ASSUMPTIONS IN THE TEACHING OF ORAL ENGLISH IN NIGERIAN SECONDARY SCHOOLS: REAL OR REALISTIC IN A GLOBALIZED WORLD?
Professor Esther N. Oluikpe. & Chidinma Kalu Nwafor
Department of Arts Education
University of Nigeria, Nsukka
Abstract
This paper examines the assumptions which underlie classroom practice in the teaching of oral English in Nigerian secondary schools with a view to determining whether or not they are realistic in the perspective of developments of the English language in a globalized world. The paper examines three assumptions. First, it is assumed that the English language is the exclusive property of Great Britain. Consequently, the subject content should reflect the communicative competence of the native speaker. Second, the terminal objective of oral English teaching is to produce learners who speak like the native speakers. Finally, it is assumed that new methodologies facilitate improvements in the teaching outcome. The paper concludes that these assumptions are not realistic in view of developments of the English language in a globalized world where domesticated varieties of English have been accorded international recognition as independent of the native speaker English.
Keywords, Oral English, teaching oral English, linguistic assumptions, communicative competence, ultimate language attainment