CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND
OF THE STUDY
Reading like its related language
skills-speaking, listening and writing, forms part of a complex information
processing system. Its relevance becomes more pronounced in this computer age
when one is compelled to be abreast with its constant developments and changes.
The intricate relationship between
reading and success in all sphere of life endeavour cannot be over stressed.
According to Smith (1971), “To live dangerously in these times is unavoidable,
but to live ignorantly is inexcusable”. He goes on to state that one does not
only have to read just for the reading sake, but argued that one who does not
read enough, can neither promote one personal growth nor contribute to national
welfare.
Some reading experts have argued
that reading is synonymous with knowledge. Since the primary aim of education
is to impack knowledge for a total development, reading ability will
undoubtedly equip one particularly students with the requisite knowledge for a
successful career in education.
Nduka in Njlita (1989) rightly
pointed out that our society contributes to change to a technological one, more
and more types of employment require skill in reading. He goes further to
state:
… as long as competition among nations
is based to a large extent on technological achievements, there will be a
premium on knowledge that will be attained through reading (p.93).
Nigerian educational
planners/curriculum designers seem to be aware of the importance of reading in
the education of the child. This is evident in the number of textbooks
recommended for use in both primary and post primary schools. In addition, all
examinations (in primary and post primary schools) usually contain compulsory
comprehension passages, which test the child reading ability.
Never- the-less, the reading
habit/proficiency of an average educated Nigerian, particularly secondary
school students is much more below that of their counterparts in the developed
countries. This has resulted in poor performance of students in examinations
and has contributed to the fallen standard of Education in Nigeria. According
to Achebe (1985):
In most cases a child of 10 in those
countries has read more books than a Nigerian Graduate Believe me. Sometimes, I
was ashamed of myself. A child of 10 would tell me the names of all the
animals, reptiles and birds in Africa and others part of the world, the
geography of part of Africa; rivers mountains plateaus, forests, mineral
resources; the names of races and their languages. (pg 2). He goes on to state
that the child is always at home with any topic and would always ask you have
you not read this or that book.
Similarly, Ekong (1986), lamented on
the poor library services obtainable in Nigeria unlike in the United States of
America, Britain and other developed countries. He observed that right from the
elementary school, the Nigerian child is not exposed to reading; hence he sees
reading as a boring, difficult and unpleasant exercise. The average Nigerian
student sees reading as a necessary evil that must be done for the purpose of
examination only.
However, the complex nature of
reading makes its almost always impossible for what may be called “Examination
period” or periodic readers to attain the level of comprehension necessary for
academic success. It is not surprising then, that researchers have identified
poor reading habit as a major contributory factor to the poor performance of
students in examination at all levels of education in Nigeria.
Against this backdrop therefore,
this study aims at an in depth study of reading in the junior secondary schools
with a view to identifying students problems and then make recommendations.
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Today, everybody in Nigeria seems to
agree that the standard of education has fallen. Teachers and parents alike
complain that children in the secondary schools cannot read simple texts. It is
an indisputable fact that reading disability among students is one of the
greatest obstacle to educational growth in Nigeria.
In this modern world which is fast,
becoming a global village, reading deficiency places one at a disadvantage position.
This is so because most of the information one needs in order to be abreast
with one’s contemporaries can be got through reading-newspapers; magazines
manuals e.t.c.
Moreover, reading skill is an
indispensable skill is an indispensable skill for success in the university,
and for further scholastic achievements. In fact, there will be no meaningful
development in any nation if her citizens lack an appreciable reading habit.
The main thrust of this research therefore is to expose the problems of reading
among junior secondary school students since the identification of a problems
is the first step towards solving it.
The researcher believes that the
problem of reading can best be tackled
in the Junior secondary schools since it is at this level that students being ‘Reading
to Learn” as opposed to their “ Learning to Read” in the primary schools.
1.3 Purpose
of the Study
The purpose of this study is to:
i. Expose
teachers, syllabus designers and policy makes to research based views on
reading in the Junior Secondary Schools;
ii. Expose
the factors that militate against the academic achievements of students with
particular reference to students in Ikwo
Local Government Area of Ebonyi State.
iii. Highlight
to teachers, syllabus designers and Education managers, students’ reading
predicaments in order to educate them on ways of solving them.
1.4 Research
Questions
The major assumptions of this study
is that the reading habits of our Junior Secondary School Students is deficient
and schools are inadequately equipped with relevant text books to tackle the
problem. As a result, the following research questions were formulated for the
study.
1. How often to students read?.
2. Is
there any implication of poor reading habit on educational development?
