Language Teaching Factors and Learning Outcomes in English Grammar among Secondary School Students in Ekiti State, Nigeria

Language Teaching Factors and Learning Outcomes in English Grammar among Secondary School Students in Ekiti State, Nigeria

¹Akinyede Rotimi Gbenga, ²Alonge Sunday Gbenga (Phd)

¹Department of English and Literary Studies, Bamidele Olomilua University of Education Science and Technology, Ikere-Ekiti. Ekiti-State.

²Department of Arts Education, Bamidele Olumilua University of Education Science and Technology, Ikere – Ekiti, Ekiti-State

DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.47772/IJRISS.2025.90300232

Received: 18 February 2025; Accepted: 28 February 2025; Published: 10 April 2025

ABSTRACT

English Grammar (EG) is an important aspect of English Language. Proficiency in EG is indispensable for fluent oral and written communication. Academic records have shown that many public Senior Secondary School (SSS) learners in Ekiti State are deficient in EG, which partly accounts for their poor expressive skills. Previous studies concentrated more on EG instruction in native English and English as a Foreign Language contexts than on EG instruction in English as a second language context. This study, therefore, was carried out to investigate Language Teaching factors (LTF: Time for Communicative Activities TCA and Instruction Time Management, ITM) and learning outcomes (achievement and attitude) in EG in Ekiti State, Nigeria.

The study was pinned on  the mixed methods (QUAN+ qual) design. The simple random sampling technique was employed to select 10 Local Government Education Areas-LGEAs- out of the existing 16 in Ekiti State and 50 public SSS (five per LGEA), while 50 teachers (one per SSS) teaching EG in SSII were purposively selected. Fifty intact classes of SSII (one per SSS) with a totaAchievementl of 2000 learners participated in the study. The instruments used were EG  Test (r = 0.83), Attitude to EG Questionnaire (r=0.86), TCA Observation (r=0.81), ITM Observation (r=0.82). In-depth interviews were conducted with Heads of Department. The quantitative data were analysed using descriptive statistics, Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PPMC) and multiple regression at 0.05 level of significance, while the qualitative data were content- analysed.

 The  TCA (2.11) was not adequate, against the thresholds of  2.50. The ITM (2.88)  was good, against the threshold of 2.50. The ITM (=0.99) and TCA (r=0.28) had significant positive relationships with learners’ achievement in EG.  TCA (r=0.30) and ITM (r=0.26) had significant relationships with attitude to EG. The composite contribution of LT factors to achievement (F _(4;45) =450.57; Adj. R² = 0.97) was significant, accounting for 97.0% of the variance. The composite contribution of LTf to attitude (F _{(4, 45)} = 4.95; Adj. R² = 0.24) was significant, accounting for 24.0% of the variance. The ITM (b =0.95) made significant relative contributions to achievement, but TCA did not. None of the LTF made significant relative contribution to attitude. Learners not having the coursebook to enable learners to practice the EG concepts learnt accounted for the poor expressive skills of the learners.

The composite contribution of the LTf to the achievement as well as the attitude was significant, teachers should deploy these language teaching factors to improve learning outcomes in EG among senior secondary school learners in Ekiti State, Nigeria. However, scholars can explore a further study on non-availability of coursebook as impediment to teaching/learning of EG in the context of second language.

Keywords: Grammar communicative activities, time management, Learning outcomes in EG

INTRODUCTION

Without an understanding of English grammar, it is impossible to teach and learn the language effectively. Therefore, understanding grammar is essential to teaching and studying second languages effectively. Grammar is a very important aspect of language and must be understood in order for one to communicate effectively. One of the factors that affect how fluency in oral or written expression is user’s competence is grammar. The attainment of proficiency in oral and written English has remained the crucial goal of many learners, parents and the society at large. Grammar is the spinal cord of English language that gives it structure and meaning when correctly applied in oral and written communication. High level of flexibility and competence in Grammar is essential because learners’ success in EG is the yardsticks that determine learners’ success in English language.

