DEPARTMENT OF ARTS EDUCATION FACULTY OF EDUCATION Faith Project.pdf · This thesis has been...
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i Digitally Signed by: Content manager’s Name DN : CN = Weabmaster’s name O= University of Nigeria, Nsukka OU = Innovation Centre Nwamarah Uche FACULTY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF ARTS EDUCATION EFFECT OF THE FUNCTIONAL-NOTIONAL APPROACH ON SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS’ ACHIEVEMENT IN ENGLISH GRAMMAR IN OWERRI NORTH OF IMO STATE, NIGERIA OZOEMENA, FAITH UKACHI PG/Ph.D/05/40255
Transcript of DEPARTMENT OF ARTS EDUCATION FACULTY OF EDUCATION Faith Project.pdf · This thesis has been...
i
Digitally Signed by: Content manager’s Name
DN : CN = Weabmaster’s name
O= University of Nigeria, Nsukka
OU = Innovation Centre
Nwamarah Uche
FACULTY OF EDUCATION
DEPARTMENT OF ARTS EDUCATION
EFFECT OF THE FUNCTIONAL-NOTIONAL APPROACH
ON SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS’ ACHIEVEMENT
IN ENGLISH GRAMMAR IN OWERRI NORTH OF IMO
STATE, NIGERIA
OZOEMENA, FAITH UKACHI
PG/Ph.D/05/40255
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EFFECT OF THE FUNCTIONAL-NOTIONAL APPROACH ON SECONDARY
SCHOOL STUDENTS’ ACHIEVEMENT IN ENGLISH GRAMMAR IN OWERRI
NORTH OF IMO STATE, NIGERIA
BY
OZOEMENA, FAITH UKACHI
PG/Ph.D/05/40255
DEPARTMENT OF ARTS EDUCATION
FACULTY OF EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA, NSUKKA
FEBRUARY, 2015
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TITLE PAGE
EFFECT OF THE FUNCTIONAL-NOTIONAL APPROACH ON SECONDARY
SCHOOL STUDENTS’ ACHIEVEMENT IN ENGLISH GRAMMAR IN OWERRI
NORTH OF IMO STATE, NIGERIA
BY
OZOEMENA, FAITH UKACHI
PG/Ph.D/05/40255
A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE DEARPTMENT OF ARTS EDUCATION,
UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA, NSUKKA, IN FULFILLMENT OF THE
REQUIREMENT FOR THE AWARD OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
DEGREE (Ph.D) IN LANGUAGE EDUCATION.
SUPERVISOR: PROF. G.C. OFFORMA
FEBRUARY, 2015
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APPROVAL PAGE
This thesis has been approved for the Department of Arts Education
Faculty of Education, University of Nigeria, Nsukka.
By
________________ _________________
Prof. Grace.C. Offorma Dr. P.N. Uzoegwu
(Supervisor) (Head of Department)
_________________ ___________________
(External Examiner) (Internal Examiner)
______________________
Prof. Uju C. Umo
Dean Faculty of Education
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CERTIFICATION
Ozoemena, Faith Ukachi, a postgraduate student in the Department of Arts
Education University of Nigeria, Nsukka with Registration Number
PG/Ph.D/05/40255 has satisfactorily completed the requirements for the Award of
Degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D) in Language Education. The work
embodied in this thesis is original and has not been submitted in part or full for any
other diploma or degree of this or any other University.
______________________ __________________
Ozoemena, Faith Ukachi Prof. G.C. Offorma
(Student) (Supervisor)
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DEDICATION
This work is dedicated to the Most High God, who is wonderful in counsel and
excellent in wisdom.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The researcher owes her profound gratitude to the Most High God, under
whose guidance, inspiration and wisdom this work has come to a good completion.
On a special note, her sincere gratitude goes to her amiable Supervisor,
Professor Grace C. Offorma for the invaluable contributions, systematic guidance
and corrections at each stage of the work. Her motherly patience to nurture the
work is priceless and highly appreciated.
The Researcher wishes to express immense gratitude to the readers of the
work; they are Dr. (Mrs.) P.N. Uzoegwu (Content Reader) Dr. (Mrs) E.N. Ogwu
and Dr. R.E. Ozioko (Design Readers). Their scholarly input at each stage added
much value to the work. Her gratitude also goes to Professors F.A. Okwo and F.C.
Osinem under whose chairmanship the proposal defence and seminar presentation
were successfully conducted. The researcher will not fail to acknowledge Dr.
(Mrs.) J.U. Akabogu, Dr. O.O. Nwaubani and Dr. B.C. Madu for accepting to
validate the instrument for data collection. Their scholarly inputs also added much
value to the work.
Furthermore, the researcher’s gratitude goes to Professor Sam Onuigbo of
the English Department (Faculty of Arts) who has been a source of inspiration to
her, and willingly provided some useful materials to enrich the work. She also
acknowledges the contributions of Dr. C.I. Egbe of the Department of Arts
Education, for providing some useful material to the work.
Finally, her sincere appreciation goes to her family members and dear
friends for their support and encouragement when such were needed. She highly
appreciates the Principal, staff and students of Federal Science and Technical
College, Otukpo, Benue State for the valuable co-operation they showed her in the
course of the work.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE - - -- - - - - - - i
APPROVAL PAGE - - - - - - - - ii
CERTIFICATION - - - - - - - - iii
DEDICATION - - - - - - - - - iv
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS - - - - - - - v
TABLE OF CONTENTS - - - - - - - vi
LIST OF TABLES - - - - - - - - ix
LIST OF FIGURES - - - - - - - - x
ABSTRACT - - - - - - - - xi
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study- - - - - - - 1
Statement of the Problem - - - - - - - 17
Purpose of the Study - - - - - - - - 19
Significance of the Study - - - - - - - 19
Scope of the Study - - - - - - - - 21
Research Questions - - - - - - - - 22
Hypotheses - - - - - - - - - 23
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW
Conceptual Framework - - - - - - - 26
The Nature of Language - - - - - - - 26
English as a second Language in Nigeria - - - - - 29
Grammar in English as a Second Language - - - - 33
Modal Auxillary Verbs as Elements of Grammar - - - - 39
The Concept of Achievement - - - - - - 41
The Concept of Gender as a factor in Language Ability of
the Student - - - - - - - - - 43
The Concept of School Location as a factor in Language
Ability of the Student - - - - - - - 47
Theoretical Framework - - - - - - 55
Theories of Language Development - - - - - 55
The Socio-Linguistic Theory - - - - - - 57
The Communicative Language Teaching Theory - - - - 68
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The Functional-Notional (FNA) Theory - - - - - 74
Empirical Studies - - - - - - - - 82
Studies Conducted in Nigeria on
- methods and strategies of teaching English in secondary schools ----- 82
- gender as a factor in students’ achievement in English Language ---- 87
- school location as a factor in students’ achievement in English
Language - - - - - - - - - 87
Studies Conducted outside Nigeria on:
Effective strategies of Language Teaching - - - - 90
SUMMARRY OF LITERATURE REVIEW - - - - 95
CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHOD
Design of the Study - - - - - - - - 97
Area of the Study - - - - - - - - 98
Population of the Study - - - - - - - 99
Sample and Sampling Technique - - - - - - 99
Instrument for Data Collection - - - - - - 100
Validation of Instrument - - - - - - - 102
Reliability of the Instrument - - - - - - 102
Experimental Procedure - - - - - - - 103
Control of Extraneous Variables - - - - - - 106
Method of Data Analysis - - - - - - - 108
CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS
Results - - - - - - - - - 109
CHAPTER FIVE: DISCUSSION OF RESULTS, CONCLUSION,
EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATIONS,
RECOMMENDATIONS AND SUMMARY
Discussion of Results - - - - - - - 118
Effect of the FNA on Students’ Achievement in English Grammar - 118
Effect of Gender on Students’ Achievement in English Grammar - - 120
Effect of School Location on Students’ Achievement in English Grammar 122
Interaction Effect of Treatment and Gender - - - - - - 123
Interaction Effect of Treatment and School Location - - - - 124
Conclusion - - - - - - - - 125
Educational Implications - - - - - - - 126
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Recommendations - - - - - - - - 128
Limitations of the Study - - - - - - - 130
Suggestions for Further Study - - - - - - 130
Summary of the Study - - - - - - 131
REFERENCES - - - - - - - - 134
APPENDICES
Appendix I Sample Lesson 1 - - - - - - 140
Appendix II Sample Lesson 2 - - - - - - 146
Appendix III Sample Lesson 3 - - - - - - 154
Appendix IV (A) Sample Lesson 4 - - - - - - 162
Appendix IV (B) Passage I - - - - - - - 168
Appendix V Conventional Lesson Plan - - - - - 169
Appendix VI Achievement Test - - - - - - 172
Appendix VII Marking Scheme - - - - - - 175
Appendix VIII Test Blue Print - - - - - - 176
Appendix IX (A) Reliability Test - - - - - 177
Appendix IX (B) Test of Internal Consistency - - - 180
Appendix IX (C) Distribution of Schools - - - - - 182
Appendix X Validation of Instrument - - - - - 183
Appendix XI Univariate Analysis of Variance - - - - 184
Appendix XII Letter of Introduction - - - 192
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LIST OF TABLES
TABLE PAGE
Table 1: The pretest and posttest mean achievement scores
of the treatment group (FNA) and control Group (GTM). - 109
Table 2: Summary of Two-Way Analysis of Covariance
(ANCOVA) of Students’ Achievement in English
Grammar by Treatment - - 111
Table 3: Pretest and posttest mean achievement scores of male
and female students taught with the
Functional-Notional Approach - - - - - 112
Table 4: Pretest and posttest mean achievement scores of urban
and rural students taught English Grammar with the FNA. - 113
Table 5: The mean scores and standard deviation of interaction
effect of treatment and gender on students’ mean
achievement scores in English Grammar. - - - 114
Table 6: The mean scores and standard deviation of interaction
effect of treatment and location on students’ mean
achievement in English Grammar. - - - - - 116
x
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1: Standards of Usage in Grammar - 36
Figure 2: Schematic Representation of Conceptual Framework - 54
Figure 3: The Traditional Bottom-Top Approach - - - - 65
Figure 4: Example of Unit of Instruction using FNA - - 76
Figure 5: Directive Function - - - - - 78
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ABSTRACT
This study investigated the effect of the Functional-Notional Approach (FNA) on
students’ Achievement in English Grammar in Owerri North Local Government Area
of Imo State. Five research questions and five null hypotheses guided the study. The
study adopted a non-equivalent control group quasi-experimental design involving
the treatment and control groups. The sample of this study consisted of 162 Junior
Secondary School Two (JSS 2) students drawn from three secondary schools out of a
population of nineteen (19) government owned secondary schools in Owerri North
Local Government Area of Imo State. The multi-stage sampling technique was used to
draw the respondents. Intact classes were used in each school for the experiments, so
there was no random assignment of the subjects to the treatment and control groups.
The instrument used for data collection was an achievement test on English Grammar
which consisted of 20 multiple choice items. The lesson plan used for the
experimental group was developed using the Indigenous Communicative Lesson
Model, while the lesson plan for the control group was developed using the Grammar
Translation Method (GTM) which is the conventional-method. The instrument for
data collection and the lesson plans were face-validated by experts to ascertain the
clarity and content coverage of the lesson objectives. A reliability index of the
instrument was calculated using Pearson Product Moment Correlation Co-efficient
which yielded a value of 0.84. The internal consistency of the test items was obtained
using the Split-Half method by Spearman-Brown, which yielded a value of 0.95. The
method of data analysis adopted in the study was the mean and standard deviation to
answer the research questions, while Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) was
employed to test the null hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The results showed
that the students who were exposed to teaching English Grammar using the FNA
gained higher mean scores in the achievement test than their counterparts taught
using the conventional method-GTM. The study revealed no significant mean
difference in the achievement of male and female students taught English Grammar
using the FNA. There was a significant mean difference in the achievement of urban
and rural students taught English Grammar using the FNA. Finally, the study showed
no significant interaction effect of treatment and gender as well as no significant
interaction effect of treatment and school location in the achievement of students
taught English Grammar. Some educational implications were raised which included
the fact that teaching English Grammar with the FNA enhances functional use of
grammatical expressions and communicative competence among the learners.
English Language teachers should also create learning environment as natural as
what the child finds while learning the first language. This will make the language
learning process more effective and speedy. Recommendations were made in the study
for the students, the English Language teachers, authors, curriculum planners and
authorities in teacher training institutions for the improvement of teaching English
Grammar in secondary schools.
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CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
Language is the expression of ideas by means of speech sounds combined into
words. Words are combined into sentences, and this combination forms ideas into
thoughts. Language is also described as a system of arbitrary vocal symbols by means
of which a social group co-operates. Brown (2001) defines language as an interaction,
and interpersonal activity which has a clear relationship with society. In this light,
language study has to look at the use (function) of language in context; both its
linguistic context (what is uttered before a given piece of discourse) and its social, or
situational context (who is speaking, what their social roles are, why they have to
come together to speak).
Language is so vital in human existence that there is nothing human beings can
do without the function of one form of language or the other. Block & Trager (2010)
opine that every physiologically and mentally normal person acquires in childhood,
the ability to make use, as both speaker and hearer, of a system of vocal
communication that comprises a circumscribed set of noises resulting from
movements of certain organs within his throat and mouth. By means of these, he is
able to impart information, to express feelings and emotions, to influence the activities
of others.
The English Language occupies a unique place in education in Nigeria because
of its significant role and status in national life. This observation is made by Baldeh
(2011). Supporting the view, Ezeude (2007,p. 211) posits ‘’ It is heartening to recall
the enviable position that Nigeria in her National Policy on Education (2004 Edition)
accords to language teaching”. According to him, languages are grouped under ‘A’ as
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core subjects made compulsory at both junior and senior secondary levels. To
demonstrate this further, English is made the medium of instruction in the country
from the upper primary level to tertiary level of instruction. Furthermore, he observes
that English is the language of science and technology; it is the passport to educational
advancement and prestigious employment; it is the language of commerce, trade and
administration, and a means of national and international communication.
It is against this background that the need for the educational system in the
country to keep abreast of the times in lanaguge teaching has been emphasized by
Ezeude (2007). In the same vein, Baldeh (2011) further notes that an educational
failure is primarily a linguistic failure, so a good educational system requires that the
products of the system communicate their thoughts, ideas, emotions, and attitudes
unambiguously and coherently.
Consequently, the essential use of language as the mot remarkable tool for man
is stated by Uzoegwu (2005). According to her, man’s invention of language has been
used for various purposes such as communication, social interaction, learning, storing
information, maintenance and transfer of culture. Therefore it is a means of social
control and an instrument that enables man to communicate his thoughts. The English
Language, according to Uzoegwu, empowers learners to live a fulfilled life, especially
in Nigeria.To buttress its pride of place in the educational system in Nigeria, Olajire
(2004) observes that a good pass (credit and above) has become mandatory for
transition from primary to Junior Secondary School (JSS), and for admission to all
levels of higher education in the country.
From the foregoing, the researcher having been in the system and taught
English as a subject for a number of years, has observed a steady decline in students’
performance in the subject. As a result, the researcher sees the need to make a
contribution in the area of using the Functional-Notional Approach for improving the
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teaching method in order to enhance students’ performance and achievement in
communicative skills in English Grammar. The new teaching method in this study,
which is the Functional-Notional Approach (FNA), is designed to help students
acquire useful skills for the functional use of the language both for social interaction
and for creditable performance in internal and external examinations. Essentially, the
Functional-Notional Approach is an embodiment of the Communicative Language
Teaching (CLT) method. The goal of the CLT is to inculcate communicative
competence into the language learner while the FNA actually applies the real
communicative approach and techniques to teach the learner the practical use of
language skills both in classroom situations and in his social environment. The FNA
engages the learner to use language functions such as participating in a dialogue,
making requests, asking for information and the like. Consequently, communicative
competence is achieved by the learner.
However, some research and documentary evidences in Nigeria prove the fact
that students’ performance in English Grammar has been poor over the past decades.
For instance, in a seminar organised for chief examiners of English Language by
WAEC (2010), the Chief Examiners were of the view that the most reliable
measurement of language achievement and competence is in Paper 1, and the possible
performance in the other papers (2 and 3) should be closely related to it.
To substantiate this view, Uzoegwu (2005) identifies that the poor performance of
students in essay writing affects their achievement in English Language because essay
writing normally has the highest score in English Language examination. Similarly, in a
resumé of the Reports of the Chief Examiners November/December (2008), the Report
lamented the fact that candidates exhibited poor knowledge of the rules of grammar
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which hindered good essay. The Report further cited the following examples of wrong
grammar samples in candidates’ scripts:
a. Wrong concord: e.g.
(i) This days
(ii) The boys quickly runs for sticks.
b. Wrong tense usage: e.g. Since we leave school.
c. Wrong constructions after the verbs make, allow, enable, etc. e.g.
(i) He made me to learn a trade.
(ii) This will enable me (‘to’ omitted) process my admission.
d. Other wrong constructions, e.g.
She married lately (late).
e. Wrong expressions: e.g.
(i) You must have to face your studies. (either ‘must’ or ‘have to’, but not both).
(ii) If you are illiterate, you cannot be able to succeed in business (cannot and “be
able’’ only one).
The Report (May/June 2006, p.6) identifies part of the problem as poor
teaching techniques, and proffers a possible solution thus: ‘’ In order to remedy these
problems, teachers at the senior secondary level should expose the candidates to
speech, vocabulary development, as well as lexis and structure….. If the students are
not adequately exposed to the skills of writing, they will continue to have problems.’’
In the same vein, the National Examination Council (NECO) syllabus for JSS 1-3
Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE), states clearly:
This new examination syllabus is designed to test level
of mastery of basic knowledge, skills and abilities in
communicative competence which the candidate is
expected to have acquired in the course of 9 year basic
education….how well the candidate has been equipped
to communicate effectively in the context of the different
kinds of everyday situations…. (NECO 2007, p.37).
5
Also expressing a deep concern over the fallen standards of English, Eyisi
(2006, p. 9) states:
The problem is made explicit as one engages in
conversations with students in secondary schools and
even higher institutions of learning. The grammatical
statements which they utter in sheer boldness send
shudders to one’s spine. They only possess a loose grasp
of the Grammatical Structure of English .
Eyisi observes further that the sad situation depicts to a large extent why adequate
attention should be given to teaching and learning of English grammar in schools.
In fact, the need for teaching of grammar in schools has been emphasised by
language scholars including Anyanwu (2007) who offers about four (4) reasons why
grammar should be taught in schools, namely:-
Languages differ and grammar is part of every language;
Languages are formally taught;
Grammar is a mental discipline;
There is a heuristic intent to guide the learner.
As a mental discipline, Anyanwu explains that grammar helps to expand the frontiers
of knowledge, to increase our repertoire of choices among its numerous paradigms
and to sharpen our perception of the relatedness of grammar as a whole and grammar
to the real world in which we live. Since grammar causes the mind to grow and the
learner has come to feed his mind on knowledge, he must be given the best of the
knowledge of grammar through informed, sustained and adequate teaching of the
discipline.
There are two broad types of grammar which Anyanwu (2007) posits. They are
(a) prescriptive grammar and (b) descriptive grammar. Prescriptive grammar,
according to Anyanwu, emerged as a result of rules and prescription which dominated
the English Language reforms. Under that arrangement, every attempt was made to
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reduce English to rules which users were expected to memorize and use. Anyanwu
(2007) regards prescriptivists as mentalists, traditionalists, diachronic grammarians,
and so on. However, they have to their credit the elaborate structured discipline which
language learning enjoys today.
On the other hand, descriptive grammar aims at identifying the language
functions before the description. A language has structures which must be identified
from the morphemic layer to the clause and sentence layer. Descriptive grammarians,
like their prescriptive counterparts have also been regarded as functionalists,
behaviourists, synchronic grammarians, and so on. Anyanwu (2007) therefore
recommends the descriptive grammar because of its communicative and functional
tendencies. However, he advises that the prescriptiveness be applied when all
description has been said and done. The role of the teacher in this regard is crucial and
decisive. He is the captain and the model. He must be competent and knowledgeable.
Incompetent teachers do not only induce errors, they reinforce them.
In language learning, it has come to be appreciated that mastery of grammar
can no longer be relegated to the background. Okwor (2007) observes that grammar is
an integral feature of English Language teaching and learning in varying degrees from
primary to tertiary levels of our educational system. In the same vein, Eyisi (2006)
adds that every game has a set of rules that govern its modus operandi. To be
successful, players must not only acquaint themselves with these rules, but must also
endeavour to apply them in the course of playing. In the same vein, human language
is a rule-governed behaviour. For one to use it effectively, one must not only be
familiar with its rules but must also be able to apply them correctly during usage. On
a somewhat concluding note, Baldeh (2011) reaffirms that it would be a great
disservice to the education system if the teaching of grammar is abandoned in the
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system for any reason. Thus, if the eager Nigerian youth must forge ahead in the
liberal arts, social sciences and science and technology, and display responsible roles
in the country, then they desperately need effective communication skills.
From the foregoing, the researcher in this study is taking a stand with the
functionalists and focusing the study on the need to produce language users who will
be able to use the English Language to perform academic functions as well as social
and interactional functions in given situations. This approach is quite opposed to the
Grammar Based method which produces only users of’ bookish’ English.
The Functional-Notional Approach lays emphasis on communicative
competence in language teaching. It employs the application of language functions to
teach the real communication in the classroom. The teacher focuses on inculcating the
social aspects of the language in the learner, as well as the roles of the individual
leaners in language interaction. In essence, Communicative Language Teaching is the
broad view of the Functional-Notional Approach. It applies the communicative
techniques in language teaching. Therefore, the language class is one of more student-
talk, less teacher-talk. The purposes and processes of verbal interaction are expressed
through role-play, group activity, seeking and getting information, and non-verbal
stimuli including visuals, gesture and mime. These techniques place certain demands
on the teacher for their preparation and execution. In practice, the Functional-Notional
syllabus does not invent new language to teach, rather it selects the language which
the learner is familiar with, by making use of a set of criteria. A very important
characteristics of the Functional-Notional Approach is the fact that it takes into
consideration the individual needs of the language learner by the different types of
interaction and communication the learner may be involved in.
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In this study, the researcher has applied the methods of verbal interaction,
simulation, conversation and dialogue to expose students to the language functions of
asking for permission, making requests, expressing necessities and obligations with
the appropriate Modal Auxiliaries.The method is in line with the view expressed by
Opeibi (2004, p.387), where he observes that it is not just enough to teach the rules of
grammar which is referred to as ‘’ a bottom-up approach’’, it is as well important to
employ the pragmatic methods of looking at language as a tool for communicative
purposes. The bottom-up approach as explained by Opeibi ( 2004 ) is an approach
which focuses on the formal language system, often in isolated sentences without
showing how that system operates in context. It divides communication into discrete
levels which can be dealt with separately. The “top- bottom approach,’’ on the other
hand, regards all the levels of a language as a whole, working together to achieve a
specific goal, such as social relationship.
The tendency in the approach is to supplement the narrow grammatical
perspective restricted to phonology and syntax, with an analysis and teaching of the
pragmatic and communicative functions of English in verbal interactions. For
instance, in order to achieve the objectives of the functionalist, the teacher should
integrate, in the same lesson units, mastery of language structures through drills with a
freer use of the same structures in communicative practice exercises.
The approach is described as functional because it emphasises the point of
using language for communicative purposes more than just using language forms
correctly. According to Agbedo (2007), the context in which language is used is
extremely relevant to linguistic interaction between groups and individuals.
In the same vein, this study is based on the stand-point of socio-linguistics that
is, using language to meet the societal needs of the learner, so that he, the learner, can
9
interact meaningfully in his social environment using the appropriate and acceptable
language forms. According to Williams (1999), the Functional-Notional Approach
puts the spot-light on the learner as a social person. It views language as primarily
intended for use in society. Williams records that the Functional-Notional Approach
(FNA) was the outcome of a project to prepare teaching materials for adult ‘guest-
workers’ who would need to communicate in the language of their host countries. The
project was carried out by representatives of the Council of Europe Modern Language
Project. It set up a list of language functions which could form the nucleus of a
teaching syllabus. One of the major publications of the project, Threshold Levels
English, Pergamon (1980), specifies situations in which adults may be expected to use
a foreign language with regard to roles, settings and topics (Williams 1999,p. 60).
Furthermore, the Functional- Notional Approach to language teaching is a
material-oriented approach which emphasises syllabus content as well as method of
teaching. It is material-oriented in the sense that the teacher deliberately selects and
prepares instructional materials to suit the lesson content. Syllabus content is
developed with reference to functions and notions in language. This approach is very
much in line with the general emphasis on communication in the classroom, and it
integrates concern for the social aspects of the language with concern for the role of
the individual in language interactions. Materials for the syllabus consist of language
functions which are identified by Williams (1999, p. 54) as ‘’speech acts’’, and not on
the traditional units of grammar. Typical of the new trend is the title of a lesson unit
such as ‘’ Asking for Information’’. Other units may have titles such as “Asking for
Direction’’, ‘’Apologising to Someone’’ Expressing an Opinion’’, Interacting
Socially’’ and so on. Williams stresses that those lesson titles represent a departure
from titles such as ‘The Present Continuous Tense’, Countable and Uncountable
10
Nouns’, ‘Masculine and Feminine Pronouns’ and ‘Transitive and Intransitive
Verbs’.What communicative competence aims to do is to help the learner turn his
considerable dormant grammatical competence into a real mastery of the language,
being in such everyday activities as buying stamps, going to the supermarket, asking
the way, visiting the dentist, asking the time, and the like.
An appropriate scheme suitable for the Functional- Notional syllabus is prescribed by
Williams (1999,p.52) as stated below:
Title &
Functions
Situation Formulas Structures Activities
Asking for Info At the bank Excuse me.
Can you tell
me..?
Interrogatives,
modals “can”
Dialogues
role playing,
etc
An example of dialogue involving the formulas, structures and lexical items for
expressing the roles of a customer and a bank clerk.
Customer: Excuse me please.
Bank Clerk: Yes, can I help you?
Customer: Certainly, I want to find out how much money I have in my account.
Bank Clerk: What’s your account number?
Customer: I’ve forgotten it. Can I just write my name instead?
Bank Clerk: I suppose so. Could you sign here please?
Customer: Alright. Thank you.
In addition, what informs the use of modal auxiliaries as language functions in
the study is that they form the speech acts used in expressions of social interactions,
making polite requests, expressing necessities, obligations, intentions and capabilities
to others. The practice of these language functions offers users the opportunity to
learn more accurate words to use in social interactions, which is the principal focus of
11
the FNA. The concept of communicative competence is described by Agbedo (2007)
as the knowledge needed by a speaker or hearer to use linguistic forms appropriately.
According to him:
The goal of a student of language should be to account
for the fact that a normal child acquires knowledge of
sentences not only as grammatical, but also as
appropriate. He acquires competence as to when to
speak, when not, and as to what to talk about with whom,
when, where, in what manner…. It is this type of
linguistic knowledge that characterises the objectives of
the functionalist approach to Language Teaching (LT).
(Agbedo, 2007,p. 343).
Identifying the objectives of communicative language teaching, Williams (1999)
reports that it can be specified with reference to the social purposes of language. The
concerns would thus be:
- appropriateness of usage ;
- conventional usage;
- transactional usage; and
- interactional usage.
