Volume 7 December, 2014 ISSN: 2006-2808 UNIV ERSIT Y O F IB ADAN L IB RARY JOLAE Journal of Arts and Education A Publication of the Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University, Lapai, Niger State, Nigeria. Journal of A rts and Education ISSN: 2006-2808 Volume 7 December, 2014 UNIV ERSIT Y O F IB ADAN L IB RARY JOLAE: Journal of Arts and Education, Volume 7 Table of Content Academic Strategies for Controlling Social Vices in Nigeria _____ Igbo. Rosemary Ogochukwu. Ph.D 1 Interactive Radio and Customer Loyalty; The Performance of Kenya Broadcasting Corporation _____ Juliet W. Macharia, PhD 17 The Role of Coaches in Drug Abuse Prevention Among Nigerian Athletes Mohammed S. Mohammed. Ph.D _____ J. Boyi Omonu. Ph.D 36 Innovative Approaches for Improving Reading Skill among post Basic Literacy Learners in Anambra State through Real Literacy and Learner Generated Materials _____ Adebola Helen Ebunoluwa, PhD 41 Problems Confronting Private and Public Primary School Pupils in Ilorin Metropolis; Need for Counselling _____ Bukoye, R. O. PhD 48 Job Satisfaction and Job Security as Determinants of Organizational Commitment among University Lecturers in Ogun State, Nigeria Akinsanya Omolade Oluwatoyin, PhD 58 Syntax and Pragmatic Acts in Nigerian Print Media Reports: A Critical-Pragmatic Study _____ Ebenezer Oluseun Ogungbe Ph.D 72 Theoretical Perspectives on Education in Nigeria; A Sociological Over-view _____ Ololo Kennedy Okechukwu, PhD 90 Differential Effects of Selected Predictors for Improving Social Studies Learning Outcomes of National Teachers’ Institute Distance Learners in Ogun State. Nigeria _____ Adelakun Adebiyi. Ph.D 99 Social Studies Resource Assessment: A Survey of Instructional Resources for Teaching Social Studies in South Western Nigeria _____ Jimoh. Akinola Saliu Ph.D 116 XI UNIV ERSIT Y O F IB ADAN L IB RARY JOLAE: Journal of Arts and Education, Volume 7 Fostering Linguistic Achievement in Primary School through Mastery Learning Strategy and Selective Teaching Attention: Towards Educational Development in Nigeria ____Eweniyi, Iyabode T, Ph.D. 136 Correlation of Examination Malpractice in Educational Institutions o f Nigeria: Justification for Improved Counselling Services _____ Mohammed. Hajara 144 Une Analyse Critique de la Version Frampaise de la Traduction du Conte : The Queen Elephant's Tail _____ Simon Adewale Ebine 156 The Impact of Extension Education on Agriculture for Sustainable Development in Nigeria _____ Ojuola. Muraina Olawale 161 Plausa Influence on Yoruba-Arabic Loan-Words in Nigeria _____ Abdur-Razaq B . Adesina 169 Retaining and Improving Performance of Facilitators in Literacy Programmes in Nigeria _____ AwuzieNgozi 175 Enrepreneurship Education and Culture of Enterprise: Twinning Concepts of Building Vocational Enterprise Institutions in Nigeria. _____ Onanuga. Peter Abayomi 188 Methods and Practices in Teaching Health Education _____ Salomi M.O, Ph.D 109 Exploring Non-formal Education Intervention in Rehabilitation of Brothel Based Female Commercial Sex Workers in Sokoto State, Nigeria Yussuf. Murtala Akanbi 204 The 1897 British Conquest of Benin Kingdom and its Impact on Benin-Esan Intergroup Relations _____ Eborieme O.J. Ph.D _____ Dawood Omolumen Egbefo, Ph.D 218UNIV ERSIT Y O F IB ADAN L IB RARY JOLAE: Journal of Arts and Education, Volume 7 Entrepreneurial skills development implementation in Universities in Kwara State, Nigeria Akinnubi, O. P. Ph.D. _____ 2Alabi, A. T. Ph.D. 233 The Spiritual Environment and its Interactions with other Environments _____ Ayo Fatubarin PhD _____ Alabi, David O. PhD 242 Influence of Self-concept and Self-efficacy on Academic Achievement in English Language among Senior Secondary School Students in Oyo and Ogun States _____ 'Hammed Adeoye _____ Toyin Feyisetan 253 Socio-Cultural Factors as Predictors of Women's Participation in Literacy Programmes in Selected Local Government Areas in Osun State, Nigeria _____Okemakinde, Sunday O. _____ Olajide, Muili F. Ph.D 266 The Role of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in Teachers Education for Sustainable Development. _____ Mohammed Jiya Lakan _____ Kolo Idris Alfa 275 Science Education for Social Integration: A Case for Nomads in Nigeria _____ FatimaM. Joda. PhD _____ Sa^dmu Bello 283 Influence of Listening in Learning Mathematics and English Language Aiming Senior Secondary Students in Akinyele Local Government, Oyo State _Elegbe Olugbenga, Ph.D _Ojo, Deborah A 291 Harmful Socio-cultural Practices: An impediment to Healthful Living in Nigeria _____ Baba Dare A.'; Abikoye, B.1; Falaye, K.1; _____ Dagwa, M.2; ____Garuba, 1/ xiii 306UNIV ERSIT Y O F IB ADAN L IB RARY JOLAE: Journal of Arts and Education, Volume 7 Gender in Workers' Participation and Trade Union Leadership in South Western Nigeria _____ Akinsanya. Adebayo Olatunde PhD. _A jede, Salamot Atinuke _____ Oludeyi. Olukunle