3. How
often do teachers point out reading faults among students.
4. Can
the nature of Reading habit affect the JS students performance?
1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
It has become fashionable in this
part of the world for people to criticize students reading disability while
little or no effort is made to remedy it. Confidently, facts got from this
study could throw some tight on the causes of this problem and the effects of
this predicament of the students’ educational development. The result of this
study can also be of benefit to students and parents as it will give them
insight into reading as well as provide them with suggestions on reading
disabilities. Teachers, Education planners and the society will also benefit
form this study.
1.6 Scope
of the Study
This study will limited to the
investigation of student’s reading habit in Ikwo Local government area. It will
be restricted to four Junior Secondary Schools in Ikwo Local Government Area.
The
school are:
This is to enable the researcher thoroughly
investigate the causes of reading disability among students since that will
lead to solution and subsequent development of good reading habits.
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
2.1 INTRODUCTION
Reading experts hold the view that
reading has not received adequate attention as its related language skills. Writing and speaking, some of them believed
that Nigerians in general have no value for reading. Others argued that
teachers and education managers had not given reading the proper place in our
educational system.
In this review therefore, the
researcher has tried to explore on reading in general. For convenience, the
review was divided into four sections as follows:
Definition
of reading;
Importance
of reading;
Reaching
habits of Nigerians/students;
Causes
of reading disabilities;
Summary.
2.2 DEFINITION
OF READING
Experts have postulated various
definitions of reading. Gates in Njelita (1949), defines reading as a mental
process by which a reader tries to identify, understand and interpret the
thought of another person as represented
on the pages of paper. He writes:
Reading is not a simple mechanical skill, nor is it a
narrow scholastic tool. Properly cultivated, it is essentially a thought
process. However, to say that reading is a thought getting process is to give
it too restricted a description. It should be developed as a complex
organization of patterns of higher mental process. It can be and should embrace
all types of thinking, evaluating, judging imagining, reasoning and
problem-solving. (p. 92).
Gate
sees reading as a psycholinguistic activity. The reader reads for knowledge for
inform for understanding, and in order to solve problems.
Obah in Oluikpe (1981), describes
reading as a complex information process. According to her.
Reading, like its related language
skills, listening, speaking and writing forms part of a complex information
processing system. Information is passed from the writer to the reader who
without the props of facial movements gestures or tone of voice, the ready
accompaniment of speech concepts that are represented by black and white
symbols (p.145) she further argues that reading operates on two levels - the
level of symbols and the levels of concept. On the first levels, the reader tries
to recognize words, groups them and attempts an interpretation. On the second
level of reading, the reader matches the recognized words with his previous
knowledge and experiences, certain shared ideas. According to her, ‘we the
readers follow the writer’s line of thought, recreating in our minds mental
images or ideas transmitted by the writer” (Ibid).
Ekpumobi in Osakwe et al (ed)
(1997), says that reading requires a lot of mental activity. She states:… It
involves much more than looking at the literal meaning of words. Reading
requires one to be able to sift these from facts as he reads. He has to do this
in order to decipher the relevant points from the irrelevancies. (p. 38).
Orisawvanyi (1992), contends that
contrary to popular opinion, reading is not a passive or receptive activity, it
is an active communicative activity, which is of no less importance than
speaking or writing. He writes:
The reader is indeed actively involved in
communicative deal with the writer-agreeing, disagreeing, questioning,
doubting, filling details and so on. Response to text, is therefore as much a
communicative task as writing and speaking. (p. 89).
Smith
(1971), shares the view of Orisawayi that reading is an active communication
between the writer and the reader. He describes it as a transfer of information
from a transmitter to a receiver.
2.3 IMPORTANCE
OF READING
Reading experts are unanimous in
their view that good reading habit is sine-qua-no in every field of human
endeavor particularly in this age of advanced technology.
Unoh in Orisawayi (1972), Opines
that a student who has good reading habit develops new ideas enriches his mind
and imagination with new ideas and experiences which, makes him not only useful
to himself and his country but also a worthy and prospected citizen of the
world. Unoh therefore states:
The pupil who will eventually make some contribution
even if a small one to the welfare of government, or social life of his will
make a better one of he is a reader (p.112).
Unoh’s
view was corroborated by Postinan (1989) in a seminar on “the politics of
reading”. He contends that it is now a world wide opinion that encouraging
reading in a country eliminates illiteracy and in turn creates good citizens.
He
states:
One cannot be governed unless he can read forms,
regulates, and notices catalogues, read signs and the like. Thus, some minimal
reading skill is necessary of you are be a good citizen (p.112).
