Problems Confronting The Teaching And Learning Of English Comprehension Among Selected Secondary School Students’ In Ilorin West Local Government

INTRODUCTION 

Background to the Study 

English language is a medium of communication and expression, a medium through which facts, news, opinions, requests, feelings, are made known.

English language originated from England as the Local (dialect) language or mother tongue of the British people. But today it is spoken in America, India, Ghana, Australia and other countries of the world including Nigeria as their second and official language. 

Hence, the speakers of the language in these countries are referred to as members of “English speech community”. These countries came to have the language as their official language i.e. the language of government, trade and commerce, justice and instruction in the educational system, due to their being colonised by the British Government.

In Nigeria the origin of the first use of English Language could be traced to the period of the settlement of the Christian Missionaries in the country before the era of colonization, which were faced with communication problems between them and the natives. Thus, the missionaries established schools alongside with the churches with the principal aim of training the converts in the art of reading and writing and to interprete the Bible and messages to the converts as well as to teach in Sunday schools.

The acquisition of English language has assumed a wider dimension in English especially when Universal Free Primary (UPE) was introduced in 1976. 

English language this day has come to play a dominant role in the linguistic development of Nigeria, however, despite the wide spread use of the local languages in the Nigerian society none of these languages has yet emerged as the country’s dominant language. This is so because none of these languages could be spoken and understood by an over-whelming Nigerians. Likewise, none of these languages would be willingly adopted by an over-whelming majority of Nigerians. i.e. the language situation of the country is heterogeneous.

It is therefore apparent that since Nigerian languages situation is one in which a multiplicity of language co-exist (Multilingualism), English language became an inevitable instrument for communication in the Nigerian society However, inter-ethic communication too is hard i.e no speaker of Nigeria language speaks the language in the same way an English man would speak English. With this view, the huge gap that English language fills in Nigeria could easily be seen. 

In this note, the Nigerian language situation today is a pointer to the role and status of English langue as an inevitable panacea to the problem of multiplicity of language in Nigeria. English language helps to facilitate contact between Nigerian of diverse backgrounds. It has thus become the official language of documentation and communication. English language plays a unifying role in Nigeria almost in the same way as other instrument of communication it is the only language which Nigerians of diverse linguistics, geographical, social, cultural and religion background have in common. It is the language of business, social and commercial life (Obayan 1982).

English as an international language today occupies the position Latin and Greek occupied in the ancient world. English as used in the native speakers environment reflects the cultural background of the speakers (Perpetual et al, 1989). Social, political, geographical and attitudinal peculiarities are some of the elements super-imposed over the common background. 

These peculiarities are what account for the different varieties of English, which depend on time, distance, and geographical factors. In Nigerian society, these varieties are manifested in pronunciation, use of expressions, meanings attached to words and so on. 

As a subject, English language can be divided into several parts comprising Phonology, Lexis and Structure, comprehension (reading) and others. Comprehension being the focus of this study can be defined as: ‘The ability to interpret a message according to the circumstances or context shaping the writer’s knowledge and the reader’s expression. 

In view of the above definition, the teacher, and the students have a lot to do in ensuring perfect teaching and learning of comprehension in secondary schools. 

What are the prospects of achieving the perfectness in the teaching and learning of comprehension, which is a very vital aspect of English language as a means of communication leaves much to the desired in this area.

However, it should be noted that comprehension a vital aspect of English language has its impact on all other subjects taught in schools e.g. mathematics, social studies, technical subjects, sciences and other subjects. Hence lack of good grip in comprehension is bound to have effect on the teaching and learning of these subjects since instructions on the teaching of the subjects are based on English Language.

Therefore, inability to comprehend well results into mass failure of students in their various examinations. 

It is apparent therefore that the developments in the teaching and learning of English language are reflections of the dwindling standard in the performance of children in English language generally and comprehension in particular. Thus the researcher is inspired to carry out this study due to the prevailing poor performance of children in English language and particularly comprehension and the desire to proffer a panacea to the problem among secondary school students. 

Statement of the Problem

While stating the problem, the researcher is quite aware of the important role of English language as an instrument for impacting education the role it has to play in the society. The researcher is also conscious of the place of comprehension as an integral part of English language in the total education process.

The researcher is also well aware of the dwindling nature of the performances of students in their examinations, which resulted from lack of comprehension ability.

The problem of this study therefore is fining out the problems facing effective teaching of comprehension in secondary schools with specific reference to some selected secondary schools in Ilorin West Local Government Area of Kwara State.