GENDER DIFFERENTIALS AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OF SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE (A CASE STUDY OS SELECTED SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN KARU LOCAL GIOVERNMENT AREA OF NASARAWA)
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Education, in its broad sense, may be said to be a process designed to inculcate the knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary to enable individuals to cope
effectively with their immediate environment. Its primary purpose is to foster and promote the fullest individual self-realization for all people (Verma and
Sinha, 1990). In our education system generally emphasis is given on students’ academic achievement which determines the academic success of learners
and the success of learning is judged mainly in terms of quantitative marks obtained by the students in the final examinations; internal or external. In
Nigerian secondary schools education English language is taught and is regarded as a core subject ntogether with mathematics. Oppong-Sekyere et al. (2013)
posits that, the main aim of teaching English language in our schools is to equip students with the basic techniques of reading, listening, writing and speaking
which are the four basic skills needed in any language learning. Unless the students get pass mark at credit level in their final examinations, they will not be
considered for admission into higher institutions of learning. However students oen
complain that though English is the medium of instruction in Nigerian
schools, they seem to always struggle to succeed in their English examination to enable them proceed with their education. Chukwuyenum, Nwankwo and Toochi (2014) asserted that, the importance of English Language acquisition for proficiency in all school subjects taught in schools cannot be over flogged because there is hardly any subject that the instructions are not written in English Language in Nigerian schools. The value attached to English may have led the Nigerian Government to make it a compulsory subject in basic education and senior secondary schools as well as a prerequisite for admission into higher
institutions of learning. Students read, write and express themselves in the any given tasks through the use of English Language. English language basically involves four skills: speaking, listening, reading, and writing.
