FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH MASS FAILURE OF STUDENT IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Factors Associated with Mass Failure of Student in English Language

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Title Page

Declaration

Certification

Dedication

Acknowledgements

Abstract

Table of Contents

CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION

1.1   Background to the Study

1.2    Statement of the Problem

1.3    Purpose of the Study

1.4    Significance of the Study

1.5    Research Questions

1.6    Scope of the study

1.7    Limitation of the Study

CHAPTER TWO        REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

CHAPTER THREE  RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.1    Research Area

3.2      Research Design

3.3     Population of the Study

3.4    Sample and Sampling Technique

3.5    Instrument for Data Collection

3.6    Validation of Instrument

3.7    Administration of the Instrument

3.8    Method of Data Analysis

CHAPTER FOUR

DATA ANALYSIS, PRESENTATION AND DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS

4.1    Data Analysis/Presentation

4.2    Discussion of Findings

CHAPTER FIVE

SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

5.1    Summary

5.2    Conclusion

5.3    Recommendations

References

Appendix

ABSTRACT

The study was conducted to investigate factors associated with mass failure of students in English language in senior secondary schools in Uyo Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State. The population of the study was 2103 senior secondary two (SS2) students from 11 public secondary schools. Questionnaire on factors associated with poor students performance in English language was the instrument of data collection. Data collected were analyzed using simple percentage and mean.

Findings showed that large class size, poor school environment and lack of utilization of instructional materials are those factors associated with mass failure of students in English language in senior secondary schools.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1   Background to the Study

English Language is said to be a human specific mode of expressing thought, ideas and wishes through verbal (that is spoken) and non-verbal (written) symbol. This definition reiterates that English Language necessarily serves humans in a multitude of ways.

Particularly, it is a well established fact that English Language came into Nigeria through colonization centuries ago and three main groups of people emerged from this contact of English with the indigenous languages of Nigeria, they are: the British, the new Nigerian elites trained in Britain and the native indigenous population trained in Nigeria.  Similarly, English Language has established itself firmly in Nigeria thus; its importance cannot be over emphasized. However, apart from being an official language, it is the robe that ties members of the different speech communities together in inter-communication relationship. Therefore, it is a common instrument that draws on socio-cultural identification.

Furthermore, in view of the importance of English language in Nigeria, the National universities Commission (NUC) adopted a policy and made English Language a compulsory subject for students to be eligible for admission into any university and other higher institutions of learning. Secondary school students must pass English Language at credit or distinction level in order to gain admission into higher institutions. Thus, given the importance of English Language as a subject, common sense demands that students must perform well in it.

According to Oladiran (2022), ambiguous curriculum in most cases fails to realistically address the needs of students’ performance in English Language. While parents are blaming examination bodies for the decline in students’ poor performance, examination bodies are also blaming unseriousness on the part of the students for the mass failure. Meanwhile, students are saying that examination bodies intentionally fail them. Looking at students’ failure rate in the past years, one could allude the downward trends to many factors.

Adejimola (2017) is of the opinion that many of our schools are poorly equipped; some do not have libraries, laboratories and conducive classrooms. Ofogebu (2012) asserted that the poor performance is attributed to family background amongst other variables that is related to the home environment. Also, teaching equipment such as chalkboard, chalk and textbooks are lacking in some public schools. These inadequacies have a way of influencing English Language students’ performance.

Moreover, Shittu (2014) had earlier observed that students’ performance depends a lot on the socio-economic background of the child. In other hand, The Ministry of Education on their part does not employ qualified teachers non post qualified teachers to schools.

Umoh (2018) also noted that some of the staff of these examination bodies is not men and women of proven integrity, some of them leak examination questions. This apart, staffing in most examination bodies is inadequate and so the resort to recruitment of supervisors and invigilators who do not share the same aspirations as their employers. He further concluded that this discourages students in performing well in English Language in secondary schools.

Factors Associated with Mass Failure of Student in English Language

1.2   Statement of the Problem

Scholars and researchers generally are in agreement that students’ performance in English Language is very poor and have presented several factors associated with the mass failure of students in secondary schools certificate examinations such as West African Certificate Examinations (WACE), National Examination Council (NECO) amongst others.

Moreover, the goal of WAEC is to be a world class examination body. It is also aimed at maintaining internationally accepted procedures for examinations by providing qualitative and reliable educational assessment. Despite the efforts of WAEC officials and other bodies at improving the quality of students’ performance, there has been a noticeable decline in the performance of students in English Language and other subjects.

However, Okoye (2019) observes that the high rates of failure noticed yearly in public examinations are only symptoms of a pervasive national failure syndrome.

It has also observed that most teachers lack the right attitude to work, experience and are sometimes overloaded in terms of students’ population. They believed that these deficiencies contribute significantly to the growing rate of failure of students in English Language. These trigger the researcher to investigate the Factors Associated with Mass Failure of Student in English Language in Uyo Local Government area and to proffer solutions to these problems so as to better the performance of students in English Language in certificate examination.

1.3   Purpose of the Study

The main purpose of this study was to identify the Factors Associated with Mass Failure of Student in English Language in senior secondary schools in Uyo Local Government Area. Specifically, the study intends to:

1. Investigate into class size and its influence on the performance of students in English Language in senior secondary schools;
2. examine school environment and students’ performance in English Language in senior secondary school and
3. find out the extent to which instructional materials utilization influences student’s performance in English language in senior secondary schools in Uyo Local Government Area.

1.4   Significance of the Study

The findings of this study shall be significant in the following ways:

1. The findings of this study will enable teachers to appreciate the effect of method of teaching, strategies and the selection of appropriate instructional materials in motivating the students during the teaching learning process.
2. It will assist the curriculum planners to put in place those missing links in the use of instructional materials and fill i8n the gap during curriculum planning.
3. Also, it will serve as a reference material for future researchers on related topic.

However, if this is achieves, there will be a better performance in English Language and in all the subjects offered in secondary schools.

1.5   Research Questions

1. To what extent does class size affect student’s performance in English Language in senior secondary schools?
2. To what extent does school environment affect students’ performance in English Language in senior secondary schools?
3. To what extent does instructional materials utilization influence students’ performance in senior secondary schools?

1.6   Limitation of the Study

The study was faced with certain limitations such as inadequate finance, insufficient research information on the topic of the research, time and the distance to the research area during the period of the research.

Joselyn Nya

My Name is Joselyn Nya
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