The principles of the Communicative Language Teaching have a broad view
on the goals of language teaching which include how learners learn a language, the
kinds of classroom activities that best facilitate learning, and the roles of the teacher
and learner in the classroom. The principles recognise communication as a social
interaction. Communication also has a purpose, in which case, communicative
activities should be geared towards some functional objective, such as asking for
direction or giving information. Broadly speaking therefore, communicative
competence is the goal of the Functional-Notional Approach. The approach
emphasises on syllabus content and organises learning materials around the specific
12
needs of the learner as well as specific classroom situations for specific
communicative purposes.
At this point, the study took an overview of certain traditional approaches to
language teaching, their merits and demerits, as well as their similarities and
relationship to the Functional-Notional Approach. Specifically, the traditional
methods that were reviewed in relation to the FNA were the Grammar Translation
Method (GTM), the Direct Method and the Audio Lingual Method.
One of the earliest methods in language teaching is the Grammar Translation
Method originated by Johann Valentine Meidinger in Prussia, Germany at the end of
the 18th Century. It is based on the premise that language is rule-governed. Some of
the characteristics of Grammar Translation Method include: memorisation of
vocabulary items with their native language equivalents often in isolation (rote
method), and little or no systematic practice of pronunciation as speech is not
emphasised. According to Odo (2007), a quick evaluation of the method shows that it
is useful and economical when rules are stated and explained. Translation too can be
an effective technique in second language teaching. But the neglect of aural and oral
skills (listening and speaking) as well as communicative competence is a serious
defect of the method since language is largely speech – a means of communication.
The principle underlying the Grammar Translation Method is the fact that it
emphasises the study of the form of language rather than the communicative use of
language.
The defects in the Grammar Translation Method are based on the fact that it
neglects the activities for developing communicative competence in the language
class. It also has the tendency of selecting literary and artificial forms of language,
with the primary aim of exemplifying grammatical rules. The result is that the teacher
13
does much talking, denying the students the active participation that is so vital in
second language teaching. Therefore, the Functional-Notional Approach has a number
of advantages over the old Grammar Translation Method because it emphsises on
teaching language to achieve communicative competence; it sees the learner as a
social person who needs language for social interaction, so it gives the learner room
for participation in the language classroom.
Another method is the Direct Method, which is said to have evolved as a
reaction or alternative to Grammar Translation. It ruled out translation in teaching
foreign languages and is based on the theory that language learning is a natural
process. Its objective was to make learners think in the language they are learning. So
listening and speaking the language took precedence over reading and writing. The
method does not recognise the explicit formulation and teaching of grammatical rules,
rather learners are encouraged to acquire grammatical structures inductively by
practising with complete and meaningful utterances. The method was one of those
that emphasised actual communication, so it received overwhelming approval in the
field of language teaching. However, it was faulted by scholars like Odo (2007) for
forcing learners too early to communicate in the foreign language, resulting in
inaccurate fluency and for being unrealistic in teaching a foreign or second language
because of its unstructured procedure.. The method is mostly used at the primary and
secondary levels of education. At the tertiary level, it is used in teaching foreign
languages. The method is useful because it encourages exciting learning experience.
Learner participation is high. However, dissatisfaction with the less structured aspects
of the method has led to its modification which is the Graded Direct Method. The
modified method tries to bring in some grammatical explanation and occasional
translation. It is a kind of eclectic approach which makes it more in keeping with the
14
Functional-Notional Approach, and it is useful in second language teaching and
learning in the classroom.
Next is the Audio-Lingual or Aural Oral Method. It is a method based on
structural linguistics and the theory of behavioural psychology. According to Odo
(2007), structural linguistics based on the idea that language is made up of structural
units which are used in pattern practice as in substitution, addition, combination of
structural items and transformational drills.With this method, language items are not
contextualised, but learnt through practice and repetition, mimicking and
memorisation. Some of the basic principles of the Audio-Lingual Method as pointed
out by Odo (2007) include the points that language is speech not writing; here
emphasis is laid on listening and speaking before reading and writing. Language is a
set of habits, so manipulative drills are used to teach the language so that learners
form correct habits. A major defect is that communicative activities come after along
process of rigid drills and exercises. On the other hand, the new method, Functional-
Notional Approach, uses communicative functions like dialogues, simulation and
drills to achieve communicative competence in the learner. The new approach (FNA)
essentially sees language as a vehicle for the realisation of interpersonal relations and
for the performance of social transactions between individuals.
The teaching methods discussed have their strengths and weaknesses and
contributions to language teaching. This study therefore is in keeping with the view
that Englsh Language teachers should make use of the innovations as well as apply
ecclectism in language teaching in order to flow with the tide of times, and observe
the swing of the pendulum to the functional method for effective communication.
The study also investigated whether the Functional-Notional Approach will be
effective in determining the gender disparity in English Language Teaching. Research
15
efforts concerning the issues of gender in academic achievement appear to have
attracted the attention of many educational researchers in recent times. One of the
major reasons for tenacious interest in gender issues in terms of academic
achievement has been ascribed to the possible relationship between achievement and
academic opportunities. In effect, the level of linguistic achievement of a learner,
determines to a great extent, the opportunities open to him to succeed in other areas of
academic pursuit.
The findings of research in gender differences have long established that the
measured cognitive abilities of populations of girls and boys differ a little, if at all, in
contrast within given populations (Murphy, 2002). However, there is a whole array of
processes in operation from earliest childhood onwards whereby a particular view of
masculinity and femininity holds sway. Schools are actively involved in determining
this dorminant perspective. Despite the best efforts of schools, there are still
inequalities in the aspirations, achievements and expectations of boys and girls.
Some research findings show that male under-achievement dominates much
educational debate. Paula (2012) reports that a chart of GCSE results from 1962 to
2006 shows that boys are lagging behind in most subjects, except English, and girls
are dominating the examination leagues in all phases and subjects, and are more likely
to go to the university than their male counterparts. Similarly, the issue of under-
achievement of boys in Modern Foreign Languages (MFL) has been pointed out by
Offorma (2005). Apart from enumerating the reasons for the low achievement of
boys, the book recommended many useful language techniques for motivating boys
such as target-setting, use of ICT materials, use of interesting topics, making learning
fun, and single-sex modern language teaching which will promote the learning
achievement of boys in MFL.
16
In the same vein, observations have been made on the area of language
impairment. Lyons (2010) observes that Specific Language Impairment (SLI), is one
of the most robust risk factors for many speech and language problems that have to do
with a person’s sex. Clinicians have long noted the greater numbers of males in their
case loads. According to Lyons (2010), several studies have shown that SLI is more
common in males than females. (SLI is a developmental language disorder which has
challenged speech-language pathologists for decades and in recent years has become
the subject of study). He discovered that among the children with language
impairment in some of his studies, there was a 2:1 ratio of males to females. A
common outcome for the elevated rates of SLI in males has been that males in general
have poorer verbal skills than females.
The import of the study on gender variable is to recommend and enforce an
effective communicative approach to language learning which will enable the female
folk in the educational system to improve on their language proficiency in order to
take their pride of place and bridge the existing gap in the scheme of things.
In terms of school location, the study investigated whether the Functional-
Notional Approach will determine a significant difference in the language
achievement of students in urban and rural locations. Research in this area of study
has shown that the quality of the language environment is of paramount importance to
success in learning a new language. As defined by Dulay & Krashen (2008), the
language environment encompasses everything the language learner hears and sees in
the new language. It may include a wide variety of situations- conversations with
friends, watching television, reading street signs and newspapers, as well as classroom
activities; or it may be very sparse, including only language books and records.
According to them, teaching a second language means creating for students a part of
17
their entire new language environment, and the entire responsibility of creating the
language environment falls on the teacher who is teaching a language that is not used
in the community.
In addition, findings have proved that a child growing up in the first two or
three years requires interaction with other language users in order to bring the
‘language faculty’ into operation with a particular language such as English.
Therefore, Yule (2007,p. 175) opines that a child who does not hear, or is not allowed
to use language will learn no language. Hence the importance of social interaction,
meaning that the language a child learns is not genetically inherited, but it is acquired
in a particular language-using environment. Yule (2007, p.176) also points out the
issue of ‘innateness’ as propounded by Noam Chomsky. His theory of innateness
states that every normal child is born with some innate tendencies to acquire language.
This is what he describes as L.A.D. (Language Acquisition Device). Chomsky
proposed that language development should be described as “language growth’’
because the ‘’language organ’’ simply grows like any other body organ. The crucial
requirement, Yule concludes, is the opportunity the child has to interact with others
via language. That opportunity equips him to use language functionally in his social
environment.
In this part of the study, the researcher has highlighted the influence which the
language environment of a child can have on his entire developmental process,
especially in his functional language achievement.
Statement of the Problem
The steady decline in the performance of secondary school students in English
Language internal and external examinations, has been of much concern to
educationists in the country. This situation is because most of the students are
18
deficient in the use of grammar. They have not acquired the basic knowledge of
grammatical structures and expressions to enable them articulate their thoughts
meaningfully in written medium. Paper 1 of the English Language in SSCE ( WAEC
& NECO) requires the skill of continuous writing in Section A (Essay Writing),
Section B (Comprehension), and Section C (Summary). Basically, Paper 1 constitutes
60% of the total scores in English Language examinations. Candidates’ scores are
rather relatively higher in Papers 2 and 3 which are Lexis & Structure and Test of
Orals respectively, and these two papers are in multiple choice forms such that the
chances to guess are high. In spite of the relative high scores in Papers 2 and 3, the
overall performance remains low.
Notably, poor teaching method has been identified as a major factor
contributing to the low performance of candidates in external examinations.
Therefore, the recommendation by the WAEC Chief Examiners (2010), supported by
the International Awards and Examiners Appointment Committee (2012), is that
teachers should adopt better methods and strategies of teaching the language more
effectively. It is for this reason that the present study is focused on the application of
the Functional-Notional Approach which applies the Communicative Language
Teaching Method to inculcate communicative competence into the learner. The need
to help students acquire the basic writing skills is imperative, so that they will be able
to achieve the set objectives by the examination bodies (WAEC & NECO), as well as
perform their social communicative functions effectively. This will put them in the
right footing to achieve the expected goals in education.
The problem of this study, therefore, put in a question form is: what is the
effect of the Functional-Notional Approach to English Language teaching on students’
achievement in Grammatical Structures at the secondary school level?
19
Purpose of the Study
The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of the Functional-
Notional Approach on students’ achievement in English grammar.
Specifically, the study sought to:
1. Determine the difference in the achievement of students taught English
Grammar using the Functional-Notional Approach and those taught using the
traditional method (Grammar Translation Method).
2. Determine the effect of gender on the achievement of students taught English
grammar using the Functional-Notional Approach.
3. Determine the effect of school location on the achievement of students taught
English grammar using the Functional-Notional Approach.
4. Determine the interaction effect of method and gender on the achievement of
students taught English grammar using the Functional-Notional Approach.
5. Determine the interaction effect of method and location on the achievement of
students taught English grammar using the Functional-Notional Approach.
Significance of the Study
The findings of this study will help the students, teachers, parents, school
authorities, authors, curriculum designers, and student teachers to proffer useful and
practical solutions to the problems of poor and ineffective methods of teaching
English language in the secondary schools.
The study will be significant to the student in the sense that it is based on the
Behaviourist Theory as exemplified by B.F. Skinner’s Stimulus – Response Theory of
learning. Language is described as a socially learned communication system, that is,
language learning is achieved through habit formation. This implies that the child will
learn or form new habits by interacting with the new language environment where he
20
finds himself. For instance, in the classroom he interacts with his teacher and mates,
there he forms new words (vocabulary), new expressions, and improves on the use of
the previous ones he formed. All this is achieved through verbal interactions in the
form of reinforcement, repetition or conversation. The child is linguistically active in
his social environment. Therefore, he is a functional social person because of the
language habits he has formed.
The study will therefore be of benefit in the following ways:
Secondary school students are likely to get more interested and more involved
in class activities, since the lessons will employ the techniques of role-play,
conversation, dialogues which will require students’ full participation in class. The
students will find the interactive and participatory process quite rewarding as they get
along in exercising their communicative skills. The activities in class make the lessons
lively and give no room for boredom. The approach is likely to enhance their
achievement in grammatical structures and consequently in their performance in
English Language examinations. The teacher is likely to be motivated and derive
more job-satisfaction because the approach will engender a high level of interest and
enthusiasm in the students. He will be further encouraged to teach especially as his
students’ language achievement improves.
Parents and guardians will find the improved performance of their children and
wards a welcome relief. This will make them appreciate the efforts of the teachers and
they will become aware of the use of the Functional-Notional Approach (FNA) which
has contributed to the good performance of their wards.
School authorities are likely to benefit when students’ performance in English
Language improves as a result of the application of the FNA. A high percentage of the
credits and above grades in English will uplift the standards of the school because
21
English Language results form the major indices of the overall academic standards of
a school.
Curriculum planners are likely to find that the activities embedded in the FNA
engage students maximally, making them active participants and contributors to the
learning process. They may want to adjust the curriculum to include the new language
activities which will likely produce the expected language experience in the students.
Authors may also benefit from this because if they are aware of the language skills
applied in the FNA, they may need to restructure the lesson units and contents of their
books in order to accommodate the innovations in the curriculum, thereby attracting
more patronage from students, parents and schools.
Student teachers are equally likely to benefit from this study when the
approach is applied in their own curriculum in the teacher training programme,
because it will put them in a good stead to be abreast of the innovations in the area of
language teaching. They can easily adopt the FNA when they teach.
Scope of the Study
This study was limited to English Language lessons, with JSS 2 students in the
secondary schools.
The study was on English Grammar, specifically on the use of modal auxiliaries in
making requests, asking for permission, expressing abilities, possibilities, necessities
and obligations with the Functional-Notional Approach.
The grammatical items taught with the approach were:- ‘can’ and ‘could’; ‘may’ and
‘might’; ‘must’, ‘should’, ‘ought to’; as modal auxiliaries to achieve good
grammatical expressions. modal auxiliaries were used as the grammatical items in the
study because they provided appropriate words and expressions in such situations as
making requests, asking for permission, expressing abilities, capabilities and
22
obligations. This is a recommendation made by Williams (1999) and Baker &
Westrup (2005).
The study also examined the effect of the FNA on the variables of gender and
school location. Although some variables like teacher factor, motivation, attitude,
aptitude and intelligence could come to play, the study necessarily focused on the
areas of gender and school location. The study was carried out in Owerri North Local
Government Area of Imo State.
Research Questions
The following Research Questions guided the study:-
1. What is the difference in the mean scores of students taught English grammar
using the Functional-Notional Approach and those taught with the traditional
method (Grammar Translation Method)?
2. What are the relative mean achievement scores of male and female students
taught English Grammar using the Functional-Notional Approach?
3. What are the relative mean achievement scores of urban and rural students
taught English Grammar using the Functional-Notional Approach?
4. What is the interaction effect of treatment and gender on students’ mean
achievement scores in English Grammar?
5. What is the interaction effect of treatment and location on students’
achievement scores in English Grammar?
23
Hypotheses
The following null hypotheses were formulated to guide the study and were tested at
0.05 level of significance.
Ho1 There will be no significant mean difference in the achievement of students
taught English grammar using the Functional-Notional Approach and those
taught with the traditional method (Grammar Translation Method).
Ho2 There will be no significant mean difference in the achievement of male and
female students taught English grammar using the Functional-Notional
Approach.
Ho3 There will be no significant mean difference in the achievement of urban and
rural students taught English Grammar using the Functional-Notional Approach.
Ho4 There will be no significant interaction effect of male and female students taught
English Grammar using the Functional-Notional Approach.
Ho5 There will be no significant interaction effect of urban and rural students taught
English Grammar using the Functional-Notional Approach.
24
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
The literature in the study was reviewed under four broad headings:
1. Conceptual Framework
2. Theoretical Framework
3. Empirical Studies
4. Summary of Literature Review
1. Conceptual Framework
Literature in this section focused on the following:.
1. The Nature of Language.
2. English as a Second Language in Nigeria.
3. Teaching Grammar in a Second Language Situation.
4. Achievement in Language Learning.
5. Gender as a Factor in the Language Ability of the Student.
6. School Location as a Factor in the Language Ability of the Student.
2. Theoretical Framework
Literature on the theoretical framework focused on the following areas:
1. Theories of Language Development
2. The Sociolinguistic Theories
3. The Communicative Language Teaching Theories
4. The Functional – Notional Theory.
24
25
3. Empirical Studies
The empirical studies were reviewed under the following headings:
1. Studies conducted in Nigeria in the following areas:
- methods and strategies of teaching English in secondary schools;
- the concept of gender as a factor in students’ achievement in English
Language learning;
- the concept of school location as a factor in students’ achievement in English
Language learning.
2. Studies conducted outside Nigeria in the area of effects of methods in English
Language teaching and learning.
4. Summary of Literature Review.
26
The Nature of Language
In this section, the study focused on literature in the nature of language in
relation to how language functions with thoughts as a means of human
communication in either spoken or written form. Several linguists have, over the
years, expressed their views on the phenomenon of language, prominent among them
is Finch (2000, p. 9) who posits thus: “Thinking linguistically means viewing
language as a dynamic entity constantly changing, alive on the lips and on the pens of
its users”. Elaborating on the dynamism of language, Finch (2000,p.13) adds that
“language should not be taken for granted as though it were a given fact of life like
being able to breathe…. Language can never become so automatic as to be entirely
instinctive. It is different from bodily functions such as breathing or eating which we
do without conscious thoughts”.
Language is the pivot on which all human activities revolve. This view is
expressed by Agbedo (2009) who also states that language provides the unique
medium through which the belief system, world view, moral values, and virtually all
the basic ingredients of any given society are passed on from generation to generation.
The essential thread that runs through all these activities is communication. Language
is marked by some distinguishing characteristics which have been aptly described by
Brooks in Anyanwu (2007, p.154) thus: “Language is learnt, systematic, symbolic,
vocal behaviour: a culturally acquired and universal mark of man”. The same view
about the uniqueness of language is equally described by Petty and Becking in
Mgbodile (1999. P.5):
27
Language is human activity; It is a form of behaviour,
It reflects behaviour that has occurred; it causes
behaviour to occur;
Language is arbitrary and structured, yet it is flexible and
dynamic. It has orderly arrangement-recurring patterns
but each language has its own system.
It is a flow of sounds segmented into meaningful symbols that may be
transformed into graphic forms. Language is the basis for most human
communication.Various scholars and authorities have taken a cue from the above
assertion in describing and explaining the phenomenon of language from both its
abstract and arbitrary forms. Quirk & Greenbaun, (2000) assert that language in its
abstract form is a facility to talk to each other; it is the faculty of speech which all
human beings hold in common. Commenting further about its abstract nature, Quirk
& Greenbaun state that language consists of signs which have to be learnt and which
are wholly conceptual, as there are no fixed or predictable relationship between words
and their meanings. Language, therefore, exists as an arbitrary vocal symbol by means
of which people communicate. Likewise, Agbedo (2009) assesses the relationship
between language and thought when he states that language encompasses every means
of communication in which thoughts and feelings are symbolized in order to convey
meaning to others. These widely differing forms of communication constitute of the
main things that differentiate human beings from the other lower animals.
Language is further said to be a puzzling phenomenon, and so deserves to be
studied more closely. This view is expressed by Moravcsik (2010) when he stated that
the use of language is so much a part of our life that it is difficult to step back and
attempt to view it as just another natural phenomenon. On the surface, what one
observes is humans making noises at each other. The ‘noises’ we emit, according to
Moravcsik, fall into patterns. These patterns enable the ‘noises’ both to be intelligible
to humans and to describe parts of reality. This way of viewing language, he noted
28
was articulated first by Aristotle. In chapter 1 of De Interpretation, 16 a 3-8, Aristotle
writes: “Spoken sounds are symbols of affection in the soul, and written marks are
symbols of spoken sounds. And just as written marks are not the same for all humans,
neither are spoken sounds’’. (Quoted in Moravcsik, 2010, p.92).
From the social point of view, it has been observed that language plays a
considerable role in the day-to-day functional and social relationships of a learner. In
this regard, Akere (2004) remarks that the English language occupies a significant
position as a linguistic tool for effective public as well as private interactions. He used
the situation- oriented analysis of speech acts, and the works of the interactionists to
show the interface between individual use of language and the force conveyed by
particular linguistic forms.
However, Darn (2006, p.1) discovers a recent revival in paying attention to
form, and suggests that “lack of focus on form may lead to fossilized errors, while the
consideration of lexical items and ‘chunks’ has led to a consciousness-raising
approach to form, involving noticing language presented in context and not
necessarily with practice” Whether presenting language traditionally or using a
consciousness –raising approach, and whether the language is being presented for the
first time or for revision, Darn ( 2006) suggests that the following should be
considered:
1. Parts of speech
2. Spelling (the difference between UK and US spellings should be noted);
3. Regularity/irregularity in tense
4. Word order and structures
5. Pronunciation
29
6. The written form and the spoken form e.g. ‘He said it was his birthday the
following day’ (written form). “He says it’s his birthday tomorrow’ (spoken
and functional form).
7. The Concept: Is the concept clear and concrete, or vague and abstract?
However, the reduction of the scope of language to static formal descriptions
of grammar is said to have excluded the procedural aspects of communication in
human interactions. According to Akere (2004, p.87), “Language can only be
comprehended in the context of social behaviour”.
Having surveyed the nature of language and how it applies to the human mind
and thought, as well as its social and interactional implications, the concepts reviewed
in this section could put the learner in the right perspective and proper disposition to
use functional language in order to achieve both the specific and general linguistic
purposes.
English as a Second Language in Nigeria
In this section, the study reviewed relevant literature on the place of English as
a second language in Nigeria, because English Language enjoys a unique position in
the school curriculum as a core subject as well as the language of instruction. Also the
study focused on suggesting possible ways of enhancing students’ performance in the
subject. Learning a second language can be exciting and productive, or painful and
useless. The difference lies in how one goes about teaching it. To be successful, Lyon
(2010) suggests that a learner needs not have a special inborn talent for learning
languages. Learners and teachers simply need to do it right. Skutnabb-Kangas (2000)
posits that Nigerian learners’ attitudes to English were generally positive because
English had become a means of colonial domination, a method of creating a new local
30
elite and means of their empowerment. Skutnabb-Kangas (2000, p.506) further
posits thus:
Attitudes towards language(s) and language use are
common place throughout the world. People assign
various attributes to language forms, they may feel that a
language or (its) variety is elegant, expressive, vulgar,
guttural, musical….
However, attitudes to language are not developed in a vacuum. From the opinion
expressed by Uzozie (2004, p.364) ”The Whiteman created in the minds of Nigerians
the impression of the white man’s superiority, including his language. This
superiority-complex was also reflected in the colonial education policies which placed
English above all the other languages, both for school certification and employment”.
Uzoezie (2004) also stresses the fact that even in the period of these early contacts, the
products of early schools who filled the job position in the colonial civil service and
the missions as teachers, cooks, stewards, clerks, mail-runners, interpreters and court
messengers, accepted that English language was the best so that even some of the
local chiefs also learnt to communicate in English.
Evidences and proofs have been given by some scholars and authors of the
positive attitude of Nigerians to English language, probably as a result of the
opportunities it gave them to interact with the white men and the empowerment it
conferred on them. Baldeh (2011, p.2) shows the zeal with which Nigerians of the
period tried to master the language when he states: “The nascent desire for a good
command of the metropolitan language was ignited by the enthronement of the
certification system for employment in the public as well as private sectors of the
economy”
Having been regarded as the vehicle par excellence, English was then raised to
an enviable status by the demands of the certification system. The vernacular
31
languages were regretfully, relegated to the background and children who were heard
speaking them faced severe disciplinary measures. The seeds of cultural imperialism
were thus sown by this singular act (Baldeh, 2011). Another evidence in literature is
the picture which the popular novelist, Chinua Achebe paints in his No Longer At
Ease (1960), cited in Uzoezie (2004). According to him, the members of Umuofia
Progressive Union, most of whom were illiterate, admired the bombast of their
general secretary rather than Obi Okonkwo’s English which was filled with “is” and
“was’’. The general impression left in people’s mind after independence, however,
has been that the standards of both spoken and written English in the country is falling
or has fallen. To this end Oji in (Baldeh 2011, p.16) opines:
It is self-evident truth that the standard of English in this
country is at rock-bottom, and cannot go any further.
Everybody is aware of this fact, but it is not everybody
that pauses to find out the cause of this downward trend
of this subject.
Oji blames the fall in standard on teachers’ ineptitude or unwillingness to teach
traditional grammar. However, Sofenwa, cited in Uzoezie (2004, p.366) had earlier
reflected “on the core causes of the downward trend in proficiency in English
language by students in Nigerian schools”. He blames the “downward trend” on a
conflict between the role of the English language and its status in Nigeria. Also
Uzoezie (2004) attributes the fallen standards to such factors as poor language
planning, poor and wrong methods of teaching especially English grammar.
Consequently, further literature reviewed in this section focused on some pedagogical
strategies for effective teaching of English as a second language in Nigeria.
A teacher of a Nigerian child whose L2 is English language, should first have
it at the back of his mind that the child he is dealing with in the class has acquired a
first language. Also, he should know that whereas the child learned the first
32
language in his environment without a teacher, now he is learning a second
language, he is confined in an artificial environment known as a classroom.
According to Agbedo (2009), it is the teacher’s job to create an environment as
natural and stimulating as that in which he learned the first language. Furthermore,
teaching English as a second language requires that the teacher should have a
curriculum, and this curriculum is prepared by the state, and the goals and objectives
are already set. The teacher should therefore make efforts to see that the goals and
objectives are met in his teaching. According to him, the issue of textbook is
paramount. The teacher, cannot teach without textbook, he has to ensure that the text
he selects meets all or many of the objectives he sets out to achieve. The teacher
should examine the text to see the way it is graded and sequenced. Agbedo (2009)
recommends therefore that the teacher should look at the culture content to confirm
its suitability and relevance and examine the methods and approaches employed by
the author to achieve the set goals.
The grading and sequencing are important because children’s learning is
arranged from the simple to the complex and from the known to the unknown.
Another important pedagogical strategy for effective teaching of English is that
materials are not likely to be all grammar rules, structure and vocabulary work. They
have to be arranged in such a way that games, drama, dialogue, conversations and
those things that the children are interested in should form the main focus of the
teacher’s and children’s activities. The aim should be to get into social classroom
interactions of great variety in terms of number and context/situation in order to
engender in them the facility in communicative language. The children’s
communicative competence should be able to match their linguistic competence.
Agbedo (2007, p.52) further posits the reasons why the teacher does all that in the
33
classroom: “The role of the teacher as ‘a law-giver’ and a repository of knowledge is
gone for good”. His justification for that stand is that “modern teaching is now child-
centred and the teacher’s role is to stimulate, guide and facilitate learning”.
The same idea is expressed by Adedun (2004, p.1) when he remarks that emphasis on
language teaching has moved away from the traditional approach of “composing and
comprehending correct sentences as isolated units of random occurrence.” The new
trend now lays emphasis on usages that achieve communicative purposes.
Having mentioned the need to strike a balance between the learner’s
communicative competence and his linguistic competence, the study therefore brings
into perspective relevant literature on the place of grammar in teaching English as a
second language in Nigeria.
