THE IMPACT OF ENVIRONMENT ON ENGLISH PERFORMANCE OF STUDENTS

1.1 Introduction

The school environment includes reading room, technical workshops, test center, lecture theatre, libraries, teachers’ school administration, instruction approaches, fellows and so forth and these are different variables that have emotional impact on students’ academic achievement (Ajayi, 2001). Therefore, the institute atmosphere remains a significant zone that would be studied and well administered in order to enhance and improve students’ educational performance (Olchukwu, 2000).

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, Limitations of the Study and Definition of technical terms.

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1.2 Background of Study

English language occupies a prominent place in the Nigerian school curriculum. The English language is one of the legacies to bequeathed Nigerians by the British which will be difficult to do away with. This is because it is the major medium of instruction in our schools, of business transactions, of communication both nationally and internationally. It is equally the language of industry since science and technology are “sine qua non” for development. It is the language of mass communication and propaganda in mass media. In literature and Arts, it is the language of novels, poems, short stories, music and drama. In social occasions, English language is used for conversation and interpersonal relationship. It is also the key to educational advancement.

It is our official language and therefore imperative that every Nigerian should be able to read, write and communicate in good simple English. This is important if Nigeria should overcome its health, economic, political and social problems. For instance, health for all in the year 2020 will be unrealizable if citizens cannot read simple prescriptions in English; transfer of technology will also be unrealizable if many Nigerians cannot read and understand relevant books which are written in English.

The language is gradually losing its standard. This is because the multiplicity of languages in Nigeria has some influence on the English spoken by Nigerians. One is again baffled to notice that secondary school students perform badly in West African School Certificate in English language Examination. In view of this, teaching and the use of English language should be given prominent attention in secondary schools as the majority of Nigerian parents are illiterates and cannot provide a conducive home environment for language acquisition nor afford good schools for their children’s education Azikiwe (1985). The environment will always affect the language used.

The need for mastery of English at the child’s early stages in life is far reaching because it makes for effective communication, better understanding and academic performance as the child moves from one level of education to another. A child with a solid knowledge of English language at the primary school will encounter less problems in reading and understanding books and materials on science and technology which are to a large extent positively correlated with social and economic development. There is need therefore for much more concern about effective teaching and learning of English language in our secondary schools and about products of our secondary schools not being able to meaningfully express themselves in English.

From the foregoing, the English language is very important now that the country is geared towards technological, social, economic and political development. A solid foundation in English should be laid for the children, right from the start as the much-talked about transfer of technology will be meaningless if the majority of Nigerians are poor at English as most materials on science and technology are written in English. Lack of understanding of these materials and poor communication with experts will definitely hamper our move for national development in all spheres of life. Moreover, for success in the campaign on rural development currently going on which advocates literacy and awareness for rural dwellers, English should be given a premier position in education of the rural dwellers for them to be able to contribute effectively to the improvement and development of their families, communities and the entire nation.

Teachers of English have a role to play to lay a solid foundation for the teaching of English as a subject. The researcher therefore sought to find out from teachers of English in secondary schools as well as senior secondary students, the influence of environment on performance of students in English.

However, the English language is not an indigenous language to this country. Time was, when no word of English was spoken in Nigeria. It was about the middle of the 18th century when the English language started making appearance in the linguistic map of the country. The language came from Britons. Before the English language, other European languages exited, such as the Portuguese language. As far back as the 16th century, they came around the Niger Delta and Lagos. Trade was an important factor to the coming of the English language in Nigeria. The pattern of trade was cocoa in exchange for gun-powder, clothing materials with the system of trade known as trade by barter.

The trade took another dimension of slave trade which is known as the trans-Atlantic and trans-Saharan trades called “the triangular slave trade” (1879). The slaves carried to America learnt English there. Apart from the slave trade and explorers, the first deliberate effort to implant the English language was through the missionaries. We first had the Church Missionary Society also known as (C.M.S) which settled in Badagry. After them were the Presbyterians, the Methodists and the Baptists, before the Catholic came. They came to evangelize to preach and educate people about the evils of slave trade. The factors that contributed to the spread of the learning of English was that these missionaries needed people who would be educated in English to help in reading the Bible (lay readers) and in its translation into native language. Consequently, schools were established to train lay readers Catechist etc. There were clergymen like Bishop Samuel Ajayi Crowther who aided the spread of the language.

The English that was studied then was Queen’s English in the schools followed by religious knowledge, and Arithmetic known as 3Rs. With the help of the missionaries, the native languages were first documented. With the advent of missionaries, colonialism came with the entrenchment of English language in Nigeria. They came to protect their nations and so with time, district courts came and government domains unknown to most Africans.

During the colonial era, the colonialist preordained English language as the Queen of subjects so that the civil servants can serve them with it as a working tool. They started giving grants-in-aids, tied to the quantity and quality of English being taught in the school. With colonialism, the English language has been formally entrenched in Nigeria. Besides these factors, other factors have contributed since then. The educational system has promoted English language in Nigeria: Hence,

1. It is taught as a subject.
2. It was used as a medium of instruction
3. It was a yardstick for certification
4. It was also promoted in making it a criterion for upward mobility.
5. It became as access subject for higher education, that is, if you want to attend a higher institution you must have your English language.

