ABSTRACT
English Language is the language of instruction in Nigeria’s
educational system. It is therefore important that it is properly taught
in schools. This study was designed to assess the impact of provision
and utilization of instructional materials on performance of public
nursery pupils in English Language in Jos North Local Government Area of
Plateau State. Four research questions were raised and three hypotheses
were formulated. A sample of one hundred and twenty (120) teachers were
randomly selected from the twenty (20) sampled primary schools in Jos
North Local Government Area of Plateau State. Data analysis was carried
out using chi-square of independence for the hypothesis and simple
percentages for the research questions. The result showed that provision
of instructional materials to schools were grossly inadequate. It was
also observed that there was poor utilization of the available
instructional materials by teachers in the classrooms, making the
performances of pupils poor in the language with resultant low impact on
the academic performances of public nursery pupils in education
generally. It is therefore recommended that ‘instructional materials
should be made available for the teaching of English Language and the
teachers as well should ensure that the available instructional
materials are appropriately utilized during the lesson delivery.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Education is an important instrument for the development of a
nation’s social life, human resources, political awareness and the
economy at large. It is clearly stated by the federal republic of
Nigeria (1988:15) in her national policy of education that ‘education
has been adopted as an instrument for effecting national development: it
is in the light of this that the federal government is doing everything
possible to see that illiteracy rate is reduced or totally wiped out of
the nation because no country can grow beyond the educational level of
its citizenry.
Nursery education or early childhood education which is the first
stage of formal school system in Nigeria today forms the bedrock of an
individual’s education life. This is because the quality of an
individual’s subsequent educational prowess depends largely on the
quality of nursery education that the individual received. Hence the
broad aims of nursery education within Nigeria can be summarized as
preparation and laying of strong foundation for primary school and other
levels of education in future.
The federal republic of Nigeria (2004), has stated that nursery
education is the education given in an educational institution to
children between the ages of three (3) and five (5) prior to entering
into primary school. Nursery education began as a private enterprise in
Nigeria and continued until the year 2003, when the federal government
and the United Nations International Children Education Fund (UNICEF)
took inventory of early childhood care facilities in Nigeria and
discovered that most of the facilities were privately owned. It was then
that the Universal Basic Education (UBE) act (2004) included programmes
and initiatives for early childhood education and development in states
and local government areas. To make it more effective, the UBE
programme made provision for every public school to have a nursery
school linkage to cater for children aged 3 – 5 years. This is a period
of growth and vulnerability in children. They are extra active at this
stage, inquisitive and very curious to know the ‘hows’ and ‘whys’ of
everything they see. It is because of this that teaching and learning
process requires a sort of simulation and adequate use of instructional
materials to make lessons interesting and meaningful, especially in
English language.
The impact of instructional materials in teaching and learning in the
school is indisputable. Teaching at any level requires that students be
exposed to some form of simulation. Danmola (1992) noted that teaching
resources in English language means anything that can assist the teacher
in promoting teaching and learning of the subject. When the students
are given the chance to learn through more senses than one, they can
learn faster and easier.
Ikerionwu (2000) refers to instructional materials as objects or
devices which help the teacher to make learning meaningful to the
learners. Instructional materials are materials which assist teachers to
make their lessons explicit to learners. They are also used to transmit
information, ideas and notes to learners (Okorie 1982). He identified
instructional materials to include both visuals and audio visuals such
as pictures, flash cards, charts, posters, tape recorders, radio sets,
video, television sets and computers among others. These materials and
equipment serve as supplements to the traditional or normal processes of
instruction.
The use of instructional materials provides the teacher with
interesting and compelling platforms for conveying information since
they motivate learners to learn more. Furthermore, the teacher is
assisted in overcoming physical difficulties that could have hindered
his effective presentation of a given topic to the learners. According
to Lane in Larson (2001), the use of electronically medicated
instruction to duplicate the traditional face to face classroom has
resulted in a shift from teacher to student centered classes. In this
situation, the responsibility for learning is shifted to the students.
The teacher only facilitates the learning by acting as a coach, resource
guide and companions in learning. The use of instructional materials
therefore does not only encourage teachers and students to work
collaboratively, but also results in more cooperative learning
activities among the students.
