Impact Of Language Laboratory For Effective Teaching And Learning Of Oral English In Junior Secondary Schools
[A CASE STUDY OF SOME SELECTED SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN ILORIN WEST LOCAL GOVERNMENT OF KWARA STATE]

CHAPTER TWO
2.1    REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
The need to teach the correct pronunciation of English words in our   secondary schools has been the focus point of this research work.
Kamai and Jedede (2004) attributed the poor performance of students in the articulation of English sounds to a number of factors. For instance some sounds like the vowels /ᴧ/ /Ə/ /Ʒ/ and the consonant (θ) (Ə) which does not exist in many Nigerian languages
According to Ellis (1980) said in most of the languages of Africa there is a broad correspondence between the way words are pronounced and the way they are spelt. This is not the case with English however. A few examples from English will support the above claim that the spelling of some words of English has no relationship what so ever with their pronunciations. I.e. Ago /Ə/ Age /e: /
2.2    NATURE OF SPEAKING
There are many definition of speaking that has been proposed by some experts in language learning.
Brown (2001:267) Cites that when someone can speak a language it means that he can carry on a conversation reasonably He said the bench mark of successful acquisition of language is the demonstration of an ability to accomplish a good through interactive discourse with other language speakers.
Richard and Renandya (2002:204) state that effective oral communication requires the ability to use the language appropriately in social interactions that involves not only verbal communication but also paralinguistic elements of speech such as pitch, stress, intonation, moreover, nonlinguistic such as gestures, body language, and expressions are needed on conveying messages directly without any accompanying speech
Brown (2007:237) states that social contact in interactive language functions is a key importance and in which it is not what you say that counts but how you say it what you convey with body language, gestures, eye contact, physical distance and other nonverbal messages. In their discussion on the nature of spoken language, Brown and Yule in Nunam (1989:26) distinguish spoken language from written language. They point out that the teaching of language has not been concerned with spoken language teaching.
This language comprises short, often fragmentary utterances, in pronunciation range. According to Nunam (1989:32) successful oral communication involves:
i.    Ability to articulate phonological features of language comprehensively
ii.    Mastery of stress, rhythm, intonation patterns
iii.    An acceptable degree of fluency
iv.    Transactional and interpersonal skills
v.    Skills in taking short and long speaking turns
Brown (2001:271) adds that in teaching oral communication Micro sills are very important. One implication is the importance of focusing on both the forms of language and the functions of the language. The micro sills of oral communication are;
i.    Orally produce difference among the English phonemes and allophonic variants
ii.    Produce English patterns, words in stress and un stress positions rhythmic structure and into national contours   
2.3    CLASSROOM SPEAKING ACTIVITIES
The teaching of oral English should be taught in attractive with communication activities. There are many types of classroom speaking activities i.e. acting from script communication games, discussion, prepared talk, questionnaires and role play.
Brown (2004:271) describes about six categories of speaking skill. These are
•    Imitative:- this category includes the ability to practice an intonation and focusing on some particularly elements of language form. That is imitating a word, phrase or sentence. The important thing here is pronunciation. The teacher uses drilling in the teaching learning process so that students get opportunity to listen and to orally repeat some words
•    Intensive; this is the students speaking performance, practicing some phonological and grammatical aspects of language i.e. reading aloud from chart.
•    Responsive: - this is a kind of short replies to teacher or student initiated questions or comments giving instructions and directions.
•    Transactional (dialogue) it is carried out for the purpose of conveying or exchanging specific information.
•    Interpersonal (dialogue) carried out for the purpose of maintaining social relationship. I.e. interview, discussions, conversation.
•    Extensive (monologue) teacher gives students extended monologues inform of oral reports summaries and storytelling and short speeches.
2.4    Use of language laboratory with teacher’s console
Language laboratory can be used for learning pronunciation through teacher’s console and language learning software. It acts as a platform for language practicing, correcting pronunciation through interactive lesson and communication at their own pace. Language laboratory may have the following objectives “purpose and functions to work upon and maintain good linguistics, competence through accuracy in pronunciation
2.5    Language laboratories: a platform for integrating and developing language skills.
Language laboratory provides a platform where teachers can try experiments on themselves and the learners as well. By observing and reflecting on their own problems and failures as learners, English teachers can seek to establish principles which will help them improve their teaching. The teachers should choose instructional materials, textbooks and technologies that promote the integration of listening, reading, speaking and writing as well as associated skills of syntax, vocabulary etc.