HISTORICAL ANTECEDENTS TO THE INTEGRATED ENGLISH CURRICULUM AT THE JUNIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL LEVEL IN NIGERIA By. Dr (Mrs) E.O.

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1 HISTORICAL ANTECEDENTS TO THE INTEGRATED ENGLISH CURRICULUM AT THE JUNIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL LEVEL IN NIGERIA By Dr (Mrs) E.O. Lambo Abstract This paper highlights some major landmarks in the teaching and learning of English Language in Nigeria, using the historical approach. An overview of the scope of the syllabus content, objectives and teaching approaches over the years are discussed. While commending the efforts behind the current English curriculum at the Junior Secondary School (JSS) level, the writer stresses the need for effective implementation as earlier syllabus designs. To this end, suggestions are given on the need for periodic orientation or re-training of both teachers and supervisors of English teaching in schools, in view of the fact that integrative teaching of English at the JSS level is innovative. Introduction The terminologies "English studies", "Integrated English" and "English" are interchangeably used in the new National Curriculum for the Junior Secondary School level in Nigeria, published in If the recommended implementation process were to be followed strictly, each connotes the teaching of English Language and Literature together as a single subject. This is a radical departure from the old syllabus design for schools whereby English Language and Literature were taught as two separate subjects. The new curriculum entails a new dispensation to remove the compartmentalization of different subject fields. It is an innovation as it relates to the teaching of English Language but the syllabus content is similar to the design of Social Studies and Integrated Science. An attempt is made in this paper to trace the development of English Language teaching and learning from its early history in Nigeria up

2 to the present day, thereby establishing the rationale for an effective implementation of the new curriculum. Historical Developments The efforts of earlier educational historians and English experts like Adeyinka (1973), Bamgbose (1971), Shayer (1972), Brann (1975), Fafunwa (1967, 1974) and a host of others are hereby acknowledged. They have painstakingly traced the development or education and the teaching of English in various ways. Each author researcher and student of education has approached the same issue from different dimensions and view points. This paper is a contribution towards placing the diverse approaches in the perspective of the current curriculum. The Pidgin English In 1472, some Portuguese merchants arrived along the coastal areas of Nigeria and apparently communicated with the Nigerian natives in a form of English Language. This contact resulted in an adulterated form of spoken English called "pidgin English". The language is still predominantly used in the southern part of the country. What we have observed in recent years is occasional regional flavours. Consequently, the pidgin English accent differs from one part of the country to another but the accents of the speakers from the Mid-Western and Eastern parts of the country are still considered as' the richest. Pidgin English is still largely a language of informal interaction in Nigeria and it is used just like the Standard English language (Received Pronunciation- R.P.) for inter-ethnic communication among the less literate populace. The pidgin language is mastered largely through acquisition where it is one of the language of the environment. There has been no recorded history of the language being taught deliberately in schools or having a definite syllabus or curriculum content up to date. In fact, Pidgin English has often been viewed as a sub-standard form of the English language. The teaching of standard English language

3 The history of the teaching, learning and use of English Language cannot be divorced from the history of western education in Nigeria. Originally, English was a language of informal interaction. It later developed into a language of communication for various specific purposes. With the advent of formal (Western) education in Nigeria about the 16th century, English Language became a prominent language of instruction and also a core subject in the school curriculum. Initially, the teaching of the language was haphazard as there was no specific language syllabus to be followed. The urge to teach the language in a structured manner gave rise to syllabus design which existed for many years. The current curriculum design is in response to the nation's desire to reflect in the school curricula the needs of the contemporary Nigerian Society (Fagbulu 1982, Lambo 1989). The first effort to teach English formally was through the early Christian missionary endeavour. The establishment of a missionary school in Benin by 1515 fostered the use of English Language as a medium of instruction (Ozigi and Canhan 1979). The missionaries then and the subsequent ones were further encouraged to preach the gospel as their language of interaction fascinated the natives. So, in 1842 De Craft and his wife established a home school in Badagry with the aim of not only training people to read and write but also to enable such people to read, under ' stand the Bible and be won as converts. Also, in 1859, the C.M.S: Grammar School 'in Lagos was established. Just like other grammar schools in Europe and others which followed in subsequent years in Nigeria, the emphasis was on literary education - that is, on purely academic subjects, rhetorics and classical languages such as Latin and Greek. This is not surprising as the British merely offered what they had at the time. In fact, it was the elitist legacy in education which was predominant in Britain at the time I that was handed down to Nigerians who were interested in Western education. In the history of English Language in Britain, Latin was viewed as being superior to English and so it was a language of-the elitist and educated class of the time. Hence, it was not surprising also that at one point in the history of Nigeria it was fashionable among the elites and those who went through grammar schools and

