Effects of Feedback Intervention on Team-teaching in English Language Classrooms in Nigeria

Abstract

The typical Nigerian English language classroom has a large class size and lacks qualified language teachers. These factors reflect in the quality and quantity of teaching in the English as a Second Language classroom. Team teaching or co-teaching is an intervention strategy which language teachers can use to address these issues.  Not only does the final school leaving Certificate reveal a growing concern ,but the assessment result in schools, as well as students attitude towards the learning of English Language reveals this trend in our schools. The purpose of this research was to study the effectiveness of Feedback Intervention Strategy (FIS) or Co-generative Dialogue (CgD) in maximizing Team Teaching in a Nigerian Senior Secondary School.  In this study, an attempt is made to investigate the effectiveness of feedback on team-teaching as against the traditional one-teacher method of teaching the English Language with its broad and comprehensive aspects.  While some have argued that the one teacher method was effective in the past, research shows that the method seems to have lost its effectiveness in recent time; it suggests – from the research conducted – that a lack of holistic content capacity affects teaching methodology; hence, the need arises to adopt the Team-teaching Methodology in teaching English Language in our Secondary schools. The participants for this study were chosen from senior secondary school students in North Eastern Nigeria. Two certified English language teachers and two classes participated in this study. One each of the teachers' two classes was selected to be the experimental group (30 learners), and the remaining two classes (30 learners) were the control group. A mixed method research design was adopted for the study. The data sources for the study included student’s Achievement scores and a survey on the perception of co-teachers and learners on team teaching. Research findings were then triangulated across data sources and discussed. The research findings showed that the average final exam scores of students receiving team teaching were higher than those of students receiving traditional teaching. The two teaching methods showed significant difference in respect of students' achievement. More than half of the experimental students preferred team teaching to traditional teaching. The discrepancy between team teachers' expectations of team teaching and its implementation was apparent. The differences in the teaching strategy also exposed team teachers to challenge and being compared with each other by students in class. Besides, the team teachers had been unprepared for this comparison, especially in regard to class management. The implementation of team teaching, however, did not win the support of the school administration, which impeded teachers in holding team meetings and caused students doubts regarding team teaching. Research findings were triangulated across data sources. Feedback gives team-teaching impetus for improvement. The in-built mechanisms of monitoring, thorough supervision of notes, test, and assignments; the students’ clinic and teachers’ consultation forum make the feedback process easy, consistent, and reliable. Unlike the traditional one-teacher style where there is little or no supervision or an in-built mechanism for sourcing reliable feedback, team-teaching provides the enabling environment for teachers and students to assess their progress or lapse. Feedback in itself strengthens team-teaching both for the students, the teachers, and the school.

Keywords: Education, Team- teaching, Co-teaching, Feedback, English language, Nigeria