Grammar is the way words are combined, categorized, and organized to make meaningful written or spoken sentences. A student who does not know the rules of EG will never be able to communicate clearly and effectively in English Language (EL) (Lahmers, 2013). Grammar is both competence and performance. It happens so that a person can use their internalized knowledge to create the desired communication effect. Grammar encompasses more than just the capacity to absorb the rules of a language. This demonstrates even more how crucial grammatical knowledge is to the teaching and learning of second languages. Additionally, EG  is  concerned  with  a  set  of  guidelines  that  control  how the language of English is used (the language spoken or written) in order to produce appropriate sentence structures. (Bentsen, 2017).

The unsatisfactory attainment of learners in EG by public SSS learners has been identified in the literature as the major cause of their low disposition to EG (Shittu, 2018). Scholars, Zainol, Pour-Mohammadi, and Alzwari (2012) single out good disposition to EG as an affective factor that propels learners to higher levels of academic attainment in English as a second language.

learners’ disposition to EL and the context of its instruction may all take their toll on success in EG (Adediran, 2016). All these affirm disposition to EG as having a great influence on learning outcomes. Consequently, it becomes imperative to explore learners’ attitude to EG in relation to the language teaching factors of interest in this research. Among the various indices of measuring instructional quality in the teaching of EG are activities and practices engaged in by learners which guide effective teaching and learning and promote positive attitude of  to the subject taught-matter. Such practices include substitution and matching exercises, role play, dramatization, among many others (Agu, 2011).

Due to the roles of EG to ’ academic development in English Language and breakthrough in the school courses, ’ achievement in this aspect of English has been very poor. It is obvious that most Nigerian learners, and many secondary schools  in Ekiti State in particular, are weak in EG, which is quite evident in their poor oral and written communications. This is confirmed by the reports of the Chief Examiners for West African Senior Secondary Certificate Examinations (WASSCE) English Language in 2019, 2020 and 2021. For instance, the chief examiner in 2021 identified the weaknesses of learners in EG as poor knowledge and use of tenses, concord and sentence conjoining, among others. The chief examiner reported further that ‘ essays were characterized with incorrect sentences, poor conversion from native speech to English, and disregard for basic grammatical standards were all present in the student’s submissions. And this clearly suggests that there is a problem with the kids’ grasp of EG. Given  the  issues  with  ‘  subpar  performance  in  the  EL,  particularly  in  grammatical  structures,  this  study  is  necessary  to  find  potential  solutions for the grammatical difficulties that  are having.

Steps towards improving achievement of  in EG had made researchers to launch into the examination of innovative teaching techniques (Alonge, 2019), home, school, learners and teacher factors influencing learners’ performance in EG (Alonge, S and Olowoyeye C.A.C 2024).  However, very little research work had been given to adequacy of time for communicative activities in class and time management, especially at Senior Secondary Schools in Ekiti State.

Teachers who engage learners to wide communicative activities are likely to encourage their  the more and increase their learning outcomes in EG. Contrarily, Fakeye and Aiyede (2013) argue that other factor such as Teachers’ questioning behavior rather than Communicative activities can forecast ’ learning outcomes. In the light of these contrary conclusions, there is a need for further research to determine the correlation between Time for communicative activities and learning outcomes in EG among SSS  in Ekiti State.

Also important in the teaching and learning of EG is the teacher’s time management. Teachers who give adequate time to different steps and activities in the lesson note during teaching/learning process are likely to have adequate coverage of the academic content and improve learners’ learning outcomes. However, these studies, Lahmers (2013), investigated of Time Management styles of teachers on males and females learners’ learning outcomes in Countries outside Nigeria and in Science subjects with little consideration for the relationship between Time Management and learners’ learning outcomes in EG. In view of this, there is need to investigate the relationship between language teaching factors and learners’ learning outcomes in EG among Senior Secondary School learners in Ekiti State.

Statement Problem/Justification

EG is a crucial part of EL. Proficiency in it is unavoidable for verbal and written communication in English. However, findings have revealed that many public SSS  in Ekiti State are weak in EG, which majorly responsible for their weak skills. Past findings centered majorly on potent techniques of teaching EG, teacher and learner-related issues affecting achievement in EG, with minor preference for adequate time for communicative activities in class as well as time management that could influence learners’ learning output in this aspect of EL. Studies have shown that these two factors improve the quality of learning outcomes of learners in Mathematics, Basic Science and Social Studies, but the extent to which they could influence learners’ learning outputs in EG has not been put in research focus. This study, therefore, will be executed to examine the influence of language teaching factors (time for communicative activities and time management during EG lessons) on secondary learners’ learning outcomes (achievement and attitude)   in EG in Ekiti State.

