Attitude Of Teachers’ To Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Use For Teaching English

Attitude Of Teachers’ To Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Use For Teaching English

Abstract

The waves of globalization and the advent of IT have given some impacts to the teaching of English in Nigeria. ICT equipment has been integrated in English classes since it has been proven to help the students in their learning process. This study seeks to find out whether the teachers are in fact ready for this newer innovation. It checks on the teachers’ attitude towards the use of ICT in English language teaching and the extent to which teachers use the available ICT equipment. A survey was conducted at primary schools in Ilorin, Kwara State. It was found that teachers have a satisfactory attitude towards the use of ICT and the teacher’s level of ICT use is also satisfactory. Furthermore, a significant relationship was found when the attitude towards ICT was investigated with three different variables, which are the actual level of its use, the teachers’ age and the experience in attending ICT workshop. It is hoped that more future research should be carried out in a wider sampling so that the findings can be generalized.

Chapter One

Introduction

1.1 Background to the Study

In the current era, information spreads rapidly and this makes it easy to access the information. Development of information technologies surely has a great contribution on this. Information technologies making a rapid progress especially at the end of twentieth century started to assert itself in educational field in addition to all fields (Sahin & Akeay, 2011). Integration of technology with lectures has become inevitable for effective training. It became important for educators to use information technologies whose effects started to be seen especially on educational training activities applied in educational environment and structure of educational system, effectively. In this respect, it is important for educators to adopt technology, to follow closely and to exhibit a positive attitude towards the use of technology in the classroom. Therefore, to reveal the attitudes of educators towards educational technologies in education is important and necessary in terms of ensuring required conditions for efficient use of new technologies in education (Pala, 2006).

English language is a West Germanic language that was first spoken in early medieval England and is now a global lingua franca. Named after the Angles, one of the Germanic tribes that migrated to England, it ultimately derives its name from the Anglia (Angeln) peninsula in the Baltic Sea. It is closely related to the Frisian languages, but its vocabulary has been significantly influenced by other Germanic languages, particularly Norse (a North Germanic Language), as well as by Latin and French (Finkenstaedt, Thomas, Dieter & Wolff, 1973). English has developed over the course of more than 1,400 years. The earliest forms of English, a set of Anglo-Frisian dialects brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the 5th century, are called Old English. Middle English began in the late 11th century with the Norman Conquest of England and was a period in which the language was influenced by French (Crystal 2003). Early Modern English began in the late 15th century with the introduction of the printing press to London, the printing of the King James Bible and the start of the Great Vowel Shift (“How English evolved into global language.” BBC. 20 December, 2010). Through the worldwide influence of the British Empire, modern English spread around the world from the 17th to mid-20th centuries. Through all types of printed and electronic media and spurred by the emergence of the United States as a global superpower, English has become the leading language of international discourse and the lingua franca in many regions and professional contexts such as science, navigation and law. It is the most widely learned second language and is either the official language or one of the official languages in almost 60 sovereign states. There are more people who have learned it as a second language than there are native speakers. English is the most commonly spoken language in the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Australia, Ireland and New Zealand, and it is widely spoken in some areas of the Caribbean, Africa and South Asia (Crystal 2003).

A teacher (also called a school teacher or, in some contexts, an educator) is a person who helps others to acquire knowledge, competences or values. Informally, the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. when showing a colleague how to perform a specific task). In some countries, teaching young people of school age may be carried out in an informal setting, such as within the family (homeschooling), rather than in a formal setting such as a school or college. Some other professions may involve a significant amount of teaching (e.g. youth worker, pastor). In most countries, formal teaching of students is usually carried out by paid professional teachers.

Gender refers to the characteristics of being either a man or woman, as members of a social group. Similarly, Lewey (2004) conceived gender as a state or characteristics of being either masculine or feminine in nature. It is a socio-psychological concept used to describe the culture and social roles different societies of the world ascribe to male and female folks to depict the differences between them. The anatomical differences are apparent at once. Given the opportunity, a woman can succeed in most activities as well as a man (Llewellyn-Jones, 2005). He added that although a woman tends to have less developed muscles than a man, she can equal him in physical and mental stamina and is able to perform jobs which have been reserved for men in the past. Elumelu (2009) in a study on the reading attitudes of college of education students observed that there were no significant differences between the reading attitudes of male and female students. Conversely, Idorenyin and Monday (2007) observed that at high school level, boys score higher than girls in Mathematics, Science and Social Sciences, while girls performed better than boys in reading, writing, music and literature. But some scholars and researchers like Agbaje (2004) and Amadi (2010) have nevertheless argued that gender cannot be regarded as a serious determining factor to effective and efficient teaching in the classroom.

