AN APPRAISAL OF SPOKEN ENGLISH LANGUAGE BY SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN OREDO

ABSTRACT
This study examined the spoken English language of senior secondary school students in
Oredo. It also examine the kind of difficulty student face in speaking English language,
investigated the causes of poor communication of spoken English language among senior
secondary school students, further sought to examine the strategies adopted by teachers in
overcoming student’s problem in spoken English language and investigated if the
frequent use of English affect spoken English among secondary school students in the
study area. To guide the study, four (4) research questions were raised.
The design of the study is descriptive survey design, The population of the study
comprised of eighty four (84) S.S.S.3 students drawn from three selected public schools in
Benin City . A well-structured questionnaire was the instrument used to elicit information
for the study. The data collected were analysed into tables using simple percentage,
frequency, mean and standard deviation to answer the research questions as well as
interpretation of the information gathered.
The findings of the study revealed that most of the students face difficulty in expressing
themselves fluently in English language, encounter difficulties in construction of English
vocabularies etc. The study equally revealed that causes of poor communication among
secondary school students ranges from lack of qualified English language teachers to
unavailability of language laboratory, frequent usage of the mother tongue and pidgin
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English. Furthermore, findings from the study revealed that introduction of English
language laboratory is an effective strategy to help students overcome problem in spoken
English, and that there is no frequent usage of English language because English
language is not a means of communication in the study area; that the mother tongue and
pidgin English is the medium of communication in the study area because spoken English
is only used as a medium of instruction within the school premises.