The
assertion above implies that for one to be a good citizen, one should able to
read the laws of one’s country as well as the daily news to keep oneself
adequately informed about the happenings in the society.
Osakwe et al (1997) emphasize that a
student at the polytechnic, College of education or university normally has to
do a lot of reading. He maintains that despites the lectures he attends, most
of the information he needs can only be got through private reading.
Smith in Njelits (1989), shares the
opinion of Unoh on the importance of reading to individual and national
development. According to him:
To live dangerously these times is unavoidable but to
live ignorantly is inexcusable. To be able to read just enough to get by is not
enough to promote one’s growth; and make however slight contribution to the
national welfare, each of us must read
well. (p.93).
Similarly,
Dallman et al (1974), say that reading is the only known time-machine that can
recreate the events of the past and open the vistas of the future.
They argue that reading is essential
to the existence of our complex social system. They posit that reading is link
between the past and the present as well as the future. They further contend
that even if all the inventions of a hundred of years were destroyed and only
books were left man would lose nothing. Dallman concludes that reading is a
humanizing process.
Penty et al (1955), observes that
poor reading abilities are important contribution factors to poor scholastic
achievement. They affirm that poor readers contribute to a majority of school
dropouts.
Blugh
(1976) observes that reading is synonymous to acquisition of knowledge and
knowledge is education. He argues that knowledge is education. He argues that
education to a great extent is development.
King
(Jnr), in Torch 2004 holds that a nation is prosperous to the extent it has
enlightened its citizens. He says:
The prosperity of a nation depends not on the strength
of its fortifications not on the beauty of its public buildings, but consists
on the number of cultivated citizens, its men (and women) of character and
enlightment (p. 14).
The implication of Kings view is that any nation that
desires to prosper must encourage its citizens to read wide so as to be
enlightened.(p.14)
The
implication of king’s view is that any nation that desires to prosper must
encourage its citizens to read wide so as to be enlightened. Contributing to
the importance of reading, particularly among students, Hugnes (1975), states:
Reading is a skill of paramount importance. It may be
regarded as a ‘tool’ skill in the sense that it affects most of children’s
learning in school and a child’s progress in other subjects will depend
considerably on reading ability. (p.11).
Reading is the core of the syllabus. It is tied to
language acquisition and where little reading is done, there will be little
learning. Bright and Mcgregor, (1970) in Orisawayi (1992), writing on enhancing
the literary ability of the Junior readers through reading says that reading is
“double-phased”.
(a) Learning
to read and
(b) Reading
to read
She maintains that at the secondary school level, a
child graduates from “learning by to read” to reading to learn”. She states
that “reading cuts across all subjects”, and that it is important to start
meaningful reading at the JS stage which is the foundation level in the
Nigerian educational system.
2.4 READING HABITS OF NIGERIANS/STUDENTS
It is
generally believed that Nigerian students and indeed Nigerians in general have
poor reading habits. Some reading specialists have gone further to postulate
reasons for this ugly trend.
Achebe
(1988), regrets that the level of reading of Nigeria students is nothing to
compare with that of their counterparts in the developed countries like the
Western Germany Austria and Switzerland. He writers:
Books for the young abound, and the young people read
almost to excess. In most cases, a child of 10 in those countries has read more
books than a Nigerian Graduate. Believe me. Sometimes, I was ashamed of myself.
A child of 10 would tell me the names of all the animals, reptiles and birds in
Africa and other parts of the world; the geography of any part of Africa:
rivers, mountains, plateaus, forest, mineral resources; the names of their race
and their languages.
….Bring
any topic and he is at home with, and would, even embarrass you by asking “have
you not read this or that book” (p.2).
Achebe says that in those countries,
nothing is spared in the training of youths. Contrary to the Nigerian
situation, the parents, the church and the government at all levels give
priority to the training of youths.
Adebiyi in Unoh (1990), quoted a
professor of Education who observed that the quality of graduates produced by
universities today is by far inferior to those produced years ago. Adebiyi
insits that one of the factors that one of the factors responsible for the
inferiority is the reading ability of our students which is on a downward
trend.
He
states:
We read mostly to pass examinations or for immediate
economic gains. We have not learnt to read to broaden our horizon, develop the
personality and gain knowledge from all areas of study. Cultivation of good
reading habits starts from childhood at the primary school or latest at the
secondary school. But this is not so in Nigeria. (p.42).
Ekpa in Orisaway, (1992) observes:
Efficient reading is without doubt one of the most
valuable study skills any student can acquire.