4 studied Latin to punctuate conversations and other utterances with Latin phrases such as: - infra dignitatem (beneath one's social-dignity) - pari pasu (along side, at the same time) - pro tempore (for the time being) - quod erat demonstrandum - Q.E.D. (which had to be proved) - modus operandi (mode of operation) - exampli grantia (e.g.) - for example, for instance - et cetra (and the rest, and the others, and so on) Some of these phrases and others are still in use especially in abbreviation forms as in: N. B. - nota bene (note well) A.D. Anno Domini (in the year of our Lord) e.g. exempli gratia e.t.c. - et cetra Although, ability to communicate orally and in written form was emphasized over the years, rote learning predominated in Latin grammar content in such schools (Ozigi& Canhan 1979, Banjo 1970). The colonial administrators intervened from 1862 in the educational system, in 'Nigeria. But initially it was with the objectives of training court clerks, interpreters and so on to facilitate their administration. Up till that time, there was no recorded formal language policy in the country (Banjo 1970). Missionaries ran their own schools parallel to Government school and there was lack of proper coordination as to what should constitute any national curriculum for English Language in schools. However, the 1882 Education Ordinance marked a major landmark in the use of English in schools. English Language was declared the only language of instruction in schools thereby relegating the mother-tongues (such as Hausa, Ibo and Yoruba Languages) into 'the background. Between 1882 and, 1926, through, a series of educational codes the certification system was established in schools. Certification in English Language and other school subjects was patterned after the Oxford and Cambridge standards. Even

5 at this point in time, the English curriculum was shallow, vague and narrow in scope, but since the indigenous languages were relatively ignored there was no competition with English Language and it continued to be the basis for certification, employment and success in the society. These short-comings notwithstanding, English became a status symbol and a unifying instrument within the multilingual Nigerian society. As education continued to witness a tremendous growth, it was with some attendant problems So, different commissions were set.up from time to time to look.into educational problems, not only in Nigeria but also in other British colonies of West Africa. One of such was the Phelps-Stokes Commission which investigated the problems of British West Africa between 1920 and In its report of 1925, it regarded the policy of imposing the British language on their colonies as unwise and unjust. It therefore recommended the use of vernaculars in the early years of primary school education and English as the medium of instruction for secondary education where facilities for this level of education existed. This recommendation was followed by a "Memorandum on Language in African Schools Education" in 1943 in which emphasis was placed on the need to teach through vernacular in the early years of education. By 1950, a uniform curriculum for schools, comprising comprehension, grammar and composition, emerged. This was after the Report on Education in the preceding year (1949) in the old Western Nigeria expressing dismay at the appalling state of written English in schools. Post-Independence Developments Since Nigeria's Independence in 1960, conscious efforts towards improving the teaching of English and the review of curriculum have been sporadic. Hitherto, most textbooks in English were written by foreign authors.' After the Banjo Commission Report of 1961, the writing of textbooks in English has been encouraged. Efforts were made on the part of government to gradually eliminate untrained teachers from schools. Moreover, schools were expected to have libraries as integral part of the school system with personnel provided by respective Ministries of Education.

6 However, with the departure of most native speakers of English from schools at Independence, the interest in English Language teaching waned and the standard of spoken and written English nose-dived again. This resulted in consistently poor performance of students in school examinations. Various reasons were adduced for this by subsequent committees that were set up to look into different aspects of education. The Grieve Report of 1964 which examined the teaching of English Language in West African Schools was the most renowned. It observed that English was being taught by unqualified 'persons whose command of English was far from satisfactory. The exclusion of non-english specialists was, therefore, advocated in the teaching of English in schools. The Grieve 'Report also led to the modification of West African Examinations Council s (WAEC' s) standard for English as it recommended the following:- 1. Setting of two compositions instead of one; 2. Inclusion of summary test instead of the old precise exercise; 3. Setting of two passages with multiple choice questions for comprehension; 4. Lexis and grammar to be tested through objective questions. These recommendations were found acceptable as WAEC has, for many years, used these as guidelines for setting School Certificate examination questions. The Ford Foundation Survey Team also examined the problems confronting the teaching of English Language in schools and came out with a report in In the report, low standards in English learning were attributed largely to inadequate research, lack of efficient central administration, inadequate teaching materials and teaching methods. Subsequently an ad hoc committee was set up to look into the recommendations of the Survey Team that an English language Centre be established in Nigeria to coordinate ~he efforts being made to improve English Language teaching in the country. This led to the constitution of the Nigerian Consultative Council and National Education Research Council which initiated wide-scale seminars and workshops between 1969 and The 1969 National Curriculum Conference had a far-reaching effect on the Nigerian

