Ways Of Improving The Use Of School Library By Secondary School Students
Ways Of Improving The Use Of School Library By Secondary School Students
Abstract
This study assesses students’ use of library and ways of improving the use of library by the school’s management. The population of St Paul’s international primary and secondary school was 1,352. A total proportional sample of 406 was used for the study. The instruments adopted for this study included questionnaires, observations and a reading profile register. The hypotheses of the research were tested via well-structured questionnaires that were served on the students and a reading profile register to determine the frequency of their visits to the library, to observe the type of materials or text they read and how such impacted on their performance. The instruments of this study were assessed on their face validity under the strict guidance of an expert. To determine the reliability, KR2 formula was used to calculate the reliability estimate, which yielded a reliability coefficient of 0.72. The data collected were analyzed in relation to their performance in a recent examination under reading comprehension. Two hypotheses were accepted, which implied that frequent, as well as occasional visits to the library for free extensive reading enhance reading comprehension performance. The third hypothesis showed that non-visit to the library for free extensive reading had a negative effect on the students’ comprehension performance. This hypothesis was therefore rejected. The major findings in this study showed that non-visits to the library for free extensive reading had a negative effect on the students’ comprehension performance. This hypothesis was therefore rejected. The major findings in this study showed that, effective patronage of the library for extensive reading had the potential of developing and enhancing comprehension performance of students. Negative attitudes towards use of library, on the other hand, inhabited performance. There was therefore a dire need to re-equip, enrich and improve college libraries with modern facilities for better service delivery. Orientation campaign effort should also be mounted for the benefit of the students toward the value and importance of the use of the college libraries. Teachers should as well encourage students through assignments to patronize such libraries so as to derive maximum benefit from them which could enrich their schemata to confront varied reading comprehension texts with ease.
Chapter One
1.0 Introduction
Schools, be it nursery, primary or secondary, are established with a view to achieve the following objectives.
- To improve positively on the civil life of the students
- To impart on the cognitive ability of the students
- To impart on the moral life of the student
- Affects the vocabulary building of the student
- To prepare each student for higher education
Thus, schools establish libraries that partner them in the crusade to achieve the above objectives. This library referred to a school library.
The school library therefore, is the library established, financed, maintained, management found in primary, secondary and teachers training schools.
(TTC). It is expected to serve its community members like teachers. Pupils and student and win their patronage. As the life blood of its parent school, the school library plays certain indispensable roles in the educational up bringing of students.
- Makes the students indiscriminate readers of books
- Emancipates the children from learning by role
- Helps the teachers to prepare for classes
The suffer in the following areas;
- Poor recognition from appropriate authorities.
- Lack of trained staff to organize resources
- Inadequate funding/budget allocation
- Dearth and paucity of resources
- Lack of accommodation
The situation has cumaxed in gross loss of patronage. Is it common knowledge that most schools (Public or private) do not have school libraries, even when they exist, they are nothing less than” small spaces with few books, scattered there and there”. At other times, o full fledged school library exist without enough space. It suffices to say that, most authorities that have the behave to run schools are yet to understand and appreciate the importance of school libraries in primary and secondary education. In the words of Michael Morgan 1998, Libraries serve humanity” and S.R. Ranganathan, “Books are for use”. School libraries, when established, should put into effective use. Just as the holy reads put it.
How can they know
Unless they are though
The school teacher librarian should mobilize effort and mount campaign programs that would improve the image of the library, Sir up the reading interest in students that concomitantly draws attention to the library.
According to Amadi in his course Audio visual resources in the libraries, children teens and adolescents, have attaint for what they sec.
Onu quips that teems and children love questhetics, with these, the library staff should improve the library in the following areas:
- Erect attractive building for libraries with good architectural designs-in and out of the library.
- Organize readership programs
- Acquire books and other materials that benefits students
- Acquire audio-visual materials that appeal to the students.
1.1 Historical Antecedent of the Case Study
St Paul’s inter national primary and secondary school was founded over even years ago and kicked off within the church premises of St Paul’s catholic church. It later was relocated to its permanent site at Ikenegbu layout. It has over three to four thousand students population and a hand full of staff.
Location
The school is located currently in Ikenegbu layout at Chukwu Nwaoha Street.
