CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
The importance of English language in the economic, political, social, religious and educational activities cannot be sidelined. Any attempt to sideline language will mean that the curriculum will not be well implemented. Therefore, language remains a strong factor not only in the implementation of curriculum but in human interactions. English language in Nigeria has become the language of government, business and commerce, education, the mass media, literature and much internal as well as external communication (Akindele and Adegbite, 2000). As a result of diverse roles assigned to English language in Nigeria, it becomes expedient for any Nigerian that wants to be relevant to the social, economic and political environment to reach appreciable competence level in reading comprehension. In a report on the examinations conducted in May/June by the West African Examinations Council ‘between’ 2004–2012, the data from Ekiti State Ministry of Education Science and Technology, Planning Statistics and Research Department showed that the performance of secondary school students in English language is seriously deteriorating except in 2011 when the State recorded 73% of distinction or credit in SSCE. The failure rate fluctuated between 15% and 51%. These poor results have made it difficult for many students to gain admission into tertiary institutions in Nigeria. It is therefore necessary to revive the deteriorating effect of reading comprehension skills among secondary school students. The implication of the above data showed that, most of the candidates who sat for the Senior Secondary Certificate Examinations (SSCE) will not be able to proceed to tertiary institutions because of their failure in English language. The failure recorded in English language at Senior Secondary Certificate Examination level is serious on the learners. Since these candidates need to pass English language at credit level to secure admission, their failure in the subject is a stumbling block to higher education. This is a pointer to the fact that the learners need to be helped and taught by highly competent teachers of English language (Oyinloye, 2005). The poor results could be traced to students’ inability to “read with adequate comprehension” (Ogenyi, 2014). Thus, reading comprehension needs to be given the urgency it deserves. Reading comprehension is at the central or core of language learning and acquisition, which forms the educational development in any society. Reading comprehension according to the Rand Reading Study Group (2002) is “the process of simultaneously extracting and constructing meaning through interaction and involvement with written language. From the above definition, one could deduce that:
1. meaning is at the centre of the reading process 2. reading is an active and participatory process rather than passive process because the meaning of a text will not simply manifest without the reader being actively involved. 3. reading is a creative process. The reader has to recreate the meaning that the writer has already created. According to Arua (2009) the writer is the encoder and the reader of the meaning of the same meaning. 4. reading deals exclusively with written language. This enables a reader to return many times to a particular text. The importance of reading comprehension cannot be overemphasized on learners/teachers’ especially in the modern educational system where learning/teaching depend largely upon learner’/teachers’ ability to interpret the printed text accurately and fully, respectively. The ultimate of all teachers is to provide equal opportunities for every student (boy or girl) in the classroom (Ofodu and Lawal 2010). Nevertheless, research evidences and experiences have shown that gender is a significant factor in determining the performance of students in learning tasks. Research findings have been inconclusive as to whether boys (male) achieve higher than girls (females). Jiboku (1991) reported that female subjects performed better that their male counterparts in reading Comprehension. To corroborate his finding he asserted that females have left cerebrum; that the sphere that deals with verbal skill and it is more developed, while males have the right cerebrum sphere that deals with mathematical reasoning and spatial relationship. Available literature showed in some cases that boys are superior to girls and vice-versa. Nonetheless, Heller & Parsons as cited by Osalusi (2009) disputed this difference by finding no difference in the feedback given to boys and girls. Mura (1995) remarked that males and females have different ways of learning and that they achieve better when they are taught separately while Fennema (1996) asserted that in a co-educational classroom setting, boys receive more attention than do girls. Hyde (1990) found minor gender differences in cognitive ability but did find moderate differences on one aspect of spatial ability. Salami (2001) found out that there was no significant difference between the male and female students’ achievements in Economics. Adeosun (2002) found out that there was no significant difference in achievement score between male and female while conducting studies on the effect of multimedia package and students achievement in Social Studies. Ismali (2009) found out that there were gender differences in academic achievement of students enrolled in pre- service ELT (English Language Teaching) teacher training department. He reported that girls have more efficient meta-cognitive disposition than their male peers. Khwaileh and Zaza (2011) observed that males and females deal with complex and difficult task of life inside and outside the house, and handle relative easy and less demanding tasks or things at home. This assertion was at variance with Owuamanam and Babatunde (2007) submission in their study ‘gender- role stereotypes and career choice of secondary school students in Ekiti State’. They observed that girls tend to go for courses that do not require more energy sapping and brain tasking such as home making while boys look for jobs in management, engineering, banking and other brain- tasking profession. Bilesanmi-Awoderu (2012) stated that the state of-the-art information concerning gender and achievement was that researchers cannot put-paid to studies on this construct at least for now because of the inconsistencies in the available literature on the issue, thus, the inclusion of gender as a moderator variable in the study. School location was also considered in the study of the achievement level of students in English language comprehension. Osalusi (2009) reported that there is the perception that rural dwellers are slow-witted hillbillies with little education and uninformed view about what goes on in the “real world”; whereas, those living in the urban areas are more exposed to modern technology which can aid learning than those in the rural areas. Howley (2003) reported that several studies found significant differences between students in rural and urban schools. It was also discovered that students living in rural areas of the United States exhibit lower levels of educational achievement and higher likelihood of dropping out of high school than do their counterparts in urban area (Roscigno & Crowley, 2001). Based on the contradictions in the findings of scholars on the effect of schools location on students’ achievement the researcher investigated the effect of school location on students’ performance in reading comprehension in Ekiti State so as to find out what obtains in Ekiti State. Besides, a marking guide by WAEC was adopted to enable the researcher grade the achievement test in reading comprehension. Therefore, it was glaring that the teaching of reading comprehension must be improved in order to enhance the students’ ability to do well and pass English language in examinations. The aim of this study was therefore; to investigate the effect of gender and school location on students in inferring word meanings in reading comprehension among secondary school students in Ekiti State.