The purpose of instructional materials is to promote efficiency of
education by improving the quality of teaching and learning.
Incorporating these tools and materials present, supports and reinforces
teaching. According to ‘Aduwa Ogiegbeen and Imogie (2005), these
materials and resources including audio tape recorders, video tape
recorders, slide projectors, still pictures, programmed instruction,
film strips, maps, charts, graph, opaque projectors, overhead projector
and many more, offer a variety of learning experiences individually or
in combination to meet different teaching and learning experiences.
Since the inception of nursery in public primary schools in 2005, few
or no studies have been devoted to evaluating the availability and
utilization of instructional materials in the teaching of English
language in nursery classes in Jos North local government area. At the
threshold of this new millennium, English language teachers face
challenges and need to evolve strategies to engage learners in
activities that are active, meaningful and challenging in the teaching
and learning of the subject.
English Language is not an indigenous language to Nigerians. Since it
is the medium of instruction in our schools, duty demands that the
subject be properly handled, especially for the beginning readers.
English language is technical in nature. The ability to assimilate
meaning from text, spoken words, commands and reading of print materials
is an index of good performance in English language which speeds up
understanding of every other subject taught in school. It then becomes
necessary to use techniques, methods and materials which will help the
pupils to learn fast and happily. This fact is supported by Arisi
(2000), who asserts that visual aids make lesson come alive and help
students learn better. It is in view of this background that this study
attempts to examine the extent to which the availability of
instructional materials could advance nursery pupils performance in
English language especially in reading.
Franzer, Okebukola and Jegede (1992) stressed that a professionally
qualified English teacher, no matter how well trained, would be unable
to put his ideas into practice if the school setting lacks the equipment
and materials necessary for him or her to translate his competence into
reality. Kadzera (2006), opined that English language is resources
intensive and so teachers should not depend on sophisticated imported
materials and equipment always rather, the need for improvising.
Producing and providing instructional materials locally will reduce cost
and irrelevancy.
Ogunleye (2002) and Obioha (2006) reported that there were inadequate
resources for teaching English language in primary schools in Nigeria.
They further stated that the available ones were not usually in good
conditions. There is the need therefore for adequate provision of good
teaching materials in schools. Garuba (2003), also noted that
improvisation as a means of providing for the demand of adventure,
creativity, curiosity and perseverance on the part of the teacher. Such
skills are only realizable through well planned and administrative
training programmes on improvisation of learning objectives and
instructional materials.
Given the importance of instructional materials, the government does
not adequately provide instructional materials to primary and nursery
schools. Teachers themselves are also lacking in improvising and this
could be the reason for poor performances of nursery pupils in English
language. For instance, in ECWA transfer primary school, Jos, records of
results have shown poor performance in English language tests and
examinations consistently from 2011 to 2014. In 2011 promotion
examination, the pupils had average mark of 40% in English, 2012, 35%
average; 30% in 2013 and 45% in 2014. This trend of poor performance may
likely be common to many other nursery schools in Jos North Local
Government Area.
Based on these performances, the researcher would want to find out
whether the poor performance of pupils in English language is due to
inadequate availability or lack of instructional materials. If
instructional materials are available, how adequate are they? And how
well are the teachers using them in the course of their teaching and
learning processes in the classroom.
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Instructional materials play significant roles in the teaching and
learning process. The federal government in its national policy on
education recognizes education as an expensive social service, requiring
adequate financial provision from the federal, state and local
governments as well as the local communities, individuals and
organization (FRN: 1998). The government cannot provide education alone.
The slogan is, ‘all hands must be on deck’, yet there are pitfalls as
regards financing education in Nigeria. In nursery schools, there are no
instructional materials for teaching because the government is not
providing them. Teachers are not helping matters due to financial
constraints. This condition is capable of affecting pupil’s performance
negatively. Aguwu, (2005) stated that instructional material management
is a crucial component of the entire classroom control. Since the act of
teaching is fundamentally concerned with passing ideas, knowledge,
skills and attitude from the teacher to the learners, it will be
improper to go about it haphazardly.
The problem of this study is that nursery pupils are performing below
average in English language especially reading. It may be as a result
of in-availability of instructional materials in schools or lapses on
the side of the teachers in using the available materials in teaching.