Objectives Of The Study

The following were the specific objectives achieved:

1. Examine the adequacy of communicative activities given to learners in EG lesson.
2. Find out teachers’ time management during EG lessons.
3. Investigate the relationship between the language teaching factors (time for communicative activities and time management during grammar instruction) and learners’ learning outcomes in EG.
4. Examine the joint contribution of independent variables to dependent variables.
5. Determine the relative contributions of the language teaching factors to learning outcomes in EG.

Research Questions

Answers were provided to under listed questions:

1. How adequate are communicative activities given to learners in EG lessons?
2. What is the rating of teachers in  time management during EG lessons?
3. What is the relationship between the teaching factors (time for communicative activities and time management during EG lessons) and attainment in and disposition to EG?
4. What is the composite contribution of each of the language teaching factors (time for communicative activities and time management during EG) to attainment in and disposition to EG?
5. 5. What is the relative contributions of each of the language teaching factors (time for communicative activities and time management during) and attainment in and disposition to EG ?
6. Which of the language teaching factors (time for communicative activities and time management during EG) will predict attainment in and disposition to EG?

 LITERATURE REVIEWED

Grammar is the set of rules that allow for orderliness when speaking or writing a language, according to Lahmers (2013), who characterizes it as an unavoidable component of language systems. According to William,1985  the grammar of any language is an unspoken consensus among speakers regarding the most effective ways to express ideas. As a result, a language’s grammar deals with a variety of usage issues

Grammar, according to Bentsen (2017), is the set of rules for a language expressed in a terminology with numerous exceptions attached to each rule. Grammar is essentially a bid to organize and codify a large amount of information that, although initially appearing unstructured, has recurring patterns. Lacking an understanding of EG, it is impossible to impart knowledge and acquire the language effectively.

Therefore, mastering grammar is essential to instructing and memorizng second languages effectively. Scholars (Alonge, S, and Olowoyeye, C.A.C 2024) have stressed the role of EG in effective teaching and learning of the different language skills. For example, Lahmers (2013) avers that effective. Writing demands a functioning grasp of grammar, which is an improvement over the writer’s prior basic or intuitive understanding. Furthermore, according to Harmer, over time, a variety of mistakes and unconventional types in language use have been frequently noticed in the writing of English as an Additional Language (ESL) . These errors and deviant forms include, but are not limited to, a lack of understanding of tenses and their sequences, deficiencies in concord, winding constructions caused by unreasonable pondering, incorrect prepositional usage, a literal translation of thought processes from native language to English, and an incapacity  to match the  acceptable pace of reading to material reading among others.

Apart from succeeding in examinations, the incapability of the SSS  to be rooted very well in the fundamentalss of the EG may destroy their efficient public communication. In our environment, there is respect for people who have good command of English.  Also, the chances of getting lucrative employment will be brought down as part of the yardsticks for job opportunities are good skills’expression. This confirms the findings of Ogunyemi (2014) that mastery in written and verbal expressions confers on the people the opportunities of getting gainful employment. An urgent solution to the problem of under achievement is therefore important to help  conquer weaknesses in the knowledge and utilization of EL’s grammar so that there will be improvement in their writing and verbal skills.   Researchers have diverse perspectives on whether the grammar’s teaching could result to the improvement in communication. Despite that, however, grammar has and will continue to take centre stage in the teaching of language.

Adedigba (2015) reports some of the grammatical errors committed by learners in their writing to include wrong use of transitional words in creating relationships between sentences.

In the submission of  Ayodele and Adegbile (2014), a good language teacher must imbibe the practice of not teaching too much or too little in a language lesson. This will only be possible if the teacher adopts efficient time allocation to activities in lesson delivery. According to them, many teachers often spend too much time introducing a language lesson at the expense of actual presentation of the new subject matter. To achieve the set out objectives of any language lesson, teachers must distribute his/her lesson time across the various phases of the lesson such as introduction, activation of prior knowledge, lesson presentation and closure, reinforcement activities  as well as evaluation.

