The Extent of Use of Audio Visual Material in the Teaching of English Language
CHAPTER ONE
OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY
The purpose of this research is to elicit from the English Language teachers the extent of use of audio – visual aids in teaching and learning English language in Junior Secondary Schools in Enugu East Local Government Area. Specifically, the researchers intend to
(I) To determine the degree of the use of audio – visual aids in teaching the English Language.
(II) To find out the level of the use of audio – visual aids to improve the students’ performances in English Language.
(III) To examine whether the male and female differences affect the extent of use of the audio – visual aids in teaching and learning in Junior Secondary Schools in Enugu East Local Government Area
(IV) To ascertain whether the difference in the education of the teachers affect the extent of the use of the audio – visual aids in the teaching and learning of the English language in Junior Secondary Schools in Enugu East Local Government Area?
In effect, there is no clear cut stand as there are generally varied opinions. This therefore, emphasizes the need for the study to be carried out.
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
INTRODUCTION
New technologies are evolving and creating new possibilities in order to integrate multimedia visual aids in teaching and learning English language in classroom today, but these materials are not being fully used to aid learning. Apart from audio-visual materials being an excellent tool to improve language acquisition, the use of this materials in the classroom gives a more meaningful context for the students. All these factors helps students to become more participative and communicative members of the class group. Over the years, education has remained a social process in capacity building and maintenance of society. It is a weapon for acquiring skills, relevant knowledge and habits for surviving in the changing world. It is the cornerstone of any country’s development. Indeed, education continues to be the instrument for achieving economically, scientific and technological growth and development of any nation.
English language is one of the official languages in Nigeria. Its official status is safeguarded by the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria. English language is used in all forms of all official communication, records and transactions. The language become so important due to its international status, having over time, gained the status of a world language (Llurda, 2004). With this status, English language has also become a medium of inter-cultural communication globally. It is the language of all Commonwealth countries.
In Nigeria, English language is used in all formal institutions. It is used in government and private offices and parliament. It is the medium of instruction in institutions of learning that is, in schools, colleges and universities (Etuk, 2002). All subjects except Kiswahili are taught by use of English language. English is a core subject in the Nigerian secondary school curriculum (Etuk, 2002).The language as a subject in the Nigerian school curriculum is taught right from the formative classes like the early child education level right through to the highest level in schools, mid-level colleges and universities.
The teaching and learning of English language however, as noted by students’ performance in schools, has been characterized by low grades at school level and in national examinations.
Agwagah (2000) had noted that English teachers in most cases do not use instructional materials in their teaching session, so most of the English concepts are taught abstractly.
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 extent of use of audio visual material in the teaching of English language.
SOURCES OF DATA COLLECTION
Data were collected from two main sources namely:
- Primary source and
- Secondary source
Primary source: Personal interview was conducted with five selected Junior Secondary Schools in Enugu East Local Government Areas of Enugu State.
Secondary source: The secondary formed the major theoretical part that was derived through critical review of library and also other related literature (material written by others researchers).
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.
DATA ANALYSIS
The data collected from the respondents were analyzed in tabular form with simple percentage for easy understanding.
A total of 133 (one hundred and thirty three) questionnaires were distributed and 133 questionnaires were returned.
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
INTRODUCTION
It is pertinent to note that this research was aimed at examining the contribution of instructional materials to teaching and learning of English language in junior secondary schools, thus the topic “the extent of use of audio visual material in the teaching of English language”.
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 associated with teaching and learning of English language in Nigeria.
SUMMARY
The study investigated the extent of use of audio visual material in the teaching of English language in in Enugu East Local Government Areas of Enugu State. The major findings from the data analysis and test of the hypotheses are summarized as follows: There is a significant difference in the achievement of male and female English students taught with audio – visual material. Teachers do make use of audio – visual material in teaching and learning English in Junior Secondary Schools in Enugu east Local Government Area of Enugu State.