If the materials are available, then are they of good quality? Are they
used by teachers at the right time during lessons? Could pupils learning
capacity be enhanced by the use of instructional materials?
1.3 THE PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
The propose of this study is to find out the impact of instructional
material utilization on pupils performance in English language in public
Nursery schools in Jos North LGA of Plateau State. However in specific
terms, the identifiable objectives of the study are:
1. To find the availability of instructional materials for teaching
English language in public nursery schools in Jos North Local
Government Area.
2. To find whether there are adequacy of the instructional
materials in public nursery schools in Jos North Local Government Area.
3. To find out whether the teachers are appropriately using
instructional materials for teaching in Jos North Local Government Area.
4. To find the impact of instructional material utilization on
pupils performance in English language in public nursery schools in Jos
North Local Government Area.
1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
In order to achieve the objectives of this study, these research questions were raised to guide the investigation:
1. To what extent has the availability of instructional materials
in public nursery schools affected the performance of pupils in English
language?
2. To what extent has adequacy of instructional materials affected
teaching of English language in public nursery schools in Jos North?
3. To what extent have teachers been appropriately utilizing the available instructional materials in delivering lessons?
4. Of what impact is the utilization of instructional materials by
teachers on the performance of public nursery pupils in English
language?
1.5 RESEARCH HYPOTHESES
The following hypotheses have been postulated to guide the study:
H01: There is no significant relationship between
the availability of instructional materials and pupils performance in
English language in public nursery schools in Jos North local government
area.
H02: There is no significant relationship between
adequacy of instructional materials and performance of nursery pupils in
English in Jos North local government area.
H03: There is no significant relationship between
appropriate utilization of instructional materials and nursery pupil’s
performance in English language in Jos North Local Government Area.
1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
The use of instructional materials give the learner
opportunity to touch, smell or taste objects in the teaching and
learning processes. Consequently, knowledge passed unto the pupils at
different levels of educational instructions should be well planned,
administered and properly aligned with relevant instructional materials
for clarity and comprehensibility to the learners. Hence, the
significance of this current study to the students or pupils, teachers,
curriculum planners, educational system, the government and the society
at large are outlined below:
To the government, the finding of this study would provide
the ministry of education with some useful information which would make
them appreciate the need to work out effective means of providing the
essential instructional facilities and materials for the nursery schools
in Jos – North L.G.A and Plateau State at large. They would do this by
establishing instructional resource centres where these materials could
be easily made available. Government would also see the need to organize
seminars and conferences for serving teachers on the improvisation and
utilization of instructional materials for teaching in the school.
The curriculum planners in the area of English Language
would benefit from the findings of this study. They would be provided
with some information on the need for making instructional materials
enshrined in the curriculum and make it mandatory for teachers to use.
Teachers of English Language would also benefits from these
findings of this research; it will equip them with some useful
information on the need for effective utilization of instructional
materials in the teaching and learning processes.
Pupils and students would also benefit from the findings of
this study as regards the use of instructional materials by teachers in
the teaching of English Language: to arouse their interest and help
them acquire skills in English Language, to help them effectively learn
and retain what they have learnt and thereby advancing their performance
in the subject in question.
The study is also significant to the educational system
itself. It could be among the many literature references to the future
researchers and show gaps which need further investigation. It may also
accord public education on how to teach learners with reading problems
in the classroom.
This study will immensely benefit the society at large because the
findings herein may be used as a basis for relevant Non Governmental
Organizations (NGO) to help provide the support services needed in our
public schools. When teachers solidify their teaching with teaching
materials and the learners learn effectively, the knowledge acquired
will reflect positively in the society.
1.7 DELIMITATION OF THE STUDY
This study was confined to examining the utilization of
instructional materials in the academic performance of nursery pupils in
English language in public Nursery schools in Jos North Local
Government Area. Hence, it is not within the scope of this research work
to deal with other subjects. Similarly, private nursery schools would
not constitute part of this study.
1.8 THEORETICAL/ CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
This study is guided by the constructivist theory. Formalization of
the theory of constructivism is generally attributed to Jean Piaget, a
Swiss psychologist who articulated mechanisms by which knowledge is
internalized by learners. He suggested that through processes of
accommodation and assimilation, individuals construct new knowledge from
their experiences. When individuals assimilate, they incorporate the
new experience into an already existing framework without changing that
framework.