Grammar in English as a Second Language
Grammar is a set of rules which govern the use of words and their structural
patterns in sentences. Nelson Brooks quoted in Eyisi (2006, p.8) gives an apt
description of the concept of grammar thus:
We must recognize that grammar is to language what
anatomy is to the human body. Every living body-and
even a dead one is bound to have anatomy; the same is
true of language and grammar. To say that grammar can
be brushed aside as inconsequential or irrelevant is of
course nonsense.
The term “grammar” to some people is shrouded in obscurity. But to others, it is
one of the many worlds of the English language that possess very different meanings
for different people depending on their educational back-ground and experience.
Besides, grammar may be used by the same person in different occasions. Eyisi
(2006) identifies six different meanings of the term grammar as follows:
34
1. As a book: The grammar of a particular language, e.g. English Grammar for
Advanced Students by Dr Nzebunachi Oji; A University Grammar of English,
by Randolph Quirk and Sidney Greenbalm.
2. As a branch of study: someone may say “I am studying the grammar of
English”, meaning that he is studying the body of descriptive statements
concerning the systematic interrelationships of structures within the English
language.
3. As subject matter, e.g. one may say, “English grammar is different from Igbo
grammar”
4. As rules: normative rules that determine correctness in the use of a language.
5. As statements: a body of prescriptive statements about the usages that are
considered acceptable and those that are considered unacceptable in particular
dialects of a language.
6. As intuitive knowledge: the intuitive knowledge of the native speakers about
their language, also called linguistic competence as opposed to performance.
In his own study, Lester (2001, p.335) points out five different meanings of the
term grammar, viz
Grammar I: our internal, unconscious rule system. The grammar that we have in our
heads.
Grammar 2: the scientific analysis of grammar. The linguistic model of grammar I.
Grammar 3: usage. What people mean when they say that someone doesn’t use very
good grammar.
Grammar 4: the schoolroom version of traditional grammar. The grammar that is
found in secondary textbooks.
35
Grammar 5: stylistic grammar. The use of grammar for the purpose of teaching style,
including sentence combining.
As used by Eyisi in the fourth sense, grammar is a set of normative rules that
determine correctness. It is concerned with the description of the relationship within
the structure of a language. As a result, mastering the grammar of a language
essentially means mastering the correct ordering of words (syntactic structure) and
how these words are formed (morphology) with a view to making meaning in that
language. According to her, a sound knowledge of grammar is a sine qua non, a
prerequisite, for successful performance in the language. In the words of Brooks cited
above, “brushing it aside as irrelevant is of course nonsense.”
In the same vein, Anyanwu (2007, p.160) asserts: “It is clear that the dictum:
language is rule – governed behaviour” applies no less to grammar than to other
aspects of language.” According to Anyanwu, grammar is usage informed by proper
choice of words. Such usage has been shown to belong to either “the accuracy rules”
or “the fluency rules”. Usage belongs to the accuracy rules if it constantly selects its
grammar from the set of normative or descriptive rules which are identified. If it does
(select), then its code conforms to informed or scholarly usage, and is, therefore, in
value terms described as standard usage. Thus, most educational materials, legal codes
and government business are, as much as possible, examples of what is called
standard usage. “It is usage that has a keen eye on the rules and that seeks to be as
accurate as possible.” On the other hand, usage informed by fluency rules is not fussy
about accuracy. It is rather mainly concerned with the transfer of meaning first and the
properties of grammar later. Such usage, which places high premium on
communication almost to the neglect of grammar as a set of rules guiding usage “is
36
fraught with danger” especially in educational institutions. Anyanwu (2007, p.161)
further emphasizes:
Although the immediate gains of fluency and
communication are attractive, the fear is that the learner
might soon see language exclusively in terms of
communication, thereby ignoring the need for a proper
code of usage which only the learning of rules can
engender. The difference between accuracy and fluency
may consequently be seen by comparing the standard
usage of most educated people with non- standard usage
and patois of the market place.
He simply foresees a slide from very high standard (acrolect) to inadequate
standard (mesolect) to very poor standard or no standard at all (basilect).
High Middle Base/Poor
X X X
Acrolect Mesolect Basilect
Standards of Usage
(Figure 1: Source: Anyanwu, 2007, p.161)
He maintains that proper usage belongs to grammar because such usage draws
its code from grammatical rules. If grammar means all that has been highlighted
above, his argument then is, “why must we teach grammar?”. To this end, Anyanwu
(2007) enumerates four reasons why we must teach grammar:
(i) Languages differ and grammar is part of every language.
(ii) Languages are formally taught and learned or acquired.
(iii) Grammar is a mental discipline; and
(iv) There is a heuristic intent to guide the learner. (p.162).
37
Teachers who face real-life situations with learners in classrooms, believe that
learners who do not possess or acquire grammar or know the so-called fragments of
grammar, cannot and do not use the language correctly, (Awonusi 2003, p.5).
A good knowledge of English grammar is imponderable to any learner who
wants to achieve success in the correct use of English and more importantly in
education, since virtually all subjects are taught and learnt in the language. This view
is expressed by Eyisi (2006). In addition, she remarks that the grammar of English is
so important that Nigerian students are termed “poor performers in the English
language because they have not internalized the grammar of the language.” The
consensus appears to be that the level of performance in spoken and written English
has regrettably fallen. “Parents constantly shed tears concerning the results of their
children in English language examinations. The Chief Examiner in the Senior School
Certificate Examination laments yearly over the poor performance of candidates in the
English Language”. (p.9).
Many Nigerians have expressed concern and disquiet over the rapid decline of
not only the standard of English spoken and written in the country but also the whole
educational system. Baldeh (2011) remarks that the situation has become so bad that
many academics, educationists, policy makers, etc. have advocated a quick return to
the good days when the teaching of traditional grammar was the be-all and end-all of
language teaching. Nothing, they claim, can arrest the deteriorating standard of
English in Nigeria unless our students are properly grounded in traditional grammar in
the secondary school.
Perhaps, it is in reaction to this sad state of affairs that Oji (in Baldeh 2011)
laments nostalgically: “we must go back to traditional grammar of which Chomsky,
John Lyons and others have spoken in glowing terms. These other neo-grammars are
38
not apt to teach a second language to second language learners.” The place of
grammar in the learning of any language, English inclusive, can be compared to the
place of rules in playing a game. Eyisi (2006) remarks that every game has a set of
rules that govern its Modus Operandi. To be successful, players must not only
acquaint themselves with these rules but must also endeavour to apply them in the
course of playing. In the same vein, human language is a rule-governed behaviour.
For one to use it effectively, one must not only be familiar with its rules but must also
be able to apply them correctly during usage. With the knowledge of such basic rules
and their application, one understands the phenomenon of language in a practical way
as one speaks and writes correctly. A good knowledge of the syntactic structure of
English enables one to account for the grammaticality of sentences. Correct or
incorrect expressions can only be detected and adopted or corrected through a sound
knowledge of the grammar of the English language. This is essential for educational
pedagogical purposes. (Eyisi, 2006).
For effective writing of English language textbooks therefore, planning course
syllabuses or series of language lessons, Eyisi recommends a sound knowledge of the
English grammar to be at the centre. Curriculum planners and teachers of English in
Nigeria must be familiar with how the system of English functions and how it differs
from the mother tongues of Nigerian learners. This knowledge enables them to
organize language items, teaching materials and equipment needed to achieve
maximum objectives of teaching English language. Traditional grammar provides a
prebuilt curriculum: that is a well – established content and an order in which that
content is taught. Traditional grammar instruction has a well –established support
system of hand-books, student learning aids, packaged teaching materials, workbooks
(with answers for the teachers) and the like.
39
However, a middle – ground approach has been advocated by Baldeh (2011,
p.36) as a possible, easy way out considering the deficiencies of both scientific and
traditional grammars. He says this is where “pedagogic grammar” is assuming an
ascending role. “A Pedagogic Grammar (PG) is a formulation of the grammar of a
foreign language with the objective of the acquisition of that language; it embodies
those considerations which are relevant as the learner is put in contact with that which
is to be learned”. This grammar has a framework of simple definitions, diagrams,
copious exercise and rules which may help the learner to use the language fluently,
independently, accurately and confidently. The writer of a pedagogic grammar turns
to scientific grammars to validate certain linguistic notions. Then he converts
materials for teaching purposes by deliberately oversimplifying them in efficient
language learning. In a pedagogic grammar a high standard of descriptive adequacy is
not required. All that it does is to make a virtue of informed eclecticism, choosing
what is relevant for each grammar in order to produce good results, and arranging
them systematically for the benefit of the language learner.
Modal Auxillary Verbs as Elements of Grammar
In this sub-section, the study highlighted the use of modal auxiliaries as a
component of grammar to demonstrate to students some speech acts or language
functions appropriate in the functional syllabus. A modal auxiliary is a type of verb
that helps the main verb to express a range of meaning or ideas. It expresses such
meanings as making requests, taking permission, expressing possibility, probability,
wants, wishes, necessity, obligation and the like. Umoh, Ebam & Ngulube (2014)
identify the main modal verbs as – can, could, may, might, will, would, shall, should,
must, ought to. The modal verbs, unlike the main verbs have only one form. They
have no ‘-s’ form in the third person singular, no infinitive and no participle.
40
What informs the use of modal auxiliaries in the study is the fact that they
constitute the speech acts used in expressions of social interactions such as making
requests, expressing necessities, abilities, capabilities, obligations and intentions.
Language learners and users are offered the opportunity to learn more accurate words
and expressions for use in social interactions and inter-personal relationships. This is
what the present study tends to achieve. Specifically, ‘can’ and ‘could’ are used to
express the idea of ability For instance:
(1). I can drive a car.
(2) We can hear him speak.
Expressing the ideas in the reported speech, the past form ‘could’ is used. The
above sentences would read:
(1) He said that he could drive a car.
(2) We said that we could hear him speak.
‘May’ as a modal auxiliary is used to express possibility. There is a possibility that
something will happen or be true. For instance:
(1) I may be late, so don’t wait for me.
(2) Your job may involve some travelling.
In polite expressions, ‘may’ can be used to ask or suggest something in a polite way.
For example: All these things, if I may say so, are irrelevant.
‘Might’ is also used as the past tense of ‘may’ when reporting that someone talked or
thought about the possibility of something, e.g.
He might be able to help you. (2) John said he might come to see you.
‘Should’ as a moudal auxiliary is ued to express obligation, to show what is right or
sensible to do. For instance, you should be careful what to say.
‘Should’ is also used in giving instructions in official situations. For instance:
41
(1) Passengers should obtain their tickets at the gate.
(2) All participants should report in the hall at 7:30 a.m.
Such grammatical expressions as used with modal verbs help students to polish their
language and apply them in given situations.
From the fore-going, it is a clear fact that the teaching of grammar and a sound
knowledge of it is a sine qua non to learning English as a second language. This study
therefore advocates the proper teaching of grammar to achieve standard usage
especially in the classroom and educational institutions for academic purposes and
accuracy. However, attention should be given to fluency for communicative purposes.
The Concept of Achievement:
Achievement is an outcome of the experiences which one gains through
exposure to education or other learning experiences. In the standards for test
construction, achievement is viewed basically as the competence a person has in an
area of content (Nnoli, 2012).
Educationally, achievement may be defined as the mastering of major
principles, skills, strategic knowledge and integrated knowledge. It can equally be
defined as a measure of a learner’s level of knowledge, skill or performance. For
instance, Opara (2011) posits that aptitude tests are given to students to determine
their readiness in cognitive musical achievement. The change in a student’s
achievement or improvement in a subject is compared with the student’s effort or
ability.
From the points of views expressed by the authorities above, one can therefore
claim that achievement is the progress or improvement people make towards their set
goals. It is also a task which one has worked hard towards, and in the end, the result is
42
successful. In summary, achievement can be viewed as the outcome of one’s ability or
competence in a specific content area or a specific domain of knowledge.
Achievement test as explained in relation to aptitude test, Santrock (2008)
opines that aptitude tests are used to measure an individual’s potentials and interest
for learning what is in him, but achievement test measures what the individual has
already learnt. A test to determine students’ cognitive achievement is only possible if
the test has predictive validity. Predictive validity is the ability of a measuring
instrument to predict some future events such as achievement, specific aptitude, job
performances or other performances. It is also called empirical or statistical validity
(Onunkwo 2005). Similarly, Frankel & Wallen (2000) define predictive validity as the
degree to which scores on an instrument predict characteristics of individuals in a
future situation. They see predictive as validity the degree to which the prediction
made by the test is confirmed by the later behaviour of the subjects.
Arriving at a grade for the grading period involves comparing a student’s
performance to some criteria. This view has been explained by Montague,
Huntsberger & Huffman (2010) who also observe that teachers sometimes determine
grades by attempting to measure the change in achievement from the beginning of the
grading period to the end of the period. This measurement is then compared to a
measure of the student’s ability or effort to the improvement of other students, or
some predetermined standards.
To use the difference between the scores merely magnifies the error. In
addition, those who score high on the pretest can increase their posttest scores more
easily because many more items are available for them to answer correctly on the
posttest. The phenomenon called regression toward the mean operates in such a
situation. Those who scored high in the pretest in part scored high because they were
43
on the positive side of the random errors being made. Those who scored low were on
the negative side of the random errors. On subsequent tests, those who scored lower
on pretest will score higher on the posttest – scores for both groups will move toward
the mean. This phenomenon makes demonstrating improvement for those who
initially scored high very difficult. According to Montague et al (2010), accounting
for regression toward the mean is difficult. The teachers should then avoid the use of
improvement as a basis for assigning grades because of the inherent errors. However,
the criterion of comparing achievement versus standard is recommended, that is,
teachers should measure a student’s achievement against a standard established
criterion for each grade. In theory, no pre-conceived distribution of grades is used. All
students who meet the criteria for a grade of A would be given an A, all who meet the
criteria for a B would be assigned a B, and so on. No inherent reasons exist for
limiting the number of A’s and other grades assigned to students in a class. This
system has many advantages to recommend it, and is recommended over other
systems. The advantages are in terms of the well established standards and its
objectivity of grading, (Montague, et al, 2010).
In conclusion, the teacher is advised to make careful planning while making
assessment to determine students’ level of achievement in a specific content area, and
when identifying goals or objectives for units of lessons. It is important for the teacher
to identify the tasks to be assessed because some assessment such as effort and work
habits require anecdotal records, and the teacher would need to observe the students
perform.
Gender as a Factor in the Language Ability of the Student
Gender has been used interchangeably with sex, although they are not
synonymous. Several theories on human nature assert that women and men are
44
different in nature and are therefore entitled to different rights, or lack of rights in
political system of government. Aluko (2005) explains that gender is socially
constructed, not biologically determined, and gender is enforced through cultural
practices such as the use of space, socio-political and legal institutions. Explaining the
gender phenomenon further, Fahr (2003) observes that between the two existing
genders in all societies- masculine and feminine- the masculine gender is socially
valued more than the feminine. In her view, sex is a biologically determined
characteristic of men and women, while gender is the characteristics of male and
female which a particular society has determined and assigned each sex.
However, it has been observed that in the educational system, gender is also
important as it influences the curriculum, instructional materials, career choice,
enrolment rate and general behaviour of pupils and teachers alike. According to
Comwell & Churchill (2007), gender has not been accorded equal status in Japan with
other academic topics in Language Education. Ukpong & Enaja (2005) have
contributed that despite the fact that women constitute a very high percentage of the
population of Nigeria, and their crucial role as the first teachers and character
moulders of lives, they have continuously suffered a great deal of disadvantage in
developmental matters, be it political, educational or social that would help them
discover their potentials and rights to utilize them. From childhood to adulthood, a
female is an object of gross abuses through repeated violation and blatant denial of her
human rights. She is constantly faced with threats to her survival stemming from
physical, social and emotional insecurity. Female subjugation is expressed in biased
child bearing practices, incidences of child labour and abuse, denial of quality
education, early and/or forced marriage, child battering and ritual sacrifices, street
hawking, and a victim of derogatory comments.
45
However, their studies also show that in recent years, efforts have been made
by the Nigerian Government (through the Ministry of Women Affairs), some Non-
Government Organizations (NGO’s), and some Community Based Organizations
(CBO’s) with the assistance of some foreign donors to cure the plight of the girl-child
by changing her educational, health, economic and political status. Similarly, other
recent studies suggest that the condition (of the female) described above is no longer
viable. According to Fahr (2003), gender disparity can be in favour of boys or girls,
but despite a general move towards greater equity, in many countries the disparity
remains strongly in favour of boys.
Noting some key issues in sex versus gender, she observes that gender
disparity in education stem from the gender socialization of either being male or
female, and the subsequent expectation or lack thereof, made on an individual. The
examples provided suggested that the female is expected to be the home-maker and
that this role will more often than not, take precedence over other personal
accomplishments or achievements such as education. The male, on the other hand, is
expected to accomplish and achieve in the area of personal accomplishment. In spite
of the cultural and social factors, there are other factors which often affect the
performance of learners at whichever level of education. Such factors include
attitudinal messages, achievement and expectation.
From the report presented by Fahr (2003), in Africa, boys have traditionally
performed better at school than their female counterparts. But in the Caribean, Pacific,
Canada and the United Kingdom the situation is reversed. According to her report, in
some parts of India, girls are beginning to move into non-traditional fields such as
engineering and maths. Opinions in the study were that there should be changes in the
curriculum and the way gender roles are projected in curriculum materials. It was also
46
noted that males and females have fundamentally different approaches to learning and
competing. The research indicated that girls have a higher comfort level when
competing as a group versus individuals.
It has also been observed that gender gaps existed in the academic achievement
of primary schools pupils. The observation was made by Nwafor (2002) who
conducted a national survey in the study and made the following findings;
1. Boys performed significantly higher than girls in numeracy,
2. Girls were better though not significantly, than boys in literacy tests.
3. Gender was found to be interacting with school type (public and private)
sectors (rural and urban) in affecting performance of primary school pupils.
The idea of gender imbalance in education which continues to revolve around
changing academic orientation at all levels of learning has been highlighted by Oyewo
(2007). Numerous researchers have concluded that educating girls will not only
improve economic growth, but will benefit society at large. It then implies that
sustainable changes in the education of girls and investment in their future are
necessary to achieve sustainable education and gender balance. Evidence from
literature reviewed under gender factors in this study shows that gender differentials
do not affect students’ achievement in education generally, since it has been stated
that gender disparity can be in favour of boys or girls. In the same vein, the present
study has investigated whether gender disparity should affect students’ achievement in
the functional use of English Grammar when exposed to equal language learning
opportunities. The application of the Functional-Notional Approach will offer the
male and female students the opportunity to imrove on their use of English Grammar.
47
School Location in the Language Ability of the Student
Studies in this section reviewed relevant literature on the effects of the learning
environment and school location on the language ability of the learner.
Research by some psychologists has discovered that the learning environment
plays a vital role in the development that goes beyond triggering the child’s innate
potentials. As defined by Dulay & Krashen (2008), the language environment
encompasses everything the language learner hears and sees in the new language. It
may include a wide variety of situations -conversations with friends, watching
television, reading street signs and newspaper, as well as classroom activities- or it
may be very sparse, including only language books and records. According to them,
teaching a second language means creating for students a part or their entire new
language environment, and the entire responsibility of creating the language
environment falls on the teacher who is teaching a language that is not used in the
community. Fillmore (2007, p.668) observes that schools and classrooms vary greatly
in how well they work as social settings for language learning, noting that language
learning is, in an important sense, as much a social process as it is a cognitive one. “It
takes place in social settings that allow learners to come into contact with people who
speak the target language well enough to help in its learning”.
Ideally, there are many such speakers of the target language, and the setting is
one that creates many occasions for the learners to interact with them. In order to learn
a language, learners must be exposed to it as it is used by people who know it well. It
is the process of trying to understand what the speakers are saying and in trying to
communicate with them that the learners acquire the new language, (Fillmore 2007).
“The students’ exposure to English as a medium of instruction in Biology showed a
48
more systematic relationship to level of proficiency than the amount of time they had
spent in English language class”. (Fillmore 2007, p. 16) .
The location of a school is an important factor in learning, as observed by
Uzoegwu (2005). According to her, secondary schools in Nigeria are located in urban
and rural areas. The location of a school determines so many things that are important
in learning, such as learning facilities, infrastructure, number and quality of teachers
and the class- size. In schools where these facilities are in adequate supplies, the
students there benefit much from them because their learning ability is enhanced, but
if the facilities are in short supply, the students’ learning ability is hampered. This
may also affect the achievement of the students in learning English Language. The
observation is supported by the view of Ezema (2002) that the learning of the English
Language in Nigeria is affected by such factors as scarcity of English textbooks in
schools in the rural areas, poor staffing in terms of teachers of English, lack of
conducive physical environment for the teaching and learning of English and lack of
awareness and poor attitude on the part of the teacher of English.
Several research works have been conducted on first and second language
learning, one of which is Agbedo’s (2007). He observed that the speech that works as
input for the acquisition endeavour is that which has been adjusted and modified for
the sake of the learner; it is speech that has been produced with the learners’ special
linguistic limitations in mind. “The clearest example of a language environment rich
in concrete referents is one that mothers and other “Caretakers” create when they talk
to the young children around them. This kind of speech has been called “Motherese”.
(Agbedo 2007, p.124). Motherese is parental language.
Furthermore, classrooms can be ideal settings for language learning since they
bring learners and speakers together for extended periods of time, and since the
49
participants have ample reason to communicate with one another. Getting them to
interact together in ways that promote language learning, however requires that
attention be given to the social climate within the setting.
Research conducted by Lambert & Tucker and cited in Dulay & Krashen
(2008) shows that results from immersion programme confirm the efficacy of the
natural environment for language acquisition. According to them, immersion
programmes were designed for students who wish to learn the “minority language”
(such as Spanish in the United States) as a second language. In these programmes, the
students’ second language (e.g. Spanish for Anglo-Americans) is used as the medium
of instruction in most classes. Such an environment is natural in that the second
language is the medium not the focus, of instruction.
“Full Immersion” refers to programmes that begin in kindergarten and extend
into the upper grades. “partial immersion” programmes also involve the use of the L2
as a medium of instruction but may involve either some subjects in the L2 and some
in the L1 (“early partial immersion”) or subject matter in the L2 starting at upper
elementary or high school, preceded by L2 instruction for one year (“late partial
immersion”).
Their research show that full immersion programmes, with Spanish as the
language of instruction, have been in operation in Culver city, California. It has been
demonstrated that children in these programmes acquire impressive amounts of the
second language, perform satisfactorily in subject matter taught in the second
language and do not have significant problems in first language skills. (Lambert and
Tucker, cited in Dulay et al (2008, p.16).
Furthermore, linguistic proficiency test revealed that after seven years in the
programme, there were some gaps in the English speaker’s control of French, but the
50
students (had) developed high levels of competence in a second language, reaching a
stage that even the most optimistic second language teacher would not set for a
student following the traditional FLES (Foreign Language in Elementary School)
programme.
The study also notes that although natural exposure appears to be a necessary
ingredient in the language experience of learners if they are to achieve fluency, other
environmental conditions must be met. Several factors can limit the beneficial effects
of natural exposure: a lack of peers who speak the target language natively, a gap in
communication, and lack of a silent period when one can absorb the new language but
need not produce it. Enright in Seedhouse (2005) has found in a study of interactional
patterns in bilingual classrooms that the organizational structures that teachers
establish for quantity and quality of the language that learners have available to them
is an input. The language used in classrooms is an important source of input for
learners, therefore there must be a careful and deliberate structuring of the
instructional environment so that language serves not only the purposes of
communication and instruction but of language learning as well. The proportion of
LEP (Limited in English Proficiency) students in classrooms is one factor that
requires special attention the ideal situation is one in which there is, in addition to
teachers, a balance between language learners and classmates who know the target
language well enough to help in its learning, and there are many reasons for them to
talk with one another. Dulay & Krashen (2008, p.29) posit thus:
There may be many speaker models available but
learners do not draw on them equally. Language learning
research provides various examples of apparent
preferences for certain speaker models over others under
certain circumstances, preferences which seem to have
obvious effects on the quality of the learner’s speech.
51
Evidence as presented by Dulay et al (2008) demonstrates that speaker model
preferences are of three sorts when both the teacher and peers speak the target
language. Learners have been observed to prefer the latter as models for themselves.
For example, a seven-year-old Japanese speaking child who had immigrated to
Hawaii acquired the Hawain creole English of his age mates, rather than the Standard
English of his teachers during his first school year. When the boy moved to a middle
class neighbourhood the following year however, he quickly picked up the Standard
English that his new friends spoke “if they learn productive control of the dialect of
their teachers, it is not until later”. (Milton in Dulay et al 2008, p.159). He equally
observes that when the speech characteristic of peers and parents differ, the children
will tend to acquire the speech characteristics of their peers. For example, Stewart and
Dale cited in Dulay et al (2008) report that the black children they studied in
Washington D.C. acquired the dialect used by their peers (a dialect of Black English
closest to Washington D.C Standard English). Likewise Labow cited in Dulay et al
(2008) that both black and white children learn more language behaviour from
members of their own peer group than form their parents. For example, Richards in
Dulay reports that Maori children learned the English dialect of their own ethnic
group rather than Standard English spoken by other children.
Researchers who have studied social factors in language learning have found
that motivational differences in learners can affect the ease with which tyey learn
second languages. Social status relationships and group attitudes can play a major
role in determining language learning will take when two groups come into contact. In
a case like this, Fillmore (2007) notes that it is difficult to say whether the learners did
not learn because they were not motivated to do so, or because no one expected them
to want to learn. . One learns a language if one wants to become a member of a speech
52
community, or does not learn it if one prefers to remain outside of it. There is much
to be learned of the social settings and studying patterns of social and linguistic
interaction between learners and teachers in bilingual classrooms (Hymes, cited in
Fillmore (2007). He also points out that only by examining the interactional patterns
and structures in classrooms can educators come to see the extent to which social
factors affect the academic progress of culturally different students. Erickson, Cazden,
Carras Co, in Seedhouse (2005) conducted another ethnographic study which showed
that a teacher’s inability to understand the L1 of LEP students can lead to interactional
patterns between an English-monolingual teacher and Spanish-speaking first grade
students. Studies during instructional activities revealed that because the teacher could
not understand Spanish, she sometimes had to misinterpret positive learning
behaviour on the part of the students as instances of misbehaviour. The students on
their side were reported to take advantage of the fact that the teacher could not
understand Spanish by engaging in verbal behaviour that represented serious violation
of established rules of social conduct in classrooms. These same children behaved in a
different manner with a teacher who was able to understand them. Patterns of social
and linguistic behaviour in classrooms can influence learning profoundly, so studies
of this type are invaluable for attaining a better understanding of what can happen in
language learning.
In summary, Dulay et al (2008) posit that the language that learners hear and
see around them is of paramount importance in the acquisition process. Research has
shown that there are aspects of the environment which are only indirectly related to
acquisition, although they have a more direct role. According to Dulay et al (2008),
studies show that students, who are exposed to natural language where focus is on
communication, perform better than those in a formal environment where the focus is
53
on the conscious acquisition of linguistic rules or the manipulation of linguistic forms.
