TEACHERS’ VARIABLES AND READING ABILITY AMONG PRE-PRIMARY SCHOOL PUPILS

TEACHERS’ VARIABLES AND READING ABILITY AMONG PRE-PRIMARY SCHOOL PUPILS

ABSTRACT

This study examined influence of teachers’ variables on reading ability among pre-primary school pupils in Oruk Anam Local Government Area. Two research questions and two hypotheses guided the study. This research work was conducted in Oruk Anam Government Area and the population of the study consisted of all public primary schools in the study area. The area has fifty three public primary schools.

The total population for this study was seven hundred and forty five (745) primary school teachers. The researcher adopted a simple random sampling technique in carrying out the study. Ten (10) public primary schools were drawn from fifty three (53) public primary schools in Oruk Anam Government Area of Akwa Ibom State. From each of the ten (10) selected schools, ten (10) primary school teachers were selected in the study.

This amounted to a total of one hundred (100) teachers from the ten selected public primary schools representing the sample of the study. The instrument used for gathering of the needed data for the study was a researcher’s structured questionnaire called “Teachers’ Variables and Reading Ability of Pre-primary Schools Questionnaire (TVRAPQ)”.  Data collected were analyzed using the Chi-square statistics.

The result of the study revealed that there is a significant influence of teachers’ qualification on pupils’ reading ability in pre-primary schools and that there is a significant influence of teachers’ years of experience on pupils’ reading ability in pre-primary schools. Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended among others that government should employ more professional teachers in pre-primary classes.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1      Background to the Study

At the local, state and national level, the ability to read is important to a nation’s social and economic advancement. While at the individual level, reading in the 21st century is an important gateway to personal development, social and civic life in the school setting reading is a powerful tool for academic success because it provides pupils with access to information and in the 21st century information is power and without reading it is meaningless.

In essence, reading is crucial to the growth of a nation, the success of individuals and academic achievement. This implies that the ability to read in the modern world tends to drive development in all aspects of life.

Reading is one of the basic skills of language learning. It cannot be separated from other skills of language learning besides writing, speaking and listening. Those skills must be learned all by English language learners. Reading skill can help improve other language skills. Generally, the skill of reading is developed in societies with literary taste, because it can lead to develop comprehension, enrich vocabulary. Reading as with other skill is more enjoy able to do.

Reading is an important activity in life with which one can update his/her knowledge. Reading skill is an important tool for academic success. Reading is the most important activity in any language class. Reading is not only a source of information and a pleasurable activity but also as a means of consolidating and extending one’s knowledge of the language. Reading is very necessary to widen the mind, again and understanding of the foreign culture”.

Reading is a constant process of guessing, and what one brings to the next is often more important than what one finds in it. In reading, the pupils should be taught to use what they know to understand unknown elements, whether these are ideas or simple words.

Reading is the construction of meaning from a printed or we message. It means the construction of meaning involves the reader connecting information from the written message with previous knowledge to arrive at meaning and understanding.

In the classroom, teaching reading is a way of transferring knowledge from teachers to pupils by using certain technique and strategies in arrangement of certain material in order to master reading itself. Teaching is a complex process it doesn’t only give the information from the teacher to the pupils.

Teaching is not an easy job, but it is a necessary one and can be very rewarding when we see our student’s progress and know that we have helped to make it happen. It is true that some students can be difficult and stressful at times, but it is also worth remembering that at its best teaching can also be extremely enjoyable. Based on explanation, the writer concludes that teaching activities and manages the environment in a good condition to make and give the opportunity for the students learning process to get the purpose.

TEACHERS’ VARIABLES AND READING ABILITY AMONG PRE-PRIMARY SCHOOL PUPILS

In teaching reading, the teachers responsibilities in helping learners achieve these goals is to motivate reading by selecting or creating appropriate texts, to design useful reading tasks, to set up effective classroom procedure, to encourage critical reading, and to create supportive environment for practicing reading. In the classroom, teacher has to decide what the purpose in reading will be done.

It is reading for pleasure or getting to understand the passage. If the purpose o reading that will be done is for pleasure, the topic of reading text can be free. And if the purpose of reading text that will be done is for getting understands the passage, so the topic of reading text should be prepared before teacher each in reading class.

However, reading is not always popular among all people in developed countries such as the United State of America and on the African countries reading is generally not popular example in Nigeria. In December 2010 the president of Nigeria, President Jonathan, called for the book to be brought back into the classroom and society, and he emphasized that reading should be given an  position in school and society if development is to be achieved and sustained.important

Research findings have shown that majority of pupils seemed to struggle with reading. They read slowly and forcefully. They did not engage in any pleasure reading outside of their formal study requirement. In approaching a reading text, pupils may use reading strategies to help them understand the text. The use of reading strategies differentiates proficient readers from novice readers because proficient readers are more aware of their reading process by monitoring the process and applying strategies when facing comprehension problems.

