Problems And Prospects Of Teaching English Language In Secondary Schools
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Problems And Prospects Of Teaching English Language In Secondary Schools
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this research was to identify the challenges and opportunities for teaching English in secondary schools in Enugu South Local Government Area, Enugu State.
To gather data for this study, a total of 200 respondents were chosen from a population of 1,000 people. The research identified several challenges in teaching and learning English in secondary schools in Enugu South, including a shortage of competent teachers.
(b) Lack of language labs in schools. (c) Inadequate utilisation of teaching materials. (d) Unsuitable learning environment. (e) Insufficient incentives and instructional resources.
These issues have a significant impact on the teaching and learning of English in secondary schools throughout Enugu South.
Chapter one
INTRODUCTION
English is one of the world’s major languages, accounting for over 5000 languages spoken. Around 200 years ago, English was the language of less than 15 million people.
Today, however, more over 300 million people use English, making it second only to Chinese in terms of language usage. Oga R.O (2007) determined that English is one of the most influential and rapidly expanding languages spoken around the world.
English is the native tongue or official language of one-fifth of the world’s land surface.
English is the most frequently studied language in the world, particularly in non-native speaking areas. Today, English is spoken in various countries on the American continent, including the United States and Canada, New Zealand, the Republic of South Africa, Australia, Nigeria, and Ghana, as well as other West African countries.
Though English was originally the language of colonisation in places such as India, it has subsequently become the official language in the majority of colonised regions.
According to Udemba S.C (2007), English is commonly taught as the primary foreign language in other nations such as Japan and China.
Similarly, almost half of the world’s scientific and technical journals, as well as newspapers, are published in English. During the Cold War, the former Soviet Union employed English in propaganda broadcasts to emerging countries in Africa and Asia.
The British Council and the United States Information Service, established by the British and US governments, respectively, with centres and libraries in numerous nations, including Nigeria, have helped to spread English even farther.
All of these variables have made it possible for everyone who understands and speaks English and travels to major cities throughout the world to converse effectively with one another.
According to Anibueze (2007), English is a lingua franca. As a lingua franca, it is the language of unification. It is well-established so that individuals of different languages can maturely relate to one another and work together. For example, a Hausa guy may comfortably and efficiently communicate with a Yoruba or Igbo man, and vice versa.
1.1 Background of the Study
Since colonialism, the English language has been an important tool for socialisation and bureaucratic activity in Nigeria. Then, English was taught to their native servants solely for household purposes.
It was only reasonable that the emphasis was placed solely on spoken English, rather than written English or both. The rise of civil officials in colonial administration led to a shift in language education and learning, with a focus on written English.
According to Edward W.T. (2003), this was extremely important because Nigeria, a British colony, began to contact with other British colonies and African residents.
Today, English is the language of the international community. According to Ezugu (1995), English is the world’s most widely spoken language. Many countries use it as either their primary or secondary language. It is the language of education, law, international trade, diplomacy, and popular culture.
It is therefore worthwhile to learn this incredibly vital language, as those who do not will be denied access to the world’s best ideas and current technologies.
In Nigeria today, English remains the language of pedagogy; students cannot make satisfactory progress in their studies without good knowledge of English, which is used to teach and assess the majority of courses in primary, secondary, and postsecondary institutions.
This necessitates a system that is both simple and functional in its approach. This is significant because, according to Umaru (2005), when a student learns a new language, he frequently struggles to express himself in writing.
Because the student employs a foreign language as a means of communication, he must begin from beginning to acquire the fundamentals of the language. It is logical that this is the point at which the numerous issues associated with language teaching and learning intersect with the requirement to do so appropriately.
According to Oluikpe (2003), the basic criteria for grading pupils’ writing and speaking skills are typically control of basic grammatical categories such as punctuation, tense, number, gender, and so on.
Language instruction in Nigeria was riddled with flaws. The primary cause of these problems is that our English teachers are not only poorly trained, but also unprofessional. Even if they have had some training, it is insufficient. A situation in which a language teacher lacks command of its grammatical categories, as we see today, is detrimental to the system.
Regneret al. (2001) concluded that “many good teachers are adoptive rather than rigid in their approach to teaching children and only loosely base their instruction on a given method.” Language is the official medium of communication for humans. It is one of the characteristics that distinguish humans from animals.
Signs and symbols have no international meaning and can be difficult to comprehend. Not everyone can read pictures, paintings, or sculptures. Language is superior to all of them since it is easy to understand and widely used.
According to Ozohili Oby (2007), language literally refers to the “tongue,” a human organ utilised for speech. According to Ozohili (2007), language is typically defined as a set of arbitrary vocal symbols used to express thoughts from one creature to another.
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