Teaching Methods and the Development of Reading Skills among Primary School Pupils

Teaching Methods and the Development of Reading Skills among Primary School Pupils
Teaching Methods and the Development of Reading Skills among Primary School Pupils

ABSTRACT: This study was carried out to investigate Teaching Methods and the Development of Reading Skills among Primary School Pupils in Etim Ekpo Local Government Area. The direct and Oral Methods of Teaching Reading were selected for the Development of three reading skills namely, visual discrimination, Auditory Discrimination and Eye-hand coordination. Three null hypotheses were formulated for the study and the instrument used to test the hypotheses was a Reading Achievement Test (RAT). The test was administered on primary five pupils from ten randomly selected primary schools in Etim Ekpo Local Government Area. Forty Pupils were also randomly selected from each of the schools, making a total of four hundred pupils. The findings after the data analysis showed that the teaching methods have significant influence on the development of reading skills. The Null hypotheses were therefore rejected.

Teaching Methods and the Development of Reading Skills among Primary School Pupils

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the study

Researches have established that English is one of the chief languages in the word. Pooley (2004) claims that more than two hundred and seventy million (270,000,000) people in the world speak English. Azikiwe (2007) puts it that English is the most dominate common language in Nigeria. Udoada and Adeniyi (2006) see it as the official language of Nigeria, being the language of Government, commerce mass media, politics and Education. They also see English as the language for social interaction among the multi-ethnic citizens of the country. This makes the language a magnifying factor or force in Nigeria.         

Two good reasons have been attributed to the adoption of English (LZ), as the official language of Nigeria. The first reason is the absence of a lingua’ Franca; resulting from the multi-ethnicity and diverse cultures of the country. It has made inter-ethnic communication easy and so facilitates contact between peoples of diverse language backgrounds. The other reason is not far- fete lied than the colonization of the country by the British, the indigenous owners of the language. The colonialists taught the natives of Nigeria English language to serve as clench and interpreters in the offices for easy governance.

The importance of English language in the Nigeria society has given the language much prominence, not only in the school system but also in every sphere of life. Many homes have it as the most common medium of communication. The National Policy on Education (2013) puts English language as a core subject in the school curriculum. This being citified by being the medium of instruction in schools and for all the subjects taught at school, even at the very foundation of our educational system, the primary school. Despite the interaction of pre- primary education, Iviza (2008) still describes primary education as the foundation on which the education system is built.

With the importance attached to literacy in Nigeria, the child at the primary school level is excited and desirous to learn how to read and write at school. Falodom (2005) claims that children at this level of education are always eager to learn. Besides, one of the objectives’ of primary education is to educate literacy into the children.

Reading therefore plays a very important role in the acquisition of literacy. Its central position in the school system also lies in the fact reading skill are necessary in the teaching and learning of other school subjects. It cannot be over emphasized the need for effective reading among primary schools pupils which can only be achieved when the reading skills are developed this study is therefore undertaken to examine the influence of teaching methods on the development of reading skills among primary school pupils in the study area.

1.2 Statement of the problem

The concern by parents and stakeholders in education about the fallen standard of education lies primarily on the inability of school leavers to read and write. This is always attributed to the poor foundation laid at the primary school level. It is no exaggeration that teachers at the primary school level mishandle the teaching and learning of English Reading. They do not only use ineffective methods of teaching Reading but also consider not the development of reading skills. The attention that the grossly ignored thereby resulting in not meeting the standard.

Reading, as a Physical and mental activity, needs motivation which teaching methods should provide. The teaching and learning of Reading becomes dry and uninteresting. Added to this problem is the inadequate reading materials and lack of functional libraries in the public and private primary schools in the area.

 

Teaching Methods and the Development of Reading Skills among Primary School Pupils

1.3 Purpose of the study

1.4     Significance of the study

It is hoped that this study would be of great benefit to both English Language teachers and other classroom teachers who teach reading in primary schools in Etim Ekpo Local Government Area. They would come to the realization that teaching methods need to be carefully selected in the teaching and learning process.

Educational administrators and planners as well as school proprietors and proprietress would awakened to provide adequate reading materials and libraries in the schools. Lastly, it is expected the study would provide the inspiration for other students or researchers who may be interested in carrying out further research on the topic or reelected ones.

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Peter Hezekiah Lawson (Sir Pee). The CEO of onlineproject.com.ng. A reputable researcher, Web Developer, ICT Instructor and a publisher of many research works in Education.