WELCOME TO KENTERPRO:
ATTITUDES OF STUDENTS TOWARDS PROSE AND ITS IMPLICATION ON THEIR PERFORMANCE IN LITERATURE IN SELECTED SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN JOS SOUTH LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the Study

Literature, is a form or an act of expression which concerns itself with not just what is expressed, but also the manner of its expression. Therefore, literature places emphasis on the aesthetic or elegance of expressions. Being one of the art subjects studied at secondary school level, literature in English is divided into genres such as prose, poetry and drama. Generally, these genres are imaginative; they are creative works imitating true life events. National Teachers Institute (N.T.I. 2007) states that literature provides the reader with a reasonable stimulus for objective critical thinking. Ishola (1995) also views literature as a body of writing that shows excellence of expressions. Prose literally means ‘straight-forward.’ It is like talking to someone in a straight- forward manner and not in a sing-song or poetic way. This means that anything you say or write in prose is presented in a straight- forward manner. For instance, this course material is presented in prose.

There are many views on the construction of prose but the summary of these views is that it has a simple and loosely defined structure. There is usually no effort to present prose in any particular or special structure. This lack of formal structure makes it to be adopted as the general mode of communication in many formal and informal presentations like the spoken dialogue, speeches, factual, topical and fictional writing. This means that most of the books you read are presented in prose and that you also talk in prose form (Geoffrey, 2021).

Prose is made up of complete sentences which constitute paragraphs in a narrative form. Prose reflects the pattern of everyday speech. If words are not presented in prose, they are presented in poetry or verse form that adheres to a particular metric form and definite structure. Poetry has a more systematic form of presentation than prose. However, in prose the writer does not just present words whether they make sense or not. Words in prose are arranged in correct sentences and in a logical sequence for a meaningful understanding of the intended communication. In view of this, Hall (2009: p.12) insists in his definition of prose and poetry that; “prose is —words in their best order; poetry,—the best words in their best order.” Even in everyday speech, we arrange words in a proper way for the presentation to make sense in the language of communication. In writing therefore, anything that is not presented in verse is presented in prose.

Prose is the medium used, as stated earlier, in most written and oral communications. This is because of the advantage it has over verse which is in musical form. The dissemination of written information in text books, magazines in commerce dates back to the 15th century when Monasteries sold edifying collections of saints’ and virgins’ lives composed in prose. Prose became in this environment the medium of silent and private reading (Whiteman, 2016). Prose then, had an additional advantage for translators, who could go directly for meaning, where verse had to be translated by people skilled as poets in the target language. Students’ inability to read very well so as to comprehend the text material has become a major problem in recent times.

Attitude is described as “Way of thinking or behaving”. Psychology, the science of Mind and Behavior (Pesser and Smiths, 2007) gives a more elaborate explanation that an attitude is a positive or negative evaluative reaction toward a stimulus, such as a person, action, object, or concept.

Attitude has been a very difficult concept to describe since it cannot be directly observed. Attitudes will affect the choices that a learner makes and be acquired from a variety of sources (Gagne, 2005). Koballa further explained that attitudes; are behaviors that are associated with critical thinking. The effective variables according to Koballa (2005) are: attitude, belief, opinion, value, behavioral intention, and behavior. The interaction of the effective variables helped to determine the attitudes of a student’s performance either negatively or positively.

A classical Roman poet by name Publius Vergilus Maro, more commonly known as Virgil, was once quoted in his poetry saying, “They can…..because they think they can” (Tisan, 2018).William James once said, “t is our attitude at the beginning of a difficult task which, more than anything else, will affect its successful outcome”(Wagner, 2005). Attitude can be viewed as a tendency to respond positively or negatively towards a certain idea, person, situation, etc. Koballa (2005) defined attitude as an evaluative reaction to some referent, inferred on the basis of the individual’s beliefs or opinions about the referent. A number of authorities (Khatib, 2011) maintained that a lot of senior secondary school students do not like prose because they do not know how to read and even majority of them have negative attitude towards it.

It is in line with the above discussion that this study seeks to determine the attitudes of students towards prose and its implication on their performance in literature in selected secondary schools in Jos South Local Government Area of Plateau State.

