ISSN 0795-2199
INSTITUTE JOURNAL
OF STUDIES IN
EDUCATION
VOLUME 2. NO. 1 JUNE, 2004
PUBLISHED BY INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF ILORIN
1
EDITORIAL LIST
Editor -in-Chief:
PROF ADEBAYO LAWAL.
(Director, Inst. Of ( Educ.)
Managing Editor:
DR. S.B.OLAJIDE
(Dept. of CSET)
.
.
Editorial board member:
DR. (MRS) A.T.ALABI
(Dept. of Edu. Mag)
DR. (MRS) M.F. SALMAN
(Dept. of CSET)
DR. S. AMAELE.
(Dept. of Edu. Foundations)
.
DR. O.A. ONIYE
(Dept. of G&C)
MR. O.A. ONIFADE
(Dept. of PHE)
Consulting Editors:
PROF. SABA TUNDE IPA YE
(Dept. of G&C)
University of ilorin.
PROF. ISAAC OLAOFE
(Dept. of Education)
..
A. B. U. Zaria.
PROF. (MRS) EUNICE OKEKE
(Dept, of Educalion)
UNN, Nzukka
.
PROF. M. AJIBERO
Librarian
University of ilorin,ilorin.
PROF. TAOHEED ADEDOJA
(Dept. of PHE)
B. U. K., Kano.
PROF. O.J. EHINDERO
(Dept. of Curriculum Studies)
O.,A. U., Ife
PROF. SAMUEL AYODELE
Institute of Education,
University of Ibadan.
PROF.DAVID IBOYEWA .
(Dept. of Education)
IJniversity of Maiduguri.
PROF. M.B. OGU
Director,theUNESCO Chairman,
School of Sciences &
SOUTH Africa
PROF. SHEHU JIMOH
(Dept. of Educational Foundations)
University Oiilorin.
2
NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS
R.H.I. ABDULRAHEEM is the Acting Provost, Kwara State College of Education,
lIorin.
MRS. F.O. ADENIYI is a Lecturer in English, Kwara State College of Education, Ilorin.
DR. J.D. AGBAJE is the Principal. Aperan Comprehensive College, Omu-Aran.
DR. U. AJIDAGBA is a .Lecturer in Islamic Studies Education in tr1e Department of
Curriculum Studies and Educational Technology, University of Ilorin, lIorin.
MRS. H.A.L. BABALOLA teaches English In the Department of GeneraI Studies,
Federal Polytechnic, Ede, Osun State,
DR. E.D. BESMART -DIGBORI is a Lecturer in the Departrnent , Vocational and
Technical Education, Delta State University, Abraka,
Delta State.
'
MR. A.Y.BELLO is a Lecturer in the Department of Integrated Science, Kwara State
College of Education (T,) I Lafiagi.
DR. GANIYU BELLO is a Senior Lecturer in Science Education Kwara State College
of Education, I!orin
MR. I.0. ENE is a Lecturer in English,federal college of Education Okene, Kogi Stale.
MR. B.D. GBADAMOSI is a Lecture at oyo state College Education, Oyo.
MR. ABD U L R A S A Q A. I L I YAIS is a lecture in English in the , Department of
General Studies,kwara state Col!ege education (T.), Lafiagi.
DR (MRS.) A..A. JEKAYINFA is a Senior Lecturer in social studies Education in the
Department of Curriculurn Studies and Educational Technology, University of Ilorin,
Ilorin,
DR. GBOYEGA KOLAWOLE is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of English and
literature Studies, University of Abuja, FCT,
DRS .B. OLAJIDE is a Lecturer in English Education and Applied Linguistics,
Department of Curriculum Studies and Educational Technology, University of Ilorin,
Ilorin. ..
DR. A.A. OLAOYE is a Deputy Director, National commission for colllege of
3
Education, Abuja,FCT.
MR. J.O. OMONIYI is a Senior Librarian, University of lIorin, !lorin.
DR. S.A. ONASANYA is a Lecturer In the Department of Curriculum Studies and
Education technology, university of ilorin
MRS.A .O. OPADOKUN is a lecturer in Education Management,: Kwara State College
of Education Ilorin,
MR. A. YUSUF is a Lecturer :n SOCIAL Studies Education Department of Curriculurn
Studies and Educational Technology, University of Ilorin.
Copyright @ 2004 Institute of Education
University of Ilorin
4
CONTENT
Proposition of, and,Opposition of Arabic in Nigeria: Implication for
the Policy on Language Education - Abdulraheem, H./., Ph.D. …………….. 1
Evaluatinon of the Implementation of Language of instruction Policy in
Kwara state Primary Schools Adeniyi F. O. ( M rs) . . . . .. . …………………………………………... .
:.9
The Role of English Language In National Development
Agbaje J. O. Ph.D.