Ownership
St. Paul’s international secondary school is a mission school. That is, it is owned by the St. Paul’s Catholic Church, located along Douglas, Owerri Imo state.
Mission Statement
The school is bent on providing quality education not divide of morality.
Structure(s)
St. Paul’s International Secondary school occupied a large expanse of land. It has
- A three in one class halls
- Four long class halls
- A dormitory
- A football pitch
- An ICT centre
- A chapel etc
Nature of Academic Program
The school runs the day and boarding systems.
Library Unit
St Pual’s international secondary school is among the school with a school library its establishment was in tandem with the school. It occupies two(2) large block halls with seating capacity of up to seventy (70) each.
Resources
The library has rich resources in the following areas:
- Subject collections
- Litrary collections like drama, prose, fictions
- Reference collections, like dictionary
- Religion collections order of worship
Staff Strength
It is manned by two staff, of which one is the library attendant. Though, all the teachers are working towards the functional growth and success of the library.
According to the vice principle and Dean, the library is currently undergoing renovation. Very soon, it would be revealed to another purpose building.
1.2 Statement of Problem
The library is user-oriented. This accounts its crude from time to time, to gain more patronage. The existing school libraries are not explored by the students, as have observed it stems from the fact that the user community has not yet under seared the import of library in educational development. Most times the attitude of the school authorities, the low reading culture evident in all and sundry of the country. Contribute to lack of use of library stock.
It is not out of places for a student to finish primary and secondary education without knowing what the library is, and its location it is in view of this that the research ways of improving the use of school library is proposed.
1.3 Research Objectives
This study was basically expected to achieve the following objectives:
- To identify ways of improving the use of library by students
- To assess whether the improved use of library by students of St Paul’s international secondary school enhanced their performance in reading comprehension.
- To determine whether non use of the library by students of St Paul’s international secondary school affected their reading comprehension skills.
1.4 Research Questions
- What are the ways of improving the use of library by students?
- Did the improved use of library by students of St Paul’s international secondary school enhance their performances in reading comprehension?
- Did students of St Paul’s international secondary school that never visited the library perform well in reading comprehension?
1.5 Research Hypotheses
H01: There is no significant relationship between the improved use of the library by students of St Paul’s international secondary school and their reading comprehension performances.
H02: There is no significant relationship between the occasional use of the library by students of St Paul’s international secondary school and their reading comprehension performances.
H03: There is no significant relationship between the non-use of the library by students of St Paul’s international secondary school and their reading comprehension performances.
1.6 Significance of the Study
This study was significant because effective reading remains the most important basic skill that ensures comprehension of a text. However it is an area that poses a lot of challenges to teachers and students. For example, there was a lingering debate over the years amongst the teachers of the school under study St Paul’s international secondary school in the quest for the best way to improve reading comprehension for optimal results. One group of such teachers strongly held the view that extensive reading of varied materials by students from their respective secondary school libraries would ultimately equip the students with a vast background knowledge and experience, rich enough to confront varied reading comprehension texts with ease. The second group however disagreed and argued that the language competence of the students was enough to bring about the desired results. Yet a third group advocated for a combination of the two approaches to reading comprehension for the accomplishment of the desired results. The findings at the end of this study were therefore expected to provide data that could shed more light on the most effective ways of improving reading comprehension. This argument became relevant as a result of students‟ poor performance in previous examinations in the school under study.
Similarly, the overwhelming outcry and concern by WAEC officials, school authorities and parents over recent mass failure of candidates especially in the reading comprehension aspect of the English Language paper was brought to limelight. These stakeholders blamed students for their lukewarm attitude towards reading generally. This study therefore came out with data that clarified the various assumptions. In the same vein, curriculum developers, teachers, students and other stakeholders would find this study useful by recognizing and appreciating the positive impact or otherwise of extensive reading in improving reading comprehension performance among students by equipping them with a rich background experience. This would further re-focus on the role and significance of secondary school libraries as engine-rooms for educational development in our tertiary schools. There is that dire need to revitalize our secondary school libraries for better patronage and more efficient and effective service delivery. The current trend should change where most students see the library as only a convenient place to read their lecture notes at the approach of examinations.
