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A STUDY OF SOME FACTORS RESPONSIBLE FOR SPELLING MISTAKES AMONG SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1   Background of the Study

To spell means, to name in order, the letters of a word for instance T-W-O = two spelling is an academic activity. It is a skill which marks the learners with such scholarly qualities as intelligence, cultivated, neat, efficient and conscientious. In any human society, the need for a common language cannot be over-emphasized. No society can exist comfortably together if the members of such society cannot communicate effectively among themselves. In Nigeria, English language is the lingua – franca (the official language) The language of Government, businesses, education, law, politics religion, mass media and international communication. This is the inevitable situation because Nigerian is a multilingual society with many different ethnic groups such as Yoruba Edo, Igbo, Tiv, Hausa, and so on. Since it is only in English language that all these groups can communicate, we can realize the indispensable role which English plays in Nigeria. In a multilingual country like Nigeria, English language is considered as an essential tool in achieving effective communication.

The use of English language for formal teaching and learning in Nigeria started when Britain became their colonial master (Sackey, 1997:126). He further explains that the teaching of English language started in schools where the language was learnt through “repeated readings of primers and spelling books”. As part of the British colonial policy during the colonial era, the indigenes of colonies of which Nigeria was not an exception were compelled to learn the language of the colonial master (that is; English language). As a result of this policy, English had so much power and as Sackey (1997:132) puts it, ‘without it, there could be no participation in the economic and political life. Also, Roberts (1996) explains that English Language has become a powerful language due to the fact that it has broken linguistic barriers to become a widely spoken international language particularly, as a second or foreign language.

For this reason, even after colonial rule, Nigeria had to adopt English Language as an official language for formal education, the media, and for government and business purposes in the country For instance, the present education language policy states that with the exception of lower primary (classes one to three); English should be a medium of instruction at all levels. It is used in teaching subjects like mathematics, agricultural science, and science, amongst others. English Language is considered as one of the core subjects in Nigerian schools and also a prerequisite for entry into Senior High Schools and tertiary institutions. Thus, success in any form of formal education and training in highly skilled labour generally depends upon one’s ability to understand and use English Language effectively. However, a lot of individuals, particularly students, tend to commit avoidable errors in the use of the language; more worrying is when such errors are committed by students in their final examinations.

In Owusu-Ansah (2005)’s analysis of the Chief Examiner of WAEC’s report, concerning the Junior High School Certificate Examination between 1993 and 2003, he highlighted spelling errors as a major problem in written grammar of students. He opined that students’ inability to spell words correctly lead to the deduction of marks resulting in poor performance. Again, reports of Chief Examiners on the performance of students in WAEC from 2001 – 2010 also revealed spelling errors as the type of errors most students commit in their final examinations. These reports buttress the previous reports that highlighted spelling errors as

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