EVALUATION OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE CURRICULUM IN SELECTED PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN OGUN STATE’S IKENNE LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA.
ABSTRACT
The research looked at the impact of the English Language Curriculum on elementary school students in Ikenne Local Government. The survey design approach was used in the investigation. For data collection from respondents, a well-designed questionnaire that was rated valid and trustworthy was employed. The Pearson correlation analysis was used to assess the data collected from the questionnaire administration. The research found that the state of accessible resources has a substantial impact on curriculum implementation. The curriculum implementation prepares students to improve their English proficiency.
The form of instruction used by teachers has a considerable impact on the classroom. Teachers do have difficulties while implementing the curriculum. The research revealed that the introduction of the English Language Curriculum had a considerable influence on primary school kids’ learning progress in the Ikenne Local Government. The report also suggests that teachers undergo an urgent reassessment. Primary school students must be included in the newly revised curriculum. Teachers in Ikenne Local Government must become contextually relevant to elementary school students.
The Ministry of Education must build good governance principles for teachers in order to provide a set of guiding principles and rules that define their direction and ethics. Primary schools must create an accountability board that supports financial integrity and ethical practices, a board comprised of bankers who may advise and penalize teachers and students as needed.
INTRODUCTION TO CHAPTER ONE 1.1 The Study’s Background learning a second, third, or even fourth language is more important than ever before in contemporary culture. The educational authorities have recognized the importance of acquiring and teaching other languages, and foreign language courses have taken their positions in the basic curriculum at various school levels across the globe. English is viewed as the most desirable language among the many sorts, not only because of its acceptability as a worldwide language but also because of its extensive usage. According to Crystal (2014), around 570 million people worldwide speak English as a first or second language.
Throughout history, the importance put on English teaching and learning has resulted in the creation of many methodologies and approaches that have had a direct influence on syllabus design, classroom practices, and assessment and evaluation processes. Individual and societal goals for learning English, as well as theories on second language acquisition, have all had an impact on the emergence of various techniques and methods (Adekola, 2012). These methodologies and approaches are classified as part of the three fundamental perspectives on language. The first point of view is the “structural view,” which defines the goal of language learning as mastery of structurally related elements in the form of phonological, grammatical, and lexical units, and the methods listed under this point of view include “Grammar Translation Method,” “Direct Method,” “Audio-Lingual Method,” “Total Physical Response,” and “Silent Way.” The second viewpoint discusses the “functional perspective,” which states that language is a vehicle for the presentation of functional meaning and is the source of “Communicative Language Teaching” and “Task-Based Instruction.” Finally, the third viewpoint discusses the “interactional approach,” which regards language as a tool for the establishment and maintenance of social ties and is related to “Suggestopedia” and “Community Language Teaching” (Richard, 2015).
These techniques and methodologies have had an impact on English course syllabuses. Despite the fact that the associated literature provides two major kinds of syllabuses in English language teaching and learning, these are “product-oriented” and “process-oriented” syllabuses (Fakeye, 2013). The significance of “product-oriented syllabuses” is in the information and skills that learners would develop as a consequence of education. In such a syllabus, the material is represented as “structures,” which are the grammatical rules that students are required to master, or as “functions” and “notions” (Fakeye, 2013). The communication goals of the language are referred to as functions, which include requests, offers, and complaints.
Notions, on the other hand, are mental meanings that incorporate time, sequence, frequency, and place (Wilkins, 2015). In contrast to “product-oriented” syllabuses, “process-oriented” ones focus on the procedures via which the learner will acquire information and skills (Fakeye, 2013). Content is regarded in these syllabuses as tasks, actions, and topics that students will have to deal with in class. Because English is the medium of teaching and communication in all kinds of formal learning in Nigeria, it is often regarded as the foundation of all other topics taught in elementary school. In reality, English is one of just a few basic disciplines recommended for elementary schools in the National Policy on Education (National Policy, 1981).
As a result, it is a necessary prerequisite for future study. Because of the emphasis placed on passing English language ‘0’ level in the Nigerian educational system, it is now required that students have at least a credit pass (C6) in English. It is therefore essential that the language is well taught in order for pupils to have effective mastery of the subject. Furthermore, our political and social conditions necessitate the use of English not just as a foreign language but also as an official language. Actually, the linked literature emphasizes the significance of continuous investigation into any curriculum in order to gain improved findings regarding the efficacy of its approach, technique, and syllabus (Fakeye, 2013, Schriven, 2012).
