ICT for English Language Teaching and Learning – The Nigeria Experience
Sunday Ogala, The Federal Polytechnic (Nigeria)
Abstract
English Language plays a very important role in a multi-cultural, multi-religious and multi-ethnic society Nigeria. It serves as the coordinating language of communication for the over 450 different linguistic groups. It is the language of government and administration, thus the official language in Nigeria. It is the language of communication at all levels of education. Apart from being the language of communication, it is taught as a compulsory subject to all students at all levels of education which students must pass before graduation. The target for English language teaching and learning is the impartation of language skills to the learner. Over the years, various strategies and principles have been adopted to achieving the target goal. However, these attempts have not yielded the desired results. Many reasons are responsible for this. Some of the reasons are: the old method of ‘chalk and board’ approach to teaching in Nigeria; overcrowded classrooms; poor infrastructures in schools; poor funding of the education sector; to mention, but a few. With these, it has been difficult to embrace the use of Information Communication Technology (ICT) to ease teaching and learning of English language as a second language (L2) in a country such as Nigeria. In fact, poor performances of students in schools are usually placed at the doorstep of English teachers who are expected to be the vanguard for teaching language of communication for all subjects. This paper, therefore, chronicles situations in the classrooms in Nigerian schools as it affects the teaching and learning of English language, challenges, and recommendations.
Keywords: ICT, English Language, Teaching, Learning, Nigeria, Experience;