that emerge on a daily basis, there
have been difficulties is application of these new rules when writing or
speaking. Therefore, grammar has been said as a topic that is not easy to
understand but researchers like Anderson (2011) and Wallace (2009) have shown
that some students in basic class do not regard grammar as a difficult topic.
Grammar also comprises the usage and application of noun, adjectives, verbs,
determinants and speech.
Another
topic which students perceived as difficult in basic level is words and
vocabulary. These are distinct meaningful elements of speech or writing used
with others to form a sentence. Vocabulary is commonly described as all the
words known and used by particular persons. Vocabulary is also a stock of
collection of words used by a particular person. Knowing a word is not as
simple as merely been able to recognize or use it. Various aspects of
vocabulary include listening vocabulary, speaking vocabulary, writing
vocabulary, and focal vocabulary.
According to
Anibueze (2007), there are many problems that teachers and students encounter
in course of teaching and learning English language. Such problems are
classifies as the problem in equivocation which refers to the problem students
and teachers encounter when they read meaning of words, sentences and passages.
The problem in elocution which also refers to the problems students envisage in
their practice of oral delivery or in usage of the English language has also
been mentioned. The problem in transliteration which is affected by
interference of the mother tongue also contributes significantly to students’
mastery of English language.
In a
separate studies conducted by Ajibola (2009), Wilson (2011) and Yusuf (2009),
they all concluded that reading, vocabulary and spelling are the most common
topics that are difficult to students in basic level especially in African
region. However, Esan (2008) found out that reading, writing, spelling and
comprehension are the most difficult topics in basic level curriculum.
Similarly,
in a self rating questionnaire for students in public primary school in Lagos
Metropolis as reported by Ndukwu (2005), he found that listening, speaking,
reading and writing abilities often affect students’ performance in English
language. When asked students in a study conducted by Esan (2008) to indicate
the order of difficulty of various topics they had to learn on a 4 point scale
where 1 represents easiest and 4 represents hardest, a significant number of
respondent perceived reading as hardest.
The
conflicting findings generated by other researchers when ranking difficult
English language topics and investigating the reasons for general poor
performance in English language in basic classes therefore necessitate the
identification and ranking of the difficult topics in teaching and learning
English language.
Statement of
the Problem
Specific
educational policies aimed at improving students’ performance in English
language at the basic level have been largely ineffectual in the country.
Non-identification of, uncertainty about and non-chalant attitude towards
prioritizing the particular areas and topics that are difficult to students by
policy makers so that adequate attention be paid have indeed help to erode
studies ever geared towards improving students’ performance in English language
(Tsikata, 2007).
General poor
academic performance at the basic level in English language has been
established (Ojo, 2012). While some researchers have blamed home background as
one of the factors that are accountable for the poor performance of students,
some researchers have identified problems in equivocation, elocution,
transliteration and expression as reason for students’ poor performance. The
researcher then feels that it is necessary to build on existing body of
knowledge by highlighting the topics that are actually difficult as perceived
by the students and teachers in order of difficulty so that adequate measures
can be put in place.
Purpose of
the Study
The general
purpose of this study is to identify and rank in order of difficulty, English
language topics at the basic level. Specifically, the study was aimed at:
1. finding out the topics that are difficult
in English language at the basic level.
2. determining the extent at which the
difficult topics identified in English language affects students’ academic
performance.
3. identifying in order of difficulty the
topics in English language as perceived by basic level students.
4. identifying in order of difficulty the
topics in teaching-learning of English language as perceived by teachers at the
basic level.
Research
Questions
This study
provided answers to the following questions:
1. What are the topics that are difficult in
English language at the basic level?
2. To what extent will difficult topics
identified in English language affects students’ academic performance?
3. What is the order of difficulty the
topics in English language as perceived by basic level students?
4. To what extent do English language
teachers perceive various topics identified to be difficult?
Research
Hypotheses
1. No significant influence of difficult topics
identified exists on the academic performance of students in English language
at the basic level.
2. No significant level of difficulty exists in
any topic identified as difficult in English language at the basic level.
Significance
of the Study
This study
will help to identify the areas that require most attention in English
language.
Teachers will
be able to understand more about their students’ problems and proffer necessary
solutions
There have
been few studies on the identifying difficult topics in English Language.
Therefore, this study will provide a template for other researchers who may want
to embark on a similar study.
Curriculum
developer will use the result of this study to design a realistic curriculum
that will suite both teachers and students in junior secondary schools.
Scope of the
Study
This study
is strictly concerned with identifying difficult topics and the extent at which
the teachers and also the students perceived it to be difficult. It covers
students and English language teachers at the basic level in Education District
IV of Lagos State. Both primary and secondary sources of data will be available
for use.
Operational
Definition of Terms
Academic
Performance:This refers to the rate of success in an examination. Throughout
this study, the term ‘Students Academic Performance’ shall be interpreted as
meaning gains made by students in the SSCE results in five subjects including
Mathematics, English Language and Biology which are subjects under Lagos Eko
Project.
Influence:It
is the capacity to have an effect on the character, or behavior of someone or
something or the effect itself.
Difficult:
Unpleasant to do as it requires a considerable effort or skill. Not easy to
accomplish.
Job
Performance: This has to do with the effective teaching, content knowledge,
subject mastery, application of appropriate skills and materials.
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