AVAILABILITY AND UTILIZATION OF COMPUTER ASSISTED LANGUAGE LEARNING (CALL) IN TEACHING OF ORAL ENGLISH IN SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN AWGU EDUCATION ZONE

Abstract

This study is on availability and utilization of Computer Assisted Language Learning for teaching oral English in senior secondary schools in Awgu Education zone of Enugu. Four research questions and two null hypotheses guided the study. The design of the study is descriptive survey. The study was carried out in Awgu Education Zone of Enugu State. The population of the study comprise of all the senior secondary schools English teachers and students in Awgu Educational Zone of Enugu State numbering 3148. The sample size of the study comprised of 380 English teachers and senior secondary school students drawn from the population of the study using simple random sampling technique. The instruments for data collection in this study are Checklist on Availability of Computer Assisted Language Learning (CACALL) and Questionnaire on Extent of Utilization of Computer Assisted Language Learning for Teaching and Learning of Oral English (QEUCALLTLOE). The instruments were subjected to face and construct validation by giving it to three experts, two of which are from the Department of Arts Education and one from department of science education (Measurement and Evaluation) University of Nigeria, Nsukka. The validators were requested to validate the instruments based on language appropriateness, technical error, clarity of the items in the instrument and relevance of the content. The comments and suggestion of the experts helped to produce the final version of the instrument. CrunbachAlpha formula was used to establish the reliability of the instrument (QEUCALLTLOE) and it yielded   internal consistency reliability index of .87, .76 and .60, for clusters A, B and C, with overall reliability index of .90, which showed that the instrument is highly reliable. The research questions were answered using mean and standard deviation while the hypotheses were tested using t test at 0.05 level of significance. Finding of the study showed that most CALL facilities are available for teaching oral English in secondary schools, CALL facilities are utilized by teachers in a low extent for teaching English language. Female teachers slightly had higher mean rating than their male counterparts on extent of utilization of Computer Assisted Language learning for teaching of oral English, the corresponding test of hypothesis showed that both male and female teacher do not differ in their level of utilizing Computer Assisted Language learning for oral English instruction. Respondents accepted that all the problems outlined in the table are responsible for low extent of utilizing CALL in oral English instruction. Finally the result of the study showed that both teachers and students do not differ in their level of utilizing Computer Assisted Language Learning for oral English instruction. In line with the findings of the study, the educational implications of the findings were highlighted and the recommendations were proffered among others that Schools should improve students’ access to CALL by providing adequate state-of-the-art ICT facilities such as LCD monitors, multimedia projectors, interactive whiteboards, speakers, desktop and laptop computers, UPS systems, internet facilities, among others for usage that will help for effective utilization of CALL. The limitations of the study were highlighted and suggestions for further studies were equally made.