ABSTRACT
The study was designed to explore the effect of CD-ROM instructional mode on students’ achievement and interest in reading comprehension. The study was guided by six research questions and six hypotheses. It used pretest posttest non equivalent control group quasi experimental design. The study group consisted of 207 SS1 students, 107 in experimental group and 100 in control group drawn from two public secondary schools in Benue South Education Zone during the third term of 2014/2015 academic session. Two reading comprehension passages were selected from The Intensive English for SS 1. The passages were copied into CD-ROM and used by the experimental group while the control group read the paper text. Data were collected using English Reading Comprehension Achievement Test (ERCAT) which were twenty in number and English Reading Comprehension Interest Inventory (ERCII) which were also twenty in number. Data were analyzed using mean and standard deviation to answer the research questions and Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) to test the hypotheses at 0.05 levels of significance. The result showed that the reading achievement and interest of students who read from the screen using CD-ROM were significantly higher than those of the students who read the paper text. Based on the findings, the researcher has recommended among others that teachers of English should endeavour to adopt electronic learning to enhance the overall achievement and interest in reading particularly as the reading culture is gradually dying away.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background to the Study
The English language came to Nigeria with the advent of colonialism. Akabogu (2004) describes the English language as an invaluable legacy of colonialism in Nigeria. In spite of the fact that the English language is foreign, it has become Nigeria’s lingua franca that bridges the language barrier of multilingualism in the country. It is the language widely used in the propagation of education in Nigeria and all official transactions and a condition to secure good jobs.
In Nigeria, the English language is given a place of prominence in its educational system. It is accorded the status of a core-subject at both the primary and post primary levels of education. The English language has played a dual role in formal education, it features as a subject on the curriculum and as a medium of instruction in all subjects including certain aspects of Nigerian languages. It is a compulsory subject for all pupils and students in Nigerian schools as stated in the National Policy on Education (FRN,2004). At pre-primary and primary education, the medium of instruction shall be the language of the immediate environment and English is to be taught as a subject, while from primary four to six English is used as the language of instruction and also taught as a core subject (FRN, 2004).
At the junior and senior secondary school levels of education, English is used as the medium of instruction and a core subject, compulsory for all the students (FRN, 2004). At the tertiary education level, English is used as the medium of instruction and also a compulsory course to be offered by all the students irrespective of their courses of study. It is made a compulsory subject to be offered and passed at every level of education in Nigeria. The roles English language play in Nigerian education has led to finding ways on how to improve its teaching and learning.
Teaching and learning the English language involves learning the basic language skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing. According to Mgbodile (2000), the acquisition of these linguistic skills is very essential for the total language development of the learners. The four language skills facilitate language learning and of all the four, reading is very important. This is because reading is the basic foundation on which the academic skill of the individual is built. Therefore, learning the English language without being able to read in the language is meaningless. Yusuf (2011) observes that reading reinforces the learners’ success in other language skills. Reutzel cited in Yusuf (2011) confirms that those who read more have large vocabulary and do better on test of grammar and spelling. A good reader can understand the individual sentences and organizational structure and determine meaning of all unfamiliar words from the text. Reading is therefore, a basic tool and is vital in language teaching and learning. Yusuf (2011) also states that improving the reading ability of the learners is the key to improving the English language quality.
Reading is the process of looking at series of written symbols and getting meaning from them (Cziko, Greenleaf, Hurwitz and Schoenbach 2000). It is one of the most important skills for educational and professional success. According to Langer cited in Yusuf (2011), reading is the most important activity in any language class, not only as a source of information and pleasurable activity, but also as a means of consolidating and extending one’s knowledge of the language. Emphasis is placed on it in schools because learning the other language skills is all dependent on the reading skill. In view of the above how best to teach reading has frequently been a subject of keen interest to teachers and educators because of the prominent position it occupies in language teaching and learning.
A lot of emphasis has been placed on reading comprehension in schools. This is because it is failure in reading comprehension that gives rise to failure in English language and directly or indirectly affects other subjects. Reading comprehension is the process in which readers construct meaning by Interacting with the text. Pente and Bago (2002) defines reading comprehension as an active and intentional interaction process that occurs during and after reading. In view of the alarming and increasing rate of poor achievement of students in senior secondary certificate examination in English language many teaching methods have been used by English language teachers in teaching reading comprehension.
