An Examination of the Difficulties Teachers Face in Teaching English Literature in Secondary Schools

Résumé

The study investigates the problems facing English teachers in teaching literature in English in Nigerian senior secondary schools. In order to answer the questions of the study, the researcher adopted the descriptive analytical approach. The sample of the study consist of one hundred and one (101) male and female teachers of English and twenty (20) Heads of English section in six secondary schools in Dala Local Government, Kano State. The data of the study were collected, computed and analyzed using SPSS application and applying the Alpha Cronbach Method, Gutman coefficient for unequal halves, Split-half techniques, t-test independent sample and One Way ANOVA. The researcher found out that understanding these problems will help teachers, supervisors and syllabus designers to identify the problems and find solutions to improve the process of teaching literature. The study also revealed that there were no statistically significant differences attributed to teachers' gender, age or years of experience in the problems facing English teachers in teaching literature. In the light of these findings, the researchers suggested some recommendations for syllabus designers, supervisors and teachers to overcome the problems facing English teachers in teaching literature and to adopt more effective approaches to teaching literature. The study recommends that teachers should vary the techniques they used to adopt when teaching literature, and to be aware of the values of teaching English literature for the Nigerian society. The study also recommends that supervisors should pass their experience to teachers through training courses, workshops and micro-teaching to train English teachers to teach literature effectively.