1.1 Introduction
English is a language of the people of England. It originates from the Jute, Angles and Saxon, who are the early settlers in Britain. It is part of the Germanic branch of the Indo European language family. At the initial state, English was confined to Britain alone. Later, it grew wide within the British Empire as a Prestigious Core Language among all other European languages in the upper classes of London, Oxford, Wales, Ireland, Scotland, Cambridge and England. It further developed and got to other people of the world. It spread to Asia, Germany, Africa and other continents as a Native Language, Second Language or Foreign Language. Progressively, English Language has spread virtually all over the world.
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.
1.2 Background of Study
Globalization and technological changes are processes that have accelerated teaching. The past fifteen years have created a new global economy powered by technology, fuelled by information and driven by knowledge. The Emergence of this new global economy has serious implications for the nature and purpose of educational institutions. As the half life of information continuous to shrinks and access to information continues to grow exponentially. School cannot remain more vociferous mission of a prescribed set of information.
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) which includes radio, television, computers and the internet has been found as potentially powerful. Communication technology is the tool use to harvest the information properly for effectives in any Area of life. 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 Senior Secondary Schools 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 Senior 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.
Therefore, in Nigeria where the research was carried out, the activities that was conducted is to know the Effect of ICT on the Learning of English Language in Senior Secondary School.
1.3 Statement of Problems
Investigation revealed that a lot of stakeholders in the educational sector has expressed sincere feelings about the decline of the value of education, the decay in the training of manpower, laxity in the teaching and learning and lack of educational materials in the ministry of education.
- Some schools are lacking in the implementation of the ICT in teaching and learning;
- Some school due to lack of fund they can not purchased ICT equipments for teaching and learning;
- Some teachers are not well trained to use ICT in carrying out their duty is the class; and
- Because of the lack of quality, teachers adulterate the student thereby creating barrier in learning and development of the student. This is the right of researcher to study school in Enugu North with the aim of finding out whether they heave implemented the use of ICT and record the success but if not know the cause of it.
1.4 Aim and Objectives of Study
The aim of the study is to investigate the Effect of ICT on the Learning of English Language in Senior Secondary School. In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives were laid out as follows:
- To establish the impact of ICT on teaching and learning of English language in secondary schools in Enugu North, Enugu State;
- To examine the roles of Government and Private sector on the development of ICT in senior secondary schools in Enugu North, Enugu State;
- To ascertain ICT as a key factor for assessing teaching and learning; and
- To determine the impact of ICT on the improvement of the quality of education of English language students’ in Enugu North, Enugu State.
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 impact of ICT on teaching and learning of English language in secondary schools in Enugu North, Enugu State?
- What are the roles of Government and Private sector on the development of ICT in senior secondary schools in Enugu North, Enugu State?
- What is key factor of ICT for assessing teaching and learning?
- What is the impact of ICT on the improvement of the quality of education of English language students’ in Enugu North, Enugu State?
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 influence of ICT on teaching and learning of English language in secondary schools in Enugu North, Enugu State
- H1: There is significant influence of ICT on teaching and learning of English language in secondary schools in Enugu North, Enugu State
1.7 Significance of Study
The results of this study will be relevant to students, teachers, parents and the society at large.
- Students: Students will be able to understand the factors that militate against teaching and learning of English language in their respective schools and subsequently improve in their academic performance.
- Teachers: Teachers will no doubt, be able to come in proper terms with the issues of the factors that hinder or promote the success of students in English language examinations in schools. This study will also enable them to enhance such factors that promote students academic performance in English language.
- Parents: Parents will be also appreciate the findings of this study because they will assist them to know the exact factors that prevent their children from performing well in teaching and learning English Language, which is one of the compulsory subjects offered in schools.
- The Society: The society will be able to appreciate the findings of this study because the members of the public will discover through this study, the factors that militate against teaching and learning of English Language.
1.8 Scope of Study
The scope of the research is focused on the Effect of ICT on the Learning of English Language in Senior Secondary School using Enugu North Local Government Area in Enugu State as a case study.
1.9 Limitations of the Study
During the course of this study, many things militated against its completion, some of which are:
- 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.
- Research material: availability of research material is a major setback to the scope of the study.
- Frequent power failure: This made the researcher append more money on fuel to ensure sustainable power.
- 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).
1.10 Definition of Terms
English Language: English is a West Germanic language that was first spoken in early medieval England and is now a global lingua franca.
Academic Performance: can be defined as the outcome of education, the extent to which a student, teacher or institution has achieved their educational goal. Academic achievement is commonly measured by examination or continuous assessment.
Instructional Material: instructional materials are to be defined as items that are designed to serves as a major tool for assisting in the instruction of a subject or course.
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