In most Nigerian schools, teaching and learning reading have been dominated by phonic, story, discussion and lecture methods (Mgbodile, 2000).These methods are mostly used by the English teacher to enable them meet up the time allotted to the subject. Most teachers go further to introduce some strategies such as, narration, questioning and use of pictures, (Colorado,2007). In teaching reading comprehension in Nigerian schools, the teachers very often used the lecture method and many classrooms continue to be dominated by the text books which Asokhia, (2009) refers to as “text book talk”. The class is dominated by the teacher as the reservoir of knowledge to pass learning activities to the learners so that no time is left for exploration of the students.
The students are taught in a rigidly formal and stereotyped way where students are instructed to read a given passage and answer the comprehension questions either as class work or assignment to be submitted the following day. In this method and medium, the students are not closely monitored on the art of reading a given passage. The learners are passive; they are like vessels waiting to be filled up by the teacher. The method and mode do not create room for active participation of the learners. According to Coiro (2003), to foster recreational reading, students need to engage with text in a variety of media.
In spite 0f the different methods and text book medium used by language teachers which are geared towards improving learners’ achievement in English language, learners still perform very poorly in English language in external examinations like WASSCE and NECO. This may be due to the mode of presentation of the reading passages which is the text book instructional mode. Rebert and Barber (2013) observe that book format, print or electronic influence learning.
The West African Examinations Council has severally expressed disappointment as a result of the steady decline in students’ achievement particularly in English language paper I which is made up of essay, comprehension and summary. This is seen in The West African Examinations Council’s Chief Examiners’ Report over the years which indicated a recurrence mass failure in English language. The 2009-2012 Chief Examiner’s Report showed that learners’ achievement in English language is consistently poor. In 2009, it was reported that candidates assigned unimaginable answers which have no relationship with the words set. Many candidates did not understand the content of the passage as such they could not answer correctly the simple content questions on the comprehension passage.
In 2012, The West African Examinations Council Chief Examiners’ Report indicates that students find it difficult to read and understand comprehension passages and that usually affected their achievement negatively. The causes of the poor achievements of students over the years as identified in WAEC Chief Examiners’ Reports of 2009-2012 are as follows: many candidates had difficulties interpreting the requirements for questions. For those questions, many candidates engage in mindless lifting. Other causes are, unfamiliarity with the written words, inability to understand the content of the set passages and questions, presenting answers that have no relationship to the set questions, inability to express ideas and Ignorance of the grammar of English.
The above information from the Chief Examiners’ Reports show that the achievement of students is still far from improving on the previous years’ performance. West African Examinations Council’s Chief Examiners’ Report recommended the following remedies: teachers should help candidates by teaching them how to read, understand and interpret questions, whether they are essay, comprehension or summary. There is therefore, the need to find an alternative instructional mode in which the problem could be reduced. According to Asokhia (2009) an effective learning situation requires the use of instructional materials. Resources for teaching and learning that are well used by the teacher enhance the reading programme of students. Success of teaching and learning English is determined by a number of factors such as: the learners, the teacher, the method, materials or aids (Kolawole, 2009).According to the researcher students benefit more from the use of electronic mode than textbook mode because comprehension is enhanced through animation contained in electronic mode and the availability of electronic dictionary where learners can click on unfamiliar words and have the computer read it aloud for them.
In view of the above, there is need for CD-ROM instructional mode to be introduced in schools to know whether it might increase learners’ interest and improve achievement in reading comprehension.
CD-ROM is one of the visual instructional materials used in teaching reading. It is a sub-set of an electronic book. Electronic books according to Chan (2007) are group of text or texts in digital format that can be read or displayed on a computer screen. They are also book length publications in digital form consisting of texts, images or both, produced and readable on the computer or other electronic devices. Electronic books can be accessed in different ways including through the internet, on a CD-ROM, DVD-ROM or many of the portable electronic readers available in the market. Naidoo quoted in Emesini (2011) emphasizes the benefits of electronic learning. These include: making delivery of instruction very flexible and interactive; making learning permanent in the learners as it appeals to all their senses.
According to Chau (2008) the emerging technology has opened the possibilities for new learning experiences. As such introducing learners to electronic book instructional mode at an early age will expose them to all the valuable skills in the area of information and communication technology. On this note Gonzalez (2012) is of the view that computer-delivered reading instruction has the potentials of promoting the reading skill of students. Electronic book instructional mode is interactive; it combines many features such as animation, cartoons, audio and visual audio clips. It has the attribute of making reading easier. It is learner-centered and can support the development of various reading skills. Resources materials to aid and improve reading skill and to arouse learners’ interest towards further readings are always of interest to researchers, thus, CD ROM instructional mode could help improve achievement and arouse learners’ interest in reading comprehension. On this note Askohia (2002) is of the view that students benefit more from the use of electronic media in classroom activities.
