The ICT facilities used in the teaching of oral English in secondary schools in Kosofe Local Government Area, Nigeria

Abstract

Information and Communication Technology (ICT), when applied to education, can be an effective tool in supporting the teaching and learning of Oral English in secondary schools, as it enhances the delivery and access to knowledge, improves learners’ performance, produces richer learning outcomes compared to education without ICT, encourages critical thinking, and offers unlimited means of achieving educational goals. The purpose of this study was to investigate the available and commonly used ICT facilities for the teaching of Oral English in secondary schools in Kosofe Local Government Area, taking into consideration the predictor variables of gender, school type, and teaching experience. A cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out among 250 respondents (50 teachers and 200 students) randomly drawn from ten (10) schools out of the 22 secondary schools within the Local Government Area. The data collected through a questionnaire were analysed using percentage (for the socio-demographic data and the first two research questions), the t-test (for research hypotheses 1–3), and the One-Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) (for research hypothesis 4) at a 0.05 alpha level using SPSS 20.0 for Windows. The Cronbach Alpha reliability test was used to ascertain the level of its coefficient reliability, which was 0.81. Results revealed that both teachers and students agreed that computers, whiteboards, VCD, DVD, CD-ROM, recorded tapes, radio, and TV were available, while only computers and whiteboards were unanimously agreed to be commonly used. Furthermore, none of the predictor variables of gender, school type, and experience revealed any significant difference in Oral English teachers’ use of ICT facilities. The implication is that these teachers had an insufficient understanding of the relevance of ICT facilities to their teaching. It was therefore recommended that both staff and students should be adequately trained, free of charge, on the proper utilization of ICT facilities.