Teachers who give adequate time to different steps and activities in the lesson note during teaching/learning process are likely to have adequate coverage of the academic content and improve learners’ learning outcomes. However, these studies, Lahmers (2013) investigated Time Management styles of teachers on males and females learners’ learning outcomes in Countries outside Nigeria and in Science subjects with little consideration for the relationship between Time Management and ’ learning outcomes in EG. In view of this, there is need to investigate the relationship between language teaching factors and ’ learning outcomes in EG among SSS in Ekiti State, and identify factors that could ameliorate the problems the  are confronting in EG.

Research Design

This study adopted the mixed- methods design comprising the qualitative and quantitative methods. The quantitative aspect adopted the correlational design (Correlational design determines whether, and to what degree, a relationship exists between two or more quantifiable variables). This was appropriate because the researchers had no direct control of the independent variables as their manifestations had already existed. The qualitative aspect involved conduct of in-depth interview with selected teachers.

Population of the Study

All public SSS learners and English Language teachers teaching SS2 English in Ekiti State, Nigeria constituted the population.

Sample and Sampling Techniques

There are 16 Local Government Areas in Ekiti State.  Simple random sampling was used to select 10 local government areas.   From each local government area, five public SSS were randomly selected making a total of 50 SSS. Fifty senior secondary school two (SS2) English Language teachers (one per school) were purposively selected.  One intact class of SS2 was randomly selected from each school that participated in the study. In all, Fifty (50) teachers and Two thousand (2000) learners (40 per school) were the participants.

Research Instruments

The followig resarch instruments were used:

1. EG Achievement Test (EGAT)
2. Attitude to EG  Questionnaire ( AEGQ)
3. Time for Communicative Activities Observation Scale ( TCAOS)
4. Time Management Observation Scale (TMOS)

METHODS OF DATA ANALYSIS

The data generated from tape/video recordings, the questionnaires and achievement test were analyzed using the inferential statistics of Pearson’s product moment correlation (PPMC) and multiple regression at 0.05 level of significance as well as frequency counts, percentages, mean and standard deviation. The oral interview was content-analyzed.

RESULTS

Answering the Research Questions

Research question 1: How adequate are the communicative activities given to learners in EG lesson?

Table 1: Adequacy of Communicative Activities

Table 1 revealed a weighted mean of 2.11 against a standard mean of 2.50. This implies that the communicative activities given to learners in EG lessons were not adequate.

Research question 2: What is the rating of teachers in time management during EG lessons?

Table 2: Teachers’ Time Management during EG Lessons

Table 2. revealed that weighted mean of 2.88 at a threshold 2.50. This meant that the teachers had a good time management during EG lessons.

Table 3: Language Teaching factors and Attainment in EG

* Significant

Table 3. Indicated that there was a positive, low non-significant relationship exists between time for communicative activities and learners’ attainment in EG (r = 0.28; p>0.05). The relationship between time management during EG and learners’ achievement in EG (r = 0.99; p<0.05) was positive, perfect and significant. It could be inferred from the result that time management during EG lesson was the language teaching factor that was significantly related to learners’ attainment in EG.

Research question 3b: What is the relationship between the language teaching factors (time for communicative activities and time management during EG lesson) and attitude to EG?

Table 4: LT Factors and learners’ Attitude to EG

* Significant

Table 4. revealed that a positive, low relationship existed between time for communicative activities and learners’ attitude to EG (r = 0.30); and time management during EG and attitude to EG (r = 0.26). It could be inferred from the result that time for communicative activities was the language teaching factor that was significantly related to learners’ attitude to EG.

Research question 4a: What is the collective impacts LT factors (time for communicative activities and time management during EG lesson) on attainment in EG?