Again, some socio-economic factors have also contributed to the growth of English language in Nigeria. It gave access to employment right from the colonial era. People reverted those working with the white man. So, it gave a social status that is above average. Until recently, there was still prestige for someone with the mastery of English language.

Therefore, in Warri-south Local Government Area, Delta State where the research was carried out, the activities that was conducted is to know the Impact of Environment on English Performance of Students.

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1.3 Statement of Problem

Warri-south Local government is a bilingual society. It is inhabited mostly by lower-class citizens. This is why “vernacular” is commonly used in Warri-south Local Government Area especially among students of secondary schools.

It has been observed that there are many instances of physical environment in which a society lives being reflected in its language, often in the structure of the lexicon – the way in which distinctions are made by means of single world (Trudgil, 1971). For instance, the Bedowin Arabic has as large camel vocabulary whereas the Fulani of Nigeria has just one label similarly many words will be used to express cold in temperate region communities and hot in tropical environments and so in Nsukka Local government Area environment.

Since the government has implemented the educational language policy in the country, it is vividly true that environment handicap has contributed greatly to the problems but then there are equally other factors that have contributed to the total differences on English language mastery by students, in secondary schools in Nsukka Local Government Area such as:

Non use of learning activities, inadequate of skilled teachers, lack of operation of audio-visual with the aid of electricity, mother tongue, interference, pidgin English interference, lack of adequate library facilities, poor social infratructural facilities; physical condition of classroom situation, lack of evaluation of inspectorate to schools, and finally, social class problem and lack of instructional material and poor preparation by teachers.

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1.4 Aim and Objectives of Study

The aim of the study is to explore the Impact of Environment on English Performance of Students in Warri-south Local Government Area in Delta State. In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives were laid out as follows:

1. To examine the environmental factors affect students’ performance in English, its prospects and problems faced by students.
2. To identify factors that affect effective teaching and learning of the English language in the secondary schools in Warri-south Local Government Area in Delta State.
3. To examine the role English language plays towards the government as it is being used for the purpose of government and administration, as documentation of government records; administrative instruction and minutes, legislation; court records and proceedings.

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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:

• Does the school have enough qualified English language teachers?
• Is Pidgin English allowed to be used as means of communication within the school environment?
• Does the school have enough qualified English language teachers?
• Does the class size influence or affect written assignments to students?
• To what extent does the school have a well-equipped library?
• To what extent do parent’s socio-economic status or background affect or influence students’ study of English?

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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: There is no significant impact of Environment on English Performance of Students in Warri-south Local Government Area in Delta State
• H1: There is significant impact of Environment on English Performance of Students in Warri-south Local Government Area in Delta State

Hypothesis Two

• H0: Environmental factors do not affect students’ performance in English Language Performance of Students
• H1: Environmental factors do affect students’ performance in English Language Performance of Students

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1.7 Significance of Study

This study will be of great significance to the students, teachers, parents, educational planners, language planners as well as the government.

1. It will instill in the learners/students the quest and zeal to study and master English.
2. To the teachers, it will enable them to be committed by making adequate preparations of their lesson note and lesson plan.
3. On the part of the parents, the feedback they get through their children’s results will motivate them to encourage their children in the requisition of the language.
4. To the educational planners, they would be most privileged because the study will take the form of evaluation on what they have earlier planned, thereby putting into consideration the implementation of this policy. The language planners will discover from this study problems faced by their schools within this language community and design appropriate instructional materials for effective teaching and learning of the English language.
5. Finally, this work will be useful too to the government. It will enable them to make available trained personnel both for English language and material resources for the efficient implementation of the policy. They will also be geared to make and provide learning facilities and equipment such as textbooks, audio-visual gadgets, conducive classrooms and other language laboratory to aid and motivate the students in the proper method of studying English language.

This study will be an invaluable asset to parents in shaping the English language performance of their children because children are affected by the quantitative and qualitative limitations of parental language model.

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1.8 Scope of Study

The study focuses on the Impact of Environment on English Performance of Students in Warri-south Local Government Area in Delta State.

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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

Some terms used in this study have been defined in their operation terms to suit the purpose of this study for instance:

Environment: This has to do with the whole personal behaviour together with conditions and influence that affect the development and life of the student.

Teaching Aids / Learning Activities: These are materials which enhance teaching and learning, assist or promote the process of teaching and learning; such as textbooks, audio-visual equipment, chalk, chalkboard, biro, flashcards and charts.

Pidgin English: A language that developed when individuals from different linguistic backgrounds here and there are in need to communicate; used basically for mutual intelligibility.

Lingua-franca: It is an accepted official language in a multi-lingua society.

Interference: Negative influence of one language to another usually due to proper mastery of one and an imperfect mastery of the other.

Mutual Intelligibility: Understanding among language speakers when each of them speaks.

Home Background: there are factors influencing a child from his or her family environment.

Mother Tongue: The language of a child’s mother or parents.