Fortunari argue that the application of ICT in class helps teachers to arouse student’s motivation and interest to improve their English skills achievement. Many researches showed that the use of ICT plays a decisive role in the teaching and learning activities. Moreover, Rahimi, Ebrahimi and Eskandari (2013) opined that the application of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) has enhanced English teaching. Numerous studies have been conducted to measure the effectiveness of learning by using internet technology. Today, the internet which can be access by millions of computers has an important role in the education world. Internet is also applied widely in English language learning around the world. The use of internet in teaching English as a foreign language has many benefits (Aydin, 2007). In other words, the application of ICT like internet facilitates teacher’s ability to teach course material in the classroom. Internet helps teachers to access various websites that provide a wide range of subject matter in accordance with the objectives of the curriculum.

The use of ICT plays a necessary role in education (Zarghami, 2016). The application of ICT in the classroom enables teachers to teach lessons with authentic materials so that learning process in the classroom will be more of attractive and full of fun. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) helps teachers improve the quality of the learning process. They depend on no textbook, because ICT provides teachers with audio recordings, films and learning materials to promote the students’ learning achievement. In addition, ICT enables teachers to search for teaching materials related to the subject matter. Advancement of ICT has changed all aspects of human life. It has a medium and as a source of learning has influenced education as a means of science and technology development. Therefore, teachers should understand and implement the ICT which has brought a change in the paradigm of education (Labbas & Shaban, 2013). According to Sudiran (2011), there are some models to use internet as learning in English media at schools. The presence of the internet in education brings a great advantage in the learning process. Not only does internet serve as a source of information but it also improves students’ motivation in class. It is important for teachers to use it as a source of information to support their career.

Nigeria like other developing countries is still in the early stage of integrating ICT in teaching and learning process in the education sector. Though it is limited by a number of barriers, there are many factors influencing the use of ICT to make teaching and learning effective in Secondary Schools in Nigeria. The use of ICT in the classroom teaching and learning is very important for it provides opportunities for teachers and students to operate, store, retrieve information, encourage independent and active learning and self-responsibility for learning such as distance learning, motivate teachers and students to continue using learning outside school hours. It also helps teachers plan to prepare lessons and design materials such as course content delivery, instructional material and facilitate sharing of resources and advice. This versatile instrument has the capability not only of engaging students in instructional activities to increase their learning but of helping them to solve complex problems to enhance their cognitive skills (Jonnasem & Reeves, 1996).

The purpose of this project is to share with teachers in public schools the findings of the study conducted to investigate the level of ICT use among English teachers for teaching in secondary school in Ilorin. Also, this study seeks to investigate the attitudes of teachers towards the use of ICT for education purposes. An overview of the research in the value of using ICTs in teaching and learning process proved that the utilization of ICT has had a major influence on the teaching and learning process. In other words, ICTs has proved to be an effective tools for educational purpose, although it has extend and transformed the way students learn and teachers teach. The literature on attitudes is abundant in sociolinguistics but scarcer in the specific area of teachers’ attitudes towards learning and teaching. In recent years, there have been ever increasing number of studies into the possible reasons for the lack of impact of ICT in improving educational results (Somekh, 2004), the different aspects which could be influential such as self-efficiency of teacher’s own computer skills (Paraskeva, Bouta & Papagianni, 2008).

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) includes computers, the internet, and electronics delivery systems such as radios, televisions, and projectors among others, and is widely used in today’s education field. Kent and Facer (2004) indicated that school is an important environment in which students participate in a wide range of computer activities, while the home serves as a complementary site for regular engagement in a narrower set of computer activities. Increasingly, ICT is being applied successfully in instruction, learning, and assessment. ICT is considered a powerful tool for educational change and reform. A number of previous studies have shown that an appropriate use of ICT can raise educational quality and connect learning to real-life situations (Lowther, et al. 2008; Weert & Tatnall 2005). As Weert and Tatnall (2005) have pointed out, learning is an ongoing lifelong activity where learners change their expectations by seeking knowledge, which departs from traditional approaches. As time goes by, they will have to expect and be willing to seek out new sources of knowledge. Skills in using ICT will be an indispensable prerequisite for these learners. ICT tends to expand access to education. Through ICT, learning can occur any time and anywhere. Online course materials, for example, can be accessible 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Teleconferencing classrooms allow both learner and teacher to interact simultaneously with ease and convenience.

