AN ASSESSMENT METHOD OF TEACHING ENGLISH COURSES TO ENGLISH STUDENT IN SOME SELECTED SECONDARY SCHOOL IN IKERE LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF EKITI STATE
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE
CERTIFICATION
DEDICATION
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
ABSTRACT
TABLE OF CONTENT
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
Purpose of the Study
Statement of the Problem
Research Hypothesis
Significant of the Study
Scopes of Limitation of the Study
Definition of Terms
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW
CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY
Research Design
Population of the study
Sample and sampling techniques
Research Instrument
Validity and reliability of
research instrument
Data Analysis
CHAPTER FOUR: ANALYSIS
OF DATA & DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS
Result
Discussion
CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND
RECOMMENDATIONS
Summary
Conclusion
Recommendation
Suggestion for further studies
REFERENCES
APPENDIXES
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ABSTRACT
The
research work examined an Assessment Method of teaching English courses to
English student in some selected secondary school in Ikere local Government area
of Ekiti State.
Questionnaires
were administered to ten [10] schools selected from Ikere Local Government Area
of Ekiti State. The statistical and analytical techniques used were simple
percentage and tables which were used to calculate the total response of the
teachers from selected secondary school.
The
research work revealed that an assessment method of teaching student have
positive impact on the academic performance of English student as a subject in
the selected schools.
It was therefore, concluded that assessment
method means the way the teacher evaluate the students to obtain feedback and
that the assessment method is a vital tool for teachers to know the level of
the students’ academic performance. Assessment method help in knowing the level
of the students’ academic performance.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background to
the Study
The
attainment of proficiency in English language has remained the crucial goal of many students, parents and the
society at large. This is because
students success in language is
instrumental to success in English and by extension, all
other subject as language directly affects
students attainment in their
entire academic pursuit. Assessment on
the other hand has traditionally been
linked with formal examinations particularly, high stakes, promotion, end of
the term/ year and school leaving examinations.
It follows therefore, that the approach teachers use in
assessing their students would also have implications for realisation of all important goals of language
competency. The assessment of students
learning achievement has become the object of great attention and
activities all over the world as
Kellaghan, Thailan, in March (2009), states that “The focus of basic
education should be on actual learning acquisition and outcome”. Dowrich (2008), in addition
with Mc Millian (2007), emphasise the importance of having a clear definition
of assessment and accurate assessment of learning outcome.
A plea for formative assessment in
classrooms has become a common denominator in academic publications and most
educational for across different countries and across different educational
cultures (Ramsesal 2007). Consequently, educational reforms have led to the
introduction of continuous strategies designed to confirm what students know,
demonstrate whether or not they have met curriculum outcomes or the goals of
their individualised programs or to certify proficiency and make decision about
the students future programmes or placements.
It involves
providing qualified information on students knowledge. Assessment of learning
takes place at specific times in the instructional sequences, such as at the
end of the term, a topic of the school year. Its purpose is to determine the
degree of success students have attained in the course of learning.
The
primary purpose of teaching at any level of education is to bring a fundamental
change in the learner (Tebabal and Kahssay, 2011). To Facilitate the process of
knowledge transmission, teachers should apply appropriate teaching methods that
best suit specific objectives and level exit outcomes. In the traditional
epoch, many teaching practitioners widely applied teacher centred methods to
impart knowledge to learners comparative to student centred methods. Until today,
questions about the effectiveness of teaching methods on student learning have
consistently endeavour to examine the extent to which different teaching
methods enhance growth in the student learning.
Quit
remarkable, regular poor academic performance by the majority students is
fundamentally linked to application if ineffective teaching methods by teachers
to impact knowledge to learner (Adunola, 2011). Substantial research on the
effectiveness of teaching methods indicates that the quality of teaching is
often reflected by the achievements of learners. According to Ayeni (2011),
teaching is a process that involves bringing about desirable changes in
learners so as to achieve specific outcomes. In order for the method used for
teaching to be effective, Adunla (2011), maintains that teachers need to be
conversant with numerous teaching strategies that take recognition of the
magnitude of complexity of the concepts to be covered.
It
has been observed that General English has no doubt, integrated in the
curriculum of tertiary institution in order to arrest the falling standard of
student academic performance. But one question that readily comes to mind is
whether the design curriculum for General English in the College of Education
has been able to address and meet the present challenges of poor academic
performance among students today in relation to modern concept of the
curriculum.
Curriculum
could be regarded as total experience with which the school deals with
educating young people. This is all the experience both curricular and
co-curricular activities which children pass through to become what is known as
educated person, standard syllabus, apart environment also influences learning.
As argue by the school environment the building, the environment, the colour,
the drainage and so on make indelible impression on pupils and help to change
their attitude to many things for good in life.
Curriculum
is planned and sequence. It is a vehicle through which education is attained.
It includes teachers, subjects, content, method of teaching and evaluation as
well as the physical and psychological dimension of the experience. It could
also be taken to mean the instrument by means of reality.
Modern
curriculum thus embraces all the learning which is planned and guided by the
school, whether it is operated in groups or individually, inside or outside the
school. Contrary to the traditional concept to the curriculum which ends to
restrict itself to the cognitive domain, the modern curriculum embraces a wider
domain, concerning itself with the intellectual, social, moral, spiritual and
physical perspective of the learner.