Similarly, the secondary school authorities of the respective school in this study would be guided by the findings of this study to re-equip their respective libraries with current and relevant reading materials. This would again facilitate greater patronage of their libraries by the students.
1.7 Scope of the Study
This study focused on the improvement of the use of libraries by students of St Paul’s international secondary school. The choice of this aspect of reading was informed by the general controversy in the school as to whether the students‟ use of the secondary school libraries for extensive reading purposes impacted positively on their reading comprehension performance or not. Similarly, the choice of these school was based on the fact that the Improved Level students of the school under study became a target for the study because GNS101, items 5.l to 5.6 of their syllabus reflect Literature in English. Effective reading for optimal comprehension of texts had posed a great challenge to most of our tertiary schools. This was evident from the new trend where most students shun away from their respective secondary school libraries for extensive reading the could broaden their horizons. This study therefore laid emphasis on extensive reading from the secondary school libraries and assessed the impact on the reading comprehension performance of the students of the school under study.
Chapter Five
Summary, Conclusion and Recommendation
5.1 Summary
This study focuses on “Assessment of use of library and performance in reading comprehension in two secondary school in Owerri”. It is based on protracted argument as to whether students who use the library improvedly or occasionally or never use it, would perform better in reading comprehension or not. The need for the study became urgent due to mass failure of students in reading comprehension component. Based on these, three research questions were raised to assess the students‟ performance.
These are:
- Does the improved use of library by students of St Pual’s international secondary school enhance their performances in reading comprehension?
- Does the occasional visit to library of students of St Pual’s international secondary school affect their performances in reading comprehension?
- Do students of St Pual’s international secondary school that never visit the library perform well in reading comprehension?
Two research instruments were used to gather data: Reading examination and questionnaire. Three null hypotheses were raised and tested. Below are the general findings from this thorough investigation.
- Improved use of library enhances reading comprehension skills.
- Occasional use of library by students is not a healthy habit of developing reading comprehension skills.
- When students do not use library in study, it greatly paralyzed their reading comprehension skills.
5.2 Conclusion
Based on the findings of this study, has been observed that students that cultivated the culture of free extensive reading from the secondary school library equipped themselves with a broad background knowledge and experience that facilitated higher level of performance in reading comprehension. If only teachers could encourage and motivate students to read more and more, varied reading materials from the secondary school library, they would develop a richer and broader background knowledge and experience. This has a greater advantage of developing their schemata which is a veritable launching pad in the acquisition of new knowledge especially in the area of reading comprehension for maximum output.
However, a new negative trend, perhaps a time-bomb, is the dwindling significance of the value of the secondary school library. Most students see the secondary school library as only a convenient place to read their notebooks at the approach of examinations.
This trend must be reversed, if student are to derive maximum benefit from the rich treasures which a well-equipped modern library can offer.
5.3 Recommendations
The study has so far shown that free extensive reading from the secondary school library greatly equips students with a rich and broad background knowledge that can facilitate reading comprehension performance. Based on the findings of the study therefore, the study recommends the following.
Teachers should encourage and motivate students to develop a sustained interest in the use of their secondary school libraries.
Teachers should give specific assignments that can necessitate students to read varied reading of materials from the library other than their areas of specialization. This will help to develop their schemata.
The literature component of the use of English syllabus in the target secondary school should be retained. This is because some of the teachers in the school have called for its being deleted on ground that literature is irrelevant to science students. It is the assumption of this study that NBTE (1999) that drafted the syllabus aimed at developing the student schemata by the inclusion of literature in English component which was neglected by most teachers in the schools as irrelevant.
The secondary school libraries should be equipped with current works and facilities to attract more users.
The library services and attitude of the library staff should all be improved to attract more users.
There should be a provision of modern and comfortable seats in the secondary school libraries, especially in Senior class which is suggested here, in this regard.
There is a campaign effort and orientation of students toward the value and use of the secondary school libraries.
5.4 Suggestions for Further Studies
The following suggestions can be considered for further study in the related field of this study.
- The effect of the use of library on the reading comprehension performance of lower primary school students.
- Relationship between the use of school library internet facilities in tertiary schools.
- Effect of use of library and the writing ability of students at the secondary school level.
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