The findings of the study also revealed that using audio visual materials in the classroom, teachers can teach English languages making the class interesting. Different visuals bring variation in the classroom teaching which are helpful to draw the attention of the students toward the lessons. For instance, if English language teachers use different pictures related to the lesson of the class, the classes become lively as well as learners get some schemata of the topic. It is always better to have something visuals in front of the students so that they can understand the lesson well. As suggested by Gardner’s (1983) multiple intelligence, all the learners do not learn in the same way. Some learn better by watching, some learn better by listening and so on. Therefore, having something visuals on the lesson are always helpful for the learners. Harmer (2001) also stated that use of pictures in the class makes the lessons appealing. He mentioned the recent textbooks and the design of the newspapers which are intentionally designed in ways for grabbing readers’ interest. Also, it enhances the text giving readers a view of the outside world (p.135). Moreover, different related pictures and videos provide the learners opportunities to be engaged more with the lessons. They can predict the topic of the lesson by having some related visuals beforehand. Also, teachers can ask questions about the visuals to elicit ideas from the learners about the text. This creates an opportunity for a good class discussion which is very important for language learning.
CONCLUSION
The study outline the benefits of using audio visual material in the teaching and learning of English language in Nigerian’s secondary schools. According to the concern of the teachers and the students, the use of the audio-visual aids provides the learners opportunity to have background knowledge of any topic which is necessary for the learners. Also use of audio-visual material gives the learners extended language exposure to the learners giving them better idea of the target language culture. The study of Cakir (2006) supports this result as he mentioned, “Moreover, the students have a general idea of the culture of the target language. It may be enjoyable for the learners to have something different for language learning apart from the course books and cassettes for listening” (pp. 69). The results also indicate that music can be useful additional audio-visual materials for teaching language. It is a powerful stimulus for the engagement of the learners in the task as it directly touches their emotion. Since most of the learners have fascination for music, teachers can use different English songs to teach English language. The data shows that one of the very useful audio visual material for English language teachers is PowerPoint presentation. Using PowerPoint slides, teachers can visualize their lecture which make the class live. Learners can take notes taking help from the slides if they miss any part of the lecture. Besides, it helps the teachers to draw the attention of the learners. The teachers can use this effective tool for language teaching in diverse ways. They can use the slides for preparing the lecture, showing pictures and other visuals to the learners and so on. As a result, it has become one of the essential tools for the teachers in the recent time. Mutar (2009) also found the similar results of the advantages of using PowerPoint slides in classroom to give lecture. He mentioned that the use of PowerPoint slides help the teacher to deliver their lectures in dynamic ways which becomes interesting to the learners.
RECOMMENDATIONS
I will suggest that:
- Seminars, in-service training and workshops should be organized for teachers by the appropriate authorities on the management of instructional materials to enable them understand the importance of using these materials during teaching and learning process in the school.
- Curriculum planners should encourage the use of audio-visual materials by inculcating them in the educational syllabus of all levels of education.
- That states school management boards should pave way for efficient funding for libraries and audio-visual resources in school.
- Students and teachers alike should get involved in their various roles in the improvisation and utilization of audio-visual resources when necessary. Libraries within the State should engage in inter-library loan where one member library can borrow from the other, audio-visual aids she doesn’t have for use within an accepted period of time. The audio-visual librarian should improve in making known to the lecturers the available audio-visual resources in the library at any moment in time.
- English language is an important subject, therefore, it should be given adequate attention it deserves in the school curriculum. It should be taught not only for the purpose of examination but also for communicative purpose.
- Greater emphasis should be placed on training and retraining of English teachers in the use of audio-visual aids. Such raining should include running of courses, and workshops, in-service training, on the job training etc.
- More funds should he made available to purchase audio-visual materials for the leaching of English language in junior secondary schools in the State and federation at large.
REFERENCES
- Allen, Kate, & Marquez, A. (2011).Teaching vocabulary with visual aids. Journal of Kao Ying Industrial & Commercial Vocational High School, 1(9), 1-5. Retrieved from http://210.60.110.11/reading/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/10022007.pdf
- Asokha, M.O. (2009). Improvisation/teaching aids: aid to effective teaching of English language. Int. J. Edu. Sci, 1(2), 79-85. Retrieved from: www.krepublishers.com/…Journals/…/IJES- 01-2-079-09-022-
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