ABSTRACT
The study examined teachers’ gender and
its effect on the performance of students in English Language in selected
secondary schools of Ado-Odo Ota Local Government Area of Ogun State. Relevant
and related literatures were reviewed under relevant sub-headings.
The descriptive research survey design was used for the
assessment of respondents’ opinions with the use of the questionnaire and the
sampling technique.
A total of two hundred respondents,
made up of 100 males and 100 females) were involved in this study. A total of
four null hypotheses were formulated and tested in this study with the use of
the Pearson Product Moment Correlational Coefficient tool at 0.05 level of
significance.
At the end of the analyses, the
following outcomes emerged:
1. There is a significant relationship
between teachers’ gender and students’ performance in English Language.
2.
Hypothesis two shows that there is no significant
relationship between female teachers’ preference for male students and their
performance in English Language.
3.
It was also found in hypothesis three that there is no
significant relationship between male teachers’ preference for male students
and their performance in English Language.
4.
Hypothesis four reveals that there is a significant
relationship between teachers’ preference for the opposite sex and students academic
performance in school.
TABLE OF
CONTENTS
Title page i
Certification ii
Dedication iii
Acknowledgement iv
Abstract v
Table of contents vi
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1
1.1
Background to the Study 1
1.2
Statement of the Problem 5
1.3
Purpose of the Study 6
1.4
Research Questions 7
1.5
Research Hypotheses 8
1.6
Significance of Study 8
CHAPTER TWO: Literature
Review 10
2.0
Introduction 10
2.1 History
of English Language 10
2.2
English as a Global Language 12
2.3
Studies On Language Acquisition 13
2.4
Effect of Teacher Gender on Students’ Performance 16
2.5
Teachers’ Opinions about Students’ Attitude and Performance
in English
According to Gender 22
2.6
Educational Qualifications for Teachers 28
2.7
Summary of the Review 33
CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY 35
3.0 Introduction 35
3.1
Research design 35
3.2
Population 36
3.3
Sampling technique 36
3.4
Sample size 36
3.5
Research instrument 37
3.6
Validity and Reliability of Instrument 37
3.7
Procedure for data collection 38
3.8
Procedure for data analysis 39
CHAPTER FOUR: Data
Analyses and Presentation of Results 40
4.1
Introduction 40
4.2
Descriptive Analyses of Data 40
4.3
Testing of Hypotheses 43
4.4
Summary of Findings 47
CHAPTER
FIVE: DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS, SUMMARY,
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 48
1.1
Introduction 48
1.2
Discussion of Findings 48
1.3
Summary of the Study 52
1.4
Conclusions 53
1.5
Recommendations 54
References 56
Appendix 60
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1
Background to the
Study
The concept of gender has become
an essential phenomenon for some psychologists on how students learn. Gender
distinctions, gender bias, and gender issues remain very paramount in
understanding achievement-related behaviours so as to make it predictable, and
as such amenable to possible manipulations (Dee, 1988). The source of gender
differences has long been a topic of heated debate. Though tests of general
intelligence suggest on overall differences between men and women, there are
large gender differences between men and women, there are larger gender
differences in scores of cognitive tasks (Linda, 2006).
According to the same source, men
perform better in certain visual tasks; women excel in verbalization, while
these differences may some day be traced back to known differences in hormonal
exposure and male and female brain structures. It is also possible that
differences in academic development arise from the fact that male and female
teachers have tendency to treat boys and girls differently in the classroom.
In teachers and gender gaps in student
achievement (NBER Working Paper No. 1160 Dec. 1988) findings included that
gender interactions between teachers and students have significant effect on
whether a student was afraid to ask questions in a particular class. Dee (1988)
opined that assignment to a teacher of opposite sex lowers students’
achievement by about 0.04 standard deviations. Other result implies that just
“one year with a male English teacher would eliminate nearly a third of the
gender gap in reading performance among thirteen years olds. And would do so by
improving the performance of boys and simultaneously harming that of girls.
Similarly, a year with a female would
close the gender gap in science achievement among thirteen year olds by half
and eliminate entirely the smaller achievement gap in mathematics. On all the
data suggests that “a large fraction of boys” dramatic under-performance in
reading reflects the classroom dynamics associated with the fact that their
reading teachers are overwhelmingly female.
Gender biased behaviours of teachers
has been discovered as insidious problems. Sitting in the same classroom,
reading the same textbook, listening to the same teacher, boys and girls
receive very different education (Sadker, 1999). In fact, upon entering school,
girls perform equal to or better than the boys on nearly every measure of
achievement but by the time they graduate from high school or college, they
have fallen behind. However, discrepancies of girls and the performance of boys
in elementary education lead some critics to argue that boys are being
neglected within educational system. In the contrary, American Association of
University women published a report in 1992 indicating that females receive
less attention from teachers and the attention that female students receive is
often more negative than the attention received by boys (Baily, 1992). In fact,
examination of the socialization of gender within schools and evidence of
gender biased hidden curriculum, be it in English language or mathematics
demonstrate that girls are short-changed in the classroom.
However, beyond changing their own
teaching behaviours teachers need to be aware of the gender bias imbedded in
many educational materials and texts and need to take steps to combat that need
to be considered when trying to establish a gender equitable curriculum.