7 education system, leading to a subsequent overhauling of the system. This was because-the conference participants recognized the need to shift from British content of education in. terms of objectives, goals and aims.' The National Policy on Education first published in 1977 and later reviewed in 1981 was an offshoot of the Nigerian philosophy of education, which was deliberated upon at the 1969 conference. The National Policy on Education was further translated into specific curriculum content for each subject in the new two-tier secondary school system among others. One of such is the English curriculum at the Junior Secondary school level, which specifies not only a list of content to be imparted to learners but also suggestions.on methods and instructional materials. Another striking feature of the new English curriculum is the suggested integrative teaching of English language and Literature.. There is also the emphasis on Oral English as every unit of the English language component includes the teaching of English sounds and speech drills. Looking at this current development, we observe that English is, once again, accorded an important status not only because it is a core subject in the school curriculum but also because it has the 'potentia1 for promoting creative thinking and being adopted as a service language for other subjects in the Nigerian school curriculum. Moreover the oral aspect which was neglected for some years is, once again, being emphasized. Recommendations had earlier been given by the Alan Davies Report of 1968 and Grieve Report of 1964 to emphasize the inclusion of oral English teaching in schools. But due to unavailability of model teachers and insufficient facilities in schools, oral' English was made an optional subject. Currently oral English is a compulsory aspect of English Language teaching not only at the junior Secondary School level but also at the Senior Secondary school level. Conclusion These historical antecedents to the current English Curriculum highlight the major developments in the history of teaching and learning the language in Nigeria; the trend shows that English has always occupied an

8 important status within and out side the school curriculum. At the point where interest in the language seemed to be weaning and there was renewed interest-in the learning of mother-tongue languages; English was never relegated to the background. Inspite of the observed ambivalence towards the imposition of the language by colonial masters,' the strength of English for informal interaction and formal instruction in schools and as a school subject has not been questioned Moreover, the integrated English teaching approach is part of the movement towards communicative language teaching. Hence this improvement on the rigidity of syllabus design which covered composition writing, comprehension, grammatical structures and Vocabulary. The modern trend is toward a communicative language teaching and the appreciation of language use in different contextual cues; hence the stress on oral and Written aspects of communication. While this centrally designed comprehensive curriculum is highly commended, cues should be taken from previous curriculum innovations. To avoid a shoddy curriculum implementation every language teacher must have access to continuous orientation or preferably re-training for implementing the new English curriculum. This is in view of the fact that the teaching approach is relatively new and teachers are sometimes resistant to change if due orientation is not given. The performance of teachers on the field and those who play Supervisory roles must be closely monitored too. Series of studies have shown the disparity between planned curriculum an actual class room practice. Even supervisors' and curriculum experts' perception of what Obtains on the field differs significantly from teachers' perception (Lambo1989). Moreover, the different National Plans, and Rolling Plans in Nigeria since Independence show the priority accorded education in terms of Government s huge investment on the educational sector. If investment on education has been so huge, output must be comparable. But Government efforts have yielded insufficient dividends in the past because of poor management of available - resources. For instance the different Committee Reports and recommendations were largely used as guidelines' for reviewing syllabus and curriculum, in some

9 cases more teachers were trained or given orientation but the monitoring mechanism during the implementation stage has been poor. Until supervisory services are improved there will continue to be poor accountability. Rather than blaming failure rates on curriculum content, efforts on proper implementation should be intensified through sufficient resources' like transportation facilities to ease the work of Supervisors and inspectors of schools. References Adeyinka, A.A. (1973) The development of secondary grammar School education in Nigeria, : an historical analysis. West African Journal of Education (WAJE) 17 (3), 371-, 382. Bamgbose, D. (1971). The English Language in Nigeria. In Spencer J. (Ed). The Language in West Africa. London: Longmans. Brann, C.M.B. (1975). Language in Education and Society in Nigeria: A comparative Bibliography and research guide. Quebec International Centre for Research and Bilingualism. Davies, A. (1968). Language Testing Symposium. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Fafunwa, A.B. (1874), New Perspective in African Education. London: Macmillan.. Fafunwa, A. B. (1974). History of Education in Nigeria. London: George Allen & Unwin. Fagbulu, A.M. (1982). Trends in education and employment in. Nigeria. In Adesina, S. Akinyemi, K. and Ajayi, K. (Eds). Nigerian Education- Trends and Issues. A publication of the Institute of Education, University of Ilorin. Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (1985) National Curriculum for junior secondary Schools, Volume 4 Other Languages (English, French, Arabic.).Nigeria: Heinemann Educational Books. Grieve, D.W. (1964). English Language Examining. Ibadan: African University Press.

10 Lambo, E.O. (1989). A Formative Evaluation of the Literature Component 0f the JSS English curriculum Ph.D. Thesis, Ilorin: University of Ilorin. Ozigi, A. & Canhan P. (1979) An Introduction to the Foundations of Education. London: Macmillan. Shayer, D. (1972). The Teaching of English in schools London: Routledge and Kegan Paul. Sofenwa, L.A. (1975). Teaching English as a second language in Nigeria. Journal of the Nigeria English Studies Association (JNESA), 7 (1 & 2),