Comparative Analysis of Techniques Used for Teaching Grammar in Public and Private Primary Schools in Kwara State

Abstract

Purpose: it appears that students in private schools learn and understand grammar that those in the public schools in Nigeria. This study thus, compared the techniques used in teaching grammar in public and private schools in Kwara State. Design/methodology/approach: the descriptive research design was adopted for the study. Teachers of English Language in thirty (30) selected public and thirty (30) private primary schools in Kwara State participated in the study. The total number of 150 English Language teachers (90 and 60 teachers from public and private schools respectively) were sampled across JSS1, 2 and 3 classes in the selected schools using a simple random sampling technique. A researcher’s designed questionnaire (which was validated with the reliability coefficient of 0.83) was used for data collection while the data collected were analyzed using independent t-test at 0.05 alpha level. Findings: Findings revealed that English teachers from the private schools always generate questions, read aloud, monitor and promote cooperative talk among students unlike English teachers from the public schools who sometimes make use of these techniques for teaching grammar except the technique of read aloud.  Originality: A statistically significant difference existed in the techniques used by English teachers in public and private schools in teaching grammar in Kwara State, Nigeria.  Theoretical/ Practical implications: Both public and private senior English teachers should always interact with learners by monitoring and promoting cooperative talk among students, encourage the use of grammatical structures. The teachers must also allow students to make use of index cards and markers to fish out parts of speech.