. .. . . . . .. .. . .. .. .. .. . .. .. . .. . . . . .. .
17
Reactions of Senior Secondary School Students to Islamic Studies
Questions in Arabic Language - /\iidagba U A…………………………………... 23
Issue of Large Classes and The Challenges for the Teaching
English Language in Nigeria Polytechnics.
Babalola, H.A.L" (Mrs). ................................................... ,...,., ...................... ………28
vocational Education: A Catayst to provide Specialized
accupational Preparation for Self-Reliance
Besmart-Digbori, E.D., Ph.D). ..... …………….. ............................................ ………37
Students' and Teacher's Perceptions on the Academic
Performance of Delinquent Secondary School Students in Ilorin
West Local Government - Bello, A. Y. ... .. . .. . .. .. .. .. .. .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. ..
42
Selected Secondary School Biology Students' Preconceptions of
Evolution: Implications for Teaching Evolution –
Bello,Ganiyu, Ph. D.. . . . . . , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ……….. . . . . . . . ..
50
5
Teacher Education in an Age of Information and Communication
Technology (ICT) - Ene, ,. O. ......................................................................... 63
Information Needs, Seeking Behahaviours and Utilisation among
the Administrative Personnel of the Oyo State College of Education
Oyo - Gbadamosi, B. O....... , .......................................................................... 69
Formulation of Aims, Goals, and Objectives in English Language
Curriculum - lliyas, Abdulrasaq, A. ................................................................ 79
An Investigation into Student Teachers Views en the
Introduction of Environmental Education Into the Nigenan
Social Studies Curriculum - Jekayinfa, A.A. (Mrs) and Yusuf, A. ................ 84
Faithfulness of the Yoruba Movie to the Oral Tradition - Kolawale,
Gboyega, Ph.D. ... . . . . . . . , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . ..
93
Promoting Reading Skills in the Nigeria Certificate
Education (NCE) Programme - Olajide, S. B., Ph. D~. .................................. 105
English Language Methods at the Cross-Heads: A Guide for
'Language Educators - Oloye: A.A.. Ph.D. .................................................... 112
The Role of the Library in Life-Long Education Programme in .
Nigeria - Omoniyi, J. O. ................................................................................. 121
Selection and Utilization of Instructional Media for Effective
Practice Teaching - S A., Ph.o. ..' .. .. . .. .. .. . .. .. .. ..,.. .. . . .. .. 117
6
An Investigation into the Problems of Students' Accommodation in
Tartiary Institutions With-in Kwara State - Opadokun. O.A. (MrsJ : ............... 134
7
REACTION
OF
SECONDARY
SCHOOL
STUDENTS
TO
ISLAMIC
STUDIES QUESTIONS IN ARABIC LANGUAGE
BY
AJIDAGBA, U.A., Ph.D.
Abstract
This study investigated the reactions of the Senior Secondary School Students to Islamic
Studies questions that require response .in Arabic language and what is responsible for
such reactions.
It was envisaged in the Senior Secondary Islamic Studies Curriculum that students would
be encouraged to answer in Arabic Language, especially, questions that deal with the
Holy Qur'an and Hadith. Since teachers are the implimentors of the curriculum. they
constituted the respondents for this study. Consequently, a total of 468 Islamic studies
teachers were sampled using purposive sampling technique, The instrument used was a
researcher-designed questionnaire containing six items, After the data collection, they
were analysed using frequency counts, percentage distributions and t-test. . The findings
revealed that, in spite of the opportunity provided, students showed preference for
transliteration, instead of using the Arabic Language proper. However, the persistent
preference for transliteration on the part of the students, as the findings showed, stem
from the fact that there has- not been any encouragement for them to reverse the trend
over the years.
It was therefore suggested that there should be more precise and assertive ways of
encouraging students to be positively disposed to answering questions using tile Arabic
Language proper.
Introduction
Islamic studies is a subject which requires a working knowledge. of Arabic
language, Both Islamic Studies and Arabic are regarded as twin subjects because, the
primary sources of the former which (are the Holy Our'an and Hadith, were revealed and
taught in Arabic language.
In
8
furtherance of this, the current National Senior Secondary School Islamic Studies
Curriculum was originally planned to phase out, completely, the system of transliteration
of verses of the Qur'an and Hadith,
It was envisaged by the planners of the curriculum that, instead of using
transliteration, which was part and parcel of the former 5-year system, writing in real
Arabic text would be given a priority, Since the inception of the 6-3-3-4 system of
education in Nigeria, which ushered in the implementation of the curriculum under
reference, the Senior Secondary School Islamic Studies questions are always set to reflect
the vision of the planners, Not only do Arabic texts appear o,n question papers,
preference is given for answering in Arabic, especially, of the Hidayah section which
consists of the Our'an and Hadith (the Sunnah of the Prophet),
Purpose of the Study
.
