INFLUENCE OF JUVENILE DELINQUENCY ON STUDENTS’ ACHIEVEMENT IN IGBO LANGUAGE

ABSTRACT

The study investigated the influence of juvenile delinquency on students’ achievement on Igbo language. It was also set out to determine the effect of parental motivation on academic achievement. Four research questions and four hypotheses guided the study. Expo-factor research design was used for the study. The population consists of one hundred and sixty students in the twenty-three (23) Senior Secondary Schools in Nsukka Education Zone which was the area of study. Retrospective term performance on Igbo language and the sample questionnaire were distributed to delinquent and non-delinquent students randomly drawn from eight (8) schools of the twenty-three (23) secondary schools in Nsukka Education Zone.

The instruments for data collection were questionnaire and achievement tests. Thirty three (33) items on family upbringing and academic and thirty four (34) items on delinquent behaviour and academic achievement (JDCSAIQ) were generated for the study. These items were face validated by three experts in Department of Language Education and Measurement and Evaluation unit, University of Nigeria, Nsukka. The instruments were trial tested on fifteen (15) students from Girls’ Secondary School, Owrre-Ezeorba. The data obtained were used to calculate the reliability of the instrument using Combach Alpha based formula and the reliability coefficient of 0.8 was considered significant. The data on items collected for the study were analyzed using mean, t-test and leven’s Test for Equality of variances at 0.05 level of significance. The major findings of the study show that juvenile delinquency had significant influence on students achievement in Igbo language. It also showed that parental motivation and family upbringing influence achievement in Igbo language. Based on the findings, it was recommended among others that seminars and workshops be organized for secondary schools where parents, students and teachers learn the importance of Language in human development. This will improve the teaching method in Igbo by using demonstration and instructional material so as to help the students develop interest in the subject, the limitations of the study were outlined and suggestions for further research were given.