Some exposure to formal environment may be beneficial however, especially to
adults, it may satisfy their curiosity about the new as well as their need to be
consciously aware of what they are learning. Formal exposure may also, for some,
increase accuracy in a few simple structures of the new language while the sub-
conscious system is being required. From the fore-going, exposing learners to rich
social and academic environment enhances their opportunity to learn the target
language. The Functional-Notional Approach which has been applied in the present
study, is a veritable tool to help the language learner achieve appreciable mastery of
the English Grammar.
54
(Source: The Researcher, 2013)
The conceptual framework for the study is diagramatically represented in
figure 2 above, with the structural linkages of the major concepts in the study.
Language development is a natural phenomenon in human beings. Male and female
students who learn in different school locations use English as the medium of
communication. They also study English as a core subject in school. The ability of the
Language Development
English Language in
Nigeria
- Instruction
- Communication
- Social interaction
- Other transactions
Students’ Achievement
Gender
Female
Grammar Communicative
Competence
Male
School Location
- Nature of Classroom
- Availability of
Text/Instructional material
- Quality of English Teachers
- Numerical Strength of English
Teachers
- Exposure tolanguage learning
environment e.g News papers,
Magazines, Radio, TV.
Computers
Rural
Urban
Figure 2: Schematic Representation of the Conceptual Framework
55
students to gain mastery of the structural pattern and rules of grammar in English
language, matched with their disposition to engage in meaningful verbal interactions
in the language class, will help them to achieve communicative competence which is
the goal of the communicative language teaching method. The Functional-Notional
Approach is the innovative method which brings into practical application the
language functions designed for the learner to achieve effective social interaction and
correct usage of the English grammar.
2. Theoretical Framework
Theories of Language Development
In this section, the study reviewed relevant literature on theories of language
development in relation to the acquisition of functional communicative roles of the
language learner.
Language is described as a system of arbitrary vocal symbols by means of
which social groups co-operate. Yule (2007 p.22) posits that a property of linguistic
form may have no relationship with the object it represents. ‘’That demonstrates a
property called arbitrariness’’. However, contemporary linguists, foremost among
them Chomsky, hypothesize that human languages are constructed from a small set of
specific principles (the universal grammar) that limit the kinds of grammars that can
occur. Yule (2007) gives evidence for this claim from two sources: the linguistic
properties of the languages of the world and the way children acquire the language of
their environment, whether spoken or signed. This evidence is substantiated in Odo’s
(2007,p. 217) structural-innatist theory as propounded by Chomsky. The observation
that children’s early original utterance often violates grammatical rules in a systematic
way suggests to Chomsky that imitation is not crucial in language acquisition. As
Baker & Westrup (2005) posit, his proposal is that the capacity to comprehend and
56
generate language is innate, and that it is not like other human behaviours and that
grammatical rules suggest the structure of the language. Arising from that analogy,
Chomsky then proposes that every child is born with a language acquisition device
(L.A.D.), which is programmed to recognize the universal rules that underlie any
particular language that a child might hear.
However, from the perspective of the Behaviourists, language learning is
achieved through habit formation, accomplished through repetition, pattern drills and
accompanying positive reinforcement by the teacher. According to Agbedo (2007),
behaviourism in language implies that a speaker’s performance or his response can be
traced to specific stimulus-response relationships. For instance, if a child produces an
utterance which happens to be an appropriate response to the situation, or responds
correctly to a verbal stimulus, the mother will reward him with some kind of approval.
If certain types of verbal behaviour are positively reinforced, they will become
appropriate response, if they are negatively reinforced, they will likely disappear.
Agdedo (2007) opines that Skinner’s main aim is to provide what he calls ‘’ a
functional analysis of verbal behaviour’’ (p.35).
In relation to the theories, Chomsky explains that at birth the child’s language
is still in a completely primitive state, yet as the child matures and interacts with the
environment the LAD enables him to acquire more complex language structures and
eventually to develop the language using the ability of adults. Chomsky maintains the
view that linguistic ability develops independently. On the other hand, Skinner has the
idea that a child comes into the world as a tabular raser, and language learning is
achieved through habit formation.
In this study, the researcher takes a stand with the innatist theory that the child
has some innate linguistic tendencies which mature as the child grows and interacts
57
with his social environment. The behaviourist view is equally noted in the study in the
sense that the child’s language environment plays an important role, and should be
adequately stimulated and reinforced to enable him to develop his linguistic capacity
functionally in his social environment. The present study is therefore relevant in terms
of the language theories reviewed because it recognises the potentials in the learner to
improve his language ability as he grows and interacts with his social environment.
The Socio-Linguistic Theory:
In this section, literature was reviewed in terms of the relationship between the
Socio-Linguistic theories and Discourse Analysis, with their relevance to functional
teaching and usage of the English Language. Socio-Linguistics as a theory of
language study is concerned with the process of socialization and the ability to use
language correctly in the numerous socially prescribed situations of life.
Essentially, the discipline of socio-linguistics concerns itself with the part that
it plays in maintaining the social roles in a community. Chomsky, cited in Lyons
(2010), described socio-linguistics as a branch of cognitive psychology. The study of
discourse as a productive sociolinguistic enterprise incorporates the insights of
functional linguists. Discourse is considered as a piece of language in use, in and out
of context (Demo,. 2001). It has also been described by Demo as the examination of
language use by members of a speech community which involves a consideration of
both language form and language functions. Seedhouse (2005, p.165) records that
Discourse Analysis or Conversation Analysis (CA) was started by sociologists –Sacks
and Schegloff - as sociological “naturalistic observational discipline that could deal
with details of social action rigorously, empirically.” The fundamental difference
between Conversational Analysis (CA) or ‘CA mentality’ and the ‘Linguistic
mentality’ in relation to the status of language is that CA’s primary interest is in the
58
social act whereas a linguist’s primary interest is normally in language (Seedhouse
2005, p.165). He explains that CA does not treat language as an autonomous system
independent of its use, rather it treats grammar and lexical choice as sets of resources
which participants deploy, monitor, interpret and manipulate”, in order to perform
their social acts.
Furthermore, Discourse Analysis has been described as an approach to
language study which “takes any piece of language as being functional and targeted
towards achieving specific communicative goals, (Opeibi 2004, p.391). According to
him, the focal point has always been an attempt to find out how a language user
intends to communicate”. Discourse Analysis (DA) supplies the resource through
which the language learner can understand and process the utterances that he hears or
produces.
The major interest lies not only in the description of linguistic forms, but also
in the interpretation of the communicative function of the language. In order to
explicate fully the meaning of utterances, this approach considers as very important
the socio-cultural context of speech usage. It is often suggested that in analyzing
pieces of discourse, emphasis should be on form, meaning, and function contexts of
use, rules and conditions that are necessary for interpreting a text. Discourse is an
interactive activity that is embedded in social situations in which members of that
community exchange meaning through language.
Similarly, coherence has been identified as referring to the relationships which
link the meanings of utterances in a discourse or of the sequences in a text. According
to Yule (2007), the links are based on a number of factors which include speakers’
shared knowledge of contextual variables, and factors. Ezike (2007) observes that one
very important aspect of language education is the production of coherent discourses.
59
According to him (Ezike) teachers should aim to educate and train the learners so that
they are able to talk about their selected topics in a coherent and connected way. He
still suggests ways through which this can be done, that is, by teaching the learners
how to discover the meaning relationship in texts and by concentrating on the
language of that text, and to discover that meanings are constructed by language. It is
also necessary to point out that the semantic relations in the text form the basis for
cohesion between the messages of a text. As Edmondson (2010, p.4) opines: “A text
is a structural sequence of linguistic expressions forming a unitary whole and
DISCOURSE is a structured event manifest in linguistic (and other) behaviour”. He
further explains that text in text linguistics is centrally concerned with the functional
use of stretches of language. Hence ‘text’ is simply an alternative term to discourse
and that the two terms are often used interchangeably.
In the text-discourse distinction, it is argued that there is a ‘textual’ as opposed
to a ‘discourse’ orientation in much of the work known as Text linguistics.
Furthermore, Edmondson describes cohesion to mean those devices by means of
which texture is evidenced in a supra-sentential stretch of language. Texture is taken
to be the sum of those features of a text distinct from its structure, which make the
following two sentences exhibit the same devices of cohesion, but clearly their
structure is different, specifically as regards the ‘tie’ between what the first speaker
says, and what the second says:
(i) 1st Speaker: John’s a good bloke:
Is he coming tomorrow?
2nd Speaker: Yes
(ii) 1st Speaker: John’s a good bloke.
He’s coming tomorrow.
2nd
Speaker: Yes
(Edmondson, 2010,p. 6)
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Coherence is used to refer to a’ well-formed’ text or discourse and this will be
equated with its interpretability. Cohesion is however, neither a necessary nor a
sufficient condition for coherence. Also, Edmondson (2010) describes Conversation
as used loosely and non-technically to refer to any interactional stretch of talk
involving at least two participants, and taking place in a non-formalized setting, such
that no special rules or conventions may be said to operate. He cites the following
instances: a debate in the House of Commons is scarcely a conversation, while an
interview conducted on a television may approximate to conversation if the
interviewer and interviewee ‘relax’ so far as to forget their respective roles in front of
the cameras. The interview may certainly be followed by a conversation between the
interview participants and on substantially the same topic(s); it is the setting which
will have changed. “Conversation is then a particular type of multiple-source spoken
discourse”, ( p.5).
In seeking to identify units spoken discourse and in discussing conversational
behaviour as a type of interaction, Edmondson thereby explains the terms interactional
act, interactional move, and speaking turn or turn at talk.
An interactional act is the smallest identifiable unit of conversational
behaviour, but does not necessarily further the conversation in which it occurs in
terms of approaching a conversational goal. Examples: a nod of the head, or an
utterance of the form, ‘hum’, ‘I see’, or such like, if occurring during a narrative by an
interlocutor, and if occurring alone, that is, not preceded or followed by contiguous
utterances by the same speaker –would be an interactional act, but not an interactional
move. Edmondson (2010) further describes an interactional move as the smallest
significant element by means of which a conversation is developed. Examples: If
someone asks you, ‘is it five o’clock yet?, and you nod your head, your doing so will
61
constitute an interactional move, just as will the question. If instead of nodding your
head, you say ‘yes’ I think so, it must be five o’clock by now’; this also constitutes
one interactional move, though one might well wish to claim that more than one
utterances have been made. On the other hand, if you reply by saying ‘yes, why?’ two
moves have been made inside one turn at talk, in that you have both ‘answered’ the
question and posed one of your own.
Turn is used to refer to both the opportunity to assume the role of speaker at a
particular point of time in a conversation, and to what is said or done during the time
for which the speaker role is continuously held by one individual. Still on turn-taking,
Edmondson explains that a conversation may be held by virtue of the fact that
speaker-hearer roles change during its occurrence, or with the case of two-party
conversations. The roles alternate in the course of the conversation. The fact that
alternation occurs is itself significant. If two or more participants talk at the same
time, the likelihood is that something other than a coherent conversation is in
progress. Example: to refer to a room full of people conversing is normally to suggest
that several conversations are simultaneously in progress; in that the room is full of
people, we refer to the ‘meeting’ or ‘discussion’ that is going on, rather than the
‘conversation’, in the sense that one interactional event involving all those present is
taking place.
Furthermore, special conversations could hold for organizing turn-taking, and
the different turn-taking conventions hold for different settings, example: in the
classroom, the formal debate, the public lecture. Often in such formalized settings
there is one participant who has a privileged role or position whereby he controls turn-
assignment at the conventionally determined transition points. He has for example,
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authority as teacher, speaker (in the House of Commons), judge (in a court of law), or
chair-person, (Edmondson 2010).
Discourse analysis is discovered to be a useful analytic tool for making
informed changes in instructional practices, where certain variables of language
learning are beyond the control of the second language teacher. The view is expressed
by Demo (2010) and supported by Opeibi (2004) who adds that the second language
learner is confronted with certain difficulties in an attempt to attain proficiency in the
target language. The major areas of difficulty include how to acquire new vocabulary,
novel syntactic patterns, discourse competence and sociolinguistic competence among
others. They need to know the intricate working of the language at all linguistic levels.
In that case, Edmondson (2010) therefore proposes distinction between conversational
rules and conversational strategies, between that which conversationalists may be said
to ‘know’ and that which they actually do, between their communicative competence
and their social competence. He explains that social competence is a variable for
group of individual members, a theoretical construct, and may be said to express what
one can do in a conversation, adding that competence underpins all language use by
native speakers of a language. Social competence is then reflected in the use to which
an individual puts his communicative competence in his conversational behaviour to
achieve goals without offending socially-accepted notions of what is and what is not
acceptable behaviour. For instance, one can choose not to reply to a greeting.
However, it could be pointed out that the person so behaving was not showing a great
deal of social ‘charm’, ‘tract’ or ‘sensitivity’- his social competence seems to be some
what deficient, as shown by the use to which his communicative competence has been
put. (p. 6).
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In the previous sections of this discourse, it has been pointed out that language
should be regarded as a functional tool that can be used to accomplish communicative
goals. Since the acquisition of the knowledge of the grammar of any language is not
the major goal of language teaching, the resources and skills that can enhance the
functional use of the language must be the focus of communicative teaching. In line
with that, Cook (2010) remarks that in the functional approach to language teaching,
different functional varieties of language should be taught by reference to the different
contexts of situations in which they occur. The way any piece of language is
organized and presented will affect how the learner perceives and understands it, and
the kinds of coherence it displays relate closely to the functions it can be made to
perform. Cook (2010) emphasizes the point that if language learners can be helped to
understand discoursal features and take them into account while using the language it
would be easy to develop effective communication. According to him, giving
attention to discourse does not in any way suggest a neglect of other aspects of
traditional approach such as pronunciation, writing, grammar and vocabulary. They
are essential in effective communication and help in realizing discourse. By
implication, Cook concludes that discourse and formal skills are interdependent and
must be developed together.
One way that teachers can include the study of discourse in the second
language classroom is to allow the students themselves to study language, that is, to
make them discourse analysts. Also by exploring natural language use in authentic
environments, learners gain a greater appreciation and understanding of the discourse
patterns associated with a given genre or speech event, as well as the sociolinguistic
factors that contribute to linguistic variation across settings and contexts. An approach
which Opeibi (2004) calls the top-bottom approach and Cook (2001) refers to it as
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top-down, is proposed for the teaching of discourse to second language learners of
English with that, the learner is guided to form a general idea about the discourse and
then proceeds to fill in specific details. It is compared with the traditional method that
takes the lower level of language first and proceeds from the most detailed features of
language towards the most general, but the top-bottom approach begins from the
general to the specific. Demo (2001, p.4) supports the approach on grounds that
learners in second language classrooms have limited experience with a variety of
interactive practices in the target language, so second language teaching should seek
to expose learners to different discourse patterns in different texts and interactions.
For instance, students can study speech acts in any particular interactive
communicative event, or take turns in a telephone conversation between two people.
Examples: Guided Conversation
Conversation A
Speaker I: I haven’t done my homework.
Speaker 2: Neither have I, l went to the cinema, instead.
Speaker 1: So did I.
Speaker 2: Do you think we’ll be punished?
Speaker 1: Yes, I’m afraid so.
Speaker 2: Oh, I hope not.
Conversation B
Speaker 1: Did I tell you to clean your shoes?
Speaker 2: Yes, you did.
Speaker 1: Well, have you done so?
Speaker 2: I’ m afraid not, but I’ll do so at once.
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In a normal English Language class, it is expected that a student who faces
unfamiliar discourse will approach it by forming general ideas of the discourse before
filling in the details. Cook (2010) explains that if the general context is established
before proceeding into details it becomes easier to understand it. The learner is thus
able to handle the text with confidence and this will eliminate the panic and despair
that might have arisen if he had been asked about the details before establishing the
general context. He adds that it will be assumed that some linguistic and situational
details that would provide the key to getting the general knowledge of the discourse
have been identified and taken as a cue before forming a general idea and then
building that up to get total understanding of the whole discourse.
The figure below illustrates the procedures involved in both the traditional
bottom-up approach and the discourse – oriented top-bottom approach.
Top-Bottom
Social Relationships
Shared knowledge
Discourse Type
Discourse Structure
Discourse Function
Conversational Mechanisms
Cohesion
(Grammar and Lexis)
(Sounds or Letters)
Bottom-Top
Figure 3: The Traditional Bottom-Top Approach
(Source: Cook, 2010)
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Cook, (2010, p.82) argues that a top-bottom approach to language teaching
regards all the levels of a language as a whole, working together, while a bottom –up
approach divides communication into discrete levels which can be dealt with
separately. The weakness of the traditional bottom-up approach is that it has always
focused only on the formal language system, often in isolated sentences, without
showing how that system operates in context. Students have been made to concentrate
on pronunciation, vocabulary or grammar in isolation. This is why the method is
called the atomistic approach. The top-bottom, also called the holistic approach, takes
all the parts of the language system as a whole working together to explicate the
meaning of a discourse which can be dealt with separately. ( Cook, 2010).
The steps necessary to follow in applying the top-bottom approach to the teaching
of any aspect of grammar are suggested below as an instance;
(i) Give general idea of the subject.
(ii) Establish a context of situation where it could function or actually functions,
e.g. a passage, and point out how the particular parts of speech contribute to
making the passage meaningful.
( iii) Allow the student to read the passage over and over again-ask questions to
help the student understand the subject more closely, forming a general idea.
(iv) Explain the subject functionally.
(v) Guide the student to retrieve information and use it.
(vi) Select key words that may be unfamiliar yet important. Let them guess at the
meaning.
(vii) Allow the students to demonstrate their understanding of the passage by
constructing meaningful sentences using a similar context.
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(viii) Give a challenging activity, assignment that will task them to make use of
and extend the information.
The underlying principle in the approach is that it allows language teachers and
learners to engage in interactive activities that stimulate learners’ understanding, build
their confidence and compel them to use the language functionally. By doing this,
they will be able to apply the knowledge gained in classroom settings to varied
communicative contexts outside the classroom.
Teachers are likely to discover that students produce different speech patterns in
response to different tasks. Given that teachers use communicative tasks to evaluate
learners’ proficiency, a better understanding of the influence of specific activities on
learner discourse will likely lead teachers to use a greater variety of tasks in order to
gain a more comprehensive picture of students’ abilities.
The pragmatic approach to language teaching discussed in this section of the
study has emphasized the necessity of exposing learners to the strategies of acquiring
discourse skills that will make them competent communicators in the target language.
It has been also described as unproductive to adopt the traditional approach of formal
systems of the language without incorporating how they can be used to structure a
coherent discourse, and use the language functionally in a context of situation.
Hence the approach discussed is relevant to thepresent study. The researcher is
interested in exploring effective language teaching techniques in order to acquaint and
equip the learner of English as a second language with varied functional and
communicative tools to perform effectively in his environment.
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The Communicative Language Teaching Theory:
Language pedagogy in recent years has experienced what has been described
as a “swing of the pendulum” (Anyanwu, 2007, p.154). Communicative competence
as noted by Baldeh (2011) is one of the recent major developments in language
pedagogy; it is a catch- phrase coined by Dell Hymes in Baldeh (2011). Baldeh notes
that communicative competence is basically a revolt against the parochial nature of
Chomsky’s all-pervading Transformational Generative Grammar, more specifically
the notion of linguistic competence and linguistic performance. According to Adedun
(2004) the current trend emphasizes usage. It makes sufficient distinction between
communicative competence and linguistic competence and establishes the
complementary relationship between them.
Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) arose out of a dissatisfaction with
the methods and achievements of the Grammar Based Method (GBM). According to
Ezeude (2007), GBM essentially focused largely on inculcating linguistic competence
and knowledge of grammatical rules at the observed expense of actual communicative
ability. CLT, on the other hand, focused largely on imparting actual communicative
skills. The same is expressed by Williams (1999, p.62) who identifies that the
objectives of the communicative approach “extend beyond mere grammatical
competence”. Since language occurs in socio-cultural and inter-personal contexts, it
reflects much more than limited linguistic purposes.
The objectives of the CLT which Williams identifies with specific reference to
the social purposes of language are as follows:
(a) Appropriateness of usage
(b) Conventional usage
(c) Transactional usage and
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(d) Interactional usage.
The situation in which each of these usages is applied is further explained in Williams
(1999, p.17).
(a) Appropriateness of usage: in situations where the native speaker of English would
use an informal style, the speaker of English as a second language might be rather
formal in his usage; assuming that the communicative competence of the second
language speaker is not fully developed.
Example: if you had asked the class monitor whether she has understood a set of
instructions you had given about keeping the classroom tidy, you would expect her to
reply, “Yes, Sir”, not “ I comprehend you sir”.
(b) Conventional usage: communication in language consists of a great deal of
conventional usage which must be taught, e.g.
(i) An executive welcomes a visitor to his office: “please be seated”, not “ have
your seat”.
(ii) After a meal in a restaurant:
“Bill or check, please” not
“How much are you selling me the rice and chicken for?’’
(iii) At a committee meeting: “we now move to matters arising” not “we shall
now discuss issues related to……..”
(c) Transactional Usages: Also to be taught are formulas for communicative
language used in transactions such as buying and selling in the market, posting
letters at the post-office, e.t.c
(d) Interactional Usage: These include greeting friends and colleagues at work in
the mornings, enquiring after one another’s health and family; at social
gatherings, selecting for openers, safe topics for conversation, at least until we
70
get to know more about the person with whom we are interacting. All this is
what has been called “phatic communication” fulfilling the interactional skills
need to be developed in a situation where the second language is used for
general as well as academic purposes.
In mastering transactional and interactional usage, the learner needs to do
more than manipulate a number of language structures. This is stressed by Williams
(1999), adding that the learner has to be able to stand on his own in using language
that has not been rehearsed in stimulus-response drills. Communicative Competence,
according to Williams is not simply a matter of responding “fine, thank you!” to the
greeting “How are you?” Nor does an exchange between a vendor and a customer
begin and end with. “Do you have any bananas?....” “No, I don’t”. Oral discourse in
everyday life is extended in all sorts of unpredictable ways. In aiming at the goal of
communicative competence, teachers have to do better than produce what Rivers has
labelled. “Foreign-language cripples with the necessary muscles and sinews, but
unable to walk alone” Rivers in Williams (1999, p.56).
The principles of Communicative Language Teaching derived from certain
characteristics of communication are enumerated by Williams (1999, p.63) as follow:
1. Communication is a form of social interaction. Communicative Competence is
therefore acquired through the processes of social interaction.
2. Communication has a purpose: communicative activities should therefore be
geared towards functional objectives such as asking for directions, or giving
information.
3. Communication conveys feelings and attitude as well as facts. These feelings
can be transmitted by gesture, facial expression, and other non-verbal signals,
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communicative practice should take into account non-verbal means of
communication.
4. Communication involves authentic language, such language may be fluent, but
not accurate in grammatical terms. But it may be judged successful in getting
the desired results. Communicative competence should be assessed bearing all
this in mind.
5. Communication can be viewed as “language in action”, in the sense of getting
people to do things, such as assembling equipment, or carrying out
experiments. Communicative activities should to some extent be task-oriented.
6. Communication involves the use of language skills that have been acquired or
learned. The emphasis in language teaching should therefore be on using the
skills that have been acquired.
7. Communication involves a lot of the unpredictable. In order to be authentic,
communication must convey something new to the listener or reader, some
element of surprise. In other words, there must be some information gap that
needs to be bridged. Stimulus-response drills, on the other hand, are
predictable. They do not promote the spontaneous creativity of content and
form essential to communicative competence.
8. Since communication involves the creative and purposive use of authentic
language in social interaction, the role of the learners should be paramount and
that of the teacher diminished in communicative language practice (Williams,
1999).
In the same vein, some features of the communicative method are listed by
Anyanwu (2007), as follows:-
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(i) Transfer of Content: The major aim is to communicate, to express meaning
or to transfer context ideas in an uninhibited manner;
(ii) Gradual relaxation: The method has two portions, the restricted and the free
portion. The restricted portion starts with simple questions and answers
which gradually widen in scope until learners begin to give free responses
later. The free portion is designed to allow everybody room to express his
thought in what looks like a communication set-up. Teacher’s interruption
is discouraged;
(iii) Flexibility: There is no fixed method of procedure. Learners start from
simple “yes” and “no” question and grow into questions that entail
explanations, reading, writing, arguing interpreting, speculating, etc.
In support of the view above, Hymes in Baldeh (2011) adds that
Communicative Competence aims to help the learner turn his considerable dormant
grammatical competence into a real practical mastery of the language, being engaged
in such everyday activities as buying stamps, going to the cinema, asking the way,
visiting the dentist, going shopping, asking the time and the like. Hymes further
asserts:
To be more precise, the learner of English as a second
language should be taught to acquire competence as to
when to speak, when not, and as to what to talk about
with whom, when, where, in what manner.
(quoted in Baldeh 2011, p.36).
This competence in language is easily acquired by a normal native speaker, he
can tell very early in life whether a sentence is appropriate or not, but not necessarily
why. Williams (1999, p.60) therefore succinctly asserts that “appropriateness is the
soul of language usage... it consists of the ability to recognize and construct
grammatically correct sentences which are appropriate both to the circumstances of
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the utterances and the intention of the speaker.” Williams (1999, p.62) further quotes
Hymes thus:
A child knows when and when not to speak…. He would not say to his father,
‘Go away!’ unless he were a three –year-old, completely unaware of the social
connotations of such an expression; or unless the social context of the interaction were
so unusual as to warrant such an otherwise unacceptable remark. He adds that while
such an expression would be grammatically correct, it will normally be inappropriate.
In the sense which Darn (2006) presents it appropriacy in the case of functional
language involves analysis of the situation and relationship between speakers
(appropriacy) which in turn may govern the choice of language according to level of
formality (register). Darn (2006, p.1) proposes the form of analysis which involves
three main factors:
1. Setting (place and time);
2. Participants and relationship;
3. Speaker’s intention (function).
Darn equally posits that there is not a one-to-one match between form and
function, and that makes for the main reason for presenting language in context.
Function may be expressed in a number of different structures.
The main thrust of this study is geared towards exposing the English language
learner to varied linguistics functions and roles which will consequently help to turn
his dormant grammatical competence into a real practical mastery of the language,
which is the goal of communicative competence.
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The Functional-Notional (FNA) Theory:
The Functional -Notional Approach is one of the major current developments
in language teaching which has put the spotlight on the learner as a “social person”
(Williams 1999, p.52). The FNA views language as primarily intended for use in
society, Williams (1999), Widdowson (2010) and White (2010) have all viewed the
history of the approach in their different perspectives. As white (2010, p.76) observes,
“the Functional-Notional Approach syllabus is the most recent form of content based
type A syllabus.” It introduces two important elements of syllabus design: first a
notional or conceptual aspect, which is concerned with such concepts as time, space,
movement, cause and effect; and secondly, a functional aspect with which the
intentional or purposive use of language is described and classified. White further
notes that neither notions nor functions were in themselves an innovation, because
language teaching has always been concerned with teaching concepts and functions.
According to him, what was new was the proposal that syllabuses could take notional-
functional categories as an organizing principle. Thus, syllabus organization would no
longer be determined solely by grammatical considerations, but would have to take
communicative categories into account as well. In his own presentation, Widdowson
(2010) traces the origin to a group of experts in Europe who set out to solve problems
to do with language learning in continuing education for all adults beyond formal
schooling. Their proposed solutions are transferred to schools in Europe and
subsequently to schools everywhere else and functional –notional syllabuses are
peddled as nostrums all over the place as suitable for every situation. Widdowson
posits further that the work has been an important influence in promoting
communicative approach to the teaching of languages, noting that the rationale for
such an approach relates primarily to “the ends and not the means of learning, and is
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directed at furthering the cause of cultural co-operation in Europe” Widdowson (2010,
p.13).