Based on ICT, learning and teaching no longer depend exclusively on printed materials. Multiple resources are abundant on the Internet, and knowledge can be acquired through video clips, audio sounds, visual presentation and so on. Current research has indicated that ICT assists in transforming a teaching environment into a learner-centered one (Castro Sánchez & Alemán, 2011). Since learners are actively involved in the learning processes in ICT classrooms, they are authorized by the teacher to make decisions, plans, and so forth (Lu, Hou & Huang 2010). ICT therefore provides both learners and instructors with more educational affordances and possibilities

1.2 Statement of the Problem

There have been policies on the use of ICT for basic education in Nigeria and so many projects on the use of computer in government Secondary Schools in Nigeria, but unfortunately, the project did not really take off beyond the distribution and installation of personal computers (Okebukola, 1997; cited by Aduwa Ogiegbean & Iyamu, 2005). Okebukola (1997) then concludes that the computer is not part of classroom technology in more than 90 percent of Nigeria public schools. This implies that the chalkboard and textbooks continue to dominate classroom activities in most Nigeria Secondary Schools. Okwudishu (2005) discovered that unavailability of some ICT components in schools hampers teachers’ use of ICT. Lack of adequate search skills and of access points in the schools were reported as factors inhibiting the use of the internet by Secondary Schools (Kaku, 2005).The results of studies suggest benefiting modern and up-to-date technologies such as computer and the internet in classrooms makes its possible for students to learn with greater speed and higher efficiency and fell satisfied by attending the classroom. Therefore, teachers needed to know much about new technologies and media and treat them with a positive attitude.

1.3 Purpose of the Study

The general purpose of this study is to investigate teachers’ attitude towards the use of ICT in teaching English Language in Ilorin, Kwara State.

Specifically, the study sought to:

1. Find out ICT availability for teaching English Language in Ilorin, Kwara State.
2. Find out the attitude of English Language teachers towards the use of ICT for teaching.
3. Determine the difference in teachers’ use of ICT for teaching English Language based on their gender.
4. Ascertain difference in teachers’ use of ICT for teaching English Language based on their qualification.
5. Find out the difference in teachers’ use of ICT for teaching English Language based on their of experience.

1.4 Research Questions

The following research questions were put forward to guide the conduct of this study:

1. Are ICT gadget available in Secondary Schools in Kwara State for teaching English Language?
2. What are teachers’ attitude towards the use of ICT for teaching English language in Kwara State?
3. What are the gender difference in the use of ICT for teaching English language in Kwara State?
4. What are the differences in the qualification of teachers in using ICT gadget for teaching English Language?
5. What are the years of experience of teachers in the use of ICT for teaching English Language?

1.5 Research Hypotheses

The following research hypotheses were analyzed based on the purposes of the study and research questions:

H01 There is no significant difference in teachers’ attitude towards the use of ICT for teaching English Language based on gender.

H02 There is no significant difference in teachers’ attitude towards the use of ICT for teaching English Language based on qualification.

H03 There is no significant difference in teachers’ attitude towards the use of ICT for teaching English Language based on years of teaching experience.

1.6 Scope of the Study

Basically, this study focuses attention on the Teachers Attitude towards the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for teaching English Language in Ilorin, Kwara State.

The population of the study covered the English Language teachers in both public and private schools in Ilorin, Kwara State. The analytical focus of the study had a researcher-designed questionnaire on method, techniques, limitation on the use, benefit and advantages alongside with the disadvantages of the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) by English teachers in Senior Secondary Schools and the attitude of teachers towards ICT use (both positive and negative).

1.7 Operational Definition of Terms

Teacher:

A teacher is a person who is trained to teach especially in a classroom setting. It is a person whose occupation is teaching.

Attitude:

A complex mental state involving beliefs, feelings, values and dispositions to act in certain ways.

Toward:

In relation to something.

Use:

To put into service; make work for a purpose or use as designed.

ICT:

Information and Communication Technology is an electronic means of capturing, processing, storing, communicating information.

English Language:

An Indo-European language belonging to the West Germanic branch; the official language of Britain and the United States and most of the commonwealth countries.