Gender fair materials need to
acknowledge and affirm variation. They need to be inclusive, be accurate,
affirmative, representative and integrated in weaving together the experiences,
needs and interests of both males and females (Bailey, 1992). Far too many of
our classroom examples, story books and text describe a world in which boys and
men are bright, curious, brave, inventive and powerful but girls and women are
silent, passive and invisible (Conmick, 1995).
Needless to say that to the extent stated
above, female students are being short-changed in the quest to learn the
official language which the Colonial Lord (Britain) brought to Nigeria this was
to enable them to create an elite class that would help propagate the basic
tenets of Colonialism (Slavery, exploitation etc) foster the administration of
the “Indirect Rule” system in the country and eventually serve as the
multi-ethnic groups in the country (Omoyajowo, 1992). There seems to be nothing
that is naturally compelling an average Nigerian to learn the language more
than the instrumental functions it performs in the Nigerian life that is, it is
a means through which certain special needs for national interest can be met.
As at now English Language is used
nationally for politics administration, business, educational endeavour and
international communication. It has thus been accepted as the country’s second
language. The average Nigerians need it for higher education, higher status in
the society and a times better employment opportunities.
The National Policy on Education (NPE,
1981) clearly stipulates that it should be the medium of expression at
secondary and tertiary levels. English language performs the above mentioned
rules in our national life among others and this is why it is appropriate for
an average Nigerian, irrespective of gender to have some knowledge of it for
him/her to relate with the society.
1.2
Statement of the
Problem
English Language is one of the
compulsory subjects in the secondary school and at least, a credit in it is a major
prerequisite for admission into all courses in most of tertiary institutions in
Nigeria (Olusakin, 2000). This is because English Language which is the second
language of most Nigerians is the nations lingual franca.
Many students seeking admission to
higher institutions of learning could not be admitted because of their failure
to obtain at least a credit grade in English Language at the senior secondary
school certificate examination (SSCE). This kind of academic failure according
to Adeyoju (1995) continues to generate a lot of concern among those who are
engage in academic pursuit.
Several inhibitions to the learning of
English Language by students have been identified, some are human in nature,
while others are non-human. One of the most prominent human inhibitions is
teachers’ gender, female and male teachers will naturally exhibits feminine and
masculine traits respectively while teaching the language. These include
tolerance, energy, attention, assertion, accents, body communication and, of
course teachers’ preference for a particular sex of student. On the other hand,
students are too likely to have their gender preference in respect of their
language teachers.
It is said that male and female
students sitting in the same classroom, reading the same textbook, listening to
the same teacher, receive different education. In the light of this, Ibe (2004)
stated that education for the future that will equip the individual with the
power to adapt change irrespective of gender should be the most important goal
of education.
In order to accomplish this, the
curriculum planners and authors of
textbook should provide gender reality modules for in-service English
Language teachers as well as the pre-service teachers. Educators need to be made
aware of the bias they are reinforcing in their students through socialization
messages, sexists texts and materials type of attention spent on boys and girls
in the classroom.
1.3
Purpose of the
Study
The purpose of this study is to
determine the extent to which teacher’s gender affect the performance of
students in English Language in selected secondary schools in Ado-Ode Ota Local
Government Area of Ogun State. The researcher intends to determine specifically
whether:
1.
The sex of the teacher is related to the performance of
students’ in English Language.
2.
The female teachers impact better on the female students’
achievement in English Language.
3.
Whether male teachers impact better on the male students’ performance
in English Language.
4.
Whether students achieve more under a teacher of opposite
sex in English Language.
1.4
Research Questions
1.
Is the sex of teachers relate to the performance of students
in English Language?
2.
Do female teachers’ performance for female students affect
their performance in English Language?
3.
Do male teachers’ preference for male students affect their
performance in English Language?
4.
Do students’ preference for teachers of opposite sex affect
their performance in English Language.
1.5
Research Hypotheses
1.
There will be no significant relationship between teachers’
gender and the students’ performance in English Language.
2.
There will be no significant relationship between female
teachers’ preference for female students and their performance in English
Language.
3.
There will be no significant relationship between male
teachers’ preference for male students and their performance in English
Language.
4.
There will be no significant relationship between teachers’
preference for students of opposite sex and their performance in English
Language.
1.6
Significance of
Study
The study will
benefit the following stakeholders in education:
2.
The Students: The students at
the centre of any educational system require the mastery of English Language in
order to do well in other subjects, as the medium of instructions in secondary
schools in the English Language. Secondly, for admission into tertiary institutions
in Nigeria, a credit pass in English Language is a prerequisite.
3.
The Teachers: The teachers are
the vehicle through which knowledge is passed to the students in school. This
work will enable them to appreciate the biases in their teaching behaviour as well
as those inherent in the curriculum and correct such in their teaching in the
classrooms.
4.
The Curriculum
Planners:
This group of people will benefit from this research by becoming more of the
hidden gender biases that they package in the curriculum.
5.
The Counsellors: The counsellor as
the advisory personnel in secondary schools will be equipped with the knowledge
of the extent to which teachers’ gender can affect the performance of the
students and be able to guide the school in order to make use of gender to the
advantage of learning in schools.
6.
The Evaluator: This research work
would enable the evaluator to appraise the learning difficulties that students
encounter in English Language as a second language and proffer solutions to
such difficulties.
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