Unfortunately, this important aspect of all the
students’ career has been grossly ignored by educational authorities, teachers
and students themselves (p. 111).
Ekpa regrets that the education
system places undue emphasis on writing which in affect makes students to learn
effective writing but lack the skills required for efficient reaching, without
which they cannot understand what they have learnt and written.
2.5: CAUSES
OF READING DISABILITY
Different writers attribute poor
reading habits/Reading deficiency among Nigerians to different factors most of
which are particular to Nigerians.
Widdowson (1985), blames students
and teachers for the students’ inability to read. He indicts students for over
dependence on introduction and notes to edition of books they are required to
study, and says that over dependence on those” little booklets of potted
critical judgments’ should be discouraged. Widdowson also blames teachers of
literature for their students’ inability or unwillingness to read. He contends
that what they rather do is instruct students in sort of simplified version of
literary criticism so that the may be given access to significant aspect of the
work they are studying, without having to go through the brother of learning to
read it themselves.
He goes on to suggest that teachers
should develop a pedagogy which will guide learners towards an in depth ability
to read literature for themselves as a pre-condition for subsequent study.
Ekpa in Orisawayi (1992), Corroborates
Widdowson’s opinion that teachers should be indicated for the reading
deficiencies among Nigerian students. She says that the result of a research
carried out in Cross River State reveals that teachers emphasize writing as
opposed to reaching. She argues:
What is apparent is that these teachers seem to be unaware
of the fact that the child who copies down verbatim what the teacher writes on
the blackboard without being able to read these notes independently is as good
as a child who has never gone to school. (p. 111).
According
to her, the teachers argued that the students should be able to write we well
before they are taught reading.
Ekpa contents that reaching and
writing are complementary. She also identifies language problem as a cause of
reading inability in Nigeria students, from primary to the university level,
have been blamed for poor performance in school examinations due to their poor
attitude to reading….
Similarly, many reasons have been
proffered as the causes of the poor reading culture among Nigerian students a
major problem which creates an impediment to reading and high comprehension for
these students is the language barrier
(p. 113).
She concludes by reiterating that
the teacher makes or mars the student through makes or mars the student through
his teaching method, she suggests that teachers should do the following to make
reading (particularly literature texts) interesting to their students;
(a) Make
necessary explanations from the text in the students mother tongue.
(b) Place
emphasis on oral performances of poetry and drama as a way of arousing the
children’s interest in reading the text.
(c) Choose
interesting texts especially books on love and adventure for the students.
(d) Try to understand what motivates their
students.
This view is supported by Unoh. She
writes that the teacher that teachers reading is to see that the learners
develop and sustain the necessary reading skills, particularly at the JS level.
However, Nduka in Njelite et al
(1989) holds the opinion that all the stake holders in education share equally
the causes of poor reading habits in Nigeria according to him:
The major cause of the state of affairs is that reading
has not been given its rightful place in our schools. Many teachers have not
fully grasped the concept of reading and only teach with purpose of helping the
children to pass specified examinations.
There are no supplementary readers, not to talk of
school libraries. The result is that students think of reading as what is done
only in the school and it is for school use. To them, outside the school,
reading has no relevance. Therefore, reading habit is not formed (p.96).
Nduka
makes the following recommendations:
(a) Language
should be studied through the four language skills of listening, speaking,
reading and writing the language Art approach.
(b) Workshop
and seminars be organized for language teachers to make them aware of the
concept and scope of reading.
(c) Government
should provide facilities for extensive reading within and outside the schools
such as establishment of more school and public libraries.
(d) Public
spirited individuals, publishing houses and writers could be called upon to
donate books to the libraries.
(e) Young
writers and students should be encouraged to write through grants by
government.
(f) Adults
and school leavers should be encouraged to read to broaden their views.
2.6 SUMMARY
This review has sought to analyze
the existing literature in the area of reading. The review looked at the works
from four perspectives:
Definition of reading, importance of
reading. Reading habits of Nigerians and causes of reading disability.
It is discovered that all the
authors consulted in this review agreed that reading is a complementary
language skill of no less importance. The review reveals that the level of
reading habits of Nigerians in general is very low.
Most reading experts blamed the
teachers of English language for poor reading habits of students and are of the
view that this could be remedied in the secondary schools.
TOPIC:
THE NEED FOR DEVELOPMENT OF READING
HABIT IN STUDENTS IN JUNIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL
A CASE STUDY OF SOME SCHOOLS IN IKWO
L.G.A. OF EBONYI STATE