The Concept of Use of English
The Use of English is a course mounted in tertiary institutions in Nigeria in order to enhance the communicative competence of students to enable them to learn their courses well and also to perform well in academic and social situations.
It is called by many names in different institutions: Use of English, Communicative Skills in English, General Studies in English and Special English. The different names notwithstanding, the justification for the course is basically the same:
- To remedy the inadequacies of students arising from the shortfall in the mastery of the English Language subject in their secondary education from the standards of tertiary education;
- To develop the communicative skills of learners to enable them to learn and perform effectively in their different courses; and, optionally, to introduce learners to the vocational skills required for their intended future professions.
Thus, the components of the Use of English programme are Remedial English (RE), Developmental English (DE) and Vocational English (VE). The RE and DE are the compulsory components and the course contents and methodology may be uniform for all tertiary institutions.
In addition, the VE component is optional and may be offered in specialised vocational institutions; the content and methodology are formulated differently based on institutional types such as, for example, universities of technology/agriculture, polytechnics, colleges of education and technical colleges.
Some Basic Principles of the Use of English
The Use of English programme in Nigerian tertiary institutions is anchored on three major principles:
- English as a Second Language (ESL)
- English for Specific Purposes (ESP)
- Communicative Language Teaching (CLT).
The requirements of English as a Mother Tongue (EMT) learner and an ESL one are almost the same, except that the latter, unlike the former, shares the language with his/her own mother tongue in which he/she normally should have greater linguistic facility and intuitive knowledge. Unlike the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learner who requires English for specific personal needs, the EMT and ESL learners require the language to serve their personal and social needs.
They require a mastery of it to function maximally officially in contributing to the affairs of their respective nations. However, despite the needs which these learners share, they cannot benefit in a similar manner from the same English Language Teaching (ELT) programme because of the differences in their social experiences and learning situations. For example, while an EMT learner has little difficulty in acquiring the language, even without going to school, the ESL learner has a lot of difficulties because of the far from favourable learning conditions in his/her own non-native English community. Yet, ironically, it is the ESL learner who needs the language more than his/her counterpart because he/she has to learn to use the language to express and understand both English and his/her native cultures. Meanwhile, the demands of an EFL learner are not as wide as those already mentioned.
The implication of ESL to the Use of English is that the learner targets a remediation of their earlier inadequate mastery of the four basic skills of communication in English, listening, speaking, reading and writing, together with the mediating skills of grammar, vocabulary, literature and media technology. The learning of advanced study skills required for successful university education runs parallel to the remediation of skills above.
The Use of English also gains insights from English for Specific Purposes (ESP). In particular, the conception of English for Academic Purposes (EAP)/Developmental English (DE) and English for Occupational Purposes (EOP)/Vocational English (VE) derives from the ESP concept. While EAP focuses on study skills in English for advanced educational purposes, EOP focuses on learning English skills for specific occupations. How these two concepts, among others, fit into the Use of English programme is a pedagogical issue that is appropriately discussed under the relevant section. Meanwhile, an explicit statement about EAP from an undated brochure of the University of Newcastle upon Tyne Language Centre reads thus:
This involves more than just knowing English Grammar and vocabulary. You need to be able to ask questions and to argue points in discussion on academic topics, as well as to understand lectures delivered at normal speed on your academic subject. You will also need to be able to write essays, dissertations and theses in good English in an academic style, and be able to present the results of your project work clearly and precisely. Reading academic articles and books quickly in your chosen specialism is also very important. Moreover, you will, of course, need to be able to talk to the people you meet socially in the university.
Another input of ESP on the Use of English is the consideration of certain relevant factors in the programme connected with the course design. For example, does the syllabus consider language structure, skills, activities and functions? Is it language, teacher, learner or learning centered? Does the learning process take into consideration the target and purpose for learning. the situation and learning conditions, learners’ interest and attitudes, the number of teachers and their qualification and competence, support staff and other human resources, infrastructure and socio-political and cultural contexts? To what extent do the factors above influence the content. materials design, assessment and methodology?
The principle of Communicative Language Teaching applies to the Use of English as an approach on methodology and pedagogy. The approach is primarily and necessarily social and is concerned with the goal of successful communication. It represents a shift of attention from the language system as end to the successful application of that system in context; that is, a shift of emphasis from form to function and from the teacher or learner to the learning process. Thus, the success of a Use of English course can be measured neither in terms of accurate grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation for their sake, nor in terms of the explicit knowledge but by the ability to ‘do’ things – participate actively in cadge of rules, activities with the language appropriately, fluently and effectively.