,
The purpose of this study was to determine how the Senior Secondary
Islamic Studies Students actually react to examination questions that require
them to answer in Arabic proper. ,The study also determined whether students
were really encouraged to answer in Arabic whenever required to do so.
Research Questions
The following research questions were answered:
~
.
1. What have been the reactions of students to questions in Islamic
studies that require response in Arabic text?
2. Are the students encouraged to respond in Arabic proper?
3. What is, the opinion of the Islamic studies teachers on the students
reactions to question that require response in Arabic text,
based on the' teachers experience
Research Hypothesis
One null hypothesis was tested. There is no significant difference in
The opinion of the experienced and less experienced teachers on the reactions of students
9
to questions in .islamic studies that require response in Arabic.
Methodology
,
,This study is a descriptive research to the survey type. It sought to
describe the reaction of of the senior secondary School Students offering
Islamic Studies to questions in the subject that require them to answer in
Arabic. The instrument used for data collection was a researcher-developed
questionnaire" while teachers were the respondents. In so doing, all the
Islamic Studies Teachers in Kwara State were the target population.
Therefore, the purposive sampling technique was used to get all of them
involved. .
.
Consequently, 477 copies of the questionnaire were prepared and
distributed to all the teachers l1andling the subject in all the 234 Secondary Schools in
Kwara State. Out of the 477 copies of the questionnaire sent out.468 (98.1 %) were
returned and later used for this study, The respondents consisted of 337 experienced and
131 less-experienced teachers. .
The questionnaire used had two sections, A and B. Section A required a respondent to
indicate his/her school, class taught and years of teaching , experience, while section B
was devoted to relevant questions on the general attitudes of students to Arabic and the
encouragement given them to answer questions in Arabic. The questionnaire contained
six questions which were Structured in positive way. The expected responses were also
structured along a modified, Likert's classification - SA. (Strongly Agree), A (Agree), D ,
(Disagree) and SD (Strongly Disagree), Responses were assigned scores 4-1 in that order.
The data collected were analysed by the use
of frequency counts and Percentage
distributions to answer research questions, In addition, the t.-test statistic was Used to test
the null hypothesis formulated.
Data Analysis and Findings
,
'
Tables 1- 2 show the results of the analysis of the data obtained from the
questionnaire. They were used to answer the research questions and to test the null
hypothesis
10
Table 1: Reaction of the respondents to the questionniar items that provide
answers to research questios 1 ,2 and 3
D
ITEM SA
%
A
%
%
SD
Students
4
400
85.5
68
14.5
5
-
-
463
96.9
5
1.1
-
6
-
-
-
-
-
-
468
%
TOTAL %
468
100
-
468
100
100
468
100
interest in
arabic
Students
reaction
to
questions
in arabic
Reward
for
answering
in arabic
As indicated on table 1 of the respondents to students general interest in Arabic is
that majority of them agreed that students of Islamic studies have interest in Arabic. As
shown on the table. 463(96.9%) of the respondents agreed with the questionnaire item on
that. Only 5 (1.1%) of the respondents disagreed. Paradoxically, as revealed by the table,
400 respondents (85.5%) and,68 (14.5%) respectively strongly agreed and agreed with
the questionnaire item that Islamic studies students show preference for the transliteration
in the place of real Arabic, while answering questions in examinations. There were no
disagreement responses. However, the paradox of students having interest in Arabic but
not answering examination questions in Arabic seems resolved. by the respondents'
response to the questionnaire item 6. Here all the 468 (100%) respondents strongly
disagreed that there is any reward for answering in Arabic. That is, students did not gain
11
anything extra for answering in Arabic.
Hypothesis Testing
Ho1: There is no significant difference in the opinions of the experienced
.
and the less-experienced teachers on the reaction~ of students to questions in
Islamic Studies that required response in Arabic.
Table 2: t-test for the difference between the experienced and the. .
less-experience teachers on the student attitude to IIS
question that require response in Arabic.
Experience
Number
X
S.D
Experienced 337
22.88
5.56
131
25.34
3.10
DF
466
Calculated Critical
t-value
t-value
*.45
1.96
Decision
H0:1
Accepted
LessExperience
It could be seen from fable 2 that the mean score (x = 23.88) of the
experienced teachers ,was compared with that of the less-experienced (x' =
25.34). While the, calculated t-value was .45. the critical t-value stood at 1.96. That is ,
the calculated t-value was less than the critical t-value. In the light of this, the null
hypothesis is accepted. That is to say that there is r10 significant difference between the
experienced and the less-experienced teachers in their opinions on the reactions of
students to 158 questions that require their . response in Arabic.
