ABSTRACT
The study examined the influence of teachers’ characteristics in the implementation of the 9-year Basic English Studies Curriculum in Benin Metropolis of Edo state. Specifically, the study sought to find out English Studies teachers’ awareness of the major objective of the curriculum as it pertains to the literacy development of the learner, the use of learning resources, instructional methods and evaluation techniques in the realization of the implementation of the Revised 9-year Basic English Studies Curriculum in Benin Metropolis of Edo state. It also determined whether there was any difference in the level of awareness among English Studies teachers based on qualification and years of teaching experience. The study adopted the descriptive survey research design. All English Studies teachers in public junior secondary schools in Benin Metropolis, Edo State made up the population of the study. Two sampling techniques were used. First, schools were stratified into local government areas, namely Oredo, Egor and Ikpoba-Okha, (these three local government areas make up Benin Metropolis) and random sampling technique was then used to select English Studies teachers in the selected schools. A sample of one hundred and eighty (180) teachers took part in the survey. Two research instruments were used for data collection, a questionnaire and an observation schedule. The questionnaire is made up of two sections, A and B. Section A elicited response for respondents’ demographic data such as, qualification and years of teaching experience while section B which sought for respondents’ awareness of the implementation of the Revised 9-year Basic English Studies Curriculum is broken into four subsections, with each addressing specific aspects of teachers’ awareness of curriculum implementation: Objectives of the curriculum, Learning resources, Instructional methods and Evaluation techniques. An observation schedule was designed for use by the researcher to record observation of English Studies teachers during actual classroom teaching. The reliability of the instrument was calculated using the Cronbach Alpha formula and a reliability coefficient of 0.72 was obtained. The inter-rater reliability of the observation schedule was 0.64. The researcher and two research assistants personally distributed the questionnaires. Data vi collected were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Independent samples t-test was used to test hypotheses 1, 2, 3 and 5, while one-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used to test hypotheses 4 and 6. The level of significance for all hypotheses was set at 0.05 level. A number of significant findings were revealed, amongst, which were that English Studies teachers are aware of the major objective of the Revised 9- year Basic English Studies Curriculum as it pertains to the development of literacy skills of learners. English Studies teachers are aware of the relevance of the use of learning resources, instructional methods and evaluation techniques for the realization of the implementation of the Revised 9-year Basic English Studies Curriculum. Teachers’ qualification did not influence their awareness of the relevance of the use of learning resources, instructional methods and evaluation techniques for the realization of the implementation of the Revised 9-year Basic English Studies Curriculum. Likewise, teachers’ years of teaching experience did not influence their awareness of the relevance of the use of evaluation techniques for the realization of the implementation of the Revised 9-year Basic English Studies Curriculum. However, teachers’ years of teaching experience influenced their awareness of the relevance of the use of learning resources, and instructional methods for the realization of the implementation of the Revised 9- year Basic English Studies Curriculum. These among other recommendations were made. English Studies teachers should incorporate the use of visual and audio-visual aids in their English lessons, as they make learning real and permanent. English Studies teachers should make use of innovative learner centred methods such as the game-based methods to impact knowledge to learners.
