Availability Of Qualified Teachers in Effective Teaching And Learning Of English Language In Junior Secondary School
PREAMBLE OF THE STUDY
Depending on the nature of the activities in which the teacher engages, he is likely to meet children of different classes, interest and background for the inculcation of virtues and knowledge. The significance of this study is to profer solution on how half-baked teachers should be phased out in the annals of the teaching environment so that our children, students/pupils will no longer have stunted growth in terms of educational development. It will also suggest ways in which the teacher and the students will improve most especially as it relates to the teaching of the English language. This will seriously reduce mind boggling results we witness these days at the lower level.
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
Introduction
Good and qualified teachers are essential for efficient functioning of educational systems and for enhancing the quality of learning. Research supports this notion that a good teacher and actions to be taken on his part in the classroom play a vital role in provoking effective and efficient learning on the part of the students (Markley, 2004). Teachers also have a fundamental role in their learners’ academic achievement and their quality can highly influence student outcomes (Campbell, Kyriakides, Muijsc & Robinsona, 2004; Lasley II, Siedentop & Yinger, 2006; Rockoff, 2004). English language teachers are by no means an exception and their key role in effective language learning cannot be overlooked. Special attention must be paid to this link between teachers and learners in countries like Iran where language learning happens mainly in formal classroom settings (Kariminia & Salehizadeh, 2007), and teachers, as the main source of language input to students, affect their learning directly. Although effective teachers in general may share some characteristics, there are certain qualities that differ among them depending on the subject matter they teach. Some researchers believe that it is the nature of the subject matter that makes language teachers different from teachers of other fields (Hammadou & Bernhar, 1987). Some others even go beyond this and claim that diverse subject matters are not the only distinction between teachers of various subjects (Borg, 2006). Rather a teacher’s beliefs, perceptions and assumptions about teaching and teacher efficacy affect the way he/she understands and organizes instruction (Chacón, 2005). It is also important to study the perceptions of learners about learning and teaching. Their beliefs about language learning seem to have obvious relevance to understanding their expectations of the course, their commitment to the class as well as providing them with the opportunity to be successful and satisfied with their language learning program (Horwitz, 1988). Moreover, investigation of the student beliefs about different behaviors in the language classroom is useful in informing teachers about different types of learners that need to be catered for (Cotterall, 1999). According to Noora (2008), the culture of teaching in Iran is primarily teacher-centered; and accordingly, there are limited opportunities for learners to have their say about their expectations of a good and effective teacher. Studying characteristics of an effective English language teacher from the learners’ point of view in such a context is worthwhile in that it is in fact a kind of needs analysis intended to help teachers improve the quality of their teaching in an attempt to meet their students’ needs. To the best knowledge of the authors, no previous study has been conducted on the characteristics of an effective English language teacher in Iran neither from the perspective of teachers nor from that of learners. It was therefore the aim of this study to investigate the characteristics of an EELT as perceived by Iranian teachers and learners of English in order to find out if there are any differences between the perspectives they have on the issue in question. While this study is genuinely exploratory in the Iranian context, it is expected to contribute to our better understanding of the issue by confirming or rejecting findings of other researchers in other parts of the world
GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF AN EFFECTIVE TEACHER
What makes a teacher effective has been a subject of prime importance to many scholars concerned with education. In 1957, secondary-school principals in New York were asked to nominate effective teachers of academic subjects. The most frequently mentioned qualities were: subject-matter mastery, motivation, dedication, co-operation, sense of humour, creativity, efficiency, control, discipline, standards, promptness with reports, methods and generosity with personal time for students (Calabria, 1960). Effectiveness in teaching was reported to be directly related to mastery of subject matter in the selected teaching field. In addition, a long apprenticeship of teaching in one’s academic field was thought to be a necessary pre-requisite for effectiveness. Feldman (1976) analyzed seventy two studies on characteristics reported by college students as associated with ideal teachers and as important for effective teaching. Across this large body of research, he found the following characteristics to be consistently associated with superior college teachers or teaching: stimulating interest of the learners; being clear and understandable; being knowledgeable in subject matter; being prepared and organized for the course and being enthusiastic about the subject matter and teaching. Friendliness, helpfulness, and openness to others’ opinions were traits that students said they preferred in teachers especially when they freely described their ideal or best teacher. In a later study, Feldman (1988) reviewed thirty one other studies in each of which students and faculty had specified the instructional characteristics they considered particularly important to good teaching and effective instruction. Students placed more importance than faculty on teachers being interesting, having good elocutionary skills, and being available and helpful. They also emphasized the outcomes of instruction more than faculty did. Faculty placed more importance than did students on teachers being intellectually challenging, motivating students and setting high standards for them, and encouraging self-initiated learning.
