INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES AND STUDENT ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN UYO

0
487

ABSTRACT

This study was carried out on instructional strategies and student academic performance in English language in secondary schools in Uyo. Instructional strategies are techniques teachers use to help students become independent, strategic learners. These strategies become learning strategies when students independently select the appropriate ones and use them effectively to accomplish tasks or meet goals. The research design for this study was survey inferential design, which entails the use of questionnaire with all part of it covers or relates to the research hypotheses. In this study the study population constituted students in senior secondary two and three students from four schools in Uyo Local Government Area;Uyo High school, Community Comprehensive Secondary School Four Towns, Aka offot Secondary school, Community Secondary School West Itam and Efficient Secondary School.

Characteristically, the sample consisted of 138 males and 102 females with age ranging between 16 and 21. The results showed that instructional strategies make learning more lively and interesting thereby promoting greater acquisition and longer retention of factual knowledge among others.For effective use of instructional strategies in English language, the study concluded that; teachers should be encouraged to improvise teaching aids from local strategies; production of certain instructional strategies should be a joint teacher-students responsibility; and curriculum development agencies should show commitment to the production of instructional strategies. The study recommended that the Ministry of Education in collaboration with the school authorities should be actively involved in monitoring and supervising the activities of teachers as regards the use of instructional strategies in the classroom. The study further suggested that an investigation into the factors that hinder the effective use of instructional strategies in the pedagogy of English language should be conducted for further studies.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to Study

English language is today regarded as a world language. This is because it is spoken by a greater section of the globe. In Nigeria, it is regarded as the most important language of communication between sections and tribes. English language in Nigeria is the official language; the language of administration, law, the press, commerce and political unity and above all language of education. Apart from it being studied at all levels of education, it is the medium through which education is transformed at all levels, a language in which all principal subjects are taught in secondary school. Hence, Vygotsky (1962) asserts that thoughts cannot be divorced from language for language is the vehicle of thoughts. Therefore, a person in condemned to the abyss of failure in academics if we cannot operate in the language in which he is supposed to learn. Consequently, the need to study English Language and be effectively grounded in it in the Nigerian environment becomes absolutely inevitable. Outside this, the English Language policy is contained in the 1927 constitution and the National Policy on Education (1981) to increase the importance of English Language in Nigeria. Despite the importance attached to English Language by the government and people of Nigeria, there is a general low level of performance among secondary school students in public examination. This low level of performance appears to place our students in a disadvantage state since they can hardly be reckoned with in several endeavors in their life especially where a certain percentage is required as pass in English Language. This situation has affected the national, political, economical, and religious growth not forgetting the educational growth expected to usher in technological growth. Therefore, this deficiency in English Language performance among our secondary school students has forced many to believe that factors such as the environment, lack of facilities, poor learning techniques, age, poor preparation, self-concepts and study habits among others are responsible for the experienced results. Moreover, the three important components of teaching are, content, objective and method of teaching. These three components are equal in important and closely interdependent and one cannot function without the other, the factors which influence one influences the other. An educator finds communication as a means through which one can share his knowledge with the people in a way they can understand, without effective communication there can be no education. For effective communication with the students, the educator employs different strategies to present the content of curriculum, these strategies are usually referred to as Teaching Aids or Instructional strategies. There are different kinds of instructional strategies which can be used in a classroom situation. In other words, instructional strategies are resources which are used to supplement oral explanation and descriptions and to use in demonstration. The effective organisation of these instructional strategies result in effective teaching and learning process. It is therefore pertinent to know how to organize and utilize instructional strategies to bring about effective teaching and learning process in school which would result in a positive student’s academic performance.