This may occur when individuals’ experiences are aligned with their
internal representation of the world, but may also occur as a failure to
change a faculty understanding. For example, they may not notice
events, may misunderstand input from others, or may decide that an event
is a fluke and is therefore unimportant as information about the world.
In contrast, when the individuals’ experiences contradict their
internal representations, they may change their perceptions of the
experiences to fit their internal representations. According to the
theory, accommodation is the process of reframing ones mental
representation of the external world to fit new experiences.
Accommodation can be understood as the mechanism by which failure leads
to learning. When we act on the expectation that the world operates in
one way and it violates our expectations, we often fall, but by
accommodating this new experience and reframing our model of the way the
world works, we learn from the experience of failure, or others failure
(Ernest, 1991).
According to Floden (1994). Constructivism is based on observation
and scientific study about how people learn. People construct their own
understanding and knowledge of the world, through experiencing things
and reflecting on those experiences. In the classroom, the
constructivist view of learning can point towards a number of different
teaching practices. In the most general sense, it usually means
encouraging students to use active techniques (experiments, real – world
problem solving) to create more knowledge and then to reflect on and
talk about what they are doing and how their understanding is changing.
1.9 OPERATIONAL DEFINITION OF TERMS
1. Academic Performance: It is the school
evaluation of pupils classroom work as quantified on the basis of marks
or grades assigned by the teacher to pupils in nursery schools.
2. Instructional Materials: They are the
materials that teachers use in teaching to make the lesson active,
interesting, real and understandable to the learners in nursery schools.
3. Instructional Materials Availability: They are the types of instructional materials provided for the school use.
4. Instructional Material Adequacy: This is the
idea of having sufficient material for teaching in order to involve all
the pupils in the classroom activities.
5. Instructional Material Utilization: This is
the idea of the teachers actually using the provided instructional
materials for teaching during lesson delivery in the classroom.
6. Improvisation: This is the act of making instructional materials available locally by the teachers in nursery schools.
7. Nursery Schools: This refers to schools
attended by children or pupils between the ages of three (3) and six (6)
in Jos North Local Government Area.
8. Public Nursery Schools: They are the nursery schools that are in primary schools owned by the government.
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF RELEVANT LITERATURE
This chapter is commonly referred to as the library because
it strictly deals with the review of related and relevant studies,
works and researches done by different scholars which would serve as
bench mark and round works of analysis to this current study. The
literature would be reviewed in the orders below.
1. Place of instructional materials in the teaching and learning processes.
2. Instructional materials and categories
3. Improvisation of instructional materials
4. Instructional materials and academic achievement.
5. Impact of provision and utilization of instructional material on pupils academic performance
6. Empirical studies
7. Summary of literature
2.1 PLACE OF INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS IN THE TEACHING AND LEARNING PROCESSES
The acquisition of basic vocational knowledge, skills and
attitudes to facilitate occupational efficiency requires skill oriented
teaching and learning activities. Over the years the poor performance of
students and pupils in examinations has been blamed on the wrong choice
of teaching methods by teachers, but teaching and learning activities
have a lot to do with other variables such as instructional materials,
school environment variables, student’s factors and so on. In this
study, instructional material utilization is the main focus in order to
determine their impact on the performance of the pupils.
Instructional materials are the devices developed or
acquired to assist teachers in transmitting organized knowledge, skills
and attitudes to the learners within an instructional situation
(Nwachukwn, 2006). Teachers are to use different instructional materials
to motivate learning. Teachers often make use of textbooks, charts,
models, graphics, regalia as well as improvised materials (Awotus Efebo
2001). The success of the skill and knowledge acquisition in an
instructional situation depends on the suitability of the instructional
materials, adequate provision and effective utilization of the available
materials (Olaitan and Agusiobo, 1994). The relevance of instructional
materials is serious consideration in order to better the learner’s
performance.
Learning is facilitated when the learner makes use of at least three
of the sense organs namely; seeing, hearing and touching. Literature in
methodology of teaching an instructional communication have explained
and illustrated the effectiveness of instructional materials as a tool
for improving student’s performance in the learning of difficult
concepts (Ibe –Bassey, 1991; Etim, 1998; Ikot, 2008).
