AN EXAMINATION OF THE CHALLENGES ASSOCIATED WITH TEACHING ENGLISH LANGUAGE IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS

Abstract: Although English language is now the language of government, business and commerce, education, the mass media, literature and internal as well as external communication, there are still problems in the teaching of English as a second language in secondary schools. Students presume that English language is a difficult language to learn and so do not make effort to learn it. Teachers also find it difficult to cope with the heavy demand required for effective teaching and learning of English language. This research work was carried out using the selected secondary schools in Igbo Etiti Local Government Area of Enugu state. The target population was 200 staff. The researcher used questionnaires as the instrument for the data collection. Descriptive Survey research design was adopted for this study. A total of 133 respondents made up principals, vice principals administration, senior staff and junior staff were used for the study. The data collected were presented in tables and analyzed using simple percentages and frequencies. The study recommends that Government at all levels of education should recruit more English Language specialists from the Colleges of Education and the Universities to fill the existing gaps in schools. More so, New practical teaching approaches should be adopted by teachers of the language through the introduction of new skills to encourage the teachers in the practical usage of the language. This would enhance communicative competence of the learners.