Saheed 312 Mock Examination Results as a Predictor of Students' Performance in Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination Results in Ogun State. Nigeria _____ Ajayi, Kassim Olusanmi (PhD) _____ Lawani. Abisola O. _____ Muraina. Kehinde O. 322 The Role o f Adult aNon-formal Education in Empowering Street Children in Nigeria _____ Olojede. Adeshina Abideen. Ph.D Adekunle. Adewale Adedamola _____ Oyedele. Moshood Olawale 328 Assessment o f Role Performance of the Director of Sports on Policy Formulation. Implementation and Development of Sports among the Three Types of Universities in Nigeria. _____ Bamidele Benson Babatunde, Ph.D _____ Bamidele, Bose Funke Msc _____ Obaseki. Jonhson Sunday Msc 336 Prevalence o f Child Labour among Secondary School Students in Kwara State: Counselling Intervention I.G. Usman PhD 344 UNIV ERSIT Y O F IB ADAN L IB RARY JOLAE: Journal of Arts ana Education, Volume 7 Influence of Listening in Learning Mathematics and English Language Among Senior Secondary Students in Akinyele Local Government, Oyo State Elegbe Olugbenga, Ph.D Ojo, Deborah A Department of Communication and Language Arts, University of Ibadan, Nigeria Abstract Students 'performance in mathematics over time has raised and still raising a lot o f questions. At the beginning o f every academic year, teachers wonder what could be done to make students learn better in the subject. The story with learning English language is also similar. Despite that English language is the language o f instruction in Nigerian schools; students still demonstrate consistent gross deficiency in mastering the language. Several factors could be responsible for this development which poor listening habit o f students may probably be part of. Hence, this study was designed to examine the influence o f listening in learning Mathematics and English Language among Senior Secondary School students in Akinyele local government o f Oyo State. Three Hundred and fifty (350) samples were drawn for the survey from selected schools using purposive sampling technique. However, three hundred and ten (310) duly completed copies o f the questionnaire were retrieved and used to analyse the data gatheredfor the study. Also, interviews were conducted with selected teachers in the sample schools. Findings show that teachers employed poor teaching methods which do not give students opportunity to express and interact with one another in the class. Findings also showed that majority o f the students have poor listening habits like distracting the teachers while in class, distracting sitting mannerism, engaging in side talks, not answering or asking questions either because they are emotionally unstable in class or because they are scared o f their teacher, and also being easily distracted due to environmental factors. The implication o f these findings is that students generally do not listen in class; they just hear, and this affects their academic performance in English Language and Mathematics. The result shows that both teachers and students determine the factors that affect students' listening in relation to their academic learning. It is recommended that teachers should try and have good interpersonal relationships with their students and students also should pay more attention in class to enhance their learning in English Language and Mathematics. Key words: English Language, Listening, Mathematics, Secondary Schools, 291 UNIV ERSIT Y O F IB ADAN L IB RARY Elegbe Olugbenga, Ph.D; Ojo, Deborah A: Influence of Listening in Learning Mathematics Students Introduction Communication is and will always be an essential part of human life; it is something we cannot do without because it is one o f the primary purposes o f living. Listening is a general purpose in most learning situations. Listening is more than merely hearing words. To be effective listeners, students need a more specific focus than just attending to what is said. Listening is an active process by which students receive, construct meaning from, and respond to spoken and or nonverbal messages (Emmert, 1994). As such, it forms an integral part of the communication process and should not be separated from the other language arts. Listening comprehension complements reading comprehension. An earlier study by Saricoban (1999) shows listening as one of the fundamental language skills. It is a medium through which children, young people and adults gain a large portion of their information, their understanding of the world and of human affairs, their ideals, sense o f values, and their appreciation. This shows that listening is a good foundational skill that students need to acquire for successful academic learning. Reyner, Foorman. Perfetti, Pesetsky and Seidenberg (2001) ascertained that “many good teachers are adaptive rather than rigid in their approach to teaching children and only loosely