Table 4: Regression of Collective Impact of LT Factors and Attainment in EG

* denotes significant at p<0.05

Table 5. indicated that the composite contribution of the language quality factors (time for communicative activities and time management during EG lesson) to attainment in EG (F_(4;45) = 450.57; Adj R² = 0.97) was significant. This implied that the time for communicative activities and time management during EG lesson  altogether have a positive, perfect significant collective impact on learners’ achievement in EG. Table 5 further revealed the multiple regression adjusted R² of 0.97, implying 97.0% contribution by LT factors.

Research question 4b: What is the collective impact of the LT factors (time for communicative activities and time management during EG lesson) to learners’ disposition to EG?

Table 6: Regression Analysis Showing the Collective Influence of LT Factors on Attitude to EG

* denotes significant at p<0.05

Table 6 showed there was a significant composite contribution of time for communicative activities and time management during EG lesson to attitude to EG was significant (F_{(4, 45)} = 4.95; Adj R² = 0.24). This indicated that time for communicative activities and time management during EG lesson altogether have a positive, moderate significant composite relationship with learners’ attitude to EG. Table 8 also showed the multiple regression adjusted R² of 0.24, which means that 24.0% variation observed in learners’ attitude to EG is accounted for by the collective effect of the language teaching factors.

Research question 5a: Does LT factors (time for communicative activities and time management during EG lesson) individually impact attainment in EG?

Table 7: Regression of Individual Impact of LT Factors to Attainment in EG

* Significant

Table 7 : showed that the individual impact of time for communicative activities (β = 0.01) to attainment in EG was insignificant. It further indicated that the relative contribution of time management during EG lesson to learners’ achievement in EG was significant (β = 0.95;). This indicated that time management during EG lesson was the language teaching factor that predict learners’ attainment in EG.

Research question 5b: What is the individual impact of the LT factors (time for communicative activities and time management during EG) on attitude to EG?

Table 8: Regression of Individual Impact of IQ Factors on Attitude to EG

* denotes significant at p<0.05

Table 8: indicated that individual impacts of time for communicative activities (β = 0.21) and time management during EG lesson (β = 0.09) on disposition to EG were not significant. This implied that none of the language teaching factors contribute to learners’ attitude to EG.

Research question 6a: Which of the language teaching factors (time for communicative activities, course book content adequacy and time management during EG lesson) will predict attainment in EG?

Table 7:  showed the prediction power of the language teaching factors (time for communicative activities and time management during EG lesson) on attainment in EG. Time management during EG lesson (β = 0.95) > thereby implying that TM during EG lesson was the language teaching factor that strongly predicts learners’ achievement in EG.

Research question 6b: Which of the language teaching factors (time for communicative activities and time management during EG lesson) will predict learners’ attitude to EG?

Table 8: revealed the prediction power instructional quality factors (time for communicative activities and time management during EG lesson) on learners’ attitude to EG. None of the language teaching factors could predicts learners’ attitude to EG.

 Content Analysis of In-depth Interviews

Factors that contribute to the quality of EG Instruction copious time for learners to engage in communicative activities, regular capacity building programmes, effective time management during instruction and incentives to teachers.

 On the factors that contribute to the quality of instruction in EG (EG), the interviewees were of the opinions that copious time for learners to engage in communicative activities, regular capacity building programmes, effective time management during instruction and incentives to teachers contribute greatly to the quality of EG instructions. These are evident in the individual responses of some of the interviewed teachers as follows:

Like in any other language, the time spent on communicative tasks in class could make or mar the quality of instruction in EG classroom. The communicative activities to be taught depends on the time to be allotted for the teaching and learning of such communicative activity. For instance, CAs like role-plays, discussion and debates often take a large amount of time as compared to games that do not require lesser amount of time. (HoD A: Female,-: Ikole LGA)

Another head of department identified effective school supervision as well as regular capacity building workshops as factors that could help in good quality of instruction in EL. This is shown in the excerpt below:

The quality of ELT and learning has improved tremendously in our schools as a result of the joint efforts of TESCOM and Ministry of Education that ensure that teachers of core subjects engage in PD rogrammes like seminar, symposia and training workshops. In line with this there is also the practice of sending mater teachers to different schools to mentor teachers of English language. The state ministry also approves a scheme of sending one teacher of EL per school to coordination and marking of WAEC and NECO examinations answers on annual basis, while examiner’s reports are bought for the use of English language teachers. Lest I forget, inspectors who are experts in English language teaching move round schools at least twice every term to monitor English language instruction. All these make for high quality of English language instruction in schools. (HoD K: Male, Ikere LGA)

