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Archives of Business Research – Vol. 9, No.2

Publication Date: February 25, 2021

DOI: 10.14738/abr.92.9592.

Faloye, B. O., & Obateru, O. T. (2021) .Virtual Instructional Packages and Pre-Service Language Teachers' Communicative Skills: Empirical

evidence from Nigerian Colleges of Education. Archives of Business Research, 9(2). 33-40.

Virtual Instructional Packages and Pre-Service Language Teachers'

Communicative Skills: Empirical evidence from Nigerian Colleges of

Education.

Bankole Olagunju, FALOYE

Department of Educational Foundations

Bamidele Olumilua University of Education, Science and Technology

Ikere-Ekiti

Obateru, Oluwatoyin Tolu (PhD)

Department of Educational Foundations

Federal University Oye-Ekiti, Ekiti State

ABSTRACT

The study investigated the effect of virtual instructional tools on the

learning outcomes of pre-service English language teachers in

Nigerian Colleges of Education. The rationale of the study was hinged

on the premise of virtual instructional adaptation in a post-OVID-19

era. The design for the study was a two- group pre-test post-test quasi- experimental design. The research design comprised pretest and post- test observations, treatment with virtual instruction and normal

instruction in a non-virtual space. Using multistage sampling strategy,

100 samples were randomly selected from two Colleges of Education

in Southwest Nigeria. The experimental and controls groups consisted

of 50 samples each comprising 25 females and 25 males. The

instruments for the study were validated achievement tests and

marking guides including a test-retest reliability study with a

reliability coefficient of 0.87 which was considered as moderately high

for the reliability of the instruments. Two null hypotheses were raised

and tested at 0.05 levels of significance using Two- Way ANOVA as

statistical tools. The findings revealed that there was significant effect

of virtual instructional tools on pre-service English language teachers’

learning outcomes using the pre-test mean scores and post-test mean

scores. Also, the findings showed that there was significant gender

effect of virtual instructional tools on the virtual learning outcomes of

pre-service English language teachers’ communicative skills in

English. Pedagogical implications of the findings in respect to virtual

instructional tools in a post-COVID-19 era were highlighted and

suggestions preferred towards enhancing pedagogical and

communicative competencies of pre-service English teachers in

Nigerian Colleges of Education.

Keywords: Virtual Instructional Packages, Pre-Service ,Language Teachers,

Communicative skills, Nigerian Colleges of Education.

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Faloye, B. O., & Obateru, O. T. (2021) .Virtual Instructional Packages and Pre-Service Language Teachers' Communicative Skills: Empirical evidence from

Nigerian Colleges of Education. Archives of Business Research, 9(2). 33-40.

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.14738/abr.92.9592. 34

INTRODUCTION

The significance of education for national global development cannot be overemphasized.

Specifically, almost all facets of human life are hinged on educational development. Indeed, the

success or otherwise of educational systems around the world has been underpinned by the

regular training and retraining of teachers in relevant communication skills.

Language educators underpin the importance of determining learning outcomes of pre-service

language teachers based on their proficiency in the use language with emphasis on the medium of

instruction in junior secondary education in Nigeria. From my experience as teacher trainer, a

significant number of pre-service language teachers are incapable of communicating effectively in

English as a second language

In Nigerian Colleges of Education, one of the global benchmarks for quality language otherwise

known as BMAS includes, but not limited to, attaining a paradigmatic shift from teacher- centredness to interactive pedagogy. Currently, the global pandemic leaves lecturers and

students with limited option than to shift to a virtual mode of instruction. This unexpected but

relevant academic trend is further compounded with the likelihood of post covid-19 parameters

for teaching and learning excluding, perhaps, the conventional means of interaction. The Junior

Secondary School curriculum emphasizes the use of English as a medium of instruction and a

second language respectively during the initial three years in junior secondary school education

in Nigeria. In this regard, the utilization of virtual tools in Google Suite, for instance, showcases

relevant instructional tools for use by lecturers and students. In the new normal era, Google Meet,

among other features in Google Suite, are evolving as necessary and mandatory tools for training

and developing the required communicative skills for teacher education, with emphasis on

English at JSS 1-3 levels of education in Nigeria.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

In Nigerian Colleges of Education, teaching and learning depends, to a large extent, on non-virtual

instruction before the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic. Consequently, the pandemic has

transformed teaching and learning from physical contact to a virtual pedagogy. For example, as at

April 2020, over 46 million children were deprived from schooling in Nigeria due to the lock- down.(Hussain, 2020). Prior to COVID-19, there seemed to be a dearth of poor quality language

teachers in the Nigerian educational systems which has often been a source of concern to

relevant stakeholders in Nigeria. Currently, the ease of the lock-down has continued to expose the

digital and pedagogical lapses of these lecturers and learners. Teaching and learning must

continue to evolve for the unending production of quality language pre-service teachers in

Nigeria generally and Ekiti State in particular. To this end,there is a vast pedagogical lacuna

between second language instruction on television and radio and virtual interactive instruction

with the post-covid-19 pandemic setting in. Hence, for an upgrade of quality English language

teachers from the conventional paradigm to an adaptable and inevitable digital milleau, there is

the dire need to experiment with the utilization of virtual instructional tools without delay.

Hence, through programmed virtual training and instructional models, both teachers and

learners stand to benefit immensely as a result of developing relevant global communicative

skills in English . .