1.2. Statement of the Problem

Students develop a lazy attitude towards reading of Literature (prose) texts but rather, derived interest only in watching prose actions (performance), coupled with shyness and phobia in standing and performing before a crowd of people will result to lack of comprehension of prose and subsequently lead to poor performance in prose. Furthermore, teachers lack of commitment and dedication to meaningful time to teach prose, coupled with poor methodologies and non-use of instructional materials or lack of it do not motivate students and this result to division of students who offer Literature in external examinations like West African Examination Counsel (WAEC) and National Examination Counsel (NECO), which also creates a negative attitude in students which in turn affects their performances in the learning of prose.

Secondary school curriculum requires that, teachers of literature teach both contemporary and classic Literature, some students feel that, many works from classical Literature are complex and do not relate to their modern lives. Therefore, Literature teachers must take those works interesting and applicable to, to days’ students. And so frequently, students have negative preconceived notions regarding Literature and prose, and they are unwilling or unable to see how learning classic Literature may benefit them.

It is in line with the above discussion that this study seeks to examine the attitudes of students towards prose and its implication on their performance in literature in selected secondary schools in Jos South Local Government Area.

1.3 Purpose of the Study

In a broad term, the main purpose of this study is to examine the attitudes of students towards prose and its implication on their performance in literature in selected secondary schools in Jos South Local Government Area in order to:

(a) Determine to what extent students have negative attitudes towards reading prose texts.

(b) Examine the performance of students who have negative attitudes towards prose.

(c) Evaluate the performance of students who have positive attitudes towards prose.

(d) Find out the effects of the attitudes of students towards prose on their performance in literature.

1.4 Research Questions

In the light of the above broad-questions, the following questions are raised:

(a) What are the attitudes of students towards prose?

(b) What is the performance index of students who have negative attitudes towards prose?

(c) What is the performance index of students who have positive attitudes towards prose?

(d) What are the effects of the attitudes of students towards prose on their performance in literature?

1.5. Significance of the Study

Prose learning can provide students with an outlet for emotions, thought, and dreams that they otherwise, have means to express. This study will be an important contribution to the field of prose, it will serve as an important means of stimulating creativity in problem solving, and it will challenge students’ attitude and performance towards prose. A student can, if only for a moment become another person, explore a new role, try out and experiment with various personal choices and solutions to very real problems-problems from their own lives, or problems faced by other characters in literature.

It is hoped that, when this research is conducted, suggestions will be offered towards improvement of the art of teaching prose with a view of solving the problems encountered by teaching of prose and also, students will demonstrate a better appreciation and understanding of prose. The teacher will also understand the learners better so as to capture their attention and change their perceptions and attitudes towards the subject. Motivation, reinforcement and relevant instructional strategies by the teachers might help the learners get directions on what is expected.

Parents as well have a lot to gain from this seemingly important survey through their wards as the knowledge students may acquire from this survey will go a long way to shape their attitudes and to positively influence the manner they relate with others, and their parents at home. The value of prose will therefore, change the perception of parents and their non-challant attitude towards prose and Literature as a whole.

In addition to its intrinsic educational value, this research can reinforce the rest of the school curriculum. The school administrators, curriculum planners as well as the Ministry of Education would understand the challenges confronting the subject and when setting policies, they will take note of these challenges and remedy them accordingly.

Finally, the research would also be useful to other researchers in supplementing the existing Literature on the same study area and would also, provide a rich ground for further research based on the gaps left out by this study. In this way, Prose can accomplish several goals at once-enriching students’ school experience through Art as well as reinforcing traditional academics.

1.6 Scope and Delimitation of the Study

The study is limited to the attitudes of students towards prose and its implication on their performance in literature. The study shall be restricted to 4 selected secondary schools in Jos South Local Government Area. The schools were chosen because they were mixed students (males and females) from different parts of the local government and with different backgrounds. Nevertheless, even though the study is limited to the selected schools and local government area, its findings will be applicable to other parts of the state and country at large. 

1.7. Operational Definition of Terms

Attitudes: The way one thinks, feels, likes or dislikes and behaves toward prose activities. The manner or behavior a learner exhibit towards learning of prose.

Students: Learners studying prose in a classroom in a secondary school.

Learning:  The act of acquiring a new knowledge and skills from a prose expert.

Prose: A genre of Literature that has to do with narrative. This could be fictional and non-fictional.

Methodology: The skills or techniques applied in teaching prose.

Instructional materials: The essential things used by teachers to enhance the teaching and learning of prose for easy comprehension and positive performance of the learners.

Teachers: Those saddled with the responsibility of inculcating prose knowledge and skills into the learners.