12
Discussion
One's reaction to a situation(s) is attitudinal, W'1ereas attitude as a variable in
education is influenced either positively or negatively by quite a number of factors. ln a
learning situation. for instance, students are often encouraged to learn if they are
rewarded for doing so. The reward often , serves as what Abolade (1986) referred to as
externally imposed motivation. , Mean-while, this type of reward, according to Lerin and
Long (1981) motivates students to learn and make use of what they learn in examination.
Much as it is generally agreed; according to AbdulRaheem (1986) and Oladosu
(1998), that knowledge of Arabic enhances the possesor's understanding of lslamic
Studies, this seems to have no meaning at the Senior Secondary School level. The
findings of this study indicates, that students confidently and freely avoid questions in
Islamic' studies test that require response in Arabic. Many reasons account for this. As
revealed in the, findings, students who answered in Arabic were not usually given any
extra marks over and 'above their colleagues who did not answer in arabic. The
implication of this' is that it is very possible that those who did not answer in Arabic but
who were good at English could perform better than their colleagues with the knowledge
of Arabic.
It was also shown in the findings that students have interest in Arabic.
This interest has not been carried to the examination because they are aware that nothing
is lost, by not using it to answer questions. This further confirms the submission of
Ajidagba (1991) that students' knowledge of Arabic does not have any appreciable
impact' on their performance in an Islamic Studies test in the Secondary, School. Another
reason why this is so, according to ,.,Ajidagba (2002) ,is that of all the nine units of
Senior Secondary School lslamic Studies, only two, Our'an and Hadith, require writing in
Arabic for whoever prefers to do so for no extra gain.
In addition, as evident in the findings on the hypothesis tested. there is No significant
difference in the opinions expressed by the experienced and the less-experienced teachers
on the attitudes of students to Arabic. This indicates that no matter how experienced a
teacher of Islamic Studies is, or his/her students would continue to react to questions that
require response. In Arabic the way they were doing, as long as there is no specific
benefit for them to reverse the trend.
13
Conclusion and Recommendations
Although, lack of the knowledge of Arabic by Senior Secondary school Students
or Iack of interest in using it in examinations has no effect on students' performance, it
should be noted that the knowledge of Arabic is required for the students' future use.
Therefore, they should continue to seek and acquire the knowledge. Since no knowledge
gained is a waste, students' knowledge of Arabic would not only enrich their knowledge
of Islamic studies, it would adequately' prepare them for more in depth study of the
subject.
Incentive should be worked out for answering in Arabic. That is, special
mark should be awarded to students who chooses to answer in Arabic. This should, even
be indicated or, the question paper to , assure the willing 'students. There is now
increasing, interest of students of private Arabic institutions in furthering their education
in the university. Though they are well grounded, in', Arabic, majority have little ability
in English to obtain the required credit pass in either GCE 'or WASC to enter
universities; they must obtain a credit pass in five subjects including Arabic and Islamic
Studies. Whereas, the problem of having little ability in English seems resolved, to a
reasonably extent, if they ate assured of ,the usefulness of their .knowledge of Arabic in
writing Islamic Studies, papers. For instance, they would have been sure of success in
Arabic papers' and would only need to put in little effort to pass Islamic Studies. In this
wise, they would devote more time to prepare for the other three subjects that require
reasonable knowledge of English. The cumulative effect of this would make their
ambition for a university education a reality. and the better for the. nation. A situation
whereby a student with a sound knowledge of Arabic prepares rigorously for Islamic
Studies examination just as he/she does. for other subjects, like Economics, Government
or even English itself, just because his/her knowledge of Arabic.is not recognized, calls.
for a reflection. Therefore, if this recommendation is upheld to the effect that students'
knowledge of Arabic is appreciated and rewarded in examination by way of giving such
students extra marks, the problem will have been solved.
14
References
.
.
AbduIRaheem, H.I. (1986). An evaluation of the Arabic component of the
Islamic studies curriculum of the colleges of education affiliated to the
University of llorin. An unpublished' M.Ed. Dissertation, University of ilorin"
'
.,
.
Abolade, A.O. (-1986). Teaching skills. In A. Abdullahi and N.lhebuzor (eds),
principles and practice of instruction. lIorin Department of Curriculum'
and Educational Technology University of lIorin.
Ajidagba, U.A.. (1991). Relative influence of knowledge of Arabic on junior
secondary school students' performance in Islamic Studies.
unpublished M.Ed. Dissertation, University of Ilorin.
An
.
Ajidagba, U.A. (2002). An evaluation of the National Islamic studies
. curriculum senior secondary _school in .Kwara State. Nigeria. An
unpublished doctoral Thesis. University of lIorin.
Lerin, T. and Long R. (1961). Effective instruction Virginia: ASCD.
Oladosu, A.G.A.S. (1998). Implementing the Arabic Curriculum in the 6-3-3-4
.
system of education. Nigerian Journal of Curriculum Studies. 1. vii, 69-79
15