ict competencies of english language teachers in unity

8/12/2019 Ict Competencies of English Language Teachers in Unity

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The English language is an invaluable legacy of

colonialism which has increasingly assumed a

great importance all over the world. Manycountries, especially the former British colonies,

realized the importance of English as a language

of International Communication and voluntarily

adopted it for official and, sometimes inter-ethniccommunication purposes (Akabogu, 2006).

Consequently, there have emerged different

varieties of English as a result of the nativization

of the non-native varieties of the language. Thisis so because whenever languages come into

contact they are bound to influence one another.ICT COMPETENCIES POSSESSED BY ENGLISH

LANGUAGE TEACHERS FOR INSTRUCTIONAL

DELIVERY IN UNITY SCHOOLS OF SOUTHEAST NIGERIA 2


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Modern means and tools of communication have

been very influential factors in the cross-

fertilization of languages. The English language

is one of the popular modern languages that have

oiled the wheels of contemporary technologies of

communication and information dissemination.

Information and Communication Technology as amodern means of communication is usually

called ICT and is often used as a synonym for

Information technology (IT) but it is a more

general term that stresses the role oftelecommunication(telephone lines and wireless

signals) in modern information technology.ICT COMPETENCIES POSSESSED BY ENGLISH




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ICT consists of all technical means used to

handle information and aid

communication, including computer andnetwork hardware as well as necessary

software. ICT covers any product that will

store, retrieve, manipulate, transmit orreceive information electronically in a

digital form. In other words, ICT consists

of IT as well as telephony, broadcastmedia, and all types of audio and video

processing and transmission.ICT COMPETENCIES POSSESSED BY ENGLISH




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The field of education has not been unaffectedby the penetrating influence of informationand communication technology.

Undoubtedly, ICT has impacted on thequality and quantity of instructional deliveryand research in traditional and distanceeducation institutions. In concrete terms, ICT

can enhance instructional delivery through itsdynamic, interactive, and engaging content;and it can provide real opportunities forindividualized instruction. ICT has thepotential to accelerate, enrich and deepenskills; motivate and engage students inlearning. (Davis and Tearle, 1999; Lemkeand Coughlin, 1998).

ICT COMPETENCIES POSSESSED BY ENGLISH




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It is observed that the numerous benefits of ICT

can only be realized when teachers who still

remain the key to learning have developed thenecessary pedagogical competencies

(Onuzulike, 2011) There is a global

awareness of the centrality of the teachers

role in the instructional process, even in ICT-

rich contexts teachers cannot be replaced by

the best Technology. Jones (2003) reiterates

this fact and opines that no matter whateducational systems mandate and expects, in

the end effective learning is very dependent on

the will and competence of the teacher.ICT COMPETENCIES POSSESSED BY ENGLISHLANGUAGE TEACHERS FOR INSTRUCTIONAL



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The following research questions guided this study.

1. What are the ICT competencies possessed by

English language teachers in the unity

schools for instructional delivery?

2. What is the Influence of English LanguageTeachers Qualification on their ICT

competencies?

3. What is the Influence of Gender on the

English language Teachers ICT

Competencies?





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Two hypotheses was formulated and tested at

0.05 level of significance.

1. ICT Competencies possessed by

English language teachers in UnitySchools do not depend significantly on

Teachers Qualification.

2. Gender is not a significant factor in themean rating of ICT competencies

possessed by English language

teachers in unity schools of South-EastNigeria.





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METHOD

The study adopted a descriptive survey research design. It

was carried out in all the unity schools of South-East,Nigeria because of the availability of ICT facilities for

Instructional delivery. All the unity school English

language teachers numbering eighty two (82), constituted

the population for the study. Since the population of thisstudy is manageable, the entire population numbering 82

English language teachers constitutes the sample of this

study. ICT-Competencies of English language teachers

questionnaire (ICT-CELTQ) was used for this study. The

questionnaire was developed by the researchers based on

the standard given by UNESCO (2008) and Akudolu

(2006) to cover the various levels of ICT-Competencies

(Personal, pedagogical, subject oriented and didactical

competencies.





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The mean score analysis in Table 1 show that

English language teachers in Unity Schools in

south-east zone of Nigeria have very low or

fair competencies in all the required areas of

ICT as stipulated by UNESCO (2008). This

finding is not different from that of a similarstudy by Apanpa and Lawal (2009) which also

reported that English language teachers in

Lagos State are not ICT competent. This hasgreat implication for the success of ICT policy

implementation in Unity Schools and also its

usage in Instructional delivery.ICT COMPETENCIES POSSESSED BY ENGLISHLANGUAGE TEACHERS FOR INSTRUCTIONALDELIVERY IN UNITY SCHOOLS OF SOUTHEAST NIGERIA 12


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Qualification, as can be seen in Tables 2 and4, is not a factor in the ICT competencies of

English Language teachers. This may be

because ICT is not taught specifically to any

particular group or level but integrated in the

teaching and learning process. All the teachers

are qualified to teach in the Unity school but

their qualification failed to reflect on their useof Information Communication and

Technology in instructional delivery.ICT COMPETENCIES POSSESSED BY ENGLISH




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Tables 3 and 5 reveal that both gender (male and

female) have very low or no ICT competencies.

However, male teachers performed better than theirfemale counterparts. This result agrees with earlier

findings of Liaw (2002), Chen &Tsai (2005), Ong &

Lai (2007), and Eke (2009) who found gender

variations in which males rating of perceptiontowards ICT use in the classroom, self-efficacy,

perceived usefulness and behavioural intentions to

use ICT in instructional delivery were all higher than

that of their female counterparts. This finding is notsurprising considering the socio-cultural barrier

Nigerian females encounter as they venture into

science related disciplines.ICT COMPETENCIES POSSESSED BY ENGLISH




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EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATIONS

The finding of low-ICT competencies amongEnglish teachers in Unity Schools of south-

east Nigeria impedes the rich gain of ICT in

our language classroom. The numerous

benefits of ICT in instructional delivery can

only be realized when teachers who remain

the key to learning have the necessary and

required ICT competency. Where they fail topossess these competencies there is no way

the benefits of ICT can be realised.ICT COMPETENCIES POSSESSED BY ENGLISH



utilization of the facilities that have been provided for


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utilization of the facilities that have been provided for

instructional delivery, the following recommendations were

made:

+ ICT should be a compulsory course in all teacher-

training Institutions.+ In-service training should be organised for serving

teachers till all becomes ICT competent.

+ ICT qualification should be introduced in line with

other educational qualification as criteria for teachers

recruitment.

+ ICT competency should also be made one of the

compulsory requirements for teachers promotion.

+ The Federal Government should make the

development of teachers ICT competencies a priority andset targets when all long serving and newly qualified

teachers are expected to become ICT-literate to mandatory

standards.ICT COMPETENCIES POSSESSED BY ENGLISHLANGUAGE TEACHERS FOR INSTRUCTIONAL


ict competencies of english language teachers in unity

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