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research design
The researcher used descriptive research survey design in building up this project work the choice of this research design was considered appropriate because of its advantages of identifying attributes of a large population from a group of individuals. The design was suitable for the study as the study sought to examine the availability of qualified teachers in effective teaching and learning of English language in junior secondary school
Sources of data collection
Data were collected from two main sources namely:
(i)Primary source and
(ii)Secondary source
Primary source:
These are materials of statistical investigation which were collected by the research for a particular purpose. They can be obtained through a survey, observation questionnaire or as experiment; the researcher has adopted the questionnaire method for this study.
Secondary source:
These are data from textbook Journal handset etc. they arise as byproducts of the same other purposes. Example administration, various other unpublished works and write ups were also used.
Population of the study
Population of a study is a group of persons or aggregate items, things the researcher is interested in getting information communication as an instrument for the realization of organizational goals. 200 staff of selected secondary schools in Enugu metropolis was selected randomly by the researcher as the population of the study.
CHAPTER FOUR
PRESENTATION ANALYSIS INTERPRETATION OF DATA
Introduction
Efforts will be made at this stage to present, analyze and interpret the data collected during the field survey. This presentation will be based on the responses from the completed questionnaires. The result of this exercise will be summarized in tabular forms for easy references and analysis. It will also show answers to questions relating to the research questions for this research study. The researcher employed simple percentage in the analysis.
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
Introduction
It is important to ascertain that the objective of this study was to investigate the availability of qualified teachers in effective teaching and learning of English language in junior secondary schools
In the preceding chapter, the relevant data collected for this study were presented, critically analyzed and appropriate interpretation given. In this chapter, certain recommendations made which in the opinion of the researcher will be of benefits in addressing the challenges of qualified teachers in teaching of English language.
Summary
The discussion in the preceding section leads us to the conclusion that teachers and learners of English language may have overlapping and at times divergent perceptions on desirable qualities of a good language teacher. To make their teaching activities more effective for learners, caring and responsible language teachers should therefore feel a need for discovering what their peers believe to be favorable features of their career as well as what their customers’ needs are. As such, the findings discussed above have far-reaching implications primarily for language teachers as well as for authorities in different educational settings, particularly in an Iranian context. Regarding the emphasis of the teachers on target language knowledge, teacher education programs should invest more than what they previously did on improving teachers’ English proficiency if they would like to contribute to the process of training effective teachers. As teachers are the main source of language available to students, their richer knowledge of and better proficiency in the language can help learners to overcome their difficulties in communicative skills too. Moreover, attending to students’ needs will not only mean that teachers should seek to meet the learners’ needs with regards to personality (whereby more attention must be paid to educational psychology), it will also mean that teachers will need to offer individualized instruction as far as possible in an attempt to cater for idiosyncratic learning styles of different learners. This latter concern will be taken care of more effectively if the teachers are willing to take the learners’ level into account and try to use right techniques and procedures at the right proficiency level to suit their learners the best, all of which will materialize only when the teachers make themselves committed enough to their teaching duties by rigorously preparing themselves for the battlefield.
Conclusion
The following conclusions were made based on the findings of the study. a. Teacher quality in secondary schools in Enugu state is minimal. This comprised teachers’ academic qualification, professional qualification and years of teaching experience.
- The quality of teachers did not significantly influence the academic performance of students in secondary schools in the state
- The level of academic performance of students in secondary schools in Enugu state is on the average.
- Students had average performance in English Language in secondary schools in Enugu state.
Recommendations
Haven completed the study; the researcher recommends that Principals should ensure that the potentials of the teachers are well harnessed and utilized to reflect the true picture of their quality in the academic performance of students.
Teachers have to wake up to their responsibilities and be dedicated to their duty in the classroom because poor performance of students will always be attributed to their failure in their assigned task.
Students must ensure they continue to be hard working to improve on their performance in the school in order to secure a bright future for themselves.
Government through the inspectorate division must routinely visit schools to ensure that teachers are doing their primary assignment.
Reference
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