Communication Skills and Its Influence on Teacher Effectiveness

Abstract

This study examined the relationship between communication skills and teacher effectiveness in secondary schools in Ekiti State, Nigeria. The study used a survey-type descriptive research design. All teachers and principals of public secondary schools in Ekiti State, Nigeria, were included in the population. The sample for the study was 330 respondents which comprised 300 students and 30 principals selected from 30 secondary schools through simple random sampling technique. The study employed two self-designed questionnaires, the "Communication Skills Questionnaire" (CSQ) and the "Teacher Effectiveness Questionnaire" (TEQ). The instruments were examined for reliability and confirmed by research specialists. The test-retest technique yielded reliability values of 0.78 and 0.73. Inferential statistics were used to analyse the data collected. The t-test and ANOVA were used to examine the three hypotheses. These hypotheses were evaluated at a significance level of 0.05. There was a relationship between communication skills and teacher effectiveness in the classroom according to the data. There was a considerable disparity in communication abilities between male and female teachers according to the study. The study further revealed that teachers’ teaching experience had no significant influence on communication skills. According to the conclusions of the study, it was advised, among other things, that teachers should continuously enhance their skills of communication in order to improve the teaching-learning processes.