Chapter one

Introduction

Background of the study:

In this era of information, connectivity is becoming increasingly important in an environment that has shrunk to the size of a small village. Since communicating is getting too much focus, instructional methods and goals are changing as well. As a result of this development, educators are now teaching communication-based classes. As a result, schools that adapt and refresh themselves in response to this process are able to achieve the desired outcomes. English is the most widely studied and taught language. The course materials may be designed by teachers or organisations depending on the learners' goals for learning English. It is clear that ESP is a method of teaching English that is also a method of learning.While the distinctions between general and special-purpose language lessons are beginning to appear and take on new meaning, special-purpose language instruction is not a modern practice. And in ancient times, people who engaged in commerce had a basic understanding of a foreign language to use for buying and selling products.

According to the Federal Ministry of Education's National Policy on Education (2004;16), "the medium of instruction in primary school shall be the language of the immediate setting for the first three years," and "English shall gradually be used as a medium of instruction beginning in the fourth year..." As a result, English became a means of contact in the country and the language of instruction in educational institutions, resulting in a growth in interest in learning the language.Nigerian high school students' English language success has been declining for years. Bad mastering of the English language is one of the fields of degeneration in the educational system, according to a World Bank report on the condition of Nigerian university graduates published in February 2001. (Sunday Guardian, March 2001). The majority of comments on the declining norm are focused on the assumption that students no longer speak proper English. Since they are unable to express themselves adequately in standard English, many students have been observed conversing in pidgin English and at times in their mother tongue (Mgbodile and Afangideh, 2005)

As a result, students can better learn oral English. Oral English study entails not only learning how to speak orally in English, but also learning to understand and compare what others say (Akeredolu-Ale, 2005). , Mgbodile (1999) defines oral English competence as the capacity to comprehend and generate the English sound structure, stress, intonation, and rhythm, proper grammatical use of words, phrases, and idioms, diverse types to fit different topics and audiences, and social norms of speech.These facets of oral English can be taught and learned properly, resulting in oral English proficiency. Oral English proficiency is sometimes used to demonstrate proficiency in English as a second language (ESL). This is because students always compose as they speak. Students who misspell those sounds or phrases write in the same way. As a result, according to Elugbe (2004), developing effective basic language skills in learners is the best way to prepare them for successful learning after both teaching and learning requires oral communication. As a result, it is critical that the learner be forced to obtain this crucial instrument.

As a result, communicative language teaching (CLT) is perhaps the most often used strategy for assisting students in communicating successfully with one another (Larsen-Freeman, 2000).CLT is better applied in the classroom by using appropriate activities to enhance students' speech abilities. CLT has the potential to help students develop their spoken English communication skills.

1.2       STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Oral English fluency is regarded as proof of productive English language ability. The weak communication skills of students give the impression that education in Nigeria has deteriorated. This is because a high school graduate is required to demonstrate a commensurate degree of competence in the English language. Oral English lessons have been making an indispensible part of the English language education in high schools for many years. School curricula are updated on a regular basis to include necessary guidelines for ensuring that effective oral English teaching exercises are carried out.

The Chief Examiners' assessments of the West African Examination Council (WAEC) from 1998 to 2003 attest to the fact that high school students score horribly in English language in general and oral English in particular. Since speech skills have not taken root in secondary schools, chief examiners note that mother tongue intervention (MT) is a significant impediment to good essay writing. Mgbodile and Afangideh (2005) found that the majority of students converse in pidgin English and, in some cases, their mother tongue because they are unable to express themselves adequately in standard English.The level of presentation of students' academic (written) work has been found to be hampered by their reduced oral proficiency. Mgbodile and Afangideh made this statement (2005). They said that secondary school students' vocabulary is very small, despite the fact that the ability to speak good English is highly valued in Nigeria. Students' word choices are careless, sentence form is inappropriate, tenses are incorrect, and many other language phrases are incorrect, according to them, causing considerable frustration among listeners and humiliation among students.Better strategies for improving students' success in the acquisition of linguistic skills, especially oral English, are desperately needed. As a result of this need, teaching processes have been re-evaluated, including the implementation and use of new teaching approaches. The Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) approach has had great success in the teaching of reading and writing skills, but it is unknown if it has been attempted in the teaching of oral skills in Nigeria.

1.3       OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

I.         Examine the impact of the communicative language teaching approach on students' stress management.

II.      Determine the impact of communicative language instruction on students' use of grammatical expressions in group discussions

III.   Determine the impact of the communicative language teaching approach on students' use of social speech norms.

1.4       RESEARCH QUESTIONS 

I.         What are the impact of communicative language teaching approach on students’ stress management?

II.      What are the impact of communicative language instruction on students' use of grammatical expressions in group discussions?

III.   What are the impact of the communicative language teaching approach on students' use of social speech norms?

1.5       SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

Students, teachers, external examination agencies, school officials, journalists, and researchers would all benefit from the research. The knowledge contained in this analysis will aid in minimizing or eliminating the difficulties that students and teachers face in the teaching and learning of oral English because it will instruct teachers as to which of the two approaches is easier and how to use it more efficiently, thus improving students' communicative competence. In addition, the analysis will include data that will allow secondary school diploma assessment bodies like WAEC and NECO to recognize the need to reintroduce the oral English test in the examination process  in the Senior School Certificate Examinations instead of limiting it to just objective test.

1.6       SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The research was conducted in secondary schools in Lagos State's Ikeja Education District. Convenience and good testing supervision and implementation were factors in the decision.

1.7       LIMITATION OF STUDY

The study's scope was reduced due to a shortage of funding, a lack of research materials, and a time constraint.

1.8       DEFINITION OF TERMS

English language:English language is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family that is closely related to the Frisian, German, and Dutch languages.

Communication: the imparting or exchanging of information by speaking, writing, or using some other medium.

REFERENCE

Mgbodile, T. & Afangideh, M. (2005). A Survey of State of English Studies in Uyo Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State. AJEDS 1 & 2, 129 - 135

Larsen-Freeman, D. (2000). Techniques and principles in Language teaching (2nd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Get this material NGN 5,000

Message Us on WhatsApp  »