However, this problem necessitates consideration of how the investigation will be done and who will be engaged in the investigation process. However, the right definition of curriculum is supplied by categorizing the concept as “planned curriculum,” “observed curriculum,” and “experienced curriculum” (Faniran & Olatunji, 2011). In this respect, ztürk (2013) provides a precise description of the planned curriculum as what has been laid forth in guidelines or syllabus papers published by the appropriate educational authorities. The “observed curriculum,” on the other hand, is what students see when they enter a classroom. However, the American National Council (as stated in ztürk, 2013) defined the experienced curriculum as the planned curriculum that is adapted and molded by interactions between students, instructors, resources, and everyday life in the classroom. Nonetheless, these curricular definitions stem from the reality that there may be disparities between what educational authorities want and what students experience in the classroom.
Although a planned curriculum is primarily invisible or unreal (Fakeye, 2013), any investigation into any curriculum should take into account what is experienced in the classroom. Teachers, in fact, are the essential ones responsible for understanding the prepared curriculum and bringing it to life in the language classroom via their teaching and assessment practices. Furthermore, the audience or beneficiary of any curriculum is the students, since they are the key characters that are influenced by the curriculum. As a consequence, such an investigation should undoubtedly include both instructors and pupils.
Furthermore, as Fakeye (2013) points out, there might be discrepancies between what instructors perceive happens in the classroom and what really occurs. As a result, such research should compare the perspectives of instructors and students. This research would aim to analyze the English Language Curriculum implementation on primary school students in Ikenne Local Government based on this assumption. 1. 2. Problem Statement There has long been widespread concern about pupils’ low performance in external English tests (Akeredolu, 2007). There have also been reports of widespread failure in both elementary and secondary school tests throughout the country. Furthermore, in the senior secondary and postsecondary levels, there have been reports of pupils consistently failing English, which has been ascribed to a defective foundation.
The West African Examination Council’s (WAEC) continuous publication and growth of unsatisfactory results has sparked widespread interest and investigation into the issue in trying to determine the causes of this failure. Adekola (2012) According to Adekola (2012), Ajayi (2012), and Fakeye (2013), the reasons for low performance throughout the nation have been linked to parental, teachers’, students’, and governmental variables, with a focus on teachers’ instructional tactics. However, the focus has turned to the abilities and appropriateness of English language teacher training (Faniran & Olatunji, 2011). Prior study has found children’s academic success as a predictor of teacher quality (Darling-Hammond, 2000 & Anderson, 1991, cited in Fakeye, 2010). Furthermore, (Fakeye, 2010) said that successful teaching may be judged by the instructors’ degree of subject matter knowledge.
This viewpoint was also supported by Ajelayemi (2012), who remarked on difficulties or challenges impacting secondary schools in Nigeria and claimed that the teacher element was regarded as the most important, and that teacher education programs were indirectly implicated. Similarly, Faniran and Olatunji (2011) argued that a collaboration between the Nigeria Teacher Institute and the British Council has determined that good instruction by instructors would greatly improve students’ language performance. Furthermore, there have been reports of instructors losing interest in training as a result of the poor respect afforded to the teaching profession (Osunde & Izevbige, 2012). Finally, the skill of instructors, rather than instructional techniques, is a major determinant in students’ excellent academic progress.
As a result, this research tries to bridge the gap by examining the English Language Curriculum implementation in primary school students. 1.3. Objectives of Research The study’s major goal is to assess the English Language Curriculum implementation by primary school students in Ikenne Local Government. The precise goals are as follows: determine the condition of available resources in curriculum implementation analyze how curriculum implementation equips students to improve their English performance investigates the form of instruction used by instructors in the classroom research the types of difficulties experienced by teachers during curriculum implementation 1.4. Research Issues For the study, the following research questions were presented. What is the current status of available resources for curriculum implementation? How can curricular implementation help students improve their English performance? 3. What method of instruction do instructors use in the classroom? 4. What types of issues do instructors run into when putting the curriculum into action? 1.5. Hypotheses for Research In light of the aforementioned goals, the hypotheses will be stated in their full versions. The state of available resources has no impact on curriculum implementation.