Some other HoDs explained that effective time management in class and provision of regular incentives to teachers could also ensure high quality of EG instruction in schools. For example, three HoDs alluded to these points in their responses:

Time management in EG lessons require that specific time should be assigned to different segments of the lesson. For instance, most of the teachers spend five minutes at the introductory stage of the lesson, the actual EG instruction should take 20 minutes, while 10 minutes serve as reinforcements activities that follow the actual teaching and lastly, five (5) minutes for assessment. Teachers should also avoid any form of interruption and disruption to the instructional process of EG. A situation whereby the lesson is interrupted by phone calls and visitors could cause time loss and waste of time which could undermine the free flow of teaching/learning activities. (HoD B: Male,  Moba LGA)

Still on time management, one head of department has this to say:

One of the hallmarks of a good teacher is to minimize waste of time. He/she should not dwell too much on one lesson step at the expense of other steps. (HoD B: Male,Ilejemeje LGA)

On the place of incentives in promoting quality of EG instruction, one of the interviewees declared that:

Among the incentives that could raise the bar of EG instruction are regular payment of salary as and when due, regular promotion of teachers, payment of special allowance to teachers of EL to compensate for the large classes they teach, conference sponsorship, regular training workshops, appointment of experienced ones as tutor-general and granting study leave with or without pay to teachers to enable them seek higher qualifications by enrolling in postgraduate programmes in universities. (HoD B: Female, Oye LGA)

One could glean from these interview contents that copious time for learners to engage in communicative activities, regular capacity building programmes, effective time management during instruction and incentives to teachers, sponsoring teachers on conferences and seminar, regular payment of salaries, regular promotion and opportunities for study leave with or without pay were factors that are catalysts to high quality of EG instruction.

Why Communicative Activities (CA) are Necessary in EG instruction

While responding to these questions, the EG teachers who participated in the interview were of the opinions that teaching grammatical concepts and rules of usage without authentic language materials such as debate, role play, dramatization, impromptu speeches, oral recitations, conversations, drills and sentence recasting would not prepare learners for fluent oral and written communications in real life. Excerpts of responses from the teachers buttress these claims:

 ‘’Since  are involved in communication in real life, it is expected that engaging them in conversations or dialogues will enable them use the grammatical concepts and rules learnt in class to perform various communicative functions in real life both within and outside the school’’  (HoD : Male,  Ado-Ekiti LGA).

Another teacher claimed that:

Making learners to tell fictional and non-fictional stories such as fables, allegory and moonlight tales in class creates opportunities for the  to use EG concepts in communicative contexts. Apart from providing authentic language materials to internalize EG, such series also teach virtues like patience, justice, honesty, fair play, virginity and fidelity’’. (HoD A: Female, Ikole LGA)

It could be gleaned from these responses that communicative activities cannot be ruled out in EG instruction. The communicative activities that can be utilised for this purpose include: dialogues, storytelling, songs, poems and drama. Others are debates, use of drills and transformation exercises.

DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS

The results are hereunder discussed, including the reports from the interview.

Adequacy of Communicative Activities in EG Lessons

Findings on this revealed that teachers of EG in Ekiti State did not make adequate use of CAs in class. Out of the whole log of Communicative activities available many of the teachers limited themselves to oral substitutions, drills in question and answer tags, fill-in the gaps and sentence recasting. This perhaps is traceable to the fact that the ESL teachers are not adequately exposed to PD schemes like conferences, seminars, symposia, and workshops in which they could be exposed to the content and methods of teaching the EG. Another probable reason might be that adequate/sufficient time is not given to the teaching of EG on the time-table. To adequately deploy those CAs in class will require more time than is given on the time table. There is no reasonable amount of CAs that can be deployed in a lesson of 40 minutes. These results affirmed those of Shittu (2018), Olaosebikan (2018), and Mojere (2022) who reported poor pedagogical practices in EG classroom due to insufficient communicative activities.

