Effectiveness of Computer-assisted Pronunciation and Verbal Ability on the Achievement of Senior Secondary School Students in Oral-English.

Abstract

This study investigated the effectiveness of a computer-assisted pronunciation teaching (CAPT) package on the achievement of senior secondary students in oral English in Minna, Nigeria. It also examined the influence of CAPT on verbal ability and gender. The sample consisted of sixty senior secondary school students drawn from two coeducational secondary schools within the Minna metropolis. Stratified random sampling was used to select 60 students from each school: 15 males and 15 females; 10 high, 10 medium and 10 low verbal ability students. The Oral English Achievement Test (OAT) consists of 50-items of multiple-choice items, validated by experts, and administered to students as a pre-test, post-test and delayed post-test. The data obtained were analysed using t-test statistics, one-way ANOVA, and Scheffe’s post-hoc test. The results revealed that students taught oral English with the CAPT package performed and retained the concepts of oral English better than those taught with the traditional teaching method. Students with high verbal ability performed better than medium and low verbal ability students respectively. However, there was no significant difference in the post-test mean achievement scores of male and female students taught using the CAPT package. These findings indicate that oral English concepts could be taught and learned better through the resourceful integration of a computer- assisted pronunciation teaching package.