Conference Paper

EFFECTS OF TEACHING PHONETIC FEATURES ON SECONDARY SCHOOLS’ STUDENTS' PERFORMANCE IN SPOKEN ENGLISH

This study was carried out with a view to finding out the effectiveness of teaching phonetic features on the performance of students in spoken English in secondary schools. This was coupled with the view that if appropriate instructional aids were employed in oral teaching of the English Language, there would be improvement in students’ performance. Importance of spoken English among students cannot be overstressed since it is the foundation and the material on which words and sentences are built. The phonetic aspect of it is seen as esoteric especially by non-native speakers Bankole 2019. And as a second official lingua franca language brought by the colonial masters into the soil of Africa and being used nearly in all facets of life in Nigeria, “we need to go to school to learn how the words are pronounced ,how the letters are joined to form words ,how words are used meaningfully, and how they can be joined together in sensible. ways. Akinjobi 2012. Also investigated was the influence of parents’attitude on students’ performance in spoken English. The effects of personal motivation in spoken English by students was also investigated including some sounds which students found difficult to pronounce in their mother tongue. One hundred and twenty (120) senior secondary students from two secondary schools (of mixed type )in Ilaro ,Ogun State ,Nigeria constituted the subjects. The pre-test-post test control experimental design (in which subjects in the experimental group were subjected to a period of teaching sessions was used . A –t –test was computed on post –test scores of achievement to compare the means scores of the experimental group. Findings among others showed significant difference in the performance of students that were taught phonetic features and those that were not. It was recommended that teachers should pay more attention to the teaching of the sounds clearly and distinctively in the classroom and the students be motivated in spoken English. Parents were to provide stimulating and conducive environment to aid their children of spoken English. Keywords: Phonetic Features, Students ‘performance, Spoken English