The curriculum implementation does not prepare students to improve their English skills. The form of instruction used by teachers has little influence in the classroom. Teachers have no difficulties in implementing the curriculum. 1.6. Importance of the Research However, it is believed that this research will be useful in a variety of ways. Initially, it gives input for the implementation of the English curriculum in Nigerian elementary schools. In other words, it gives feedback on how instructors perceive and execute the intended curriculum, as well as how students practice the established curriculum in the classroom. As a result, it will also assist curriculum creators in imagining how their choices would be perceived and implemented by instructors in the classroom. It will also be important for instructors to observe how students view the curriculum implementation.
As a result, what is and isn’t implemented, as well as what is and isn’t experienced, may be determined, and the causes for differences between the intended, perceived, implemented, and experienced curriculum can be recognized. Furthermore, this research will aid in identifying the difficulties or obstacles encountered in attaining the aims of the current English curriculum from the perspectives of instructors and students, allowing authorities to consider these concerns in their efforts to improve the English language curriculum. This study is significant because it was conducted at a time when the Ministry of Education is attempting to reconsider and make changes in the current English language curricula at various levels, and when the Ministry of Education is attempting to reconsider and make changes in the current English language curricula at various levels. As a consequence, the outcomes of the current implementation tactics, the obstacles or issues faced, and the recommendations offered by instructors and students are anticipated to provide important information to professionals in their future efforts.
The findings concerning curriculum implementation issues will also be significant, as they will assist teachers in improving their performance and instructional strategies, and they can also be used as a reference study in not only English language teaching methods courses at universities, but also pre-and in-service training programs offered by the Ministry of Education. Finally, this research will be significant since it will add to the current literature. In accordance with this, a detailed evaluation of curriculum implementation in the Nigeria setting, as well as an understanding of the underlying challenges, might give a point of view for other comparable educational systems. 1.7. The Study’s Scope The research focuses on the application of the English Language curriculum to elementary school students in Ikenne Local Government.
This research, however, will be confined to chosen schools in Ikenne Local Government, as well as the use of a questionnaire as the major source of data to obtain the respondents’ opinions. 1.8. Operational Terminology Definition Curriculum for English: The English language curriculum refers to the curriculum that has been established and executed by the Ministry of Education at all levels of education in Nigeria. English Language Teaching: English language teaching in primary schools in Nigeria refers to the teaching and study of English as a foreign language. Curriculum Implementation: The process of carrying out the English language curriculum in the classroom by instructors and students. It encompasses both the curriculum and the instructional practice in terms of delivering the desired results. Primary school is an institution in Nigeria where students acquire their first level of obligatory education.
The research looked at the impact of the English Language Curriculum on elementary school students in Ikenne Local Government.
The survey design approach was used in the investigation. For data collection from respondents, a well-designed questionnaire that was rated valid and trustworthy was employed. The Pearson correlation analysis was used to assess the data collected from the questionnaire administration.
The research found that the state of accessible resources has a substantial impact on curriculum implementation. The curriculum implementation prepares students to improve their English proficiency. The form of instruction used by teachers has a considerable impact on the classroom. Teachers do have difficulties while implementing the curriculum.
The research revealed that the introduction of the English Language Curriculum had a considerable influence on primary school kids’ learning progress in the Ikenne Local Government. The report also suggests that teachers undergo an urgent reassessment. Primary school students must be included in the newly revised curriculum. Teachers in Ikenne Local Government must become contextually relevant to elementary school students. The Ministry of Education must build good governance principles for teachers in order to provide a set of guiding principles and rules that define their direction and ethics. Primary schools must create an accountability board that supports financial integrity and ethical practices, a board comprised of bankers who may advise and penalize teachers and students as needed.
1.1 The Study’s Background
The learning of a second, third, or even fourth language is more important than ever before in contemporary culture. The educational authorities have recognized the importance of acquiring and teaching other languages, and foreign language courses have taken their positions in the basic curriculum at various school levels across the globe. English is viewed as the most desirable language among the many sorts, not only because of its acceptability as a worldwide language but also because of its extensive usage. According to Crystal (2014), around 570 million people worldwide speak English as a first or second language.
Throughout history, the importance put on English teaching and learning has resulted in the creation of many methodologies and approaches that have had a direct influence on syllabus design, classroom practices, and assessment and evaluation processes. Individual and societal goals for learning English, as well as theories on second language acquisition, have all had an impact on the emergence of various techniques and methods (Adekola, 2012).