1.8 Significance of the Study

The findings of this study are anticipated to be of great benefit to the following stakeholders in education: students, teachers, school administrators, the ministry of education, policy makers on education, parents and future researchers.

The finding could be of help to the field of education as it will expand the ICT knowledge and effective ICT usage of English language teachers. It will make abstract content of English Language to become real or concretized thereby making teaching to be effective. English language teachers would be sensitized in reviewing the techniques used in teaching English Language during the planning, the actual teaching and post teaching stages. It will also create awareness among teachers of English language on the importance of ICT as a teaching tool and changes their attitude and practice toward improving their ICT base. The result of this study would be of great help to teachers because once ICT is introduce into classroom teaching of English Language, it will save time, energy, reduce stress and enhance the effective teaching of English Language.

Moreover the finding may serve as reference points for educational stakeholders in other parts of the world that would lead to improvement of provisions of education among Secondary School Teachers and it will also add new knowledge to the existing literature in Nigeria since there are little ICT related researches, as such future researchers will benefit immensely.

The study will help policy makers in enacting laws that will mandate English teachers to use ICT gadget or tools in teaching English language in schools in other to be able to meet up with the world standard just like the native speakers.

It will also help school administrators to plan to improve their schools by providing ICT for their teachers for effective teaching and learning because most parents this days are in search of schools where their children would have quality education and learn about their environment and beyond and also be able to compete with children from other schools and even other parts of the world.

This study would also be of help to students by providing anxiety in them to desire schools where they can learn more about ICT as it will prepare them for their future career in the sense that no career exist outside ICT. Every profession all over the world requires the use of ICT. Most companies can not employ anyone that does not have ICT knowledge.

Chapter Five

Discussion, Conclusion and Recommendations

This chapter focuses on the discussion of major findings, the conclusions drawn from the findings and recommendations. Other aspects include the limitations of the study and suggestions for further researches.

Discussion on Research Findings

Findings on Teachers’ Attitude to the use of ICT

The findings on teachers’ attitude to the use of ICT for teaching English language was examined using research question 2. The attitude includes job performance, usefulness of ICT in the discipline among others. The result revealed that teachers had positive attitude to the use of ICT.

The findings of this research confirmed those of Garofalo (2003) Christensen (1998), Paraskeva, Bouta and Papagianni (2008) with the report that teachers have positive attitudes towards the use of technology and they find it more comfortable in using it and incorporating it into their teaching. It also agreed with the report of Watson, (1998) who discovered that the development of teachers’ positive attitudes towards ICT use is a key factor not only for enhancing computer integration but also for avoiding teachers’ resistance to computer use. Thomas & Stratton (2006) as well as Anderson (2006) reported that lecturers’ positive attitude was a predisposition to respond to use of ICT. Similarly, Teachers’ attitudes have been found to be a major predictor of the use of new technologies in instructional settings (Abas, 1995; Blankenship, 1998; Isleem, 2003).

By implication, since the attitude to the use of ICT had gained the attention of secondary school teachers, their attitude should, in turn constitute various dimensions such as perceived usefulness, ICT confidence, training and knowledge about ICT.

Findings on the Influence of Gender on Secondary School Teachers’ Attitude to the use of ICT

The influence of teachers’ attitude to the use of ICT based on their gender was examined by Hypotheses 1. The result revealed that there is no significant difference in teachers’ attitude towards the use of ICT.

This finding of the research correspond with the report of Mckenzie (1993) and Stallard (1998) that the decision on using or not using ICT depend on individual. Llewellyn-Jones, (2005), also discovered that, given the opportunity, a woman can succeed in most activities as well as a man. He added that although a woman tends to have less developed muscles than a man, she can equal him in physical and mental stamina and is able to perform jobs which have been reserved for men in the past. Elumelu (2009) in a study on the reading attitudes of college of education students observed that there were no significant differences between the reading attitudes of male and female students.

However, the report of Adams (2002) contradicts the finding in this study that gender is a factor in teachers’ attitude to the use of ICT. He reported that females have a greater attitude to ICT integration than the males. From the previous illustrations, it can be deduced that the teachers’ attitude to ICT use has been unstable. Gender should therefore not be considered as major criteria in the use of ICT base on attitude.

