EFFECTS OF THE NIGERIAN ENGLISH ON THE ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF UNIVERSITY STUDENTS IN NIGERIA

1.1 Introduction

The English language is the standard language of instruction in all Ghanaian educational institutions at all levels (Yankah, 2013). The role of teacher in the success of any educational system cannot be over emphasized and that is why the National policy on education (2004) stipulated that no educational system can rise above the quality of its teacher, this shows the importance of a teacher in the school. The success of the English language programme depends greatly on the English language teacher since he is the prime mover that will put all that is contained in the curriculum into action. The teacher’s attitude in the classroom is very important in the learning of English language. According to Ololube (2009), teaching is seen as a diverse and complex activity because the goal of any teaching task is achievement (Ololube, 2009).

As a prelude to other parts of this study, this chapter will discuss the background upon which this study was initiated, the statement of problems that led to this study, the Aim and Objectives of the study. Others are Significance of the study, Scope of work, Research hypothesis and questions, Limitations of the Study and Definition of technical terms.

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1.2 Background of Study

The advent of the colonial master in African presumably marked the beginning of the use of the English language in the West Africa sub-regions. In other words, English which is also Nigeria’s official language was brought to Africa by her former colonial masters. Nigeria, being a multilingual nation, is one of the reason why English is accepted as the language of official communication. The fact that most Nigerians are illiterate and semi-illiterate made the using of English language as the language of official communication a big problem. As a result, the English language started having varieties, among which is, Nigerian English also known as Nigerian English.

In Nigeria, English language is a second language and a lingua franca. This means that it is the language for unit, communication economy, national pride, law, press, trade and instruction. As a language of instruction, it is an essential prerequisite for an advancement and career succession in the country. It means a lot in the life and progress of a child as it is a key subject with profound influence on all the school subjects. The English Language is used in the tertiary institution as core school subject. It is a solid foundational course. The key elements of the course are designed to cover the basic four language skills, which are listening, reading, speaking and writing. It is expected that after learning these skills in Secondary School, the students who choose to work can use the language fluently while those who wish to go further can be very proficient in the language. There is no doubt that the main purpose of teaching is to cause learning to take place, and English language is an important factor that contributes to students achievements. Many factors are contributory to the high performance of students in English Language (Esun, 2014).

According to Adeoye (2015), many students in English language, do not possess interests in the subject and do not have the required motivation to study the subject in teaching and learning of English Language. For students to perform well in English both external and internal examinations, they need to put proper interest and be motivated in the subject. Adeoye (2017) submitted that, absence of interest and motivation in anything one does, is the main factors militating against teaching and learning of English Language in secondary schools. Other factors that militate against teaching and learning of English Language in secondary schools are non-mastery of what is taught in the classroom by teachers and the non-availability of teaching/learning materials in the classrooms. Most teachers according to Adeleke (2016), do not possess the proper mastery of content of the aspect of English they teach in the classrooms, coupled with the non-availability of teaching materials which help the teacher to carry out effective presentation in the classrooms (Lamu, 2010).

According to Uzor (2014), when teacher-student ratio is low or moderate, it results to high academic achievement of students. In another development, Osarenren (2013), is of the opinion that, good school attendance, and effective study habits are pluses to the examination success of students in English language. For Osarenren (2013), if students attend their English language classes regularly and listen with rapt attention, they will obviously put up good performance in the subject during the examinations or tests. Again, good study habits of students in the subject are a great assistance to their effectiveness needed in examinations.

Therefore, in Nigeria where the research was carried out, the activities that was conducted is to know the Effects of the Nigerian English on the Academic Performance of University Students.

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1.3 Statement of Problems

Investigation revealed that the English Language is our cultural window into the world of heterogeneous culture and traditions. It is a gate of all higher intellectual pursuit. It is our medium of instruction in schools from the kindergarten to university level. Therefore, students at the secondary school levels are expected to communicate effectively in writing using the English Language.

It is however regrettable that the teaching of this important tool of both effective education and national / international socialization at secondary schools in Enugu South Local Government Area of Enugu State, just like in other secondary schools in Nigeria had been suffering some defects and neglects alike.

Lack of qualified teacher equipped to groom the students seems to be the major problems in the schools - Text books are constantly changed thereby causing disjointed teaching method. Above all, mother tongue interference poses a debilitating danger to the prospect of good English acquisition in those secondary schools.

Since the students first acquired their mother tongue before learning the English Language this leads to grammatical errors in time of their performance as these vernacular patterns are different from English patterns.

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1.4 Aim and Objectives of Study

The aim of the study is to determine the Effects of the Nigerian English on the Academic Performance of University Students in Nigeria. In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives were laid out as follows:

1. To examine the relationship between Nigerian English and Standard English, and its effects on the academic performance of tertiary university students;
2. To investigate the factors enhancing Nigerian English amongst university students;
3. To determine the extent to which Nigerian English affect the academic performance of university students; and
4. To proffer possible solution to the above stated problems of the existing research.

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1.5 Research Questions

The study came up with research questions so as to be able to ascertain the above stated objectives. The specific research questions for the study are stated below as follows:

• What is the extent to which Nigerian English affect the academic performance of university students?
• What are the factors enhancing Nigerian English amongst university students?
• What is the relationship between Nigerian English and Standard English, and its effects on the academic performance of tertiary university students?
• What is possible solution to the problems?

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1.6 Research Hypothesis

In order to pursue the objective of this study, the following generalized statements have been designed to guide and aids in obtaining the result for the experiment to be conducted. For this work, the null hypothesis will be represented with H0 while the alternative hypothesis will be represented with hypothesis H1.

Hypothesis One

• H0: Nigerian English does not have any significant effect on the academic performance of University Students.
• H1: Nigerian English has a significant effect on the academic performance of University Students.

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1.7 Significance of Study

The study on the effect of Nigerian English on the academic performance of tertiary students, will be of immense benefit to the entire students in the sense that it will enable them discover that Nigerian English has some limitations; for instance they cannot write their examination using Nigerian English, they cannot also communicate their ideas in the midst of educated people. It will help them begin to use Standard English so as to be conversant in it and at the same time meet their academic attainment.

This study will benefit the teachers in that it will move them to use simple and correct English in teaching instead of Nigerian English. The school management board will also benefit from this study since it will help them to understand the causes of failure in their written examinations. The authors of textbooks at all level of learning are not left out among the beneficiaries. This study will enable them to realize that using Nigerian English to express themselves will not in any way build up the students whom they are trying to build.

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1.8 Scope of Study

The scope of this research is focused on the Effects of the Nigerian English on the Academic Performance of University Students in Nigeria using Imo State University (IMSU) as a case study.

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1.9 Limitations of the Study

During the course of this study, many things militated against its completion, some of which are:

1. Time Constraint: The time frame given to accomplish this project was very short due to school academic calendar and it was carried out under pressure which made the researcher not to implement some necessary features.
2. Research material: availability of research material is a major setback to the scope of the study.
3. Frequent power failure: This made the researcher append more money on fuel to ensure sustainable power.
4. Financial Constraint: Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).

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1.10 Definition of Terms

Effect: A change which is a result or consequence of an action or other cause.

Pidgin English: Is an English-based Pidgin and creole language spoken as a lingua franca across Nigeria.