Instructional Charts: A chart is a two dimensional
object. They are flat-visual materials which may represent diagrams or a
combination of pictorial, graphic, numerical or verbal materials
prepared to give a clear visual summary of vital processes, concepts or a
set of relationship (Ibe Bassey, 2000). Charts are used to present
ideas and concepts which may be difficult to understand if presented
using the verbal code only. Walter (1998) noted that the use of
instructional charts in teaching improves the students reading skill and
stimulates creativity in the learners. Charts present an abstract
rendition of reality because what is presented is shown as effective in
the cognitive domain of learning.
Okechukwu (1997) studied the impact of graphic materials on student’s
academic achievement in English using 925 students as the population
size and 120 as sample size in an experimental study adopting 2 x 2
factorial arrangements. The findings of the study showed that students
taught English using graphic materials such as charts and pictures
performed better than their counterparts who were taught using lecture
method.
Instructional Pictures: Pictures are photographic
representations of objects, people, places, events, things or concepts.
Pictures in this context are still or motionless objects. They may be
illustrated in textbooks, periodicals, catalogues, magazines, study
prints and so on. Pictures are used to communicate abstract ideas in a
more realistic way (Ibe Bassey, 1991; Etim 2006). A good picture
according to Etim (1998), should have good composition, a clear message,
good contrast and sharpness with effective colour. Children like
colour, so they can learn from good pictures with or without the help of
teachers. In his observation, Okechukwu (1997), opined that students
taught with instructional pictures performed better than their
counterparts taught without pictures.
Instructional Filmstrip: Instructional filmstrip
materials are another materials used in schools to aid teaching and
learning process in the classroom. A filmstrip is a roll of 35mm
transparent film containing a series of related still pictures showing
one concept at a time. A filmstrip can either be of a single or double
frame format (Ikot, 2008). Filmstrip can be used to teach skills, show
relationships in order to convey knowledge, to affect attitude through
individual and independent study, groups or other tutorial group viewing
(Ibe Bassey, 1991). In a study to determine the effects of
instructional materials utilization on performance of pupils in English
language in Iket-Abasi Local Government Area. Ikot (2008) adopted a
quasi experimental design using the population of 1995 pupils and the
intact class sample size 225 pupils. The findings showed that there was
significant difference between the performance of pupils taught with
filmstrip and those taught without filmstrip. Abass, Bimbo and Ojo
(2012), in a study to determine the effects of animated agricultural
science instructional packages on attitude and performance of primary
school pupils in south west area Nigeria, discovered that the animated
agricultural science instructional packages significantly influenced the
academic performance of the selected students.
Osokoya (2007), in a study to determine the effects of video-taped
instruction on achievement in English discovered that there was
significant difference between the mean scores of students taught
English with video-taped instructional packages and those taught with
the conventional method. Countries all over the world, especially the
developing ones like Nigeria, are striving hard to develop
technologically and scientifically through education, since the world is
turning scientific and all proper functioning of lives depend greatly
on effective means of communication and of course English language is of
paramount importance. According to Ogunleye (2002), Esioba (2005), and
the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC) Isola
(2010), studies revealed that the performance of Nigerian students in
ordinary level English language was generally and consistently poor over
the years (Akanbi, 1983, Omosewo, 1999). Poor academic achievement in
English language could be attributed to many factors among which
teachers utilization and instructional materials strategy itself was
considered as important factor. This implies that the understanding and
mastery of English concepts might not be fully achieved without the use
of instructional materials.
Bassey (2002), opined that English is resource intensive, and in a
period of economic recession, it may be very difficult to find some of
the electronic gadgets and equipment for the teaching of oral English
language in schools. A situation that is further compounded by the
galloping inflation in the country and many at times, some of the
imported sophisticated materials and equipment are found expensive and
irrelevant; hence the need to produce materials locally. Obioha (2006),
and Ogunleye (2002), reported that there were inadequate resource
provision for teaching English language subjects in both primary and
secondary schools in Nigeria. They further stated that the available
ones are not usually in good conditions. There is the need therefore for
improvisation so as to supplement the available ones. The experiences
in the utilization of instructional materials in English language
studies are not different from the reports of various investigations on
the use of instructional materials in other subject areas (Ogbondah,
2008). In an appraisal of the utilization of instructional materials in
the education of migrant fishermen’s children in river state of Nigeria
Ogbondah, (2008), reported shortage of instructional materials in the
schools. He noted that there was significant relationship between
availability and adequate utilization of instructional materials and
effective implementation of migrant fishermen’s children education
programme in river state of Nigeria.