These methodologies and approaches are classified as part of the three fundamental perspectives on language. The first point of view is the “structural view,” which defines the goal of language learning as mastery of structurally related elements in the form of phonological, grammatical, and lexical units, and the methods listed under this point of view include “Grammar Translation Method,” “Direct Method,” “Audio-Lingual Method,” “Total Physical Response,” and “Silent Way.” The second viewpoint discusses the “functional perspective,” which states that language is a vehicle for the presentation of functional meaning and is the source of “Communicative Language Teaching” and “Task-Based Instruction.” Finally, the third viewpoint discusses the “interactional approach,” which regards language as a tool for the establishment and maintenance of social ties and is related to “Suggestopedia” and “Community Language Teaching” (Richard, 2015).
These techniques and methodologies have had an impact on English course syllabuses. Despite the fact that the associated literature provides two major kinds of syllabuses in English language teaching and learning, these are “product-oriented” and “process-oriented” syllabuses (Fakeye, 2013). The significance of “product-oriented syllabuses” is in the information and skills that learners would develop as a consequence of education. In such a syllabus, the material is represented as “structures,” which are the grammatical rules that students are required to master, or as “functions” and “notions” (Fakeye, 2013). The communication goals of the language are referred to as functions, which include requests, offers, and complaints. Notions, on the other hand, are mental meanings that incorporate time, sequence, frequency, and place (Wilkins, 2015). In contrast to “product-oriented” syllabuses, “process-oriented” ones focus on the procedures via which the learner will acquire information and skills (Fakeye, 2013). Content is regarded in these syllabuses as tasks, actions, and topics that students will have to deal with in class.
Because English is the medium of teaching and communication in all kinds of formal learning in Nigeria, it is often regarded as the foundation of all other topics taught in elementary school. In reality, English is one of just a few basic disciplines recommended for elementary schools in the National Policy on Education (National Policy, 1981). As a result, it is a necessary prerequisite for future study. Because of the emphasis placed on passing English language ‘0’ level in the Nigerian educational system, it is now required that students have at least a credit pass (C6) in English. It is therefore essential that the language is well taught in order for pupils to have effective mastery of the subject. Furthermore, our political and social conditions necessitate the use of English not just as a foreign language but also as an official language.
Actually, the linked literature emphasizes the significance of continuous investigation into any curriculum in order to gain improved findings regarding the efficacy of its approach, technique, and syllabus (Fakeye, 2013, Schriven, 2012). However, this problem necessitates consideration of how the investigation will be done and who will be engaged in the investigation process. However, the right definition of curriculum is supplied by categorizing the concept as “planned curriculum,” “observed curriculum,” and “experienced curriculum” (Faniran & Olatunji, 2011). In this respect, ztürk (2013) provides a precise description of the planned curriculum as what has been laid forth in guidelines or syllabus papers published by the appropriate educational authorities. The “observed curriculum,” on the other hand, is what students see when they enter a classroom. However, the American National Council (as stated in ztürk, 2013) defined the experienced curriculum as the planned curriculum that is adapted and molded by interactions between students, instructors, resources, and everyday life in the classroom.
Nonetheless, these curricular definitions stem from the reality that there may be disparities between what educational authorities want and what students experience in the classroom. Although a planned curriculum is primarily invisible or unreal (Fakeye, 2013), any investigation into any curriculum should take into account what is experienced in the classroom. Teachers, in fact, are the essential ones responsible for understanding the prepared curriculum and bringing it to life in the language classroom via their teaching and assessment practices. Furthermore, the audience or beneficiary of any curriculum is the students, since they are the key characters that are influenced by the curriculum. As a consequence, such an investigation should undoubtedly include both instructors and pupils. Furthermore, as Fakeye (2013) points out, there might be discrepancies between what instructors perceive happens in the classroom and what really occurs. As a result, such research should compare the perspectives of instructors and students. This research would aim to analyze the English Language Curriculum implementation on primary school students in Ikenne Local Government based on this assumption.
