CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background to the study
English is one of languages spoken more than every other language all over the world either as a native, second or foreign language. The importance of the English Language in Nigeria cannot be over emphasized. Mark, (2019), the native speakers unconsciously acquire the language by virtue of the fact that it is their mother tongue and those who speak English as a second language learn it formally, thereby using it as an official language for international communication.
After the independence of Nigeria, English became the official language of the country and became mandatory in all government schools. English, as the official language of Nigeria, was chosen to facilitate the cultural and linguistic unity of the country. This was the start of the educational challenges. Challenges emerged with regard to the teaching of English as a second language, in particular the teaching of reading. English teachers in the next school level also felt the effect of the reading problem. They complained about learner’s poor language skills and lack of reading proficiency
The choice of English as the official language was partially related to the fact that a part of Nigerian population spoke English as a result of the British colonization that ended in 1960. The history of the English language in Nigeria could be traced to the early British colonizers. Observing this, Spencer (2016) says, “English is the language of institution implanted by colonialism”. Havard (2019) explained that colonial rule was a dictatorship of governing people and it has negative impact on the social interaction and the use of language among the subjects
Olaleye and Ajileye (2019) in trying to provide reasons for this, assert that boys generally performed better than girls because girls are brought up in traditional family group to be passive, obedient and always submissive to men while boys are encouraged to be aggressive, competitive and independent thus, favouring male supremacy. They further added that teachers do not often like investing time on female pupils believing that most of them will end up in their husbands’ homes. On the other hand, Jones and Wheatly (2020) declare that the only clearly documented psychological difference between male and female is that males are more aggressive than females and that girls have greater verbal ability than boys while the boys excel in visual – spatial ability. English is an international language that has spread in almost all countries of the world because of its use in business and study, which is one of the means of global and diplomatic communication among peoples in the world.
Activity- oriented method is a technique adopted by a teacher to emphasize his or her method of teaching through activity in which the students participate rigorously and bring about efficient learning experiences. It is a child-centered approach. It is a method in which the child is actively involved in participating mentally and physically. Learning by doing is the main focus in this method. Learning by doing is imperative in successful learning since it is well proved that more the senses are stimulated, more a person learns and longer he/she retains.
Activity oriented teaching method helps them to construct their knowledge. According to Rillero, (2018) “A child best learns to swim by getting into water; likewise, a child best learns English by doing English”. Doing English is not only limited to reading or hearing but it holds students in activity to test ideas and develop understanding (Ewers, 2014). Present situation of education in Nigeria is very miserable. Teachers are still using traditional methods of teaching for teaching English which resulted in rote learning and true understanding of concepts does not occur especially at secondary level.
In Nigeria teaching is teacher centered and based on memorization of factual knowledge. Unfortunately teachers teach classes by using typical lectures in science at all levels and especially at elementary level. The consequences of this situation lead to the rote learning of the learners with no deep understanding of English concepts , phenomenon and thories. Yangın and Dindar (2020) has an idea that if the teacher has less resources, then he / she has to choose the traditional way of teaching that is the lecture method.
According to McDermott (2016), more competent teacher, who might be able to adopt lecture method, cannot be expected to follow the activity based instruction so rapidly. In reality, teacher’s uncertainty, lack of resources, material management problems, discomfort, lack of time, limited backgrounds with experiential approaches to science teaching and dependency on textbooks are the causes of using hands-on/minds-on activities often than lecture and discussion (Lebuffe, 2014; Morey, 2010; Tilgner, 2015).
Activity-Oriented Learning (AOL) based on verity of activity-oriented teaching methods. The prerequisite for this learning should be based on doing experiments or activities. If learner is provided the opportunity to think and solve the problems on their own then the learning becomes long lasting. The important features of the activity-based teaching are that it is learner centered and it encourage self-learning. It also allows the learner to study according to his / her own ability and skills. Hence this study investigates influence of activity-oriented method of teaching on the learning of comprehension as a concept in English Language in senior secondary schools in Akure South Local Government Area of Ondo State.
Statement of the problem
There have been so much cry and agitation from the educational stake holders about the poor performance of students in reading comprehension. Several factors have been identified as responsible for the poor performance of the students in reading comprehension. One of such factor has to do with idiosyncrasies of classroom interaction which are in parts traceable to the insufficient interaction between the teachers and students.
Teaching reading in the secondary school classroom has become a concern among educators around the world because it is a well-known fact that success in reading is essential to success in school and self-sustenance especially in this age of global information dissemination. In spite of this fact, it has been observed from the personal experience of the researcher that English Language teachers often test students’ reading comprehension instead of teaching them how to read and comprehend. Another problem is that teacher of English Language equally employ the traditional approach where reading is seen as a solo affair in which the learner is hooked to its text and is not encouraged to read and dialogue with peers or in groups.
Teaching and learning of English language depends to a large extent on teacher’s teaching methods. The teachers’ own knowledge could only be effectively expressed when the teacher can utilize the various teaching methods. Such as; assignment method, peer methods and conventional methods of teaching. It becomes a lingering problem these methods are not effectively used. Inability of the students to cooperate while making use of these methods could also pose a challenge. Similarly, problems could arise from inability to adequately deliver the instruction to the students. However a lot of variables may inhibit or hinder effective dissemination of knowledge to the understanding of the content by the students, such variables may be lack of qualified teachers, teachers’ qualification, experience, inadequate use of instructional materials among others.
There is thus the need to fill part of this gap and find out the effects of activity-oriented method on students’ reading performance in Akure South Local Government Area of Ondo state.
Purpose of the study
The general objective of this study is to examine influence of activity-oriented method of teaching on the learning of comprehension as a concept in English Language in senior secondary schools in Akure South Local Government Area of Ondo State. Specifically, therefore the study seeks to;
i. determine the influence of activity-oriented method of teaching on performance of students in reading comprehension.
ii. ascertain the difference (s) existing between male and female students’ performance in reading comprehension taught with activity-oriented method.
iii. look into the difference(s) existing between public and private school students’ performance in reading comprehension taught with activity-oriented method.
Significance of the study
It is hoped that the findings of this study would help to improve the teaching and learning of reading comprehension in several ways. It is hoped that the study would help students to effectively articulate and recall information, sharpen their listening faculty and speech skills. Findings of this study could also enhance the critical problem solving skills of learners.
Teachers, for instance could benefit from the findings in that they will make their classroom activities more learner-centred as against teacher-dominated activities popularly used in reading comprehension lessons. This can be achieved if textbook writers incorporate these methods into reading texts. Also, teacher trainers like universities and colleges of education would see the need to re-orientate teachers in training on the skills for successful implementation of activity-oriented instruction.
Moreover, the findings of this study will serve as guide to researchers and other language educators on how to use other models of activity-oriented instruction. Finally, the findings will help curriculum planners and curriculum developers to design a curriculum that will effect positive changes in learning experiences of learners in reading comprehension.
Scope of the study
The study is delimitated to Akure-South Local Government Area of Ondo State. This study involves public and private secondary schools in Akure South Local Government Area of Ondo State. The research also involves dependent variables of students’ academic performance and independent variable of activity-oriented method.
Research questions
The following research questions are raised to guide the study:
1. Is there any significant difference between the performances of students taught with activity-oriented method and those taught with conventional method in reading comprehension?
2. What is the difference between male and female students’ performance in reading comprehension taught with activity-oriented method?
3. What is the difference between public and private students’ performance in reading comprehension taught with activity-oriented method?
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