An Assessment on the Availability and Utilization of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for the Teaching and Learning of English Language

Abstract

In the Contemporary world, every sphere of life, including education is increasingly becoming ICT driven. There is need for both teachers and students to be acquainted with ICT in order to meet the challenges of the changing world. This paper therefore investigated the availability and utilization of ICT in the teaching and learning of English Language. The study was carried out in Abakaliki Education Zone, of Ebonyi State. The population consisted of all 250 English Language teachers in Abakaliki Education Zone and sample size of 200. The instrument was a 36 item researcher-developed questionnaire. The instrument was face validated by three experts in Measurement and Evaluation. It was trial tested for reliability. Test-retest was used to determine the reliability and it yielded a Pearson Moment Correlation Coefficient of 0.84. Mean was used for data analysis. A mean of 2.5 was the cut-off mark for the acceptance of an item. The findings indicate that most ICT facilities are not available for the teaching and learning of English language and consequently, not being utilized, while the constraints to the utilization of ICT facilities include: unavailability of ICT facilities, incompetence among English Language teachers on the use of ICT, inadequate power supply, and lack of ICT teachers and technicians. Some of the recommendations made include: (1) Provision of ICT laboratories (2) Employment of ICT teachers and technicians in secondary schools.

Keywords: Availability, Utilization, ICT, Teaching, Learning, English, Language