Evaluation of teachers’ use of instructional materials for teaching French in junior secondary schools

Abstract

The purpose of this survey was to evaluate the teachers’ use of the instructional materials for teaching French as recommended in the junior secondary school curriculum for French. The population of the study consisted of the 20,384 junior secondary school students of French and their 34 teachers in the 23 junior secondary schools where French is studied in Owerri Education Zone 1 of Imo State. The sample comprised 360 students and 15 teachers of French selected through cluster random sampling. Two types of rating scale were used for the study, one for the students and the other for the teachers. The scales were researcher-made and each had 10 items that border on the instructional materials recommended in the junior secondary school curriculum for French. The instruments were validated using Crombach Coefficient Alpha. The students’ and teachers’ rating scales had reliability indices of 0.85 and 0.87 respectively. The data collected were analyzed using mean ratings, the percentage and ttest at 0.05 level of significance. It was found that the instructional materials used by the teachers for teaching French were drawings and text books and that there is significant difference in the instructional materials for teaching French at the junior secondary school as specified in the junior secondary school curriculum for French and as used by the teachers of French. Part of the recommendations is that in the French language classroom, the teachers need to use instructional materials recommended in the French language curriculum so that while using the materials, the students can use French and so acquire the language skills for communicating in the language.