Exploring the Interplay of Language Attitudes and Learning Styles on English Language Proficiency among Secondary School Students in Oyo Town, Nigeria

Abstract

Understanding the complex relationship between language attitudes, learning styles and English language proficiency is crucial for developing effective strategies to improve secondary school students’ performance in Nigeria. The study investigated influence of language attitude and learning style on the proficiency of secondary school students in learning English language in Oyo town, Nigeria. The study adopted a descriptive survey research design. The population of the study consisted of all secondary school students in Oyo Town, Nigeria. A simple random sampling technique was employed to ensure that every student in the population had an equal chance of being selected. Ten schools were selected for the study, with 20 respondents chosen from each school, resulting in a total sample of 200 students. Questionnaire was used as the research instrument and validated by experts in education and linguistics. The coefficients obtained were as follows, language attitude and proficiency in English language questionnaire (0.93), and learning styles and proficiency in English language questionnaire (0.89). The data was analysed using Pearson correlation, ANOVA, and Regression analysis at a 0.05 level of significance. The results showed that Language attitudes were negatively correlated with proficiency (r = -0.14, p = 0.057) and Learning styles did not significantly affect proficiency (F (5,194) = 1.001, p > .05). It was recommended among others that Schools should organize seminars to educate parents on the importance of their active involvement in supporting their children's language learning, particularly in English.