Teachers should however note that effective teaching and permanent
learning take place when pupils actively participate in a variety of
learning activities. These activities are intended to challenge the
pupils to think creatively about the subject (MDG, 2007). It is
necessary to know that pupil’s environment needs to be filled with as
many learning materials as possible. Pupils will selectively respond to
the materials which interest/stimulate them most. Therefore, the concept
of using instructional materials is to enhance the teaching and
learning process. Teaching effectiveness depend upon the quality of
interaction the teacher has with his pupils on the
subject/topic.
A study to investigate the effect of using instructional materials on
the achievement of primary school pupils in English language as done by
Bassey (2002), revealed that the main effect of treatment, that is,
types of instructional materials on pupils achievement in English
language is significant (F = 115.969; P< 0.5). This means that there
is a significant difference in the performance and achievement of pupils
taught using standard instructional materials, those taught with
improvised instructional materials and those taught with conventional
instruction (control group). To find out which of the two treatment
groups and the control group performed better than others, multiple
classification achievement test was administered and it was shown that
pupils taught with improvised instructional materials obtained the
highest achievement score at post test (F = 74.94), followed by those
taught with standard instructional materials (F = 63.07) while the
control group scored the lowest (F = 39.89). This shows that the
improvised instructional materials were the most effective than the
standard and control group.
Furthermore, the Duncan post hoc analysis was used to trace the
sources of the significant main effect of treatment on student’s
achievement in English language. This indicated that each of the three
possible pairs; standard (F = 63.07) versus improvised (F = 74.94) are
significantly different. Hence, all the pairs compared contributed to
the significance obtained for treatment on achievement in English
language. It also showed that there was no significant difference
between male and female performance and scores in the experimental and
control group. The study also found that gender has no significant
effect on students achievement in English language (F = .065, P
>.05). This implies that the difference between the achievement of
male and female is not significant. The multiple classification
achievement performance shows the gender group which performed better
than the other. It was revealed that females performed better (F =
59.52) than the male counterparts (F = 59.04). This difference was not
significant as shown earlier.
Findings from the other studies conducted by Adepimpe (1997),
‘Utilization of Teaching Resource’ and Garuba, (2003), ‘Towards the
Optional Utilization and Management of Resources for Effective Teaching
and Learning of English in Schools’ revealed that there was significant
effect of treatment on pupils’ achievement in English. The researchers
found out that the pupils who were taught with the standard
instructional materials or resources achieved significantly higher
scores in their examinations to those who were taught with conventional
method. It was therefore observed that using standard instructional
materials assist the teacher economically and allows students
interactions which make pupils to achieve better in their lesson. It
makes pupils use their intellectual ability during teaching and learning
processes. Improvised instructional materials encourage creativity,
bringing learning home-wards and often better suited to the climatic
conditions of the local environment which improve and enhance pupils’
achievement (Ogunleye, 2002). The reason for this might be due to the
efficiency which the English teachers used in handling the instructional
materials, which was different from the other methods.
Similarly, the findings from the study done by Ekpo (2001).
‘Availability of resources for the Teaching of English in Public Primary
Schools’, using English reported that pupils taught with teaching
materials performed better than those taught verbally. It was also found
that there was no significant effect of gender on student’s achievement
in English. This implies that both male and female students achieved
equally under the same condition during learning and teaching process,
since achievement has to do with mental and intellectual ability and not
gender. Agreeably, Moronfola, (2002) stressed that English language as a
subject should be taught primarily as a practical subject with all the
instructional materials. Dahor and Faize (2011) survey finding
ascertained that in a modern English curriculum programme, pupils (male
and female) need to be encouraged to learn not only through their eyes
or ears but should be able to use their hands to produce, observe and
manipulate materials. This is in line with the theory of constructivism.