base their instruction on a given method”. Hence, with the poor performance of Students in English Language and Mathematics, the educators and employers are troubled and bothered knowing that one’s listening ability problem does have influence on a person's knowledge. English language and Mathematics are compulsory subjects in public secondary schools in Nigeria. Despite this, many students usually fail to perform favourably in these two subjects during examinations. Studies have shown that students o f public schools in Nigeria have serious problems in English listening comprehension due to the fact that more attention is paid to English grammar, reading and writing. Listening comprehension skills are not important parts of many instructional books or curricula and teachers do not seem to pay attention to these skills while designing their lessons. Most teachers take listening skills for granted and believe that they will develop naturally within the process (Akinbode, 2006). Hence, there is need to emphasise the importance of listening comprehension skills in attaining academic success by all students. Listening plays an important role in effective communication as it is said that of the total time spent communicating, listening takes up 40-50%; speaking. 25-30%; reading 11-16%; and writing about 9% (Gilakdans and Almadi, 2011). However, sufficient efforts are not geared towards inculcating listening skills in the students learning process in the public and private secondary schools. This study seeks to examine the level of listening among students; how listening affects students in learning Mathematics and English Language; and how teaching method affects students listening to Mathematics and English language in Senior Secondary Schools in Akinyele local government. Ibadan, Oyo State. Research Questions The following research questions guided the study: 292 UNIV ERSIT Y O F IB ADAN L IB RARY JOLAE: Journal of Arts and Education, Volume 7 1. What is the level of listening among students in Senior Secondary Schools in Ibadan? 2. How does listening affect students in learning Mathematics and English Language in Senior Secondary schools in Ibadan? 3. How does teaching method affect students listening in Mathematics and English language classes in Senior Secondary Schools in Ibadan? Review of Literature Listening Communication Effective communication does not only consist of the ability to produce well- articulated speeches but very much in one's ability to receive messages. In the same vein, Pearson et al (2003) discovered that business personnel, including those with and without managerial responsibilities, spend nearly 33 percent of their time listening, almost 26 percent o f their time speaking, nearly 23 percent o f their time writing and 19 percent of their time reading. Hence, listening is an active, purposeful process of making sense of what we hear (Helgesen, 2003:24). Listening is crucial to man's existence to the extent that it is often taken for granted because it is a natural human phenomenon and it is often argued in some quarters that it lacks formal training. Looking through the stages of teaching, speaking, reading and writing in schools, listening obviously is not well taught and it is taken for granted. It is observed that pupils and teachers use listening more frequently than any other form of verbal communication in and out of classroom activities. As a pupil, teacher, parent, professional, we all listen to keep the world moving. Listening is a deliberate process through which we seek to understand and retain aural (heard) stimuli for a future use (Gamble and Gamble, 2002). Ineffective listening can cause serious problems in education, business, religion, marriage and virtually all aspects oflife. The process of listening effectively has three critical attributes as earlier defined by Kline (2008). The attributes are: to receive, to attend, and to understand the message being sent. To receive means to be attuned to the sender - to be ready to listen. For those with sound hearing, you have to want to listen. To attend simply means to pay attention to the person and message. People need to prioritize the messages sent to them, paying attention to what we believe is important and discarding the others. In effective listening, it is important to pay attention to the person talking to you. The most important facet is to understand the message being transmitted. When verbal messages are sent, both verbal and nonverbal signals are also sent (Kline, 2008). The difference between listening and hearing was expressed by Gamble and Gamble (2002) that: “most people are bad listeners because they confuse hearing for listening; hence, these people fail to reflect the level o f cognitive demanded by listening”. Also, Kline (2008) distinguished this concept that: “hearing is the reception of sound while listening