The Requirements of the Use of English
An appropriate way to identify the requirements of the Use of English course is to examine the needs of the beneficiaries of the programme. ‘Needs analysis’ has a vital role in the process of designing and carrying out any language course. The term generally refers to the activities that are involved in collecting information that will serve as the basis for developing a curriculum that will meet the needs of a particular group of students. In light of this, we present briefly below the results of a modest sample research conducted in Obafemi Awolowo University between 2010 and 2011.
Questionnaires were designed to obtain information about the course from selected students from the Use of English course and selected heads of different departments in the university. The questionnaires were administered to the lecturers at the beginning of the session and to the students after their first semester on the two-semester course. The elicited responses of the students and lecturers to some questions are expected to reflect their attitudes and expectations of the course.
The information derived would not only serve to throw more light on the programme but it would also provide a basis for a reassessment and consequent improvement on it 1.4.1 Information from Students about the Use of English Course The population consisted of 650 students, representing 10% of the students who registered for the Use of English course (SER) in the 2010/2011 session and selected heads of different departments in the university. The questionnaires were administered to the lecturers at the beginning of the session and to the students after their first semester on the two-semester course. The elicited responses of the students and lecturers to some questions are expected to reflect their attitudes and expectations of the course.
The information derived would not only serve to throw more light on the programme but it would also provide a basis for a reassessment and consequent improvement on it 1.4.1 Information from Students about the Use of English Course The population consisted of 650 students, representing 10% of the students who registered for the Use of English course (SER) in the 2010/2011 session and selected lecturers who were Heads of Departments from various faculties in the University. There are thirteen faculties in the university and these were grouped into six parts and the number of students in each group (10% of students’ registered from different faculties) stated against them as follows:
- Agriculture – 100
- Environmental Design and Management, Technology- 125
- Education-100
- Health Sciences (Basic Medical Sciences, Clinical Sciences and Dentistry and Pharmacy – 50
- Humanities (Administration, Arts, Law, Social Sciences) – 138
- Science 125
Responses of Lecturers
Ten lecturers who were heads of departments ended to some of the six groups of faculties environment, responded to some questions on the Use of English programme. Seven of the questions are Presented below the Use of English progrinder them. The responses will no doubt assist the syllabus design, content and methodology in the course.
Question 1:
Please, give reasons why the students of your department need the Use of English.
Responses:
- Improved communication skills in grammar, vocabulary, reading
comprehension, speaking and writing; English is a medium of communication in Nigeria;
- English is a requirement for education in Nigeria; and
- English is the discipline of study by some students.
Question 2:
How will they use the English language?
Responses:
- Medium – listening, speaking, reading and writing;
- Channel telephone, face-to-face interaction, internet, language laboratory, electronic and written media; and
- Text types – academic texts, lectures, conversations, technical manuals, drama plays.
Question 3:
What communication activities do they require to perform in English?
Responses:
- Writing essays, letters, reports, minutes, term papers, seminar proposals, summary, technical manuals, training manuals and instruction materials;
- Listening comprehension, taking and writing lecture notes; and
answering questions at exams, appreciating literature, memorisation and delivery of parts in plays.
Question 4
Who will they communicate with? Responsios
Lecturers, fellow students, academic fora, pupils, employers, the public, consumers and clients
Question 5
Where will they use the language?
Responses: Everywhere school, home, society/community, work place, market place, mass media, clinical settings, rural extension services
Question 6
How do you as a head of department feel being asked to make an input to the Use of English programme?
Responses:
a. Highly interested – 9; b. Just interested – 1; c. Not interested -0
Question 7
What other suggestion(s) do you have for the improvement of the programme?
Responses:
a Ensure teacher linguistic, communicative and pedagogic competence; & Ensure teacher and student discipline;
- Utilise appropriate means and methodology;
- Provide adequate exercises;
- Ensure prompt release of results; and
Make course ‘credit carrying’ and compute with students’ results.
The lecturers affirmed the usefulness of the Use of English programme. They commented that they were happy to have participated in the needs analysis exercise and promised their support of the programme whenever the need arose.
