Language Skills Acquisition as Determinants of Junior Secondary School Students’ Performance and Self-Efficacy in English Language

International Journal of Research and Scientific Innovation (IJRSI) | Volume IX, Issue V, May 2022 | ISSN 2321–2705

Language Skills Acquisition as Determinants of Junior Secondary School Students’ Performance and Self-Efficacy in English Language

Babalola, J.O. (Ph.D.) & Ayodele, Ayoyinka Felix
Department of Arts & Language Education
Ekiti State University, Nigeria

Abstract: This study investigates the acquisition of language skills as determinants of Junior Secondary School Student’s competence and good performance in the use of English language in Ado Local Government. The purpose of the study is to identify the extent of students’ performance in English language, determine the impacts of language skills acquisition on students’ language delivery and to determine the impacts of language skills acquisition on students in English language as a tool of wider communication in Nigeria. The study employs the use of descriptive research of the survey type. The sample consists of 200 Junior Secondary School students in Ado Local Government. A well constructed questionnaire was administered to obtain information on relevant areas from the students. The findings reveal that without a good acquisition of the language skills, students would not have a good grasp of what is being taught in the class nor would they be able to participate meaningfully in any activity. It was therefore recommended that students should be exposed to tasks that will build their language skills.

Keywords: Language Skills, Acquisition, Self-Efficacy, Proficiency, Receptive, Productive, Competence, Performance

I. INTRODUCTION

Language is the ability to acquire and articulate the complex systems of communication through a conglomeration of signs and symbols based on tacit agreement within a speech community (Babalola & Ogunlade, 2015). This system of communication has great potentials to enable human beings to exchange ideas and express desire. Communication is the exchange of information by speaking, writing, or using some other medium. It is a means of sending and receiving information. According to Obateru (2018) Communication is the basic principle of human relation. It is the fundamental of human existence as human beings need to interact in one way or the other. Communication is a two-way traffic; we have the encoder and the decoder or in other words the transmitter and the receiver. An encoder sends a series of codes using the ability to speak or write while the decoder interprets these codes to make sense using the listening ability or the reading ability. It is important to be proficient in a language for effective communication to take place, proficiency in a language means competency in the four language skills; listening, speaking, reading and writing. The ability to convey a message or to receive a message effectively is communication and to communicate effectively, you need to learn the basic language skills. Communication is essential to human endeavours, it is a

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