English
plays a key role in Nigeria’s educational system, not only as an important
subject but also as the medium of instruction (Barasa, 2005). It has been
claimed that the model and the norm of the English used in Nigeria, apart from
pidgin varieties, is the British standard variety and in particular, Received
Pronunciation (RP) (Schmied, 1990, zuengler 2002)
Language
in education in Nigeria has faced and is still facing many challenges. The
issues often revolve around the place and development of the local indigenous
languages (Kioko, 2000; Mbaabu, 2006, Ryanga 2000) the need and the means to
strengthen English as it is the national language(Mazrui and Mazrui, 2005;
Mbaabu 2006; Musau 2009,2000), and concerns about the usefulness of the English
language, its effective teaching and its falling standards (Abdulaziz 2002,
Angogo and Hancock 2000, Kembosure 2004, Nyamasyo 2002, 2004). Sometimes the
problems have had to do with the
competition that the languages have had in the nation and especially in the education system due to the fact that each
language was and still is associated with certain, social meaning (Mbaabu 2006,
Muthwill 2004; Whitely 2004). For example English introduced early in Nigeria colonial
history, played a significant role in the growth of nationalism (Ramptom 2006;
Whitely 2004) a role which it no longer enjoys. It also played and still plays
a key role in the country’s legal economic and educational systems.
In the school system, English is
not only one of the important subjects in the curriculum but is itself the
medium of instruction. The roots of this significant function of English can be
traced back to Nigerians colonial period when it was instrumental to an individual’s
access to white collar jobs, European thought and other privileges (Mazrui
2002, Whiteley 2004). English was a language with a lot of prestige and power and the British model was
unquestionably the one used in Nigeria. Kenyans learnt it from the native
speaker and unlike Kiswahili, English in Kenya as in all non-native context
was\ is largely a taught language, conveyed through formal education.
The issues of how English is taught and
acquired is therefore very important but this must be looked at in the light of
the fact that it is also now a Second Language in Nigeria. The main focus of
this paper is the quality of teaching skills that teacher use in class.
According to Orlich et al (2005), who says “next to lecturing, questioning, is
the single most common teaching method employed in schools in the world.
There is no doubt that
questioning is crucial in the performance of both teachers and learners because
questioning can be facilitative of teaching and learning (Ondiek 2004). In
life, peoples need to ask and respond to questions is imperative. The centrality of questioning in life and
especially in classroom cannot, therefore be underscored.
The absence of adequate data on
the aspect of teaching strategies has resulted in a knowledge gap and its aim
of this paper to generate information to fill it. Findings of studies such as
those by Ondiek (2004), Okere (2004), Dillon (2008), Ole Takona (2006), Dyanda
(2007) and Ipara (2003) are not definitive as to number of classroom questions
and whether they are an effective pedagogical device or not.
This paper, therefore evaluate an
assessment of methods of teaching English courses to English student in
selected secondary school which are the ideals and the actual teaching skills
employed by teachers and how these affect performance of students in English
Language.
Statement of the
Study
A large number of students have serious difficulties comprehending,
retaining and applying language structure in school and even after their
secondary education. It must be noted that language and reading are two sides
of the same coin as they depend on each other. Many studies have shown that
students cannot succeed in their academic work without the ability to
read with adequate comprehension and a good knowledge of the
structure of the language (Enyi and Ereke 2011). The low performance or
outright failure of most students in national English examination such as the
ones conducted by West African Examinations council and National Examinations
councils has become a source of serious concern to both the students, parents
and other stakeholders. For example the WAEC Chief Examiners report for the
past few years as cited in Ochogu (2012), lament the poor performance of
Nigerian students in English and emphasize the need to inculcate reading
culture among secondary school learners (2004, 2005, 2006, 2009).
The methods of assessment used by
teachers may have contributed to the failure rate being witnessed today
especially given the fact that continuous assessment is one of the determinants
of the final grading of candidates in these examinations. It is therefore
pertinent to examine the implications of the patterns teachers adopt in
assessing students with a view to either modifying or changing them for the
overall academic progress of the students in particular and the society in
general.
Thus the problem under the study could
be stated in question forms as:
1. What
could be the implications of using Assessment for learning and Assessment as
learning as against the use of Assessment of learning (that is prevalent in our
educational system) on the students achievement in English language?
2. Would the use of these methods make any
difference in male and female students achievement in English language
respectively?
Purpose of the
Study
The general purpose of this study was to investigate teachers assessment
methods and their implications on students achievement and retention in English
language. Specially, the study sought
to:
1
determine the extent to which teachers assessment methods affect
students achievement in English language
2
determine whether teachers assessment methods affect male and female achievement
in English language
Significance
of the
Study
The result of this
study will provide useful insight-son the differential effectiveness diverse
teaching methods have on students academic performance.
Scope of the Study
The study will be based on an assessment of methods of teaching English
courses to English student in some secondary schools. But the researcher will
limit the study to selected secondary schools in Ikere –Ekiti Local Government Area in Ekiti state, Nigeria.
The scope of the study
covers the assessment of methods
of teaching English courses to English
students in senior secondary schools in Ikere Local Government Area. Also, this will
help the researcher in finding and completion of this research work.
Research Question
1.
To what extent do teacher’s assessment methods affect students mean
achievements scores in language?
2.
To what extent would teacher assessment methods affect the achievement
scores of male and female students in languages?
3.
Are there any significant differences between the effectiveness of
different teaching methods on students academic performance?
Definition of Terms
Assessment: - assessment is the systematic collection
of information using the time, knowledge, expertise, and resources available in
order to inform decision about how to improve learning. Assessment is a kind of
action researched to inform local practice. In process of seeking the best
available indictor to see if goals have being met. It means basing decisions
about curriculum, staffing, advising, and students support upon the best
possible data about student learning and factors that affect it. It the
systematic collection, review and the use of information about educational
programme undertaken for the purpose of improving students learning and
development
Courses: - a set of classes or plans of study on
particular subject leading to an exam or qualification. A course is a direction
taken or channel along which anything moves. A course is series of lecture or
lesson in a particular subject. It’s a short statement which informs students
about the subject matter.
Teaching: This is a process of transferring ideas
through methods by the teacher to the student’s in order to ensure learning.