is the attachment of meaning to the sound. Hearing is passive, listening is active. Understanding the difference between hearing and listening is an important prerequisite for listening effectively. Hence, listening involve an active skill which requires active attention and an active intention on the part o f the hearer 293 UNIV ERSIT Y O F IB ADAN L IB RARY Elegbe Olugbenga, Ph.D; Ojo, Deborah A: Influence of Listening in Learning Mathematics Problems of Listening Listening is one o f the most neglected skills o f communication. Most students have had instruction in reading, writing, and speaking, but few have had any formal instruction in listening. This void in our education is especially interesting in light of research showing that most of us spend seven of every 10 minutes we are awake in some form of communication activity. O f these seven minutes (or 70 percent of the time we are awake), 10 percent is spent writing, 15 percent reading, 30 percent talking, and 45 percent listening (Ghoneim. 2013). Underwood (1990), Doff & Christopher (2004). Piolat, (2008) and Sharma (2006) outlined potential problems that could hinder listening Comprehension. First, the speed of delivery is beyond the control o f listeners. Second, it is not always possible for learners to have words repeated. This is a main problem in learning situations. Third, the small size o f the learner vocabulary frequently impedes listening comprehension. Fourth, listeners may not recognize the signals that the speaker is using to move from one point to another especially if the learner is listening to a radio where he cannot see the facial expressions o f the speaker. Fifth, it can be very challenging for listeners to concentrate in a foreign language. It is generally known that in listening, even a slight break or a wander in attention can impede comprehension. Sixth, the learning habits which teachers emphasize in the classroom such as the desire to understand the meaning of every word could impede the use o f top down strategies in listening. Seventh and finally comprehension problems arise when students lack contextual knowledge. Even if students can understand the main idea of the text, they may still find it difficult to comprehend the whole meaning o f the text (Ghoneim, 2013). This shows that listening involves concentration from the listener during the process o f listening. Importance of Listening to Student Academic Learning The neglect of the listening skill was accompanied with a constant debate about which of the four language skills (speaking, listening, reading, and writing) is the most crucial for the learning and acquisition o f a second language. However, past research has thus far revealed that a large proportion of the language research findings indicate that listening is the most important skill for language learning because it is the most widely used language skill in normal daily life (Rost. 2002). Hamouda (2013) in his study of listening comprehension problems discovered that students encounter various listening comprehension problems which include linguistic, environmental and lack of concentration problems and contributing to these factors are teachers teaching strategies. He concluded that listening is vital in language learning because it provides input for the learner. Rost (2002) further confirmed that listening is vital in language classrooms because it provides input for learners. As an input skill, listening plays a crucial role in students' language development. Listening plays an important role in communication as it is said that, of the total time spent on communicating, listening takes up 40-50%; speaking, 25-30%; reading, 11-16%; and writing, about 9% (Gilakjani and Ahmadi, 2011). Wolvin and Coakley (1993) concluded that, both in and out o f the classroom, listening consumes more o f daily communication time than other forms of verbal 294 UNIV ERSIT Y O F IB ADAN L IB RARY communication. Listening is the most frequently used language skill in the classroom. Both instructors and students acknowledge the importance of listening comprehension for success in academic settings (Wolvin, 2010). Theoretical F ramework Social Presence Theory' Social presence (Short Williams, & Christie, 1976) is the level to which a medium allows individuals to seem like they are present, even though they are not. It is the degree to which a medium permits one individual to transmit a sort o f psychological presence to another individual in a communication. The theory takes into consideration intimacy and immediacy. Intimacy is determined by a number of cues, while immediacy is the medium's ability to transmit information. Face-to-face communication has the highest social presence since it is able to communicate both verbal and nonverbal cues (Carlson & Davis, 1998). The essence of the theory to this study is that face to face