Teachers’ Perception towards the Use of Communicative Language Teaching in Enhancing Secondary School Students’ Communicative Competence in English Language (Published)
ABSTRACT: English language which is the second and unifying language in Nigeria is taught at all educational levels in the country mainly to ensure that students have a grasp of it and should be able to communicate effectively in it in various contexts. This study investigated the perception of English language teachers towards the use of Communicative Language Teaching in enhancing secondary school students’ communicative competence in English language. This study is a descriptive research of the survey type which focuses on how secondary school students in Ibadan South –West Local Government Area of Oyo State can use English Language in real life situations. Fifty English Language teachers randomly selected from some secondary schools constituted the sample for the study. A self- constructed questionnaire consisting of fifteen items was used to collect the data for the study. Test-retest method was used to determine the reliability of the instrument and a reliability coefficient of 0.74 was obtained. The study found out that schools lack the material that can promote communicative language teaching in schools and that most teachers considered classroom interaction a time consuming activity. Based on these findings, it was recommended that the government should provide gadgets and necessary materials needed for effective utilization of communicative language teaching so that students’ confidence in speaking and communicative competence can be improved. Teachers should endeavor to make their classes interactive and employ activities that can facilitate English Language usage in real life situation.
Keywords: Classroom Interaction, Communicative Competence, Communicative Language, Pedagogy, methodologies
Adopting Alternative Methodologies and Practices in Educational Research in Higher Education in Nigeria (Published)
Alternative methodologies and practices have gained prominence in educational research in the 21st century. The application of other research methodologies and practices challenges the one-fit-all approach associated with a single research methodology in educational research. The current practice is one that has developed to re-position the subsisting culture of research to rather assume a multidirectional trajectory in educational research in higher institutions of learning. While this is the case in the educational systems of other contexts, it raises concern about whether alternative methodologies and practices also apply in educational research in higher education in Nigeria. This literature examines what obtains in the Nigerian context, and where there seems to be gaps, strives to inspire a rethink of the existing research methodology and practices in educational research for better research in higher education in Nigeria.
Keywords: Higher Education, Nigeria, Practices, educational research, methodologies