Teachers’ Time Management during EG Lessons

It was found in the study that teachers of EG exhibited good time management in their lessons. This perhaps is traceable to the fact that specific amount of time was assigned to different phases of the EG lesson by teachers, while not allowing any disruption to the lessons. Also, majority of the teachers participated frequently in regular training workshops in which they have been exposed to classroom dynamics on instructional pacing and time management. This finding confirmed that of Edun (2020) who found that Social Studies teachers exhibited time consciousness in the teaching of the subject. The finding is antithetical to Popoola (2021) that teachers of English supra-segmental features lacked good time management. The contradiction in the finding of this study and that of Popoola (2021) arose from difference in the participants and location of the earlier studies. Popoola’s study was domiciled in Oyo State and it involved teachers of oral English, while this one took place in Ekiti State focusing on teachers of EG.

 LT Factors and Attainment in EG

In the result, LT factors and learners’ attainment in EG were correlates, thus implying that EG teachers deployed sufficient time for communicative activities and manage their lesson time judiciously to boost attainment in EG. The teachers could use these factors to win their learners’ interest towards EG. This means if the learners are ready to learn, they have capable hands that will teach them well. This result correlates with the findings of Alonge (2019) on EG. Alonge’s result shows that the independent variables had positive strong relationships with learners’ attainment in EG. It is not surprising because teachers with high quality of instructional time management handled EG instruction.

 Teachers Language Teaching (LT) Factors and learners’ Disposition to EG

This result revealed that only time for communicative activities significantly related to learners’ attainment in EG. This simply denotes that the amount of time for communicative activities did not relate with disposition to EG. This might be because time for communicative activities is more fundamental catalysts to language teaching. The use of sufficient time for communicative activities combined with equitable distribution of time to various lesson steps taught will likely results in high achievement among.

Combination of LT Factors and Attainment in EG

The two LT factors altogether impacted attainment in EG. This could be attributed to the roles these factors play in effectiveness of EG instruction. This study affirmed that of Alonge (2019) who reported collective impact of teacher variables to attainment in EG. It also aligned with that of Popoola (2021) on the report that teacher competence factors altogether contribute remarkably to learners’ attainment in English suprasegmental factors.

Teacher Language Teaching Factors and Attitude to EG

The findings showed that all the LT factors contribute meaningfully to attainment of learners in EG. It is worthy of note that the independent variables added twenty-four percent contribution to disposition of learners to EG. This point to the independent variables as some of the factors that should be focused upon for teachers to raise the bar of learners’ attainment in EG. The result connected well with Adediran (2019) that effectiveness variables of teachers collectively influenced attitude of learners to English reading comprehension. It also underscored the report made by Ayodele and Adegbile(2014) that the classroom practice factors of teachers such as professional development, use of questions and use of teaching resources combined to increase interest of pupils in ES.

Individual Influence of Time for Communicative Activities and Time Management  to Attainment in EG

The results on the influence of each of the two LT factors on student’s attainment in EG indicated that only time management independently influenced attainment in EG. The reason that could be adduced for this is that each of the two LT factors are in the heart of pedagogy. It is essential that the teachers of EG are conscious in the management of instructional time, on top of this is for the teachers of EG to use language communicative activities for quality lessons in EG. This result buttressed the reports made by Alonge (2019) and Popoola (2021) in which the teacher factors also contributed effectively to attainments in EG and English suprasegmentals, respectively.

Independent Impacts of the two LT Factors on Attitude to EG

None of the two language teaching factors contribute to learners’ attitude to EG. This meant that the two LQ factors, though very important in classroom practice, did not contribute relatively to learners’ attitude to EG. It affirmed Ayodele and adegbile (2014) who impressed it that good and effective time management is one of the pillars of good pedagogical practices in EG class.

Predictive Influence of time Management and Communicative activities on Attainment in EG

The results as shown by the beta contributions show that only time management could effectively forecast attainment in EG. As earlier submitted, these two LT factors, time management and communicative activities are part of the contributors to effective instructions which could bring about good attainment on the part of . The result affirms that of Shittu (2018), Adediran (2019), Popoola (2021) that time consciousness brings forth high academic attainment in .