communication which is present in a secondary school setting between teachers and student will bring a level o f intimacy that can improve listening skill o f students during daily interaction. Schema Theory: Top-Down Vs Bottom-Up Processing The understanding of listening suggests that we have to consider how people process this input. Anything we hear, o f course, can be input. There is a lot we hear but do not pay attention (listen to). When we do pay attention, we begin to process the input. Hence, the need for bottom-up and top-down processing (Flowerdew and Miller, 2005). In essence, listening is a complex activity, and we can help students comprehend what they hear by activating their prior knowledge. Schema theory is one o f the best ways to increase listening ability because it draws a close relationship between prior knowledge and real world interpretation. Social presence and schema theory relate with listening in learning because social .presence emphasis is on having great inter-personal communication, intimacy and face to face communication which teachers and students should have, schema buttress this point my emphasizing on knowledge, because students need both top- down and bottom-up knowledge. M ethod The descriptive research design was adopted for the study. This involves the use of survey questionnaire to collect data on the influence of listening skill in the learning of English Language and Mathematics in selected secondary schools in Akinyele local government area of Oyo State. The study population comprises secondary schools in Akinyele local government area o f Oyo State. A total of four schools (2 from both private and public) were selected for the study. Three hundred and fifty (350) respondents were selected from the secondary schools as sample for the study. The purposive sampling technique was used to select students from Senior Secondary School classes which offer English and Mathematics while the random sampling technique was used to select students who participated in the study. JOLAE: Journal of Arts and Education, Volume 7 295 UNIV ERSIT Y O F IB ADAN L IB RARY The questionnaire was used as instrument for the study. The questionnaire guide contained 4 sections: the first section sought out demographic information while the other sections contained structured questions. Three hundred and fifty (350) copies were self administered to the respondents while three hundred and ten (310) duly completed copies were used to analyse the data for the study. The data collected were analysed using frequency counts and percentages and the results were presented in tables. Data Presentation Demographic Details of Respondents Table 1: Demographic Details of Respondents Elegbe Olugbenga, Ph.D; Ojo, Deborah A: Influence of Listening in Learning Mathematics V ariables N u m b er % S ex M ale 142 45 .8 F em ale 168 54.2 T otal 310 100.00 C lass SS 1 100 32.3 SS 2 105 33 .9 SS 3 105 33 .9 Total 310 100 .00 A ge U n d er 12 years 0 0.00 12-15 years 170 54.8 16-above years 140 45 .2 Total 310 100.00 Table 1 shows the socio-demographic characteristics o f the human sample used for the study. Female respondents were the highest with 54.2% while male respondents were 45.8%. The senior secondary classes two and three have the highest numbers of respondents, each with 33.9%. Senior Secondary class one has 32.3%. Respondents whose ages fall within 12-15 years participated more with 54.8%. This is followed by respondents within ages 16 and above with 45.2%. Research Question 1: What is the level of listening among students in Senior Secondary Schools in Ibadan? Table 2: How students listen to their teachers during English Language and Mathematics classes? 296 UNIV ERSIT Y O F IB ADAN L IB RARY JOLAE: Journal of Arts and Education, Volume 7 Variables SA A U D SD TOTAL I hardly listen to what the 168 21 20 55 46 310 teacher teaches because I don’t like the teacher. (54.2) (6.8) (6.5) (17.7) (14.8) (100%) There is a lot of noise in the 168 45 0 59 38 310 class which affects my listening. (54.2) (14.5) (0) (19.0) (12.3) (100%) My teacher is not audible 127 90 55 33 310 enough. (41) (29) (1.6) (17.7) (10.7) (100%) My peers’ gist during class and 165 45 13 60 27 310 this distracts me. (53.2) (14.5) (4-2) (19.4) (8.7) (100%) The location o f my class 163 45 0 77 25 310 affects my listening. (52.6) (14.5) (0) (24.8) (8.1) (100%) The location of my school 144 62 12 47 45 310 affects my listening. (46.5) (20) (3.9) (15.2) (14.5) (3 00%) My teacher’s vocabularies 168 55 6 49 35 310 distract me from learning effectively. (54.2) (17.7) (1.9) (15.8) (11.3) (100%) My teachers’ pronunciation 143 98 0 27 42 310 affects my listening and (46.1) (31.6) (0) (8.7) (13.6) (100%) learning.