1.2. Problem Statement
There has long been widespread concern about pupils’ low performance in external English tests (Akeredolu, 2007). There have also been reports of widespread failure in both elementary and secondary school tests throughout the country. Furthermore, in the senior secondary and postsecondary levels, there have been reports of pupils consistently failing English, which has been ascribed to a defective foundation. The West African Examination Council’s (WAEC) continuous publication and growth of unsatisfactory results has sparked widespread interest and investigation into the issue in trying to determine the causes of this failure (Adekola, 2012).
According to Adekola (2012), Ajayi (2012), and Fakeye (2013), the reasons for low performance throughout the nation have been linked to parental, teachers’, students’, and governmental variables, with a focus on teachers’ instructional tactics. However, the focus has turned to the abilities and appropriateness of English language teacher training (Faniran & Olatunji, 2011).
Prior study has found children’s academic success as a predictor of teacher quality (Darling-Hammond, 2000 & Anderson, 1991, cited in Fakeye, 2010). Furthermore, (Fakeye, 2010) said that successful teaching may be judged by the instructors’ degree of subject matter knowledge. This viewpoint was also supported by Ajelayemi (2012), who remarked on difficulties or challenges impacting secondary schools in Nigeria and claimed that the teacher element was regarded as the most important, and that teacher education programs were indirectly implicated.
Similarly, Faniran and Olatunji (2011) argued that a collaboration between the Nigeria Teacher Institute and the British Council has determined that good instruction by instructors would greatly improve students’ language performance. Furthermore, there have been reports of instructors losing interest in training as a result of the poor respect afforded to the teaching profession (Osunde & Izevbige, 2012).
Finally, the skill of instructors, rather than instructional techniques, is a major determinant in students’ excellent academic progress. As a result, this research tries to bridge the gap by examining the English Language Curriculum implementation in primary school students.
The study’s major goal is to assess the English Language Curriculum implementation by primary school students in Ikenne Local Government. The specific goals are as follows:
For the study, the following research questions were presented.
In light of the aforementioned goals, the hypotheses will be stated in their full versions.
1.6. Importance of the Research
However, it is believed that this research will be useful in a variety of ways. Initially, it gives input for the implementation of the English curriculum in Nigerian elementary schools. In other words, it gives feedback on how instructors perceive and execute the intended curriculum, as well as how students practice the established curriculum in the classroom. As a result, it will also assist curriculum creators in imagining how their choices would be perceived and implemented by instructors in the classroom. It will also be important for instructors to observe how students view the curriculum implementation. As a result, what is and isn’t implemented, as well as what is and isn’t experienced, may be determined, and the causes for differences between the intended, perceived, implemented, and experienced curriculum can be recognized.
Furthermore, this research will aid in identifying the difficulties or obstacles encountered in attaining the aims of the current English curriculum from the perspectives of instructors and students, allowing authorities to consider these concerns in their efforts to improve the English language curriculum. This study is significant because it was conducted at a time when the Ministry of Education is attempting to reconsider and make changes in the current English language curricula at various levels, and when the Ministry of Education is attempting to reconsider and make changes in the current English language curricula at various levels. As a consequence, the outcomes of the current implementation tactics, the obstacles or issues faced, and the recommendations offered by instructors and students are anticipated to provide important information to professionals in their future efforts.
The findings concerning curriculum implementation issues will also be significant, as they will assist teachers in improving their performance and instructional strategies, and they can also be used as a reference study in not only English language teaching methods courses at universities, but also pre-and in-service training programs offered by the Ministry of Education.
Finally, this research will be significant since it will add to the current literature. In accordance with this, a detailed evaluation of curriculum implementation in the Nigeria setting, as well as an understanding of the underlying challenges, might give a point of view for other comparable educational systems.
The research focuses on the application of the English Language curriculum to elementary school students in Ikenne Local Government. This research, however, will be confined to chosen schools in Ikenne Local Government, as well as the use of a questionnaire as the major source of data to obtain the respondents’ opinions.
1.8. Operational Terminology Definition
English Language Curriculum: English language curriculum refers to the curriculum that has been developed by the Ministry of Education and implemented at all levels of education in Nigeria.
English Language Teaching: English language teaching in primary schools in Nigeria refers to the teaching and study of English as a foreign language.
Curriculum Implementation: The process of carrying out the English language curriculum in the classroom by instructors and students. It encompasses both the curriculum and the instructional practice in terms of delivering the desired results.
Primary school is an institution in Nigeria where students acquire their first level of obligatory education.