Similarly, the origin of the Functional-Notional Approach was identified by
Williams (1999, p.52) as the outcome of a project to prepare teaching materials for
adults, ‘guest workers’ who would need to communicate in the language of their host
countries”. Also, the historical documents presented by Opeibi (2004) reveal that it
was not until the late 1960s and early 1970s that the functional approach to language
study began to receive greater attention. Scholars began to acknowledge and adopt the
insights of men like Malinowski and J.R. Firth to research in linguistics. The
popularity of Chomsky’s formal approach began to wane, giving way to a more
pragmatic method of looking at language not as a set of rules but as a tool for
communicative purposes. The importance of the context of culture as part of the
interpretive framework for determining the communicative meaning of a piece of
language occupied considerable portions of several works in sociolinguistics. Adedun
(2004, p.5) has equally adduced that “meaningful communication is the fulcrum of
functional theory which permeates communicative competence as a development
matrix of the rules of language and the knowledge of socio-cultural determinants of
language use”.
The original concern for the out-of school education is evident in the way
objectives are defined in terms of utility with an eye to meeting the needs of learners
as eventual participants in contexts of communicative interaction, rather than the
concern to activate the actual learning process itself, (Widdowson, 2010). The FNA
emphasizes syllabus content as much as method of teaching per se. Syllabus content is
developed with reference to functions and notions in language. An example of a
language function, according to Williams is asking for or giving information. Such a
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function is performed in a setting like market-place, a bank or a post – office. In the
market place the topic would be trading, the buying and selling of goods. The
differentiated roles in regard to the transaction would be vendor and customer. The
notions would be quality and price of the goods and the agency through whom the
goods are obtained.
An example of a unit of instruction using the FNA is presented below:
Title and
function
Situation Formulas Structures Nouns
verbs, etc
Activities
Asking for
information
At the bank Excuse me.
Can you tell
me..?
Interrogatives,
modals “can”
Account,
money
cheque,
write e.t.c
Dialogues
role –
playing,
etc.
(Figure 4: Source: Williams, 1999, p.52)
An Example of dialogue involving the formulas, structures and lexical items for
expressing the functions of customer and Bank clerk.
Customer: Excuse me please.
Bank Clerk: Yes, can I help you?
Customer: Certainly, I want to find out how much money I have in my account before
I fill my cheque.
Bank Clerk: What’s your account number?
Customer: I’ve forgotten it. Can l just write my name instead?
Bank Clerk: I suppose so. Could you sign here please?
Furthermore, the notional syllabus has been described by Oluikpe (2004) as a
revolution against structural syllabus whose focus on grammar is to highlight a
grammatical feature to the exclusion of practical application in real situation.
According to Oluikpe, one might tend to believe that a situational approach to a
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structural syllabus overcomes the weakness of the structural syllabus. Notional
syllabus, therefore, attempts to overcome that weakness in the attention it gives to the
ultimate purpose of language- functional, pragmatic, communication between and
among human beings.
Although both structural and notional syllabuses provide necessary
components to learners’ needs, advocates of notional syllabus believe that learners
need to learn more of appropriate communicative behaviour than a grammar-based
instruction. In the process of learning appropriate language behaviour the learner, it is
believed will more meaningfully acquire the grammar or a language. This process
guides the learner in developing the ability to communicate that is the hallmark of
language instruction, (Oluikpe, 2004).
The example below, cited by Darn (2006, p.2) illustrates that a function, such
as comparing, inviting, asking for permission, may be expressed by a number of
different structures as in these suggestions:
-why don’t we watch a film?
-let’s watch a film.
-we could watch a film
-shall we watch a film?
He notes on the other hand that a structure may have a number of different functions:
-I can play tennis (ability)
-Can I open the window? (Asking for permission)
-Can you pass the salt? (Request)
The form-function relationship is further complicated by meaning, which can
only be deduced from a context. In isolation, the question: Do you play cards?” could
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either mean “can you play cards?’ or ‘would you like a game of card?’ depending on
the situation, (Darn, 2006).
Language activities planned within the FNA syllabus take into consideration:
1. Setting of the interaction-geographical location: place, such as outdoors or
indoors in an office or a grocery store, human surroundings such as family,
friends, stranger and acquaintances.
2. Topic of the interaction-things done in the home; relations with other people;
trade, profession, occupation: health and welfare; recreation and entertainment,
e.g. parties, games, etc.
3. Roles in the interaction-family members, relatives, friends: professional
colleagues, business associates, office workers, individuals in different
positions in relation to other e.g. father/son, mother/daughter, brother/sister,
teacher/students, boss/employee, and so on (Williams, 1999, p.55).
Equally, it is explained below how each function in the functional approach is
expected to be broken into several sub-categories and applied to communicative
situations
The figure below shows the directive function and its application:
requests
Prayers
Pleas
order
question
s
Directive
Function
requests for
action
requests for
information
requests for
sympathy
requests for
help
Figure 5: Directive Language Function
(Source: Cook 2010, p.27)
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Figure 5 above explains the directive and application of language functions, for
instance in making requests, the function can be broken into sub-categories such as
requests for action, requests for information, requests for help and requests for
sympathy. In the functional approach to language teaching, each sub-category can be
applied to the appropriate communicative situation.
Thus far, attempts have been made by linguistics to evaluate the Functional-
Notional Approach with reference to contemporary, language teaching methodology.
Williams’ (1999) assessment of the approach is that it is very much in line with
general emphasis on communication in the classroom. It integrates concern for the
social aspects of language with concern for the role of the individual in language
interaction. In like manner, Anyanwu (2007) affirms that people like the
communication method because of the welcome relief from monotony and boredom
which it imparts to language teaching. Naturally, learners will welcome a method
which gives them freedom of expression. Also to its credit is the communicative-
competence features of integrating all language skills at once. From oral discussions,
learners move gradually to written work and so multiple learning is attained. The
functional approach also helps students to develop the skills which courses that
merely concentrate on the formal features of language omit. According to Opeibi
(2004), such skills may include how to use the language to greet people, how to
identify discourse features in a text, and how to construct functional texts adaptable to
different communicative situations.
In spite of the merits of the approach critics have accused it of ubiquity and
ineffectiveness. Anyanwu (2007, p.184) for instance points out its weakness in
carrying on with many skills at once which leads to ineffective teaching and learning.
He also argues that the communicative competence method leads to or creates
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rowdiness giving room to “grammatical slippage because students are not cautioned
against errors in a manner befitting of a language class”. Likewise, Williams (1999,
p.58) finds out two major problems in using the FNA. “The first is the difficulty of
sorting out and grading material for classroom or textbook presentation”. The second
difficulty which he points out has to do with “the suitability of the syllabus materials
for beginning learners. Activities like role-play and dramatization require a
knowledge of basic structures which need to be formally learned.” Therefore, it has its
limitations where students do not have sufficient background knowledge of the
language.
The notional syllabus presents language as an inventory of units – functional
rather than structural- but communicative competence is not a complication of items
in memory but a set of strategies of creative procedures for realizing the value of
linguistic element in contexts of use, an ability to make sense as participants in
discourse, whether spoken or written, by the skilful development of shared knowledge
of code resources and rules of language use. (Widdowson, 2010). In the same vein,
Williams (1999,59) reiterates that the Functional-Notional Approach highlights the
social aspects of language use, and other approaches highlight different aspects of
language use, therefore when a method pays special attention to certain features of
language, it is not unusual to find that other features are neglected. “The Grammar
Translation method emphasizes the literary, written aspect of language at the expense
of systematic practice in pronunciation. The Audio-lingual method stresses control of
structures at the sentence level, but does not pay attention to the use of language in
extended communication”. The Functional-Notional Approach, while “it is generally
eclectic, cannot claim to be the complete answer in teaching many different facets of
language”. Drawing his conclusions, therefore, Anyanwu (2007, p.184) posits:
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Communication has not yet been replaced by any new
method that we are aware of but scholars who do not favour
it or any of the others may find themselves as eclecticists….
Eclecticism, however, must be based on adequate knowledge
of the methods discussed above. An electicist feels free to
choose any method (s) that solves his problem from one
language lesson to another. That is why remnants of the
traditional method are still found in the language class.
By implication, the FNA has not yet proffered a final solution to
communicative approaches to language, therefore Brown in Anyanwu, (2007) joins in
the conclusions that an avenue of explorations had begun which should continue with
the full awareness that communication in a foreign language is something so complex
that it will probably never be reduced to a simple formular or a neatly packaged
syllabus. Communication is qualitative and infinite; a syllabus is quantitative and
finite.
This study on the effect of the Functional-Notional Approach to English
Language Teaching is therefore relevant because the researcher has observed that
available literature and existing research work indicate that there is much room to
research into the modern methods of teaching the communicative approach to
language practice. In conclusion, the present study is relevant, apt and timely to
addressing the language needs of the learner so that he can function effectively in
academic and social environment.
On a general note, the major psycho-linguistic theories highlighted in this
section namely the behaviourists, the cognitivists, the socio-linguists and
functionalists are complimentary rather than contradictory in the sense that their over
all aim is to achieve a meaningful combination of the content, form and functional use
of language so that the child’’s communicative competence should be able to match
his linguistic competence.
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EMPIRICAL STUDIES
This section reviewed related literature on empirical studies conducted in the
area of Functional- Notional Approach to English Language Teaching. The two sub-
sections considered here are:-
- studies conducted in Nigeria, in terms of :
- (a) methods and strategies of teaching English in secondary schools;
- (b) the concept of gender as a factor in students’ achievement in learning the
English Language;
- (c) school location as a factor in students’ achievement in learning the English
Language.
- ( 2) studies conducted outside Nigeria in terms of:
- effects of methods in English Language teaching and learning.
- effects of gender on the language achievement of students
1. Studies Conducted in Nigeria
Despite the fact that several studies have been conducted by scholars in the
area of Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), not many studies have delved into
the aspect of finding the effect of the Functional- Notional Approach to the
performance of students in English Language. The Notional syllabus is an important
forerunner of what is called the Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), as
observed by Oluikpe (2004).
One of the notable studies in the area of teaching methods is the one conducted
by Oyinloye (2006) on “Effects of Methods with Linguistic Package on Students’
Achievement in Essay Writing. It investigated the effects of different methods of
linguistic input on the achievement of students in essay writing.
The package of linguistic input was designed to enhance students’ ability to
write correct sentences especially in areas of concord, that is, agreement of pronoun
with compound antecedent, agreement of verbs with indefinite pronouns. Two
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methods were identified, namely: lecture method and discussion method. Each
method was combined with a package of linguistic inputs for the experimental group
while the control group was only taught essay writing without being exposed to a
package of linguistic inputs. It was discovered that students taught with the
combination of a package of linguistic inputs and teaching methods were able to write
good essays and used verbs better than those who were not exposed to a package of
linguistic inputs.
The first hypothesis tested the effectiveness of a combination of package of
linguistic inputs in concord with discussion method and discussion method without a
package of linguistic inputs on students’ achievements in essay writing. The test
revealed that there was a significant difference between the experimental group and
the control group. The experimental group had a mean of 7.67 while the control group
had a mean of 6.00. From these means, it appeared that students taught with a package
of linguistic inputs in concord combined with discussion methods performed better
than those taught with discussion method without a package of linguistic inputs. This
buttressed the assertion that if a student is exposed to a package of linguistic inputs in
concord with discussion method, such a student will be able to write good sentences
and use verbs correctly with the sentences constructed when writing composition.
The second hypothesis which tested the effect of a combination of linguistic
package in concord with lecture methods and lecture method without linguistic inputs
on student’s achievements in essay writing revealed that there was a significant
difference between the achievements of the students in experimental group and the
control group. The mean of the students in the experimental group was 7.18 while the
control group was 5.98. From this, it appeared as if the students in the experimental
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group performed better than those in the control group. They were able to write better
essays using verbs correctly with the subjects of the sentences constructed.
A comparison of mean scores of the two experimental groups in the discussion
and lecture methods showed that the students taught with a combination of a package
of linguistic inputs in concord had a mean of 7.67 while those taught with a
combination of a package of linguistic inputs with lecture methods had 7.18. It
appears that students in the discussion method group performed better than those in
the lecture method group.
Based on the findings of this study, the following conclusions were made: The
students exposed to a package of linguistic inputs can express their ideas more
fluently and correctly when writing compositions than those who were not exposed to
a package of linguistic skill. Students taught the various types of agreement were able
to use verbs more correctly than the control group that was not exposed to fresh
lessons in the use of agreement in English Language.
Similarly, a notable research work was carried out on “Effective Strategies to
Improving Summary Writing Performance among SSII students in Lagos State”. The
researchers, Ikonna & Maduekwe (2005) reported a study which trained selected SSII
students on the use of two strategies of summarization (Generalization and Repeated
Reference) to enhance their performance in summary writing. One hundred and eighty
students were randomly selected from three secondary schools in Lagos State and
summary writing tests from WAEC were used for the training which lasted for six
weeks. The findings revealed that students who were taught summary writing using
the two strategies performed significantly better than those taught with the
conventional method.
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The findings lent credence to the assertion that Senior Secondary Students in
Nigeria face difficult reading tasks and find it difficult to grapple with the crux of a
reading piece, and that these students are confronted with increasingly difficult texts
and unfamiliar terms and so struggle continuously to handle the demands of reading
(Rosalie 2000). They are armed with nothing but the conventional method to combat
summary passages to their own detriment.
According to the study, the superiority of the two strategies over the
conventional is not by accident because the latter does not take care of such problems
as slow reading rate, slow comprehension rate and difficulty in distinguishing the
main idea from relevant or irrelevant details as the former does. In a related study,
Maduekwe (2004) investigated the “Influence of Bio-data Differentials on Teachers
Perception of the Strategies Required for Effective Teaching and Improving Rapid
Reading Skills at JSS Level”. This investigation was a descriptive survey involving
the use of simple random technique in data sourcing. The population consisted of all
the teachers of English in Lagos State schools management zones. Out of this number,
a total of 150 English teachers were randomly selected.
The research instrument was a self-made questionnaire which was utilized for
data collection. The 15 items questionnaire had two different sections. Section A
sought information regarding the teachers’ bio-data details such as age, gender,
qualifications, specialization and aspects of language skills taught. Section B elicited
information on teachers’ perception of the knowledge of rapid reading skills, effective
rapid reading teaching and nature of reading tasks/activities.
The results showed that a little more than half of non-graduate teachers (58%)
were rated low as regards their knowledge of strategies for teaching rapid reading
skills. The result further showed that as many as 18 out of the 30 graduate teachers
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scored low in reading efficiency and only 40% scored highly. In all 80% of the
teachers put together exhibited shallow understanding of rapid reading skills.
Observed differences within and between the groups were also 0.05 confidence level,
hence the hypothesis was accepted.
Hypothesis 2 stated that differentials in teaching experience will have no significant
influence on strategies for effective teaching of rapid reading skills among JSS
teachers. The result presented showed that a higher percentage (60%) of teachers with
an average experience of 3 years exhibited low understanding of rapid reading skills
strategies. The same thing would be observed among those with between 5 and 10
years teaching experiences as only 43% demonstrated high understanding of rapid
reading skills. Only teachers with above 15 years teaching experience were different
as 60% of the 20 tested showed high understanding of rapid reading strategies test. A
Chi – square analysis carried out was not significant at 0.05 level of significance,
hence hypothesis 2 was accepted. Hypothesis 3 tested that gender differential will
have no significant influence on teachers’ effectiveness in rapid reading strategies.
The result showed that majority of the 23 male teachers tested scored poorly as only
30% were rated high. The result further showed that 57% of the female teachers also
scored poorly as only 43% of the total 113 females tested scored high in the test of
rapid reading skills. In all the 136 teachers tested, 63% scored low while 37% scored
high. A chi-square test conducted showed no difference between expected and
observed values, i.e. 132< 3.84, hence the hypothesis was accepted at 95% confidence
level.
In the final analysis, the findings of the study indicated that bio-data
differentials vis-à-vis qualification, experience and gender have no influence on
teachers’ applicability of strategies required for improved rapid reading skills.
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However, the fact remains that without teachers’ guidance, students may at best
function as robots lacking the ability to read with speed and comprehension. It is
therefore imperative that the language teacher sees himself as performing a vital role
in developing literacy instruction at the foundation level. The outcome of the
programme will, in turn, produce children who will be able to survive and integrate
into the complex multi-cultural Nigerian society.
A similar study was conducted on: ‘’Effects of Verbal Reinforcement
Strategies on Academic Achievement of Poor Achieving Pupils in the English
Language and Mathematics in the Primary School’’ by Adaji (2004). The study used
six research questions and six hypotheses formulated at 0.05 level of significance.
The study sampled a total of sixty primary school pupils and found among other
things that the teaching of the English Language and Mathematics using verbal
reinforcement strategy enhances pupils’ achievement in the English Language and
Mathematics content. This shows that the null hypothesis of no significant difference
in the academic achievement of the pupils taught English Language and Mathematics
using verbal reinforcement strategy and those taught with the conventional method is
rejected. Analysis of data obtained in that respect shows that the total mean scores of
pupils taught using verbal reinforcement strategy was higher than the post-treatment
score for the control group. The treatment group had a mean post-treatment
achievement score of 73.23 and a standard deviation score of 10.97, while the control
group has a mean post treatment achievement score of 30.32. These figures indicate
that the treatment group achieved higher than the control in English Language
content.
On gender factors, one of the research questions used in the study conducted
by Adaji (2004) sought to find out to what extent could gender influence the post-test
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mean achievement scores of pupils taught English Language using verbal
reinforcement strategies. Results in the findings showed that while the male pupils
had overall mean post-test achievement score of 45.87 with a Standard Deviation of
14.17, the female pupils had an overall mean post-test achievement score of 50.38
with a Standard Deviation of 20.55. The female pupils performed better than the male
pupils in the units of English Language. The conclusion in that aspect of the study is
that gender is not a significant variable on the achievement of pupils in English
language.
Furthermore, a related study was conducted on “Gender Imbalance in
Education as perceived by Students in Tertiary Institutions in Oyo State”, by Oyewo
(2007). The study investigated the perception of tertiary institution students towards
factors influencing gender imbalance in education. Two research hypotheses were
formulated as follows: There is no significant difference in the perception of students
on factors influencing gender imbalance in education on the basis of age. Ho2, there is
no significant difference in the perception of students on factors influencing gender
imbalance in education on the basis of religion. The research design used for the study
was the descriptive research design of the survey type. A total of 1,115 students in
tertiary institutions from the senatorial districts in Oyo State were selected through
multi-stage sampling technique. The research instrument used in the study was a self
designed instrument entitled “Gender Imbalance inventory”. Face and content
validities of the instrument were determined by three experts and the reliability value
of 0.68 was obtained using the test retest reliability method. The inferential statistical
technique used for the data analysis was Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). The study
revealed that there was no significant difference in the perception of students on
factors affecting gender imbalance in education on the basis of age (C3,112) = 0.24;
89
P<.05). It however found significant difference in the perception of students on
factors affecting gender imbalance in education on basis of religion (C2,113) =
9.32,P<.05).
Based on these findings, it was recommended that government should make
frantic efforts to educate rural and urban girls no matter their socio-economic status. It
was also recommended that government should carry out enlightenment programmes
to sensitize parents and the society at large on the importance of educating women.
Similarly, Nwafor’s (2002) study on: “Analysis of Gender Issues in Nigeria Formal
Education System” revealed that the primary education in Nigeria has experienced
tremendous expansion. According to the Federal Ministry of Education,(1995) there
were 15, 703 primary schools in 1960 with a total enrolment of 2912619; 10803147
were females representing 37.1%. Between 1960 and 1994 the enrolment of girls
remained less than 50%, in spite of the female majority in the population. At the
secondary education level access has been expanded for both sexes by the increase in
the number of schools. But as Okeke in Nwafor (2002) stated, it is one thing to build
schools and quite another to create conditions that will encourage enrolment.
According to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN 1997) Annual Report for December
1996, there were by 1995/96 session, 6,646 secondary schools in Nigeria with the
ratio of 37 students per teacher and 882 students per school.
The total enrolment for 1995/96 session was 5,389,619. Female enrolment was
39.2% (Lower than 43.0% in 1994/95). The summary of the statistics, however
showed that some states of the federation show high percentage of female enrolment
in the secondary schools relative to male enrolment.
It is against this background that the researcher in the present study considered it
timely to make some input to the linguistic achievement of the girl-child in school.
90
Hence the timeliness and relevance of the effect of Functional-National Approach to
English Language Teaching in the secondary school.
Studies Conducted Outside Nigeria.
Several research works conducted by renowned linguists outside the country in
the area of language education lent credence and relevance to the present study whose
focus is on strategies of improving linguistic achievements among learners in the
secondary school. One of such documented studies is the study conducted by Mann
(2005) on “Teaching Bilingual Learners”. The study revealed some national statistics
that there were some 1.5 to 2.4 million American school children between the ages of
5 and 14 who were Limited in English Proficiency” (LEP). These children presented a
special challenge to American educators. One of the challenges was to find more
effective means of educating students who do not speak the language of school. As
documented in their National Centre for Educational Statistics, LEP students faced a
high risk of not completing school in the society. Some groups, notably those from
Spanish-speaking backgrounds, were at special risk in this regard. Patterns of lower
academic achievement for Mexican-American students as compared to their English
speaking peers, for example, had long been apparent in lower scores in achievement
tests, lower rates of promotion at school and higher drop-out rate. Recent figures on
high school completion indicated that only 35.5% of Hispanies between ages 18 and
34 had completed high school compared to 83.9% for white non – Hispanies.
In a recently completed study of effective practices in bilingual classrooms,
Tikunoff in Seedhouse (2005) found that functional alternations between languages
was a major instructional strategy. The language of instruction in the 58 classrooms
that formed the study sample in the Significant Bilingual Instructional Features Study
(SBIFS) was predominantly English. The sample comprised classrooms that had been
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identified as “successful programs” in a site selection procedure that began with
nominations by parents and practitioners from around the country. The finding is
relevant to the present study because it recommended the use of functional
alternations as a major strategy in language teaching, which is also the focus of the
present study.
The SBIFS finding that English is used far more frequently than the L1 in
bilingual education was generally supported by other studies of programmes that
follow concurrent methods, although the average reported (60%) was somewhat lower
than those reported in other studies. For instance, it found in another study that
teachers used considerably more English in the four translation classes studied, and
English was used on an average of 72% of the time across the four areas. In the
alternate day-class, English was used 51% of the time. In a study of language use in
bilingual classrooms by Schutz, English was found to be used 70% of the time. In
another study, it found that English was the most frequently used language in 65% of
the Title VII project surveyed. Based on the data provided by project personnel, it
would appear that English was used from 51% to 70% of the time in three –fifths of
the classrooms studies; from 71% to 90% in another fifth, and over 90% in just 3% of
the classes. The report however, noted that frequency of language use is difficult to
assess, and can rarely be measured with precision. Estimates of language used
provided by participants, such as those used in the Halcon study, were even less
reliable.
In a study of instructional practices in bilingual classes, it was discovered by
Fillmore (2007) that the L1 of the students was used no more than 10% of the time in
the Chinese and Spanish bilingual classrooms which were studied. Mann (2005) noted
that the functional approach is a major type of concurrent method used in bilingual
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education. It is a technique that develops out of practice, rather than design. The chief
characteristic of functional approaches is that language alternations appear to be made
for communicative purposes. For examples, when teachers perceive that students are
having difficulty comprehending what is being said, they switch to the other language
to supply a translation or clarification, or needed background information.
A psycholinguistic research was also carried out by Dunlap et al (2008). The
study was on “Effects of Clausal Structure and Word Frequency in Sentence
Processing” in which a phoneme-monitory task was employed to test the effects of
clausal structure and lexical ambiguity on sentence processing. A total of 30 students
of the University of Iowa served as subjects, each receiving partial course credit. All
the subjects were native speakers of English. The test was designed using a total of 36
lexically ambiguous sentences, each containing two clauses. An analysis of variance
of the ratings of the sentences resulted in a significant effect of the clausal position
Results supported the hypothesis that the clause serves as a psychologically real unit
of sentence processing with the semantic interpretation of each clause being assigned
at the clause boundary. The frequency of the ambiguous or control word preceding the
critical item also found to affect the results obtained, with higher frequency words
leading to longer mean reaction times. The critical item was shown to be F(2.5x) =
6.84, p < 0.01.
Another study in the psycholinguistic series is that conducted on “The Relation
of the Structure of Language to Performance in Mathematics”, in which Pullman
(2008) investigated the relationship of Mathematics to syntactical language factors
obtained from speech samples. He used 95 senior high school Geometry students; the
statistical procedures included correlation analysis and stepwise regression. The
findings indicated that certain syntactical measures indicating logical thought
processes correlated significantly with measures of Mathematical performance. In
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addition, these syntactical measures added a statistically significant amount to
intelligence in predicting performance in Mathematics. In the method used, he had
95 students as subjects, 58 males and 37 females, in Geometry classes in a suburban
high school. The age of the students (subjects) ranged from 14 to 18 years with 16.09
years as the mean age. The mean Otis IQ was 117.5. Data on performance in
Mathematics were obtained from school records, while data on verbal conditionality
were obtained from individual interviews with the subjects. Interviews lasted between
20 and 30 minutes and took place during the students’ free period. Performance in
Mathematics was measured by six different variables: Algebra final grade, Geometry
final grade, School and College Ability Test (SCAT) quantitative score (two
administrations). Course grades were reported as letter grades and were assigned
numerical equivalents of 4,3,2,1 and 0 for A,B,C,D, and F respectively. Since the
students were homogenous with respect to course, Geometry, rather than year in
school, the standardized scores were not the result of a single administration of the
tests. Verbal conditionality data were available for only 63 of the 95 subjects in the
study. The mean number of words indicating the hypothetical mode, branching and
testing of contingencies were 26, 40, 7.0 and 10.16 respectively. The mean total
output was 725.77 with a standard deviation of 407.35. The range for total output was
from 82 to 2069. Several of the subjects, although they volunteered for the interview,
were reluctant to say very much.
The results presented in the study lent credence to the relationship of structure
of language factors to Mathematical reasoning. As was noted above, all measures of
performance in Mathematics were highly correlated with intelligence. Thus, the
measures of verbal conditionality, although they did add a statistically significant
amount to the multiple correlation coefficients, did not add an impressive amount to
the predictability of performance in Mathematics. However, the results indicated that
additional information about performance in Mathematics might be gained from a
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knowledge of the structure of spoken language and suggest that people who are more
conditional in their reasoning, as indicated by the use of conditionals in their speech
are more likely to be successful in Mathematics. Thus, the structure of language may
be a fruitful means for studying reasoning in Mathematics. The finding is relevant to
the present study because there is a relationship between the structural use of language
to mathematical reasoning and language functions as applied to specific notions in the
language environment.
In gender related issues, empirical reports have been given by notable scholars.