Qualified and Unqualified English Language Teachers’ Attitude to the Use of ICT for Teaching

It was discovered that there was no significant difference in qualified and unqualified English Language Teachers’ attitude towards the use of ICT for teaching. This seemed to mean that qualified teachers do not differ from unqualified teachers in terms of their attitude to the use of ICT for teaching English Language in Senior Secondary Schools. This means that both the qualified and the unqualified teachers had same level of attitude towards the use of ICT for teaching.

This contradicts Okon’s (2005) findings that qualification had a significant influence on teachers’ standard in classroom. It also negated the Federal Republic of Nigeria’s (2004) statement in the National Policy on Education that qualified teachers will be more committed in the teaching profession than the unqualified. It is clear that qualification has no role to play in teachers’ attitude to the use of ICT for teaching.

Less Experienced, Experienced and More Experienced English Language Teachers’ Attitude to the Use of ICT for Teaching

The result of the finding on less experienced, experienced and more experienced revealed that, teaching experience had no significant influence on English Language teachers’ attitude towards the use of ICT for teaching. This indicated that less experienced, experienced and more experienced English Language teachers claimed to make little or no use of over seventy percent (70%) of the ICT tools examined. The finding suggested that the teachers are not familiar with the use of quite a number of ICT tools investigated. Therefore, they did not use them during their classroom teaching as instructional materials.

This finding confirmed the view of Adegbile & Igweike’s (2002) finding that teaching experience has no place in teachers’ excellent performance. They added the more experienced a teacher is, the more he becomes less dedicated, less hardworking and more preoccupied with other things.

The implication of this is that curriculum at the level of training should emphasis how a positive attitude to teaching can remove the clog in the wheel of students’ language development.

The result of the study on the Attitude of Teachers Towards the Use of ICT in teaching English Language in Secondary Schools in Ilorin, Kwara State reveal that most English Teachers in secondary schools in Ilorin are not adequately trained and supplied with ICT gadgets. It was observed in all the schools surveyed that the most available ICT gadget was computer with 116 availability and 96.7% compared to schools with non available which is just 3.3% while the least available ICT gadget in the schools under survey was Dictionary machine with just 9 availability and a very low percent of 7.5% while unavailability of this gadget is about 92.5%, which is not good enough, this has been affecting an area of English Language called phonetics.

The attitude of teachers towards the use of ICT gadgets is positive based on the result of this research. Also, the research result shows that out of the 8 schools visited and teachers of about 120 in number which comprises of male teachers 51 in number and 69 female teachers, there is no difference in terms of their attitude towards the use of ICT to teach English language which state that Gender differences have nothing to do with the attitude teachers have towards ICT use.

More so, it was found from the research that Qualification, Gender and Teaching Experience did not contribute to the attitudes of teachers towards the use of ICT in teaching English Language in Secondary Schools in Ilorin, Kwara State.

Finally, the research found that most schools in Ilorin are inadequately supplied with ICT gadgets or tools. Therefore the study suggest that Government and school owners should try to make ICT gadgets adequate so as to improve teachers’ attitudes towards ICT use in secondary school in Ilorin, Kwara State.

Conclusion

The research explored secondary school teachers’ attitude towards the Use of Information and Communication Technology in teaching English Language. The result obtained from the data gathered and analyzed in this study shows that the attitude to the use of ICT by secondary school teachers was positively moderate. Also, the result of the finding have indicated that none of the variables of gender, qualification and experience had any significant influence on English Language teachers’ attitude towards the use of ICT in the teaching learning process. Therefore, the implication of this, is that those teachers’ variables could be regarded as the major cause of poor performance on the part of the students.

Recommendations

Based on the findings and conclusion made above, the following recommendations are considered relevant:

1. In other to reawaken or increase the positive attitude of teachers attitude towards the use of ICT the Government and school owners should provide ICT tools for teachers.
2. Government and school owners should also provide avenue for training, workshop and seminar in other to improve the teachers’ ICT knowledge.
3. In other to improve the performance of students in English Language, the educational service division of the Federal and State Ministries of Education, Local Government areas officials in charge of supplying ICT tools to schools must monitor their use.
4. They must also provide means of maintaining the gadgets in schools and make sure that faulty ICT gadgets are repaired.

Suggestions for Further Studies

This study was limited to secondary school teachers’ attitude in the use of ICT in Ilorin, Kwara State (the state capital). It is therefore suggested that similar studies be conducted in other parts of the state and other zones of the country. This will make a comparison of the findings between and among the various zones possible so that appropriate measures can be taken to bridge the gaps in teachers’ attitude in the use of ICT for teaching English Language.

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