__________________________________________________________________ Key: SA: Strongly Agree, A: Agree, U: Undecided, D: Disagree, SD: Strongly Disagree Findings in Table 2 show that majority o f the respondents (189; 61 %) agree that they hardly listen to what the teacher teaches because they do not like the teacher while 101(32.6%) disagree. Also, 213 (68.7%) respondents supported the fact that class noise affects how they listen while 97(31.3%) disagree that noise affect their listening rate, again, 217(70%) agree that their teachers are not audible enough while 88(28.4%) disagree. Table 4 shows that 210(67.8%) agree that gist by classmates in class distracts them while 87(28.1%) disagree. Most respondents, 208 (67.1%) and 206 (66.5%), indicated that the class and school locations affect them respectively while 102(32.9%), 92(29.7%) disagree. Majority 223(71.9%) and 241(77.7%) agree that the teachers' vocabularies and pronunciation affects them from listening and learning effectively while 84(27.1 %) and 69(22.3%) disagree. Research Question 2: How does listening affect students in learning Mathematics and English Language in Senior Secondary schools in Ibadan? Table 3: How listening affects students’ learning of English Language and Mathematics 297 UNIV ERSIT Y O F IB ADAN L IB RARY Elegbe Olugbenga, Ph.D; Ojo, Deborah A: Influence of Listening in Learning Mathematics Variables A S NA TOTAL 1 do not concentrate on the teacher when 185 105 20 310 he/she is teaching. (59.7) (33.9) (6.5) (100%) I talk with my friends when the teacher 98 212 0 310 is in class. (31.6) (68.4) (0) (100%) I do not listen to the teacher when 188 122 0 310 he/she is teaching. (60.7) (39.4) (0) (100%) I sit in a way that will distract the 157 123 30 310 teacher in class. (50.7) (39.7) (9.7) (100%) I make side comments when the teacher 165 123 22 310 is teaching in class. (53.2) (39.7) (7.1) (100%) 1 usually write notes without listening to 79 189 42 310 the teacher in class. (25.5) (61) (13.6) (100%) I don’t like to answer or ask questions in 198 78 34 310 class. (63.9) (25.7) (11) (100%) I do not concentrate in class because I 167 110 33 310 know what the teacher will teach. (53.9) (35.5) (10.6) (100%) Key: A: Always, S: Sometimes, NA: Not a t all. Findings in Table 3 show that 185(59.7%) agree that they do not always concentrate on the teacher while teaching, 105(33.9%) sometimes do and 20(6.5%) do not concentrate at all. Majority o f the respondents, 212(68.4%), sometimes talk to their friends in class while 98 (31.61%) always do. 157(50.7%) sit in a distractive way in class, 123(39.7%) sometimes do, while 30(9.7%) never dO. 165(53.2%) respondents make side comments, 123(39.7%) sometimes do, and 22(7.1 %) never do. 189(61 %) sometimes write notes in class without listening, 79(25.5%) always write notes and 42(13.6%) never write notes in class. 198(63.9%) do not like to answer or ask questions, 78(25.2%) sometimes ask questions while 34(11%) never ask questions in class. 167(53.9%) do not always concentrate in class because they knows what the teacher will teach. 110(35.5%) sometimes do not concentrate while 33(10.6%) never concentrate. Research Question 3: How does teaching method affect students listening in M athematics and English language classes in Senior Secondary’ Schools in Ibadan? Table 4: Effect of teaching methods on students' listening to English Language and M athematics 298 UNIV ERSIT Y O F IB ADAN L IB RARY JOLAE: Journal o f Arts and Education, Volume 7 Variables VO O R N TOTAL My teacher gives examples while 167 110 33 0 310 teaching. (53.9) (35.5) (10.6) (0) (100%) My teacher gives time for question 198 78 34 0 310 and answer in class. (63.9) (25.2) (11) (0) (100%) My teacher revises the previous 98 212 0 0 310 class lessons before teaching new ones. (31.6) (68.4) (0) (0) (100%) My teach er usually divides us into 60 45 30 175 310 groups for discussion in class. (19.4) (14.5) (9.7) (56.5) (100%) My teacher explains very well while 98 212 0 0 310 teaching. (31.6) (68.4) (0) (0) (100%) My teacher shares experience with 165 123 22 0 310 us when teaching. (53.2) (39.7) (7.1) (0) (100%) My teacher gives us illustrations 168 140 2 0 310 when teaching! (54.2) (45.2) (0.7) (0) (100%) My teacher allows us to do practical 165 123 22 0 310 to understand the topic. (53.2) (39.7) (7.1) (0) (100%) Key; VO: Very Often, O: Often, K: Rarely, N: Never 'Fable 4 shows that majority, 277(89.4%), o f teachers teach with example while 33(10.6%) rarely do. Also, majority, 276(89%), o f teachers give time for questions and answers and share roles to students when teaching while 34(11%) teachers rarely do. Results show that the teachers of all 310(100%) respondents revise previous lessons and always explain very well while teaching them. Majority 288(93%) of teachers often share experience and allow practical during teaching while 22(7.1%) or teachers rarely do. 1 able 4 findings show that almost all 308(99.4%) teachers use illustrations when teaching the respondents while just 2(0.7%) teachers rarely