The Fidelity Approach To The Teaching Of English Language In Junior High Schools In Ada East District

Abstract

Access to quality education largely depends on the extent of English Language usage. Despite the use of English Language as the medium of instruction in Ghana, the performance of students in the Basic Education Certification (BECE) Examination is still worrying. The purpose of this study is to investigate the extent to which English Language teachers faithfully commit themselves to fidelity approach to curriculum implementation at Junior High Schools in Ada East District. Curriculum fidelity can be defined as the degree to which teachers or stakeholders abide by a curriculum‟s original design when implementing it. The descriptive survey design was employed for the study. The target population of the study included all the Junior High School classroom teachers who have English language background in the study area. The study employed the cluster sampling technique in selecting a total sample size of 113. Two distinct instruments were employed for the study. These were questionnaire and interview guide. The findings show that most of the respondents who teach English Language have professional qualification needed to effectively teach the English Language. It was found out that English Language teachers do not possess much knowledge on fidelity approach to the teaching of the English Language. It was also realised that the English Language syllabus was overly wide and loaded with content. Some of the content of the English Language curriculum were complex, and lacked alignment between English curriculum and requirements of examination bodies in Ghana. Teachers taught the English Language using the lecture method. Other methods were rarely used in the classroom, and when they were, they were not handled well. Finally, the results found out that resources available to the English Language teachers for their teaching were textbooks and white marker boards.