SUMMARY

The LT factors (time for communicative activities and time management) as predictors of attainment in and attitude to EG among public SS learners in Ekiti State, Nigeria is the concern of this research. The concepts of EG, concepts of LT factors, operational definitions of terms and concepts focused on attainment in and disposition to EG, time management and time for communicative activities were discussed

 The procedures and the roadmap for the study as well as research questions were answered, while interview reports were also presented. Findings were also discussed and compared with past works. The followings were the findings:

1. The communicative activities employed in EG classroom was inadequate, while insufficient time was assigned to them. The EG teachers demonstrated very good time management.
2. Communicative activities did not relate positively to attainment and disposition to EG.
3. Teacher time management in EG instruction positively related to attainment in and disposition to EG.
4. All the LT factors collectively influenced attainment and disposition to EG.
5. Only teacher time management independently contributed to attainment in EG.
6. Copious time for learners to engage in communicative activities, regular capacity building programmes for teachers of EG, effective time management during instruction and incentives to teachers were the identified factors that contributed to the quality of EG instruction.
7. The challenges facing EG instruction in Ekiti State secondary schools were learners’ not having the course books, too large classes, teachers’ non-exposure to regular workshops and insufficient time for teaching EG on the time table.

CONCLUSION

The research focused on how LT factors of time for communicative activities and time management could forecast learners’ attainment in and disposition to EG in public SSS in Ekiti State, Nigeria. From the analyses, communicative activities were inadequate, teacher’ time management was good. It was also revealed that teachers of EG were impeded by large classes, inadequate workshops and insufficient time for teaching EG on the time table. It was also found that copious time for learners to engage in communicative activities, regular capacity building programmes for teachers of EG, effective time management during instruction and incentives to teachers could improve the quality of EG instruction in Ekiti.

Finally, findings showed that time management related positively with learners’ attainment in and disposition to EG, but communicative activities did not. The combination of LT factors remarkably contributed to attainment in and disposition to EG. Only the LT factor of time management made individual contributions to attainment in EG and as such was only LT factor that could predict it. The conclusion that could be drawn in this study is that for good performance in and disposition to EG, the LT factors of adequate communicative activities and teacher time management should be paid attention to.

Implications of the Findings

1. Adequate communicative activities that provide opportunity to learners to use the EG concepts learnt could improve the quality of EG instruction to equip to communicate fluently and raise their learning outcomes EG.
2. Effective and efficient time management that prevent distraction in EG instruction, and which ensures that time are equitably distributed to various lesson steps could maximise the quality of instruction in EG and enhance the performance of learners.
3. The inspectorate division should regularly inspect teachers of EG on their skill in deploying communicative activities during instruction to enhance quality teaching of EG.
4. Educational policy makers should make provision for teachers of EG for further academic pursuits so that they could effectively deploy these instructional quality factors (time for communicative activities and time management). This can lead to greater attainment and create learners’ positive attitude to EG.

Limitations to the Study

Initial reluctance of teachers to participate in the study was a kind of brick wall met at the onset of the study, but they were pleaded with. The design adopted was the mixed methods design which necessitated interview with teachers of EG, but the teachers of EG were reluctant to get involved in the interview for fear of recording their voices. They also find it burdensome.

RECOMMENDATIONS

From the results obtained, these recommendations are made:

1. Teachers of EG should be mindful of the LT factors focused in this study, namely, time for communicative activities and time management to bring about improvement in attainment in EG.
2. Teachers of EG should attend regular conferences, workshops and seminars in order to update their skill of deploying these LT factors.
3. More periods should be allotted to the teaching of EG on the timetable for effective deployment of LT factors.
4. Expert teachers should be invited to schools regularly for the teachers of EG to observe them and learn communicative activities and time management in the teaching of EG.

Contributions to Knowledge

1. Communicative activities and time management brought about improvement in the learning outcomes of learners in EG.
2. Copious communicative activities to enhance the quality of EG instruction was emphasized.
3. The study identified copious time for learners to engage in communicative activities, regular capacity building programmes for teachers of EG, effective time management during instruction and incentives to teachers as the factors that contributed to the quality of EG instruction.

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