The teacher is the major man power saddled with the responsibility of impacting the concept considered fundamental to human existence through teaching. The teacher is the pivot upon which the educational process revolves this is because the teacher is expected to have what the learners do not have and should be able to cause the learners under him or her to always desire to increase their want to what the teacher has until they are almost like the teacher.

Teaching s the art of helping others learn effectively and as a deliberate effort to impart knowledge before meaningful learning can take place. Learning involves a permanent change in the behaviors of a person exposed to a learning situation. This change is usually in the cognitive, affective and psychomotor domains.

Teacher variables influenced teaching and learning in classroom. The explanations for good or poor student’s academic performance have been quite exhaustive yet controversy still exists among scholars as to what contribute singly or jointly to students’ poor performance.

The teacher characteristics found to be dominant in cross-country studies are related to; qualification, experience and teachers gender. The teacher is the builder whose performance depends on adequate qualification, experience, gender and mastery of the subject matter

The teachers variables in this context include found to be dominant in cross-country studies are related to; qualification, experience, teaching method among others. The availability of qualified teacher determined the performance of pupils in schools. Teacher qualification refers to academic and professional qualifications that enables a person to become a registered teacher at all levels of education.

It also relates to the acquisition of relevant knowledge, skills and competence and creativity needed for quality productive engagement in the teaching profession. Teacher experience is the culmination of skills, exposure or training acquired over time that enables you to perform an existing job better or prepare you for a teaching position.

Teachers acquire teaching experience through different avenues, some less common than others. Teachers involved in in-service training were more effective in classrooms is compared to teachers who had not undergone training.

The important role of the teachers in the learning process is unquestionable. Teachers have a lot of influence on their classroom practices. For pupils to be able to make connection between what is taught in school and its application in problem solving in real life, the teacher has to be effective in their teaching.

1.2      Statement of the Problem

Poor and inability of pre- school children to read in Nigeria has been linked to poor teachers’ performance in term of accomplishing the teaching task, negative attitudes to work and poor teaching habits which have been attributed to poor motivation Ofoegbu (2011).

It has also been observed that conditions that would make for effective teacher such as resource available to teachers, general condition of infrastructure as well as instructional materials in public pre-primary school are poor (Oredein, 2009) these prevailing conditions would definitely show a negative influence on the instructional quality which may translate to poor academic performance, attitude and values of public primary school teachers.

1.3     Purpose of the Study

The general purpose of the study was to investigate teachers’ variables and reading ability among pre-primary school pupils in Oruk Anam Local Government Area. Specifically, the study aims at:

(i)      Examining the relationship between teachers’ qualification and pupils’ reading ability in pre-primary schools

(ii)      Assessing the relationship between teachers’ teaching experience and pupils’ reading ability in pre-primary schools

1.4     Significance of the Study

The study will be significant in the following ways:

(i) The study will help in formulation of curriculum that will enable the teacher to teach the pupils reading activities.

(ii)  It will help government know the need to employ more qualified teachers to teach pre-primary school pupils.

(iii)  To future researchers, it will serve as reference materials.

1.5     Research Question

The following research questions were generated to guide the study.

(i)    What is the relationship between teachers’ qualification and pupils’ reading ability in pre-primary schools?

(ii)   What is the relationship between teacher’s year of experience and pupils’ reading ability in pre-primary schools?

1.6     Research Hypotheses

In order to guide the study the following research hypotheses were postulated:

(i)  There is no significant relationship between teachers’ qualification and pupils’ reading ability in pre-primary schools.

(ii) There is no significant relationship between teachers’ years of experience and pupils’ reading ability in pre-primary schools.

1.7  Limitation of the Study

The study was limited by the inability of the researcher to get information from respondents alone during the administration of the instrument.

1.8  Delimitation of the Study

The study on teachers’ variables focused only on (teacher’s qualification and teachers years of experience) and reading ability in pre-primary schools in Oruk Anam Local Government Area. The was also delimited to only public pre-primary schools teachers in 2021/2022 academic session in selected primary schools in Oruk Anam Local Government Area.

1.8     Definition of Terms

Teachers’ Variables:  Refers to all those qualities a teacher possesses that can be use to describe him or her.

Pre-Primary School: May be defined as education given to a child or children at the age of 3 to 5 in an educational institution.