Gopnik associated with Lyons (2010) followed a group of pre-term and full-term
children and administered the Reynell scales to these children when they were 3 years
old. It was reported that the child’s sex accounted for 1% and 2.5% of the variance of
receptive and expressive language respectively. The 542 kindergarten children
participating in the epidemiological study were administered a language – screening
test. No significant differences were found between the boys and girls on this test. The
evidence strongly suggests that there is something about maleness that is associated
with SLI (Specific Language Impairment), but is not associated with language
development in general, and any explanatory theory will need to incorporate this
property. The study of Epidemology of specific language impairment reached a
concession that most robust risk factors for many speech and language problems have
to do with a person’s sex. That is why the records show that among the children
with language impairment in their study, there was a 2:1 ratio of males to females. In
relationship to the present study, the difference in gender affected the achievement of
male and female students in their language ability. For instance, Specific Language
Impairment (SLI) was found in the boys and that affected their language development
and achievement. It is a similar idea the present study has addressed.
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SUMMARY OF LITERATURE REVIEW
Discussions on the conceptual framework in this study have focused on the
nature of language, the concept of English as a second language, teaching of grammar
in a second language situation, achievement, as well as gender and school location
factors. The English Language occupies a unique position in the educational system in
Nigeria. It is a core subject as well as the language of instruction in the school
curriculum. In spite of this fact, students’ performance in the all-important subject is
on the decline. In order to lift the falling standard, some pedagogical strategies have
been proffered in literature. Similarly, the importance of teaching Englissh grammar
as a prerequisite in gaining communicative competence has been highlighted.
Furthermore, research evidences show that gender issue in Nigeria is now
largely reversed in favour of the females, particularly at the secondary school level.
The study has a focus on identifying if gender gaps will affect language learning . In
addition, research in the area of school location of the learner shows that the quality of
the language environment is of paramount importance to success in learning a new
language. The entire responsibility of creating a good language environment falls on
the teacher. Absence of natural exposure is capable of inhibiting the language learner
from achieving fluency in the target language.
In addition, literature in the theoretical framework has focused on theories of
language development, the sociolinguistic theories, the communicative language
teaching theories and the Functional-Notional theories. Sociolinguists consider
communication as a social act. Discourse is an interactive activity that focuses on
social situations. The Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) which has the
Functional-Notional Approach (FNA) as an off-shoot has been emphasised and
recommended as the innovative approach in language teaching.
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Literature reviewed from the empirical studies focused on effects of certain
methods applied in the aspects of teaching English Language in a second language
situation. The empirical evidence show improved achievement in performance of
subjects taught grammatical structures, essay writing, summary writing or verbal
communication strategies using some new teaching methods in English Language.
From the foregoing, previous researchers have spent time and resources
investigating the various language teaching methods and strategies and their effects
on the performance of the language learner, but little research work has been done to
determine the effect of the functional-notional approach on English language
teaching in the secondary schools. To close the existing gap therefore, the researcher
carried out a study which proved that the application of the Functional-Notional
Approach in language teaching improved the achievement of students in English
Grammar. Hence the study is relevant to the present day educational system in
Nigeria.
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CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHOD
This chapter presents the method and procedure the researcher employed in the
study. The chapter discussed the following: design of the study, area of the study,
population of the study, sample and sampling procedure, instrumentation for data
collection, validation of the instrument, experimental procedure, control of extraneous
variables, method of data collection, and method of data analysis.
Design of the Study
The study adopted a quasi-experimental research design. The use of quasi-
experimental research design is because the researcher administered a pre-test at the
initial stage of the experiment. The pre-test is used to determine the homogeneity of the
treatment and control groups (Ali 2006). There is no random assignment of subjects to
treatment and control groups. Consequently, intact classes are used for the study. The
specific design the researcher employed in the study is the non-equivalent pre-test/post-
test control group design. Two groups were involved in the study—treatment group and
control group. The researcher administered a post-test at the end of the experiment. The
data obtained from the post-test is analysed side by side the data from the pre-test. The
gain in scores by the treatment group is attributed to the treatment condition.
The Symbol below represents the design used:
Experimental Design
Group Pre-test Treatment Post-test
Exp 1 01 X(FNA) 02
Control 2 01 X(GTM) 02
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The symbols are defined as follows:
Exp 1 = Experimental Group 1
Control 2 = Control Group 2
01 = Pre-test
X (FNA) = Treatment (with Functional-Notional App)
X(GTM) = Treatment(with Grammar Trans Method)
02 = Post-test
The Symbols show that the experimental and control groups were pre-tested.
There was a treatment session for the experimental group using the Functional-
Notional Approach, and a treatment session for the control group using the Grammar
Translation Method. Afterwards, a post-test was conducted for both the experimental
and control groups. The gain in score of the experimental group is attributed to the
treatment with the FNA.
Area of the Study
This study was conducted in Owerri North Local Government Area of Imo
State. Owerri North is situated at the suburbs of the state capital territory. A good
percentage of the indigenes are mostly civil and public servants, professionals,
lecturers and students; and the minority consists of farmers and petty traders, (Ogueri,
1997). The youth and the workforce are mostly academically inclined and are also
influenced by the urban nature of the state capital. There is generally an atmosphere of
high academic pursuit and a spirit of competition among the youth.
It is on this premise that the researcher saw the need to guide the up-coming
generation on the use of the innovative approach in language teaching and learning.
This will keep the tempo of academic pursuit high, because a success in English
Language is key to success in education in Nigeria.
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Population of the Study
The population of the study included all JSS 2 students in the secondary
schools in the Local Government Area. The population estimate of JSS 2 students in
the Local Government Area which has 19 government owned secondary schools, is
2760 students, (source: Imo State Ministry of Education, Owerri, 2011). JSS 2
students were used because they were still at the formative stage and were receptive to
new knowledge; also they would be available for the tests since they were not yet in
the external examination class.
Sample and Sampling Technique
The sample for the study consisted of one hundred and sixty-two (162) JSS
2students which were drawn from three (3) schools out of the nineteen (19) public
secondary schools in the population. Two of the schools were single-sex while one
was co-educational. The multi-stage sampling technique was used in drawing the
respondents. The folloing are the stages of the sampling:
Firstly, the nineteen public secondary schools in the Local Government Area
were sratified into urban and rural schools, (12 in the urban and 7 in the rural).
Secondly, the urban and rural schools were sampled using purposive random sampling
technique. It was purposive because the number of schools in the urban location was
higher than the number in the rural. Two urban schools and one rural school were
therefore sampled to collect data for the variable of school location in the study.
Thirdly, the urban and rural schools were further stratified into single-sex schools and
co-educational. The two single-sex schools were stratified into one all-boys’ school
and one all-girls’ school using simple balloting. Data for the gender variable, male and
female, were obtained from each of the single-sex schools. The sampled school in the
rural location was co-educational because all the rural schools in the population were
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co-educational schools. Fourthly, respondents were drawn from two intact classes
from each sampled school, JSS 2A & B. The A class was assigned to the experimental
group and the B class to the control group by balloting, (See Appendix IX (C): 216 for
the Distribution).
Instrument for Data Collection
The instrument for collecting data was an achievement test which consisted of
twenty multiple-choice items. The instrument was made up of two sections, A and B.
Section A consisted of the bio-data of the subjects (students) namely: name, class,
school, sex and date. Section B consisted of the achievement test itself which had
twenty (20) multiple choice questions.(See Appendix VI for the Achievement Test).
The lessons taught before administering the test were a package of Grammatical
Structural Lessons on the use of Modal Auxiliary Verbs. The lessons were designed to
use the Functional-Notional Approach to present a new language item. The new
language items presented included “Asking for Permission with the Modal Auxiliaries
– “can, could; may, might’’; It also included “Expressing Ability, Probability and
Possibility with ought to, can and could “.
The lesson periods covered the following areas of Grammar:
- Making requests with the Modal Auxiliaries- can and could. The objectives
of the lesson were to teach the students how to use the two modal verbs in
making polite requests and asking for permission. The researcher also
taught the students how to differentiate between the uses of ‘can and
could’. They practised the use of language function in a given dialogue and
role-play.
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- In the Table of Specification (Test Blue Print), six (6) questions were
elicited from Topic 1 as follows: knowledge level – 1, comprehension – 3,
synthesis -2, which forms 30% of the questions.
- Topic 2: Making requests with the Modal Auxiliaries ‘may and might’. The
objectives of the lesson are to teach the students how to use the language
function to make requests. Here they engaged in dialogues and role-plays
requiring the use of the language function. Four questions were elicited in
the Test Blue Print as follows: knowledge level-2, analysis – 2 forming
20% of the questions.
- Topic 3: Expressing Obligation and Necessity with the Modal Auxiliaries
‘should, ought to and must’. The objectives are to teach the students how to
express matters of obligation using ‘’should and ought to’’ appropriately.
Also they should be able to express necessity using ‘must’ appropriately.
They should also identify the differences in usage and then act a dialogue
using the modal auxiliaries introduced. In the Test Blue Print five questions
were elicited as follows: knowledge level -2, application- 2, analysis -1,
forming 25% of the entire test.
- Topic 4: Expressing Ability and Possibility with ‘can, could and might’.
The objectives of this aspect were that the students should be able to
express matters of ability and possibility using the verb ‘can’ in each case.
They should also express future possibility using the verb ‘may’. The
students also engaged in a dialogue applying the use of the modal verbs
introduced. Here five (5) questions were elicited in the Test Blue Print, one
of which is under knowledge level, 2 of comprehension and 2 of analysis
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levels. They form 25% of the total test items. (see Appendix VIII for the
Test Blue Print).
Validation of the Instrument
The initial drafts of the instrument, that is an achievement test consisting of
twenty (20) multiple-choice questions, were face-validated by two experts in
Language Education (Department of Arts Education,) and one expert in Measurement
and Evaluation (Department of Science Education), University of Nigeria, Nsukka.
Also two English teachers in the researcher’s school (Federal Science and Technical
College Otukpo, Benue State) helped to validate the instrument. The instrument was
validated in order to ascertain the clarity of the test items, and to ensure that the
difficulty level of the items is not above the students’ level of perception. The lesson
plan and marking guide for the chosen class were also validated to ensure adequate
content coverage as well as clarity of the objectives of the lesson. The comments and
suggestions of the experts were used as a guide to improve the teaching programme
designed for the study. (See Appendix X for comments from experts on validation of
instruments).
Reliability of the Instrument
In order to estimate the reliability of the instrument, it was administered on
thirty (30) students (JSS 2 students) outside the area of the study. The test was carried
out on two different occasions on the same students, and in an interval of two weeks.
The data obtained at the two administrations were used to estimate the stability of the
instrument using the Pearson Product Moment Correlation Co- efficient (Pearson r).
According to Ali (2006) Pearson r is used to calculate correlation co-efficient for both
interval and ratio scales for two sets of data. The statistical tool (Pearson r) is relevant
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to the study because interval scales for two sets of data were used in the study to
calculate the correllation co-efficient. The Reliability Index was 0.84 (See Appendix
IX (a): 213 for Reliability Test). Also, a test of internal consistency was carried out
using the Split-Half Reliability Co-efficient by Spearman-Brown. An internal
consistency reliability estimate of 0..95 was obtained. (See Appendix IX(b):216 for
Internal Consistency Test ). Ali (2006) recommends the Split-Half method for
establishing the internal consistency of test items. Hence it is applicable to the study.
Experimental Procedure
The researcher took the following procedure to carry out the experiment on the
subjects. First the researcher conducted a pre-test on all the subjects (both the
experimental and control groups) in order to obtain the baseline data for the study.
The test items for both the pre-test and post-test were structured based on the language
functions treated in the experiment, that is, using the Functional-Notional Approach
to teach how to ask for permission and make requests with the Modal Auxiliaries –
‘can’, ‘could’, ‘may’ and ‘might’. Also using other Modal Auxiliaries – ‘should’,
‘must’, ‘ought to’, to express obligation, possibility, probability. The test items
consisted of a set of twenty multiple choice questions with options A to D. The
students were told to indicate the correct option from each question by encircling it
with a pencil. The researcher chose to use the objective-type questions in order to
obtain the marks for the answers objectively. If the questions are open-ended verbal
conversation,it might rule out the possibility of allocating the marks objectively to
each question item .
The researcher made use of research assistants who were the English teachers of the
students in their respective schools to administer the tests.
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During the pre-test, the research assistants conducted the tests in their classes
just like the regular exercises in the lesson periods. They collected the scripts and
submitted same to the researcher who then marked and recorded the scores for further
use.
For the experimental group, the research assistants administered the treatment
on the group following the objectives and procedure given by the researcher. The
treatment or teaching session lasted for a period of six (6) weeks. During this period,
the teachers carried out the teaching after which they conducted the post-test. They
used the normal lesson periods in the school time-table to teach the four topics treated
in the study. The post-test was administered on the last period in the sixth week. Each
lesson lasted for eighty minutes which is a double period in the school time-table. The
reason for using the double period was to give enough time for the teachers to cover
the lesson content and have enough time for the practice. Also English Language
lessons are usually allocated double periods in the school Time Table, in which case
the students did not have the reason to suspect that there was something different
their teacher was doing with them.
The first period of eighty minutes was used to conduct the pre-test on the
subjects. The questions set for both the pre-test and the post-test were the same, but
were shuffled for the post-test, as shown in Appendix VI.
The second period of lesson was on the topic: ‘’ Asking for Permission with
the Modal Auxiliaries –‘can’ and ‘could’. The teacher followed the lesson procedure
spelt out in the lesson plan, using the Indigenous Communicative Language Teaching
Lesson Models. The Indigenous Communicative Language Teaching Lesson Model is
recommended by Williams (1999) for FNA lessons This is because the FNA is an off-
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shoot of the Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), therefore they share common
features. (The detail of the lesson plan is shown in Appendix I).
The lesson model used for teaching the Control group is the conventional
method using the Grammar Translation Method (GTM) of language teaching.
The third period of the lesson was on the topic: ‘’ Making Requests with the
Modal Auxiliaries – ‘may’ and ‘might’. The teacher also followed the teaching
procedure spelt out in the lesson plan, using the Indigenous Communicative Language
Teaching Lesson Model. (The detail of the lesson plan is shown in Appendix II).
Day 4 of the experiment was on the topic ‘’ Expressing Obligation with –
‘should’, ‘must’ and ‘ought to’- as Modal Auxiliaries’’. The lesson also followed the
indigenous CLT lesson model, as shown in the Appendix III.
The lesson on the fifth day was on the topic: ‘’Expressing Ability, Probability
and Possibility with –‘can’, ‘could’, ‘may’ and ‘might’- as Modal Auxiliaries”.
(Appendix IV shows the details of the lesson plan.).
The sixth day was for the administration of the post-test on the experimental
group. The test consisted of a set of twenty (20) multiple-choice questions with
options A to D. The students were instructed to indicate the correct option from each
question by encircling it with a pencil. The answers to the questions were definite
(objective) and not subjective; the objective-type questions enabled the researcher to
obtain a definite objective mark allocation in the test. The mark allotted to each
correct answer was five (5). The total mark for the test was 100%. This method
enabled the researcher to calculate the scores without the use of fractions. At the end
of the experiment, the research assistants collected the students’ scripts and submitted
same to the researcher who then marked and recorded the scores for further
computations in the study.
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Teacher Training
The researcher was not directly involved in administering the treatment
sessions, instead a training session was organised for the regular teachers of the
students selected in each of the sampled schools. The training sessions exposed them
to the purpose and objectives of the study, that is, the achievement of communicative
competence through the Functional-Notional Approach. The researcher also explained
that the FNA is activity-based, hence the different segments under each step, viz:
teacher activity, students activity, mode, instructional materials and techniques. The
aim is to ensure maximum learner participation in the language class. The researcher
also discussed the procedure for administering the treatment in the study. As part of
the training, the researcher gave copies of the lesson notes and the instructional
materials to the research assistants, and instructed them to follow strictly the
procedure and content of the lessons, in order to achieve the purpose of the study.
The time allotted for the training sessions was three days, that is, one day for the
teachers in each school as they found convenient on their personal time-table.
Control of Extraneous Variables
The researcher adopted the following procedure to ensure that extraneous
variables, which may introduce errors in the study, were controlled.
- Use of Intact Classes:
The researcher used intact classes, JSS 2A and B, in each of the three sample
schools, also for the control and experimental groups. The use of intact classes for
both the control and experimental groups helped to maintain a normal class
atmosphere. This helped to ensure that there was randomisation of subjects. Hence,
there was no selection of subjects which would have introduced bias in the
experiment..
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-Time-Management: The researcher planned the lessons to last for eighty (80)
minutes which is double period in the school time-table. The reason for the use of a
double period is to allow enough time for good coverage of the lesson content and to
avoid disruption and interruption of the other lessons and activities of the students,
and this made the students not to suspect that their teachers were bringing in a new
arrangement. If the teacher had arranged for extra time in the Time-Table, that would
have given room for the students to suspect that their teacher was bringing in
something new to them. Also the use of intact classes helped to save time, rather than
splitting the classes and changing the sitting arrangement. The implication is that a
change in time allocation would have affected the result of the experiment.
- Hawthorne Effect: To reduce Hawthorne effect, (that is the effect of the students’
reaction to a new person or item which might influence their response in the
experiment), the researcher used the regular subject teachers of the students to carry
out the experiments. Since the students were already familiar with their teachers, they
were in a relaxed mood during the experiment.
- Teacher Variable: To reduce the effect of teacher variable on the students’
performance, the researcher organised a uniform training programme for the research
assistants (teachers) who were involved in the teaching programme. The researcher
equally discussed the method of scoring and mark allocation to the test items. This
enabled the research assistants to come up with a uniform standard of the test results.
Students Factor: In order to avoid contamination or leakage of information the
researcher used two different groups for the treatment and control groups. During the
experiment the two groups were in their respective classrooms, so that what one group
treated with the teacher remained with them and not leaked to the other class. The
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teacher had the prerogative of using any model of teaching in his class, and the
students should not question him.
Pre-test and Post-test Effect: In order to avoid the bias of the pre-test scores
influencing the post-test, the research assistants did not allow the subjects to know
that they were carrying out the test for some external or official use. Therefore the test
was conducted like any other class exercise.
Method of Data Analysis
Research questions in the study were answered using Mean and Standard
Deviation while the hypotheses were tested using Analysis of Co-variance at an alpha
level of 0.5 level of significance. ANCOVA is the statistical tool that corrects the
initial differences between the two groups – experimental and control groups.
The researcher used Mean and Standard Deviation to answer the research
questions because according to Ali (2006), mean scores of research groups can be
compared as a basis for answering research questions, and Standard Deviation is used
for determining the spread of scores of the groups. Also ANCOVA was used to test the
hypotheses because this is a pre-test post-test quasi-experimental research design,
ANCOVA is the suitable statistical tool used to correct the initial differences between
the two groups – experimental and control groups, Ali (2006).
In this chapter, the researcher discussed the method and procedure employed to
obtain data in the study. The following were presented: design of the study, area of the
study, population of the study, sample and sampling technique, instrumentation,
validation of instrument, experimental procedure, control of extraneous variables,
method of data collection and method of data analysis.
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CHAPTER FOUR
RESULTS
In this chapter, the results from the study are presented in line with the
research questions and hypotheses that guided the study.
Research Question One:
What is the difference in the mean scores of students taught English
Grammar using the Functional–Notional Approach and those taught with the
traditional method (GTM)?
Table I
The pretest and posttest mean achievement scores of the groups taught
English Grammar using the Functional–Notional Approach (FNA) and those
taught with the traditional method (GTM).
Group Pretest Posttest Pre/posttest
N X SD N X SD Mean Gain Score
FNA 74 58.18 17.25 74 64.73 15.26 6.55
GTM 88 60.97 15.22
88 58.64 13.39 2.33
Total 162 59.69 16.18 162 61.42 14.55
The data presented in Table I show the pretest and posttest English Grammar
achievement mean score of students in the experimental and control groups. The
students who were taught using the Functional–Notional Approach (FNA) had a
pretest English Grammar achievement mean score of 58.18 with a Standard Deviation
of 17.25, and posttest achievement mean score of 64.73 with a standard Deviation of
15.26. This gives a pretest/posttest mean gain score of 6.55. The students who were
taught using the conventional teaching method – grammar translation method (GTM)
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110
had a pretest mean score of 60.97 with a standard deviation of 15.22. Their posttest
grammar achievement mean score was 58.64 with a standard deviation of 13.39. This
gives a pretest/posttest mean achievement gain score of 2.33. This suggests that
students who were exposed to the FNA had a higher mean score in English Grammar
achievement test than the students who were taught using the conventional teaching
method (GTM). This provides support that the Functional–Notional Approach (FNA)
improved English Grammar achievement more than the conventional teaching method
– Grammar Translation method (GTM).
To further address the research question, a corresponding hypothesis was
formulated thus:
HO1
There will be no significant mean difference in the achievement of students
taught English Grammar using the Functional–Notional Approach and those
taught with the traditional method.
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Table 2
Summary of Two – Way Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) of Students’
Achievement in English Grammar by Treatment.
Source Sum of Df Mean F Sig Dec
Squares Squares
Corrected model 16837.407a 8 2104.676 18.683 .000
Intercept 7160.378 1 7160.378 63.561 .000
Pretest 7842.053 1 7842.053 69.612 .000
FNA 1121.378 1 1121.378 9.954 .002 Sig
Gender 146.433 1 146.433 1.300 256 NS
Location 482.740 1 482.740 4.285 .040 Sig
FNA x Gender 167.803 1 167.803 1.490 .224 NS
FNA x Location 4.987 1 4.987 .044 .834 NS
Gender x 422.903 1 4.22903 3.754 .055
FNA x Gender x 219.098 1 219.098 1.945 .165
Location
Error 17236.050 153 112.652
Total 645200.000 162
Corrected Total 34073.457 161
a.R Squared = 494 (Adjusted R. Squared = 468)
The results presented in Table 2 show a significant difference in English
Grammar Achievement mean score of the two treatment conditions. The reason is that
the calculated F-value of 9.954 in respect of treatment as main effect is shown to be
significant at .002 levels and therefore significant at 0.05. This means that exposing
students to the Functional–Notional Approach significantly improved their
achievement in English Grammar.
The null hypothesis of no significant difference in the mean achievement score
of the treatment and control groups is rejected. Therefore, there is a significant
difference in the effect of the FNA and the conventional teaching method in favour of
the FNA.
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Research Question Two.
What are the relative mean achievement scores of male and female students
taught English Grammar using the Functional–Notional Approach?
Table 3
Treatment X Gender
Group Pretest Posttest
N X SD N X SD Mean Gain Score
Male 73 52.12 15.58 73 55.82 14.24 3.7
Female 89 65.89 13.93 89 66.01 13.19 0.12
The data obtained in Table 3 show that the male students had a pretest
achievement mean score of 52.12 with a Standard Deviation of 15.58, and a posttest
achievement mean score of 55.82 with a Standard Deviation of 14.24, while the
female students had a pretest achievement mean score of 65.89 with a standard
deviation of 13.93, and a posttest achievement mean score of 66.01 with a Standard
Deviation of 13.19. The male students had a pretest/post test mean achievement gain
score of 3.7 while the female students had a pretest/posttest mean gain score of 0.12.
This implies that the male students had a higher mean achievement gain score than the
female students who were taught English Grammar using the Functional–Notional
Approach.
To further address the research question, a corresponding hypothesis was
formulated thus:
HO2
There will be no significant mean difference in the achievement of male
and female students taught English Grammar using the Functional – Notional
Approach.
Pre/posttest
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Table 2 indicates that the computed F – value for the main effect of the FNA on
gender (male and female students) is 1.300, which is not significant at 0.05 level of
significance. Consequently, the null hypothesis of no significant mean difference in
the achievement of male and female students taught English Grammar using the
Functional–Notional Approach is accepted.
Research Question 3
What are the relative mean achievement scores of urban and rural students
taught English Grammar using the Functional–Notional Approach?
Table 4:
Pretest and posttest mean achievement scores of urban and rural students taught
English Grammar with the FNA.
Treatment x Location
Group Pretest Posttest Pre/posttest
N X SD N X SD Mean Gain Score
Urban 72 58.61 17.59 72 65.42 15.15 6.81
Rural 90 60.56 15.02 90 58.22 13.29 2.34
Total 162 59.69 16.19 162 61.42 14.55
The data obtained in Table 4 show the pretest/posttest achievement scores of
urban and rural students taught English Grammar using the FNA.
The urban students had a mean achievement pretest score of 58.61 and a
Standard Deviation of 17.59, while their posttest achievement mean score was 65.42
with a Standard Deviation of 15.15. This resulted to a pretest/posttest mean gain score
of 6.81. The rural students had a pretest mean score of 60.56 with a Standard
Deviation of 15.02. They had a posttest mean gain score of 2.34. The urban students
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had a higher mean gain score than the rural students. To further address the research
question, a corresponding hypothesis was formulated thus:
HO3
There will be no significant mean difference in the achievement of urban and
rural students taught English Grammar using the FNA.
The results in Table 2 show that the computed F-value for the main effect of
the FNA on location is 4.29 which is shown to be significant at 0.05 level of
significance. As a result, the null hypothesis of no significant mean difference in the
achievement of urban and rural students taught English Grammar using the FNA is
rejected.
Research Question 4:
What is the interaction effect of treatment and gender on students’ mean
achievement scores in English Grammar using the Functional–Notional
Approach?
Table 5:
The mean scores and standard deviation of interaction effect of treatment and
gender on students’ mean achievement scores in English Grammar.
Group Male Female Total Mean Score
Explain N X SD N X SD N X SD
Treatment 34 57.21 15.20 40 71.13 12.22 74 64.73 15.26
Control 39 54.62 13.45 49 61.84 12.57 88 58.64 13.38
The results in Table 5 reveal that the male students exposed to teaching of
English Grammar with the Functional–Notional Approach had a mean posttest
Achievement mean score of 57.21 with a Standard Deviation of 15.20. The male
students who were taught using the conventional method (Grammar Translation
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Method - GTM) had a posttest Achievement score of 54.62 with a Standard Deviation
of 13.45.
The female students taught English Grammar using the Functional – Notional
Approach had a posttest Achievement mean score of 71.13 with a Standard Deviation
of 12.22, while the female students taught with the conventional method (GTM) had a
posttest achievement mean score of 61.84 with a Standard Deviation of 12.57. It
implies that female students in the treatment group had a higher posttest achievement
mean score of 71.13 than the male students in the treatment group whose posttest
achievement means score was 57.21. This implies that the female students in the
treatment group performed better than their male counterparts in the treatment group.
The hypothesis formulated to support the research question is:
HO4
There will be no significant interaction effect of male and female students taught
English Grammar using the Functional–Notional Approach.
The interaction effect of using the FNA was not significant on gender
achievement scores in English Grammar. From Table 2, F – value of 1.490 was not
significant to .224 at 0.05 level of significance. Therefore, the null hypothesis of no
significant interaction effect between male and female students is accepted.
Research Question Five:
What is the interaction effect of treatment and location on students’ achievement
scores in English Grammar?
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Table 6:
The mean scores and standard deviation of interaction effect of treatment and
location on students’ mean achievement in English Grammar.