do. Discussion of Findings The study revealed that majority of students have poor level o f listening skills because they do not like the teacher, the class is noisy, their teachers are not audible enough, they gist with their classmates while the teacher is teaching, the class and school location affect them and the teachers' vocabularies and pronunciation affect them in listening to and learning English Language and Mathematics effectively. These findings support an earlier study by Wneeless, Frymier, andThompson (1992) in which listener experiences problems that stem from a cluster of factors that characterize the lecture mode of information transmission. They stated some variables like linguistic and conceptual, discourse, acoustic, environmental and psychological variables. Some of these variables were found to affect the students listening skills in the study (Wolvin. 2009). Hamouda (2013) opined that certain features o f the message and the speaker, for instance, are inevitable but the teacher can provide the students with suitable listening materials, background and linguistic knowledge, enabling skills, pleasant classroom conditions, and useful exercises to help them discover effective listening strategies. This is shown in the findings of this study which revealed a greater percentage o f the 299 UNIV ERSIT Y O F IB ADAN L IB RARY students listening skills were affected by environmental and psychological factors. In addition, the qualitative data that were generated from the interview indicated that many students do not listen effectively during English Language and Mathematics classes. Some of the students in an FGD session commented that “majority of students' proficiency levels in listening skill are very low.” This was shown in the frequency table above in their submission that they do not like the teachers and that they gist with their classmates when the teachers are teaching. Gamble and Gamble (2002:182) suggested that: ...setting appropriate goals for listening, is a way of overcoming barriers to effective listening. Listening goals help identify what one would personally like to gain during and after attending to a particular message. According to them, one way to set listening goals is to identify which level of listening is appropriate for a particular situation. Hence, students' poor perfonnances in English language and Mathematics are primarily caused by their inability to set listening goals which is a pre-condition for effective listening. Students need to be strategic in their listening to English language and Mathematics for their performances to improve tremendously. The study also revealed that the listening behaviour and attitudes o f students in English Language and Mathematics classes affect their performances in the two subjects. This was shown in the findings of the study on their behaviour of talking while classes are in progress, sitting in distracting ways, arranging their books while the teacher is teaching them and assuming to know what their teacher will teach. These behaviours nevertheless will affect their performance. Hence, how people listen will determine how they understand the issue. This is also supported by Schema theory which says “anything we hear, o f course, can be input. To understand listening, we have to consider how people process this input. A useful way of looking at this is by considering bottom-up and top-down processing” (Flowerdew and Miller, 2005). The theory further emphasized that the idea of prior knowledge is one part o f the cognitive model of language processing. That model says that when people listen or read, they process the information they hear both top-down and bottom-up. Top- down means using prior knowledge and experiences; we know certain things about certain topics and situations and use that information to understand. Bottom-up pro­ cessing means using the information we have about sounds, word meanings, and discourse markers like first, then and after that to assemble our understanding of what we read or hear one step at a time. Students obviously need both bottom-up and top- down processing skills in listening as well. Students must hear some sounds (bottom- up processing), hold them in their working memory long enough (a few seconds) to connect them to each other and then interpret the information they received before something new is received. At the same time, listeners are using their background knowledge (top-down processing) to determine meaning with respect to prior knowledge and schemata. This supports the fact that most students read before the class and most likely do not listen if they lack interest in the topic. Findings from Table 4 which shows that teachers teach well, with various methods, but a greater attention to these method will show that they do not involve the students. Elegbe Olugbenga, Ph.D; Ojo, Deborah A: