AN EVALUATION OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHERS' ARTICULATION COMPETENCE OF ENGLISH SCHWA /ꝺ/AS A REQUIREMENT FOR TEACHING ORAL ENGLISH IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN NIGER STATE
Keywords:
Evaluation, Articulation, Schwa, Competence, IPA, RPAbstract
This article evaluated secondary school English language teachers’ articulation competence of English Schwa /ə/ in Niger State. The study adopted a descriptive survey design. Two objectives, two research questions and two hypotheses guided this study. The population of the study was all the English language teachers in secondary schools in Niger State. It consisted of sixty-nine (69) teachers (examiners) that attended the marking co-ordination exercise organised by National Examination Council (NECO) in Minna Marking Centre in August 2026; which usually pulled teachers across the state to mark the Senior School Certificate Examinations (SSCE) scripts. The sample size of this study was thirty (30) participants comprising ten (10) English language teachers from the three educational zones. Simple random and purposive sampling techniques were used in sampling. The instrument for data collection was a test titled ‘Schwa Articulation Test’ (SAT). The instrument’s reliability was illustrated using a pilot test for five teachers. The Kuder–Richardson Formula 20 (KR-20) was used to estimate the instrument's internal consistency, which yielded a reliability coefficient of 0.823, indicating good internal consistency in the simulated data set. The procedure for data collection involved inviting each participant to a quiet class individually and requesting each participant to pronounce some selected English words containing the English Schwa /ə/ at the beginning and end. The data were analysed using simple percentage count and Chi-square goodness-of-fit at 0.05 level of significance. Findings revealed that Schwa /ə/ was predominantly realized incorrectly by the participants. The study concluded that secondary school English language teachers lack articulation competence by IPA standards and recommended that English language teachers should unlearn the RP quality of Schwa /ə/, relearn the IPA quality and a capacity building be organised for phonological reversal and better conventional articulation.
References
Amel, S.(2024).The concept of evaluation in education. California State University, Northridge.
Retrieved from: https://edubirdie.com/docs/
Awonusi, V. O. (2009). Some characteristics of Nigerian English phonology. In A. B. K. Dadzie
& V. Awonusi (Eds.), Nigerian English: Influences and characteristics. Lagos: Concept Publication, 203-241.
Bamidele, E. O. (2024).Teacher competence and academic performance of students in public
secondary schools in Ekiti State, Nigeria. Unizik Journal of Educational Research and Policy Studies, 18 (2); Retrieved from: https://unijerps.org and http://sjifactor.com/ passport. php?id=21363
Brunori, R.(2025).English pronunciation. Hypnotist Theme. Retrieved from: https://www.english pronunciationmadrid.com
Chika, N.S. & Agama, C.S.(2023). Evaluation and its implications in education. Researchgate. Retrieved from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/372108533
Choji, D. (2021). Linguistic landscape and English pronunciation in Gombe State, Nigeria. Onitsha-Nigeria: Africana First Publishers Ltd
Echtelt, R.V. (2024).What is competence? explanations and examples. AG5. Retrieved from: https://www.ag5.com/what-are-competences/
Elias, L. (2023). English vowels. The schwa (no stress!). The ProfessorCoach. Retrieved from: https://medium.com
Essberger, F. (2026).The schwa vowel sound. EnglishClub Retrieved from: https://www.englishclub.com
Glenelg.(2024). Talking fluency. Kidsense. Retrieved from: https://childdevelopment.com.au
Hatkar, N.(2026).Types of evaluation in education: Choosing the right method to measure student growth. Retrieved from: https://www.21kschool.com/ng
Hudson, J.(2025). Four weak vowels: Pronunciation teaching. Pronunciation Studio. Retrieved from: https: //pronunciationstudio.com
Jowit, D. (2005). Nigerian English usage- An introduction. Ikoyi, Lagos: Longman Nigeria PLC.
Kolawole, C.O & Ojedokun, S.I. (2002). Modern trends in English language teaching.Teaching Strategies for Nigerian Secondary Schools. Ayodele, S.O Ayodele. (Ed). Ibadan, Nigeria: Powerhouse Press and Publishers.
Leroy, C. (2020). Handbook of research on operational quality assurance in higher education for life-long learning. IGI Global Scientific Publishing InfInfo Scipedia LogoScipedia. DOI: 10.4018/978-1-7998-1238-8.ch006
Locsin,B.J.G & Honesto,L.D.(2025). Instructional competence and stress coping styles of newly hired secondary teachers in relation to work performance: Basis for capacity development program. PsychEduc, 33(8): 852-863. Retrieved from: doi: 10.70838/ pemj.330803.
Marshalla, P. (2026). Articulation and oral motor. Retrieved from: https://pammarshalla.com
Moore, S.(2026).What is articulation? And what causes speech problems. Retrieved from: https://www.wellspoken.com.au
Moats, L.(2026). What is articulation?. Retrieved from: https://readinguniverse.org
National educational research development council, NERDC. (2024).Curriculum. Retrieved from: https://nerdc.gov.ng/content_manager/view.
Nzubechukwu, I.J., Okaforcha, C.C. & Ifunannya, O.N.(2025). Teachers’ competencies as correlates of stress management in public secondary schools in Anambra State,
Nigeria. Journal of Arts and Social Science Education (COOUJOASSE), 4(1).
Onuigbo, S. (2010).Oral English for schools and colleges.(2010 Edition).Onitsha-Nigeria: Africana First Publishers PLC.
Ontario, F.(2024). Assessment and evaluation. In Curriculum and Resources. Dcpontario. Retrieved from: https://www.dcp.edu.gov.on.ca/en/
Onwuchekwa, P. (2011). Test of orals- The practice of spoken English. (Revised Edition). Onitsha-Nigeria: Africana First Publishers Ltd.
Singh, P.(2025).Evaluation in education: Why it matters and how it works. Extramarks Chronicle. Retrieved from: https://www.extramarks.com
Rowe, H.(2026).Snapshot: What is articulation?.Scasourceposts. Retrieved from: https://www.ataxia.org
The Language Closet, TLC.(2025). How do we talk? Articulation. Retrieved from: https://thelanguagecloset.com/2026/08/22/l
The Ohio State University, TOSU, (2026). Articulation and phonology. Retrieved from: https://sphs.osu.edu/
The university of Sheffield, TSU.(2025). Articulatory phonetics. Centre for Linguistic Research. Retrieved from: https://sheffield.ac.uk/
Twinkl. (2026).What is articulation? Retrieved from: https://www.twinkl.com.ngVillegas, F.(2026).Educational evaluation: What it is, types, and how to measure it. Questionpro.
Retrieved from: https://www.questionpro.com
Westera, W.(2001).Competences in education: A confusion of tongues.DOI:10. 1080/002202 70120625. Retrieved from: https://www. researchgate.net/ publication /230557879_
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, adaptation, and reproduction in any medium, provided that the original work is properly cited.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Authors are permitted to post their work online in institutional/disciplinary repositories or on their own websites. Pre-print versions posted online should include a citation and link to the final published version in Journal of Librarianship and Scholarly Communication as soon as the issue is available; post-print versions (including the final publisher's PDF) should include a citation and link to the journal's website.