Group Urban Rural Total Mean Score
Explain N X SD N X SD N X SD
Treatment 42 59.17 15.01 31 56.29 11.76 73 55.82 14.24
Control 30 74.17 10.18 59 61.86 12.66 89 66.01 13.19
The data presented in Table 6 show that the urban students who were taught
English Grammar using the Functional–Notional Approach had a mean posttest
achievement score of 59.17 with a Standard Deviation of 15.01. Also the urban students
who were taught English Grammar using the conventional method had a mean posttest
achievement score of 74.17 with a standard deviation of 10.18. The rural students
exposed to the teaching of English Grammar using the Functional – Notional Approach
had a mean posttest achievement score of 56.29 with a Standard Deviation of 11.76,
while the rural students who were taught with the conventional method obtained a mean
posttest achievement score of 61.86 with a Standard Deviation of 12.66. The results show
that the urban students in the treatment group had a higher mean posttest score of 59.17
than their rural counterparts in the treatment group who obtained 56.29 as the posttest
achievement score. This implies that the urban students in the treatment group performed
better than their rural counterparts in the treatment group.
The hypothesis formulated to add credence to the research question states thus:
HO5
There will be no significant interaction effect of treatment in urban and
rural students taught English Grammar using the FNA.
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The interaction effect of treatment of the Functional–Notional Approach was
not significant on the posttest achievement scores in location.
From Table 2 above, F – cal which is .044 is not significant to .834 at 0.05
level of significance. Therefore, the null hypothesis of no significant interaction effect
of urban and rural students taught English Grammar is accepted.
In this chapter, results from the study were presented in line with the research
questions and hypotheses that guided the study.
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CHAPTER FIVE
DISCUSSION OF RESULTS, CONCLUSION, EDUCATIONAL
IMPLICATIONS, RECOMMENDATIONS AND SUMMARY.
This chapter discusses the results of the study, conclusion, educational
implications, recommendations, limitations and suggestions for further studies. The
summary of the research is also presented.
Discussion of Results
The discussion of results of this study was done under the following headings;
1. Effect of the Functional-Notional Approach on students’ Achievement in
English Grammar.
2. Effect of gender on students’ achievement in English Grammar.
3. Effect of school location on students’ achievement in English Grammar.
4. Interaction effect of treatment and gender on students’ achievement in English
Grammar.
5. Interaction effect of treatment and school location on students’ achievement in
English Grammar.
Effect of the Functional-Notional Approach on Students’ Achievement in English
Grammar
The result of the study revealed that the students who were exposed to the
FNA had a higher mean score in the achievement test than the students taught using
the conventional method, GTM. This implies that the experimental group achieved
significantly higher in grammatical structures than the control group.
This result supports the findings of Williams (1999) Darn (2006), White
(2010), Widdowson (2010) and Cook (2010), who affirm that the Functional-Notional
118
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syllabuses have important influence in promoting communicative competence.
Sharing the same views are Adedun (2004), Opeibi (2004), Oluikpe (2004), Ezeude
(2007), Ezike (2007), and Odo (2007) who support the idea, adding that meaningful
communication is the fulcrum of the functional theory which results in
communicative competence. It focuses on meeting the needs of learners as eventual
participants in contexts of communication and interaction.
The findings of this study also support the views of Ikonta (2005) and
Oyinloye (2006) who revealed that students exposed to a package of linguistic input
can express their ideas more fluently and correctly when writing compositions and
summary than those who were not exposed to a package of linguistic skills
(treatment). Actually, the Functional-Notional Approach helps students to develop
such functional skills as using the language to greet people, to identify discourse
features in a text, and to construct functional texts adaptable to different
communicative situations.
Furthermore, studies have indicated that students’ achievement is higher when
they are taught English Grammar using real-life situations that necessitate
communication than when they are made to be passive listeners in language learning
situations. The Functional-Notional Approach is one of the methods of the
Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) where the teacher sets up situations that
students are likely to encounter in real-life situations. The FNA helps the student
(learner) turn his considerable dormant grammatical competence into a real mastery of
the language used in such everyday activities as engaging in friendly conversations,
asking for permission, apologizing to a friend, asking the time. The FNA affords the
students the opportunity to participate maximally in learning situations, which enables
them to communicate meaningfully given variety of topics. A good acquisition of the
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required communicative skills enhances students’ opportunity of functioning
effectively in their social environment. The need to participate in the lesson is a
motivating factor to students which is realized in communicative competence.
However, some studies have revealed arguments on the side of teaching
students the rules of grammar. Quirk & Greenbaun (2004), Eyisi (2006), Anyanwu
(2007) and Baldeh (2011) insist that language is rule-governed, in the sense that
acquiring a sound knowledge of grammar is a prerequisite for successful performance
in the language, adding that a child’s linguistic competence should be able to match
his communicative competence. Also, Awonusi’s (2003) finding supports the view
that learners who do not possess or acquire grammar skills cannot use the language
correctly, implying that proper usage belongs to grammar. Teachers should, therefore,
teach grammar in the classroom. Cook (2010) remarks that in the functional approach
to language teaching, different functional varieties of language should be taught.
Despite its limitations, the FNA has been said to be eclectic in the language
teaching process. Eclectism, however, is based on adequate knowledge of the diverse
methods of language teaching. An eclectic, therefore, feels free to choose any method
that would solve his problem from one lesson to another.
Effect of Gender on Students’ Achievement in English Grammar
The result obtained in Table 3 shows that the overall mean achievement score
of all the males was significantly higher than that of the females, which is an
indication that the male students taught English Grammar using the FNA performed
better than their female counterparts.
This finding supports Adaji (2002), Nwafor (2002), Ukpong et al (2005), and
Oyewo (2007) which revealed that male students consistently obtained significantly
higher achievement mean scores than their female counter-parts in language
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proficiency. Other researchers who have substantiated the phenomenon of gender
differences in language education achievement include Sunderland (2002) Fehr
(2003), Murphy (2003), Comwell & Churchill (2007) who observed from
comprehensive assessment of the current state of gender and language education
research, that there exists an emphasis on differentials in teacher treatment of male
and female dominance, and biased gender representation in textbooks and
dichotomizing analyses of male/female differences, Murphy (2003) and Fehr (2003)
establish the fact that gender differences can be in favour of girls or boys, though in
many countries it has been in favour of boys.
The consideration that gender differences are in favour of boys has been
supported by Yule (2007) with the view that males and females have fundamentally
different approaches to learning and competing as research indicates that girls have a
higher comfort level when competing as a group, and that in pair conversations,
females generally discuss their personal feelings more than the males.
In contrast to the view of boys’ higher achievement in language education,
Offorma’s (2005) findings highlight the tendency of under-achievement of boys in
modern foreign languages. The factor of under-achievement in languages on the part
of boys was discovered to be a problem based on lack of motivation and inadequate
use of teaching materials by teachers, hence the recommendations that teachers should
adopt language techniques for motivating boys such as target setting, use of ICT
materials, use of interesting topics that make learning fun, and learning situations that
give them challenges.
This finding is in line with Lyon’s (2010) who noted in a clinical study that
specific language impairment (SLI) cases were more common in males than females.
He explained that the elevated rates of SLI in males has been that males in general
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have poorer verbal skills than females. Also girls have more language processing
neurons and develop fine motor skills ealier than boys.
The import of the foregoing is that gender is not a significant factor in the
academic achievement of students in English Grammar as evidenced in this study that
gender factors can be in favour of boys or girls.
Effect of School Location on Students’ Achievement in English Grammar
The result in Table 4 reveals that the urban students who were taught English
Grammar using the Functional-Notional Approach had a higher mean gain score than
their rural counterparts. The result is similar to earlier findings by Ezema (2002),
Uzoegwu (2005), Agbedo (2007) and Dulay et al (2008) which substantiated the fact
that the location of a school is an important aspect of learning, and no two school
environments are the same. Effective teaching and learning of English language can
only take place in a conducive environment with adequate provision of learning
facilities and other infrastructure, quality text books, and a good number of qualified
teachers to handle the subject. Their studies proved however that the rural schools
lacked the basic learning facilities, good English textbooks, teaching aids and
qualified teachers. The rural students were learning in dilapidated buildings, over-
crowded classrooms, and in most of the schools, there were few qualified English
teachers to teach the students.
Other studies that share similar views are those by Fillmore (2007), Yule
(2007) and Lyons (2010) who emphasise the fact that the teacher of English as a
second language has a major responsibility of creating an entirely new language
environment which is functional for the student who is learning a language that is not
used in his speech community. Also, since language learning is as much a social
process as it is a cognitive one, the teacher needs to involve a wide variety of
123
situations such as conversations with friends, watching television, reading street signs
and newspapers as well as other classroom activities.
The finding made by Seedhouse (2005) however, is not in consonance with the
earlier findings. He discovered that social environment is the determinant norm in
language learning. In his finding, it is difficult to say whether the learners did not
learn because they were not motivated to do so. Social status relationships and group
attitudes can play a major role in determining the direction language learning will take
when two groups come into contact.
The implication is that the rural students taught English Grammar using the
Functional-Notional Approach did not achieve significant high scores, possibly
because they were not conversant with the new language activities introduced. The
urban students achieved significantly higher scores because the language activities
and functions applied by the teacher in the Functional-Notional Approach were not
completely new to them. It behoves the teachers of English language therefore, to
adopt the FNA in teaching English Grammar in order to promote functional usage of
English by students, and this will in turn enhance their academic achievement in
school.
Interaction effect of Treatment and Gender on Students’ Achievement in English
Grammar.
The result of this study shows no significant difference in the effect of
treatment on male and female students taught English Grammar using the Functional-
Notional Approach. This is an indication that proper application of treatment on male
and female students significantly improved the academic achievement of both the
male and female students in English Grammar.
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The finding is similar to the views of Demo (2001), Opeibi (2004) Edmundson
(2010) and Cook (2010) who observed that learners in second language classrooms
have limited experience with a variety of interactive practices in the target language.
So second language teachers should seek to expose learners to different discourse
patterns in different texts and interactions. For instance, students can study speech acts
in any particular interactive communicative event, or take turns in a telephone
conversation between two people. This implies that the new language learning
techniques adopted by the teacher to expose the male and female students to different
interactive and conversation patterns yielded much positive results to the students.
This is a proof that the Functional-Notional Approach adopted in the treatment session
made positive effect on students’ achievement in English Grammar.
In this study the male and female students who were exposed to treatment of
FNA in teaching English Grammar benefitted equally, hence there is no significant
difference in the students’ achievement. The finding is at variance with the view of
Adaji (2004) who discovered that the overall mean achievement score of all the male
students in his study was significantly higher than the mean achievement score of the
female students.This is an evidence that there are inconsistencies in the effect of
treatment and gender on students’ achievement in English Grammar.
Interaction effect of treatment and school location on students’ achievement in
English Grammar
The result in this study shows that the interaction effect of treatment with the
Functional-Notional Approach had a significant influence on the posttest achievement
scores in school location, in which case, the urban students in the treatment group had
a higher mean posttest score than their rural counterparts in the treatment group. This
125
implies that the urban students in the treatment group performed better than the rural
students in the treatment group.
This finding is similar to Ezema (2002) who found that school location was a
significant determinant factor in students’ achievement in English Grammar, because
his study discovered that students in the rural areas were at a disadvantage in terms of
language learning facilities, quality textbooks and qualified English language
teachers.
Contrarily, Uzoegwu’s (2005) finding showed that the rural students had
higher gain scores than their urban counterparts after treatment.The foregoing is an
indication that there are inconsistencies in the effect of treatment and school location
on students’ achievement in English Grammar. This goes to prove that school location
is not a significant factor in the achievement of students in English Grammar.
Conclusion
Based on the findings of this study, the following conclusions are drawn:-
1. Teaching with the Functional-Notional Approach significantly promotes
students’ achievement in English Grammar.
2. Gender difference is not a significant factor in the achievement of students in
English Grammar.
3. School location is not a significant factor in the achievement of students taught
English Grammar using the Functional-Notional Approach.
4. The interaction effect of treatment and gender was significant on the
achievement of students in English Grammar.
5. The interaction effect of treatment and school location was significant on the
achievement of students in English Grammar.
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Educational Implications
Based on the findings of this study, several educational implications were
derived:
The results of the study have provided useful empirical basis for maximizing
the opportunities that promote the teaching and learning of English language at the
secondary school level, since it was discovered that the group exposed to the
Functional-Notional Approach performed better in their achievement in English
Grammar than the group that was taught using the conventional teaching method. This
implies that the FNA is more effective than the conventional method in English
language teaching and learning.
The situation is so because the FNA syllabus is learner centered, the lesson
contents are designed to capture the students’ interest and involve their high level of
participation in class activities. The materials for the FNA syllabus have been
enriched with varieties of language functions to encourage learners to acquire real
practical mastery of the English language. The students find the interactive process
very rewarding as they work in pairs and groups. Class activities in the FNA do not
give room for boredom on the part of the students or monotony on the part of the
teacher because it ensures that the students are actively engaged in functional
activities.These exercises will in turn, enhance the students’ achievement in good
grammatical expressions, fluency for inter-personal and social interactions, good
essay writing and general creditable performance in English language examinations.
On gender issues, the study discovered that gender difference is not a
significant factor in students’ achievement in English Grammar. The implication is
that English language teachers should be at liberty to expose both male and female
students to equal language learning experience in the classroom. Certain motivational
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techniques can be applied in motivating both boys and girls, though there are some
preferred techniques for boys and for girls. It is possible that the male students exhibit
weakness, lack of interest or under-achievement in their studies, the teacher in such
situations, applies some motivational devices such as target setting, use of ICT
materials, introducing interesting topics to make learning fun. On the other hand, the
teacher should increase his enthusiasm and use teacher-student rapport to motivate the
girls.
The essence of this is to awaken each group to overcome the challenges and
hindrances in English language learning so that they can achieve proficiency in
grammatical expressions.
In terms of school location and achievement of students in English Grammar,
the learning environment that is conducive for good acquisition of language is that
which is enriched with learning facilities, quality textbooks as well as qualified and
experienced teachers. If the teacher of English as a second language in Nigeria should
create an environment as natural as that in which the child learned his first language,
then the learning process will be more effective and speedy. This will motivate the
teacher to put in more efforts and to supervise the students, since he has created a
student-centered learning, environment. As the students do well in their class
activities and also pass their examinations, the teacher will have more job satisfaction
and will be encouraged in his job.
Finally, this study also examined the interaction effect of treatment and gender
as well as the interaction effect of school location. The FNA makes use of real-life
situations to motivate the students in order to take active part in the classroom, since
language is human interaction. As the students interact, they also acquire good
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language skills that will enable them to perform both their academic functions and the
social functions.
Recommendations
The present study examines a functional approach to English language
teaching by emphasizing the necessity of exposing learners to the strategies of
acquiring discourse skills that will make them competent communicators in the target
language. The results have revealed the advantages of the Functional-Notional
Approach (FNA) over the conventional method of teaching English Grammar using
Modal Auxiliaries as language functions.
Based on the findings made in this study, the researcher attempts to make the
following recommendations:
1. Secondary school students should be helped to acquire the necessary language
skills such as verbal communication, discourse as well as linguistic skills
which they require to improve their communicative competence and be able to
apply such skills in context of situations as it relates to their social and
academic environment. This skill is necessary because learners need
proficiency in English language in order to excel in their future career.
2. Teachers in English language classrooms must concentrate more on the
functional approach than the teaching of formal structures of language alone,
because the teaching of only formal structures produces users of “Bookish
English” who can hardly apply language functions to different situations and
contexts. In line with the socio-linguistic theorists, language is habit formation
and not rule-governed. However, the eclectic approach is recommended in
which the teacher takes initiative to apply the method of teaching that should
be suitable for the immediate class or language situation.
129
3. English language teachers should incorporate materials that are both task and
activity oriented, because teaching materials that are only based on all-
grammar rules, structure and vocabulary work, will end up making learners
passive and dormant in the class. Rather, teachers should include activities like
games, drama, dialogue, conversations and other interest-stimulating activities
which promote learner participation in the language class. The goal of these
activities is to produce learners who can use the English language functionally
and achieve communicative competence.
4. Textbook writers should be encouraged to adopt Functional-Notional syllabus
which is both content and material based. They should adopt the approach in
the grading and sequencing of the unit components. This is important because
students’ learning activities are arranged from simple to complex and from the
known to unknown.
5. Curriculum planners should develop student-centered curriculum with
emphasis on learning functional English, which will give room to students
participating more in the language learning process, as well as provide useful
guides for the teacher in a second language situation.
6. Since many English teachers in the field are not conversant with the innovation
in English Language Teaching (ELT), the Federal Government, through the
Federal Ministry of Education should organize seminars and workshops to
train the teachers in this new language teaching move.
7. English Language teachers should adopt a strategy whereby both male and
female students are exposed to equal learning experience in the classroom.
They should apply some techniques to motivate the boys and the girls and take
care of their different learning needs.
130
8. In addition, curriculum planners for teacher training institutions should make
efforts to include the Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) which
culminates into the Functional-Notional Approach (FNA) into the English
course units for the student teachers. This will enable the student teachers to be
abreast of the innovations in English Language Teaching before they go into
the field.
Limitations of the Study
The findings of this study and the conclusions drawn may have been influenced by a
number of limitations, which might include:
1. The possible introduction of some extraneous variables by the irregular
attendance of some students from the intact classes used in the experiments.
2. The introduction of some bias due to the time duration of the experiments.
Probably, the result of the study would have been different if the study had
lasted longer, maybe twelve weeks.
3. The independent variable would have yielded a different result if a different
language function was used in the study, probably Subject-Verb Agreement.
Suggestions for Further Study
The following suggestions, based on the findings of the study are made for further
research:
1. A replication of the study in other aspects of English Language Teaching
(ELT) in order to ascertain the effect of the FNA in students’ achievement in
pronunciation, comprehension or essay writing.
2. A replication of this study using secondary school students from another part
of the country other than Imo State.
131
3. A replication of this study with a wider sample by including other variables
such as motivation and attitude as factors that may have interaction effect with
the FNA on students’ academic achievement.
4. Examining the interaction effect of age and intelligence as factors in students’
academic achievement.
Summary of the Study
This study investigated the effect of the Functional-Notional Approach on
students’ achievement in English grammar in Owerri North Local Government Area
of Imo State.
The desire was motivated by the need to find out whether teaching English
Grammar using the Functional-Notional Approach will contribute to improving
students’ achievement in English language usage. This was informed by the
observation and concern that the achievement of Nigerian students in English
language examinations was steadily on the decline, in spite of the unique position that
the English language occupies in national life.
To guide the study, five research questions were generated, also five null hypotheses
were formulated to help answer the research questions, tested at 0.05 level of
significance.
Related literature was reviewed under the sub-headings of conceptual
framework, theoretical framework, empirical studies which included studies
conducted both in and outside Nigeria, and then the summary of literature review.
This study adopted a quasi-experimental research design, and specifically the
non-equivalent pretest/posttest control group design. A sample of 162 junior
secondary two (JSS2) students was drawn from three secondary schools. The
population of the study consisted of all JSS2 students in the nineteen (19) government
132
owned secondary schools in Owerri North Local Government Area of Imo State out
of which three schools were sampled using the multi-stage sampling technique. The
subjects were not randomly assigned to treatment and control groups, since intact
classes were used for the experiments.
The instrument used for collecting data in this study was an achievement test
consisting of twenty (20) multiple choice items. The initial drafts of the instrument
were face-validated by experts in order to ascertain the clarity of the test items and
adequate content coverage of the lesson objectives. A reliability test was conducted on
thirty (30) students outside the area of study. The test was administered in an interval
of two weeks on the same students.
The data obtained at the two administrations were used to estimate the stability
index of the instrument using the Pearson Product Moment Correlation Co-efficient
(Pearson r) which yielded a value of 0.84. Similarly the researcher used the Split-Half,
Reliability Co-efficient measured in the Spearman-Brown Efficient of Equivalence in
order to estimate the internal consistency of the test items, which gave a value of 0.95,
indicating a high level of internal consistency.
The data collected were analyzed using Mean and Standard Deviation to
answer the research questions, and Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) to test the null
hypotheses formulated at 0.05 level of significance. The study yielded the following
results proving that teaching with the Functional-Notional Approach significantly
promotes students’ achievement in English Grammar. Also gender difference is not
found a significant factor in the achievement of students in English Grammar. Thirdly,
school location is not a significant factor in the achievement of students taught
English Grammar using the FNA. The interaction effect of treatment and gender was
significant on the achievement of students in English Grammar. In the same vein, the
133
intraction effect of treatment and school location was significant on the achievement
of students in English Grammar.
Certain educational implications were raised in the study which includes that
teaching English Grammar with the FNA enhances functional use of grammatical
expressions and communicative competence among the learners. English Language
teachers should also create learning environment as natural as what the child finds in
learning the first language. This will make the language learning process more
effective and speedy. Recommendations were made in the study for the students, the
English Language teachers, textbook writers, curriculum planners and authorities in
teacher training institutions for the improvement of the English Language pedagogy in
schools.
134
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140
APPENDIX I
A SAMPLE LESSON PLAN USING THE INDIGENOUS COMMUNICATIVE
LESSON MODEL
Subject: English
Broad Area: Grammar
Topic: Making Requests with the Modal Auxiliaries – Can and Could
Duration: 80 Minutes (Double Period)
Instructional Materials: Dictionary, Junior English Project Book 2, Telephone,
Wrist Watch (as time piece).
Behavioural Objectives: By the end of the lesson, the students should be able to:
1. Use the Modal Auxiliaries – Can and Could appropriately in making requests.
2. Engage effectively in a dialogue using the new language function introduced.
3. Differentiate between the uses of ‘can and could’ in making requests.
4. Participate actively in a given role-play.
5. Respond correctly to requests made using the language function introduced.
141
Instructional Procedure:-
Identification of Previous Knowledge:-
Teacher’s
Activities
Students’
Activities
Mode Instructional
Materials Techniques
1. Asks students
if they have had
any cause to
make requests
from anyone
that day. 2. Tells
some of them to
say to the class
the requests
they made, and
to whom the
request was
made.
Respond to
the
teacher’s
question
by
answering
Yes or No.
2.Say what
requests
they made
and to
whom.
Individuals Dictionary,
Wrist Watch,
Junior
English
Project Book
2.
Miming,
Discussion,Questions.
142
Exploration:-
Teacher’s
Activities
Students’
Activities
Mode Instructional
Materials
Techniques
Introduces
the lesson
telling the
students that
she will make
some requests
from them
while they
note the
words that go
with such
requests.
2.Writes
down the
topic:
Making
Requests
with Can
and Could as
Modal
Auxiliaries.
3.Turns to the
students and
explains the
grammatical
uses of the
words in
making polite
requests and
asking for
permission.
Note the
requests the
teacher will
make and
the words
she will use.
Observe the
teacher.
Take note of
the
teacher’s
explanation.
Individuals Junior English
Project BK 2.
Demonstration,
Explanation.
143
Application
Teacher’s
Activities
Students’
Activities
Mode Instructional
Materials
Techniques
Walks up to a
student and makes
a request thus:
James, can I
borrow your pen
please?
2. Turns to
another student
and says:
Julie, can you
lend me your
dictionary?
3.Repeats the
dialogue with
another student
changing the item
under request.
Respond to the
teacher’s
request:
Yes, you can.
Respond to the
teacher’s
request:
Yes, with all
pleasure.
Two students
stand up and
follow the
teacher’s guide
in making the
requests.
Individua
ls
Pens, Books,
Dictionary
Demonstratio
n
Dialogue
Dialogue
144
Discussion:-
Teacher’s
Activities
Students
Activities
Mode Instructional
Materials
Techniques
Explains
further the use
of the verb
‘could’. It is
used to ask for
permission or
make requests
when one is not
sure of the
answer, that is,
doubtful of
what the
response would
be. E.g.
Could you
sweep the
classroom first
thing
tomorrow? 3.Introduces a
telephone
conversation to
help students
practice the
language
function. The
conversation is
between
Gladys, a
company
receptionist and
Mr Olu an
architect.
Caller: (dials
the number
0468790).
Gladys: ( picks
the phone)
Hello!
Caller: Hello,
could I speak
with Mr Alex
please.
Gladys: I’m
sorry he’s not
available at the
Listen and
observe the
teacher.
Practise the
conversation
in pairs
following the
teacher’s
direction.
Individual
Pair-work
Students’ text
Students’ text
Explanation.
Demonstration
Dialogue
145
moment.
Caller: Oh, can
I leave a
message,
please?
Gladys:
Certainly.
Caller: Please
say that Mr Olu
called.
Gladys: Is that
Mr Olu the
architect?
Caller: That’s
right. Please
tell him that
planning
permission for
the new site has
been granted.
He can start
building
whenever he
wishes.
Gladys: Thank
you Mr Olu. I
will tell him as
soon as he
comes in.
Caller: That’s
nice of you.
you Mr Olu. I
will tell him as
soon as he
comes in.
Caller: That’s
nice of you.
Evaluation
Directs students to
engage in a short
dialogue between
someone who has
to write an exam,
his Maths set gets
missing and he asks
his friend to help
him.
Engage in the
dialogue, e.g Sam
and Paul. They
exchange roles.
Pair-
work
Role-play.
146
APPENDIX II
SAMPLE LESSON 2 USING THE INDIGENOUS COMMUNICATIVE
MODEL.
Subject: English
Broad Area: Grammar
Topic: Making Requests with the Modal Auxiliaries – May and Might.
Duration: 80 Minutes (Double Period)
Instructional Materials: Junior English Project Book 2, Dictionary, Mobile phone
(hand-set), calculator.
Behavioural Objectives:
By the end of the lesson, the students should be able to:
1. Mention occasions in which – may and might are used in making requests.
2. Make requests using – may and might- appropriately.
3. Respond correctly to requests made by someone.
4. Engage actively in dialogues requiring the uses of may and might.
5. Participate actively in role- play involving members of the class, using the new
language function introduced.
147
Instructional Procedure:-
Identification of Previous Knowledge:-
Teacher’s Activities Students’
Activities
Mode Instructional
Materials
Techniques
1. Informs students
that request-making
activities will
continue in the lesson
just as in the previous
lesson.
2. Asks the class to
recall the words used
in the previous lesson
for making requests.
1. Pay attention
to the teacher.
2. Respond to
the teacher’s
question by
providing the
answers – can
and could.
Class Junior
English
Project, Book
2.
Junior
English
Project 2.
Explanation
Question.
148
Exploration
Teacher’s Activities Students’
Activities
Mode Instructional
Materials
Techniques
1. Introduces the
lesson as she
writes the topic
on the board
‘’Making
Requests with
the Modal
Auxiliaries –
May and Might.
2. Explains that the two
verbs ‘may and might’
are also modal
auxiliaries used for
making requests and
asking for permission
in different occasions.
Observe the
teacher and
take note of
the topic of
the lesson.
Listen to the
teacher’s
explanation.
Class
Class.
Students’ text
Students’ text
Demonstration
Explanation.
149
Application
Teacher’s
Activities
Students’
Activities
Mode
Instructional
Materials
Techniques
1, The teacher
explains that
using ‘may’ to
make requests
is more polite
than using ‘can
or could’.
2. She gives the
example of the
usage of ‘may’
as follows:
If a student is
late to class
while the
teacher has
already started
the lesson, he
stands at the
door and
obtains
permission
from the
teacher this
way:
Student A:
May I come in,
sir?
Teacher: Yes,
you may.
Student B:
1. Listen and
note the
difference
in the use
of ‘may,
can and
could’ in
making
requests at
different
occasions.
2. Take the
examples given
by the teacher and
play their part in
the action.