Influence of Listening in Learning Mathematics 300 UNIV ERSIT Y O F IB ADAN L IB RARY JOLAE: Journal of Arts and Education, Volume 7 the teaching methods does not give the students enough avenue to express themselves. The only methods which enables the students to interact with each other and express themselves is the group work which most of the teachers do not do. Oluwole. (2008) emphasised that teacher's technique of teaching can be said to be faulty if he fails to make use of instructional materials where they are required. Also intimacy which is enhanced by a face to face interaction according to Social Presence theory will go a long way to contribute to students learning technique (Short, Williams, & Christie, 1976). The theory takes into consideration intimacy and immediacy. Intimacy is determined by a number of cues, wTile immediacy is the medium's ability to transmit information. Face-to-face communication has the highest social presence since it is able to communicate both verbal and nonverbal cues (Carlson & Davis. 1998). This theory showcase the inadequacies of teachers teaching methods as found out in the study. Nevertheless findings from the teachers during an interview revealed that “some students think they are being forced to learn”. This may be one the problem which is affecting students' performance. But in relation to how students listen to the teaching of English language and Mathematics, Teng (2002) identifies four factors that may affect effective listening: speaker factors (rate o f speaking, accent, fluency, use of gesture, appearance etc) which tend to facilitate the understanding of the massage; listener factors (anxiety, fear, hunger, close-mindedness, narrow listening and emotional involvement) that distort effective listening: then stimulus factors are those factors that familiarize the listeners with the subject (the background and socio-cultural knowledge of the subject) and finally, context factor refers to ability or inability o f listeners to understand message due to the context in which it appears. Further findings from the teachers revealed that the listening proficiency level of the majority o f students is very low. Only one o f the teachers, however, thinks that “some students listen very well while many other do not listen at all.” The comments above show some of the challenges that most students faced while listening to English Language and Mathematics. Another teacher commenting on student's attitude towards listening to English language and Mathematics said: “Many students lose concentration easily, majority of students think they are being forced to learn; almost all my students believe that English language and Mathematics is very hard, as a result, they do not form the right attitude.” Based on the observation of one o f the teachers on students listening behaviour: Some often said that: some students do not write notes, some often fail to do assignment; some do not attend classes; some always come late to classes while some would not interact during classes and many more would be playing on their mobile phone. These above comments show that some students treat listening to English language and Mathematics with levity. This was shown in the comments of another teacher that that lack of students' interests in English language and Mathematics could be based on “Poor background; lack of interest in education; lack o f seriousness; environment settings; English as a foreign language, inadequate learning facilities, lack o f instructional materials and reading culture; public schools are not conducive for 301 UNIV ERSIT Y O F IB ADAN L IB RARY Elegbe Olugbenga, Ph.D; Ojo, Deborah A: Influence of Listening in Learning Mathematics learning; lack o f parental support and self motivation. The interviews revealed that environment factors are the most problems threatening students listening efficacy. The most emphasized are; inadequate chairs and tables, over-crowded classrooms, lack of good light and ventilation, noises from outside that often lead to loss of concentration and library without relevant books. The factors above can bring about loss of ability to listen effectively. Pearson et al. (2003) supported this submission that; “listening is an effective way to increase background knowledge and understanding beyond student's independent reading abilities and in building an individual's vocabulary (linguistic knowledge) because many of our speaking and writing vocabulary items, are derives from words gained while listening to others”. The implication of this is that listeners are expected to have background knowledge or linguistic knowledge or both before listening task commences. Conclusion/Recommendation The findings of the study have shown that listening is very important to the learning of English Language and Mathematics. 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