Class
Individuals
Students’
notebooks
Explanation
Example,
Demonstration.
150
(pressed in the
course of the
lesson): Excuse
me sir, may I
go and ease
myself?
Teacher: Yes,
you may, Alice.
151
Discussion:-
Teacher’s Activities Students’
Activities
Mode Instructional
Materials
Techniques
Explains further that ‘may’ is
also used to express formal and
polite requests. For example, if
you enter someone’s office,
especially a superior, you should
not just sit down when he has
not offered you a seat. You
should say: May I sit down,
sir?
Answer: Okay, you may.
Sir, may I explain myself on
the issue?
Answer: Alright, go on.
Discusses the use of ‘might’ in
making requests. It is used
occasionally when one wants to
be particularly polite or
respectful. Example:
Student: Excuse me sir, might I
possibly use your dictionary for
a moment?
Teacher: I suppose so.
Student: Sir, might I use your
handset to make a call to my
parents?
Teacher: Oh well, I suppose so.
Here, the teacher introduces a
dialogue between a child (son)
and his father. The child asks for
Listen and
repeat the
examples
Class Students’
notebook
Explanation
.
Examples.
152
permission to visit a friend in the
neighbourhood. The father asks
some questions and later permits
him. The dialogue ensues:
Son (Kenneth): Knock!
Knock!!
Father: Who is it?
Son: Daddy, it’s Ken, may I
come in?
Father: Yes you may.
Son: (opens the door) Daddy,
we were given an assignment by
the Geography teacher, may I go
over to Ike’s house for a group
discussion?
Father: When do you hope to
finish?
Son: We may finish the
discussion in about an hour.
Father: Alright, you may go,
but come back in time.
Son: Thank you Dad!
Next, the teacher directs students
to act as she calls them out in
pairs. They later exchange roles
until the activity goes round.
153
Evaluation:-
Teacher’s Activities Students’
Activities
Mode Instructional
Materials
Techniques
Gives an assignment
and pairs up the
students.
Tells the different
groups to write out a
dialogue between
student A and B where
student A asks for
permission from B to
use his calculator for
an assignment in
Mathematics. Student
B grants the
permission. Student A
is grateful.
She marks the exercise
submitted to her.
Stay in
pairs and
write the
assignment
as directed
by the
teacher.
They
submit to
teacher for
marking.
They go
through
their
exercise
books for
the
teacher’s
comment.
Students
in pairs.
Students’
exercise books
Pair-work.
Writing
Marking of
books.
154
APPENDIX III
SAMPLE LESSON 3 USING THE INDIGENOUS COMMUNICATIVE
MODEL.
Subject; English
Broad Area: Grammar
Topic: Expressing Obligation and Necessity with Ought to, and Must.
Duration: 8o Minutes (Double Period).
Instructional Materials: Students’ Text (Junior English Project Book 2),
Dictionary, Time piece.
Behavioural Objectives: by the end of the lesson, the students should be to:
1. Make sentences that express obligation using the modal auxiliary – Should.
2. Make sentences using the modal auxiliary ‘must’ to express necessity.
3. Express obligation using the modal auxiliary ‘ought to’
4. Identify the differences in the usage of the modal verbs introduced
5. Recognise the order of usage from obligation to Necessity (weak to strong).
Engage actively in a dialogue using the modal auxiliaries introduced.
155
Instructional Procedure:-
Identification of Previous Knowledge
Teacher’s Activities Students’
Activities
Mode Instructional
Materials
Techniques
Asks the class how
they can make polite
requests or ask for
permission from
their friends or
seniors.
Calls up a student
and asks: if you have
a running nose in the
class and you want
the teacher to permit
you to go out and
clean up, what
would you say to the
teacher?
Respond to the
teacher’s
question by
applying the
knowledge they
had acquired
from the previous
lessons.
Response:
Excuse me sir,
may I go and
ease myself?
Class
Individual
Previous
knowledge
Question
Question.
156
Exploration:-
Teacher’s
Activities
Students’
Activities
Mode Instructional
Materials
Techniques
Introduces the
lesson as she
explains that there
are more modal
verbs other than the
ones treated
previously As you
interact daily with
others there may be
need to express
something you are
expected to do, that
is Obligation, or
something
important, that is
Necessity. The
modal auxiliaries
suitable to express
the states mentioned
are in this order-
Should, Ought to,
Must.
She writes the topic
on the board and
calls the students’
attention to that.
Pay attention
to the
teacher’s
explanation
and note the
new words
introduced in
the lesson.
Follow the
teacher’s
direction to
what she
has written
on the board.
Individuals Students’ text Explanation
Demonstration
157
Application:-
Teacher’s
Activities
Students’
Activities
Mode Instructional
Materials
Techniques
She informs the
class that the modal
verbs in the day’s
lesson will be
treated in the order
of expressing
obligation from
weak form to
strong form
following the
arrows:(weak form)
Obligation -����
Should ���� Ought
to ���� Must
����Necessity
(strong form).
Points to the word
‘Obligation’ on the
board and asks the
students to
pronounce it along
with her.
As she tells any
member of the
class to say the
possible meaning
of the word, she
explains that
obligation is
something one is
Take note of
the order of
the modal
verbs –
should
(weak) to
must
(strong).
Pronounce
the word
‘Obligation’
in chorus.
Say the
meaning the
word as they
understand.
Class
Class
Individuals
Individuals
Students’ text.
Dictionary
Explanation
Demonstration
158
expected to do.
Therefore the verb
‘should’ is used to
express such
obligation, e.g. 1.
You should be
polite to your
elders. 2 You
should love your
neighbour as
yourself.
Next, she
introduces the use
of ‘Ought to’ in
expressing
obligation. It can
be slightly stronger
than ‘should’ and it
is often used to
refer to rules and
regulations. To
differentiate
further, ‘should’ is
used in informal
situations and to
ask questions,
while ‘ought to’
expresses
expectation.
Examples:
Should we invite
Mary to the party?
Take note of
the
examples
and give
similar
sentence
examples.
Examples
159
Answer: We ought
to, she invited us to
hers.
Lizzy ought to
apologise for her
rudeness.
Next, she
introduces the use
of ‘must’ as a
modal auxiliary. It
is used to express
absolute necessity.
It means that in the
speaker’s opinion
there is no choice.
Example: 1. You
must study hard
before you pass
your exams. 2.You
must eat well in
order to be strong.
3. Before you enter
the kingdom of
God, you must be
born again.
160
Discussion:-
Teacher’s Activities Students’
Activities
Mode Instructional
Materials
Techniques
Introduces a dialogue for
students’ practice, as
follows:
Kate: Have you done your
homework?
Lois: No, do I have to do it
right now?
Kate: Yes you should
before it is too late.
Lois: You don’t seem to
give me much choice.
Kate: Why should I? It’s
something you must do
anyway!
Lois: You must or ought
to?
Kate: Must, otherwise
you’ll be in trouble.
Lois: Alright, I think I
should do it right away.
Engage in
the dialogue
as directed
by the
teacher,
taking note
of the uses of
the new
language
functions.
Pair-
work
Teacher’s
note
Dialogue
Pair-work
Role-play
161
Evaluation:-
Teacher’s Activities Students’
Activities
Mode Instructional
Materials
Techniques
Calls out students in
pairs to act the roles of
Kate and Lois
respectively. They
demonstrate, showing
the meaning of the
words.
She gives a written
exercise to the
students.
1.Write two things you
must do every
morning.
Write two things you
ought to do before you
go to bed everyday.
3. Write two things
you must do every
Sunday.
Come out
in pairs as
directed by
the teacher.
Act the
roles of
Kate and
Lois.
Write the
exercise in
their
notebooks
and submit
to the
teacher for
marking.
Pair-work
Individuals
Students’
exercise
books.
Role-play.
Writing
162
APPENDIX IV
LESSON PLAN 4 USING THE INGENOUS COMMUNICATIVE MODEL
Subject: English
Broad Area; Grammar
Topic: Expressing Ability and Possibility Using Modal Auxiliaries –Can, Could,
May and Might.
Duration: 80 Minutes (Double Period)
Instructional Materials: Copies of a reading passage, Students’ text (Junior English
Project Book 2)
Behavioural Objectives: By the end of the lesson, the students should be able to:
1. Make correct sentences using ‘can’ to express ability.
2. Make correct sentences using ‘can’ to express possibility.
3. Make correct sentences using ‘may’ to express future possibility.
4. Make sentences that show the use of ‘might’ as past tense of ‘may’ to show a future
possibility.
5. Identify the difference between the use of ‘can’ in expressing ability and its use in
expressing possibility.
6. Engage actively in a dialogue centred on the use of the modal auxiliaries treated in
the lesson.
163
Instructional Procedure:-
Identification of Previous Knowledge:-
Teacher’s Activities Students’
Activities
Mode Instructional
Materials
Techniques
Asks the students to
mention some modal
auxiliaries for
expressing obligation
and necessity
respectively.
Tells the students to
use each word
mentioned in a
sentence to express
the right situation.
They mention
the modal
auxiliaries they
had been taught
for expressing
obligation and
necessity as
follows:
should, ought
to and must.
They make
appropriate
sentences using
the verbs
mentioned
above.
Individuals
Individuals
Students’
previous
knowledge,
notes.
Questions
Answers
164
Exploration:-
Teacher’s Activities Students’
Activities
Mode Instructional
Materials
Techniques
Distributes copies of a
short passage entitled
“John Kolobe - the
Blind” in order to
introduce the topic
and stimulate
students’ interest.
Instructs them to read
the passage quickly
and silently.
She pairs them up in
the way they would
answer the questions
from the passage.
From the foregoing,
she introduces the
topic of the lesson –
Expressing Ability
and Possibility using
Can, Could, May and
Might.
Receive
copies of the
passage.
Read the
short passage
quickly.
Respond to
the questions
as they write
either true or
false.
Take note of
the topic and
link it with
the content
of the
passage.
Class Short passage Demonstration
Questions
Answers
165
Application:-
Teacher’s Activities Students’
Activities
Mode Instructional
Materials
Techniques
Explains that ‘can’ is
used to express things
one in able to do.
Example:
I can jump the fence.
Tells them to note that
it is wrong to say ‘’ I
can be able to jump the
fence’’ because one is
redundant.
Points out that ‘could’
is the past tense of ‘can’
. Example: 1. Mary
could ride a bicycle
when she was three. 2.
She told me that she
could fix an engine.
Brings in the use of
May and Might to
express future
possibilities. The two
words mean almost the
same, but ‘might’ often
indicates something less
possible than ‘may’.
Draws their attention to
consider the following
examples: (i) When I
leave school I may get a
Listen
and give
their own
suitable
examples.
Class Teacher’s
sentence
examples
Explanation
Examples
166
job, I’m not sure yet, I
may go to the
university.
Question form:
A: When you travel
abroad, how long will
you stay?
B: I may spend four
years.
A: When you get
married, how many
children will you have?
B: I may have three, it
depends…
Discussion:-
Teacher’s
Activities
Students’
Activities
Mode Instructional
Materials
Technique
Draws student’s
attention to their
class text Junior
English Project, Bk
2 page 91, where a
Substitution Table
is used to help
students practise
the use of the
modal auxiliaries
treated in the
lesson.
She guides them to
apply the different
columns to achieve
meaningful
sentences.
Practise the
Substitution
Table in
turns as the
teacher
guides them
through.
Class Students’ text Substitution
Table.
167
Evaluation:-
Teacher’s Activities Students’
Activities
Mode Instructional
Materials
Techniques
Writes the following
questions on the
board and instructs
students to write the
answers in their
exercise books:
1. What jobs can
you do if you
are employed
as a secretary
to a company?
2. If you are
made the
Senior Prefect
of your
school, how
might you
treat your
classmates?
Take up
their
writing
materials,
pen and
exercise
book and
answer the
questions
on the
board.
Individuals Exercise
books
Questions.
168
APPENDIX IV B
PASSAGE 1
John Kolobe – The Blind.
Watching John Kolobe stroll along the school corridors, and walk confidently
from one school to another, it is hard to believe the 15-year old boy lives in a world of
total darkness.
John is a naturally cheerful, talkative boy who completely reconciled to his blindness.
He is one of the 26 students of the International School for the Blind who have been
integrated into normal to continue their secondary education. He has already
completed Form 1 at Surulere High School, and in the past year attended the same
classes, did the same homework and did the same exams as the other sighted students.
‘’ I want to enjoy all aspects of school life like the other students’’ he said. ‘’ I have
taken part in singing contests, and the general knowledge quiz, and I do my bit in the
clean classroom campaign. I have made a lot of friends. It puzzles me when people
ask if I can take a bath on my own, or need help to get to school.’’
Class Activity:
Were you to find the things that John Kolobe could do?
Look at this list of things that John Kolobe can or cannot do. In pairs, decide which of
them is TRUE and which is FALSE.
John Kolobe ……:
- Can find his way around the school ……. True / False
- is able to take the same exams as other students True / False
- is capable of enjoying all aspects of school life ……. True / False
- is unable to go to college because of his blindness…True / False
- is incapable of passing his exams in school …… True / False
- is able to participate in school competitions … True /False.
169
APPENDIX V
A SAMPLE LESION PLAN USING THE CONVENTIONAL METHOD OF
LANGUAGE TEACHING (GRAMMER TRANSLATION METHOD)
SUBJECT: English
BROAD AREA: Grammar
TOPIC: Making request with Modal Auxiliaries – Can and Could.
DURATION: 80 Minutes (Double Period).
INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS: Students’ text (Junior English Project Book 2).
BEHAVIOURAL OBJECTIVES: By the end of the lesson, the students should be
able to:
1. Use the model auxiliaries – Can and Could – in making requests appropriately;
2. Engage effectively in a dialogue using the new language function introduced.
3. Differentiate between the use of ‘can’ and ‘could’ in making requests.
4. Participate actively in the role-play given by the teacher.
5. Respond correctly to the requests made with the new language functions
introduced.
Set Induction: The students have been making requests of certain items from their
parents, friends and others.
Instructional Procedure:-
Step 1: Introduction: The teacher tells the students that the topic of the day’s
lesson is what has been written on the chalkboard. She directs their attention to the
board and asks them to read it out. Then she explains that ‘can’ and ‘could’ are modal
auxiliary verbs that are used in making requests or asking for permission.
170
Step 2: The teacher asks them to mention what is request making in Igbo!
To make request - i rio ihe
To ask for permission - i nara ike
Examples:
1. Can I come in, please?
Trans Biko, kam bata.
2. Can: Can I borrow your book?
Trans Biko, nyem akwukwo gi
3. Can: John, can I have drink, please?
Trans Jon, biko nyem ihe onounu.
4. Could: Could you give me your phone?
Trans Biko, i ga enwe ike nye m foonu gi?
5. Could someone wipe the board?
Trans Biko, onye ga-enwe ike ihicha bood?
Step 3: The teacher gives the explanation that the two modal auxiliaries are
used to express the idea of request making, or asking for permission from someone
before taking his/her belonging, or taking an action. They do not express exactly the
same idea by the speaker; but there is a slight difference in their usage. The examples
are shown in the table below:
171
A Table illustrating the use of the Modal Auxiliaries: Can and Could
A B C
Idea Expressed Modal Verb Used Example
Permission
Permission
Request
Can
Can
Can
Can in come in, please?
Can I borrow your book?
John, can I have a drink, please?
Permission
Polite Request
Could
Could
Could you give me your phone?
Could someone wipe the board?
Step 4: The teacher takes them through the Table, and reads the items under each
column. The students read after her and give their own examples in each case.
Step 5: Evaluation:- The teacher gives them an exercise in which they would supply
possible answers to the requests made in column C of the Table.
Example: Can I come in please?
Yes, you can.
Summary: The teacher marks the exercise and makes some corrections for the
students.
172
APPENDIX VI
ACHIEVEMENT TEST
Part A: Bio Data
The students supply the following information:
Name:
Class:
School:
Sex:
Date:
Part B: The Test
Instruction: Encircle the alphabet that corresponds with the correct option from the
answers given after each statement.
1. How would you ask your father to permit you to visit a friend in the
neighbourhood?
a. Daddy, I want to visit John after lunch.
b. Daddy, may I visit John after lunch?
c. Daddy, you might let me visit John after lunch.
d. Daddy, I may visit John after lunch, you know?
2. If your eraser is missing, how can you ask your classmate to lend you his own?
a. Can I borrow your eraser, please?
b. Might I borrow your eraser, my friend?
c. Who can borrow me an eraser?
d. Whose eraser can I borrow?
3. You miss your way to the station and you ask someone to direct you, what do you
say?
a. may I go to the station?
b. where can I get to the station?
c. excuse me to go to the station?
d. could you show me the way to the station, please?
4. You are asking for your friend’s company. What do you say?
a. Could you come with me to my uncle’s house?
b. Might you come with me to my uncle’s house?
c. Mightn’t you come with me to my uncle’s house?
d. Can’t you come with me to my uncle’s house?
5. You want the teacher to permit you to go out of the classroom. How do you ask for
permission?
a. may I go out, Sir?
b. can you allow me, Sir?
c. I wish you can allow me to go out, Sir.
d. I want to go out, Sir.
6. Your classmate sang a song which you appreciated, how do you ask him to
repeat the song?
a. I think you can sing your song again.
b. I think I can hear your song again.
c. could you repeat the song, please?
d. sing your song again.
173
7. I’m feeling rather unwell. I think I ------- go and lie down for a while.
a. Should
b. b. could have
c. c. Had better
d. d. Have better.
8. The teacher said we --------- to arrive early tomorrow.
a. Must
b. Should
c. Could have
d. Ought
9. My cousin told me that I ------- spend more time studying.
a. Should to
b. Ought to
c. Must to
d. Will had to
10. Blind people ------------ to do a surprising number of things.
a. Can
b. Can be able
c. Are able
d. Can be capable to
11. If you ----------- to use an encyclopaedia, then you are capable of studying
anything.
a. Are able
b. Can
c. Can be able
d. Are capable
12. The teacher said that games are optional, we ----- do them if we didn’t
want to.
a. Have to
b. Need to
c. oughtn’t to have
d. Mustn’t
13. If you want to cross the road, you -------- look each way.
a. Must
b. Ought
c. Have
d. Needed
14. When I was young I -------- read in three languages.
a. Can
b. Could
c. Was able
d. Was capable to True / False
174
15. You want to request the Vice Principal Academic to give you his mobile
phone for an urgent call to your guardian. What do you say to him?
a. Can I use your phone, Sir?
b. Might I use your phone briefly, Sir?
c. Will you give me your phone, please?
d. Mightn’t you give me your phone, please?
16. You are carrying a pile of books to the library and Mary is standing by the door.
What do you say to Mary?
a. Might you open the door, Mary?
b. Can’t you open the door Mary?
c. Could you open the door, Mary?
d. Could you not open the door, Mary?
17. Assume that you are riding your chopper bicycle to school and one of the tyres
gets punctured on the way. What would you tell Kemi your friend?
a. Kemi, should you tell our teacher I’ll be late to school?
b. Kemi, might you tell our teacher I’ll be late to school?
c. Kemi, could you not tell our teacher I’ll be late to school?
d. Kemi, could you tell our teacher I’ll be late to school?
18. Might I possibly use your marker, sir?
a. Yes, with pleasure.
b. Yes, not really.
c. No, you may.
d. No, you might.
19. I ------- a letter to my aunt, to thank her for having me to stay with her during the
long vacation.
a. Should write
b. Should had written
c. Must have written
d. Have written
20. You ------personal letters in class time.
a. Have better write
b. Are not to be writing
c. Ought not to write
d. Have not to write
175
APPENDIX VII Marking Scheme: NOs 1 – 20
1. B (Daddy, may I visit John after lunch? )
2. A (can I borrow your eraser please?)
3. D (could you show me the way to the station, please?)
4. A (could you come with me to my uncle’s house?)
5. A (may I go out sir?)
6. C (could you repeat the song please?)
7. A (should)
8. D (ought)
9. B (ought to)
10. C (are able)
11. A (are able)
12. D (mustn’t)
13. A (must)
14. B (could)
15. B (might I use your phone briefly, sir?)
16. C (could you open the door Mary?)
17. D (Kemi could you tell our teacher I’ll be late to school?)
18. A (yes, with pleasure)
19. A (should write)
20. C (ought not to write)
176
APPENDIX VIII
TEST BLUE PRINT
TOPIC 1
Making Requests
with “Can and
Could”
TOPIC 2
Making Request
with “May and
Might”
TOPIC 3
Expressing
Obligation and
Necessity with
Should, Ought to,
Must
TOPIC 4
Expressing Ability
and Possibility with
Can, Could, May
and Might
TOTAL
Knowledge 1 2 2 1 6 (30%)
Comprehension 3 2 5 (25%)
Application 2 2 (10%)
Analysis 2 1 2 5 (25%)
Synthesis 2 2 (10%)
Evaluation
Total 6 (30%) 4 (20%) 5 (25%) 5 (25%) 20 (100%)
177
APPENDIX IX (A)
RELIABILITY OF INSTRUMENT (USING PEARSON PRODUCT MOMENT
CORRELATION CO-EFFICIENT)
STUDENT’S NAME X Y X2 Y2 XY
Attah A. Vivian 12 12 144 144 144
Abel Mercy 10 11 100 121 110
Ebel Ebere 8 8 64 64 64
Kaigama Adikwu 15 15 225 225 225
Francis Blessing 12 11 144 121 132
Ugwu Joy 11 8 121 64 88
Ogene Happiness 6 4 36 16 24
Adah G. Rosemary 9 12 81 144 108
Itodo Samuel 12 12 144 144 144
Mohammed Abdul 15 14 225 196 210
Nwogbe Charity 11 9 121 81 99
Ugwu Valentine 13 11 169 121 143
Godwin Blessing 11 9 121 81 99
Samuel Gabriel 9 7 81 49 63
Idoko Abraham 8 10 64 100 80
Ugo Chukwudi 7 5 49 25 35
Agbo I. Virginia 13 15 169 225 195
Ugwu Joseph 10 9 100 81 90
Akeh Blessing 12 11 144 121 132
Okafor Nkechi 8 10 64 100 80
178
Omanehi Favour 15 13 225 169 195
Ubah Comfort 14 17 196 289 238
Alexander Mary 12 11 144 121 132
Suleiman Usman 8 10 64 100 80
Adayi Emmanuel 14 18 196 324 252
Mbaleze Sunday 11 11 121 121 121
Agada Ezekiel 08 7 64 49 56
Isiofia C. Mary 14 15 196 225 210
Remmy Favour 14 14 196 196 196
Okih Francis Joy 13 13 169 169 169
Total 335 332 3937 3986 3914
Step 1
∑ x y – (∑ x ∑y ) = 3914 – (335 x 332)
n 30
= 3914 – 3707.3
= 206.7
Step 2
∑x2 – (∑ x )2 = 3937 – (335)2
n 30
= 3937 – 3740.8
= 196.2
Step 3
∑y2 – ( ∑y )2 = 3986 – (332)2
n 30
= 3986 – 3674.1
= 311.9
179
Step 4
.: Correlation co-efficient (r) =
r = 9.3112.196
7.206
x
r = 8.61194
7.206
r = 84.04.247
7.206=
The value of (r) = 0.84. This indicates that there is positive relation between
the two sets of scores of the test. (r) always takes any value between (-1) and (11). (r)
value = + 1 when there is perfect relationship between two sets of scores x and y with
a unit increase in x always leading to a constant increase in y. (r) value = -1 also
denotes a perfect functional relationship but with a unit increase in x leading to a
constant decrease in y. (r) value = 0 when there is no relationship at all between x and
y. Other values between -1 and +1 indicate that there is a relationship even though this
is not a perfect one. (Stroud et al: 2007).
180
APPENDIX IX (B)
SPLIT-HALF APPROACH TO RELIABILITY OF TEST ITEM
(TEST OF INTERNAL CONSISTENCY)
S/N
(ODD)
SPLIT-Half Names
and Examination
Number
Calculation for correlation coefficient.
X (Scores)
1st Half
Y
(scores)
2nd
half
X2 Y2 XY
1 Attach A. Vivian 12 12 144 144 144
3 Ebel Ebere 8 8 64 64 64
5 Francis Blessing 12 11 144 121 132
7 Ogene Hapiness 6 4 36 16 24
9 Itodo Samuel 12 12 144 144 144
11 Nwogbe Charity 11 9 121 81 99
13 Godwin Blessing 11 9 121 81 99
15 Idoko Abraham 8 10 64 100 80
17 Agbo I. Virginia 13 15 169 225 195
19 Akeh Blessing 12 11 144 121 132
21 Omanehi Favour 15 13 225 169 195
23 Alexander Mary 12 11 144 121 132
25 Adayi Emnauel 14 18 196 324 252
27 Agada Ezekiel 08 7 64 49 56
29 Remmy Favour 14 14 196 196 196
Total 168 163 1976 1956 1944
23
181
Karl Pearson’s correlation coefficient (r) = r(x,y) is given by formular:
( ) ( )[ ] ( )( ) ( )( )
[ ] ( )( )( )
( ) ( ) ( ]
[ ]
897.01981177639237361776
277114161776
265692934027224296402738429160
2656919561528224197615163168194415
2222
=÷=÷=
÷=
−−÷−=
−−÷−=
Σ−ΣΣ−Σ÷ΣΣ−Σ=
r
xr
r
xxxxr
yynxxnyxxynr
Approximately Karl Pearson’s correlation coefficient = 0.9
Spearman – Brown slipt half correlation coefficient is givewn by formular
rxy =[2r]÷[1 + r] = [2 x 0.897] ÷ [ 1+ 0.897] = [ 1.794] ÷ [1.897] = 0.95
rxy = 0.95
Spearman – Brown split-half correlation coefficient rxy equals 0.95, this value stands for
high level of internal consistency within the test items. Spearman-Brown correlation
ranges between zero values (-1) and one value (+1). The more the calculated value tends
to one, the grater the level of internal consistency of the test item, (Ali, 2006). This
implies that the levelof internal consistency within the test items is high because the value
of split-half correlation coefficient is very close to one.
182
APPENDEX IX (C)
DISTRIBUTION OF SCHOOLS, SUBJECTS, LOCATION AND
EXPERIMENTAL GROUPS
Name of School Gender Location Treatment Control Total
Community Comp.
Sec.
Sch. Egbu
Boys Urban 20 22 42
Our Lady of Mount
Camel Sec. Sch.
Emekukwu
Girls Urban 28 40 68
Development Sec.
Sch. Emii
Co-Edu Rural 26 26 52
Total 162
183
APPENDIX X
VALIDATION OF INSTRUMENT
Department of Arts Education,
University of Nigeria,
Nsukka.
1st March, 2012.
Department of Arts Education,
University of Nigeria,
Nsukka.
Sir,
REQUEST FOR VALIDATION OF INSTRUMENT
I am a post-graduate student carrying out a research on the topic: EFFECTS
OF THE FUNCTIONAL – NATIONAL APPROACH ON STUDENTS’
ACHIEVEMENT IN ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
I therefore request your kind assistance in validating the instrument for data
collection.
I also enclose here information on the following aspects of the study:- a brief
introduction, purpose of the study, Research Questions, Hypotheses, samples of the
proposed lesson plan, draft of the test items and a cop of the Test-Blue Print.
Your contribution will be highly appreciated.
Yours faithfully,
Ozoemena, F. U.
