Supportive Points

1) Untrained Teachers

Adedokun, (2011) was of the view that poorly trained English and untrained teachers (of
English) were employed to teach and prepare primary and secondary school students for the
school certificate examinations in English language. This situation contributed immensely in
poor performance in English language among the teachers and also the school students.
Non Supportive Points

(1) Less number of English Professional Teachers

The study by Mosha (2014), showed that rural secondary schools had few qualified and
competent English teachers compared to urban schools. For example, schools A and B had
seven teachers teaching English while schools C and D had four teachers. Teachers in school
A had an average of 7.4 periods per week while in schools B and C had an average of 13 periods
per week. In school D they had an average of 28 periods per week. Hereby, she admit that
less number of English profession teachers would be one of the main reason for the bad
English among the students.

2) Teachers very poor in using teaching Materials

- These study also examined the role played by teachers in using teaching and learning
materials in the English classrooms. Results showed that most of the teachers are very poor in
using the teaching materials in classrooms. Mosha (2014), revealed that this is also one of the
reasons why students did not performing well in English language.

- Saad (2007) was of the view that teaching and learning take place effectively when classes
are moderate. But the present day Nigerian class is over populated with students over 120 and
this cannot allow for proper teaching and learning. On the other hand, in the area of
instructional resources or media, there is dominance of textbooks, dictionaries, workbooks and
posters in the teaching of English language in secondary schools in Nigeria. Modern media
such as audio, video tapes, language laboratories, programmed texts, flash cards; computers,
magazines and newspapers are rarely used by teachers. Mohammed, (1998) observed that the
teaching of English language is bedevilled with many problems such as inadequate period of
teaching, method of teaching and lack of adequate and useful resources.
3) Dominance of the Mother Tongue among English Teacher

In the research of Saad (2014) the analysis of research question showed that dominance of
mother tongue among qualified English language teacher is one of the main reasons for the
poor performance among students.

The dominance of mother tongue is regarded as one of the cause of poor performance in English
language. Usman, (2012) in his research view that Nigerian students are surrounded by a
complex linguistic situation that force them to learn their first indigenous language and they
are required to have a good command of the English language. The Nigerian policy on
education stressed the use of the immediate language of the community in instruction at the
lower level of primary education and combination of English and language of the immediate
community at the upper part of primary education. In other words, the policy recommended
the use of mother tongue in teaching at primary level. This situation contributes immensely in
poor learning of English language right from primary school and it extends to secondary school.

Fema, (2003) was of the view that the major cause of the errors in English used by Native
students can be attributed to the interference of mother tongue with the English language. He
added that students often use their native language or mother tongue in all their interactions
and English is only used within the four walls of the classrooms and ends there.

The above situation clearly shows that dominance of mother tongue contributed immensely in
students poor performance in English language.

4) Negative attitude of students toward learning English language

Another important cause of poor performance in English language is the negative attitude of
students toward the learning of English language. Students, particularly in secondary and
primary schools mostly show negative attitude toward learning of English language because
they consider it foreign or not theirs.

Mohammed, (2002) was of the view that most students put a kind of negative attitude in
learning and use of English language as well as making teachers task a difficult one in deed. It
is obvious that for any student to be proficient in English language, mastering of skill of
listening, speaking, reading and writing is necessary, and it requires a hardworking and
dedication from the students. Therefore, it is clear that the negative attitude of students toward
learning of English language is one of the causes of poor performance in the subject (English
language).

Other than that, Saad (2014) stated that instructional media, teachers attitude toward
innovation and use of instructional media, negative attitude of students toward learning of
English language and improper use of methods of teaching are some of the causes of poor
performance in English language among students.

The study of Raja (2011) revealed that one of cause of problems in learning English as a second
language is the students attitude towards reading books, especially English Newspaper. The
study find out students who never read the English newspaper and books perceived more
problems in learning ESL than those who read occasionally and frequently. Also, the students
who read the newspaper occasionally and daily perceived more problems than those who read
the English newspaper frequently.

5) Bad Environment

Raja (2011)The researcher also find out that environment' is the leading cause for the problems
in learning English as perceived by +1 students while comparing it with the other two
dimensions namely 'Attitude' and 'Teacher's Competence'. This study prove it that boys
perceived more, the 'Environment' and 'Attitude' such as playing, disturbing during the class as
the cause of problems in learning ESL than girls.

6) Teaching more too traditional way

English language teachers fail to take into account the dynamic nature of English curriculum
but they continued to bore students with definitions and drills in grammar, vocabulary and
speech work. The traditional content/knowledge oriented teaching is still very much practiced
by them. Abdullahi, (2003) was of the view that teachers mostly prefer to use traditional ways
of teaching which they have been familiar with or as they were taught, which do not necessarily
aid proper learning. Yau, (1993) categorically said that successful achievement of stated
objectives in teaching and learning is always associated with using the right technique with the
right, modern and creative resources.
Suggestions

UNESCO (2000) reported that the provision of teaching and learning materials especially
books is an effective way of improving results. However, the World Education Report (1998)
reveals out that in many countries, conditions are difficult, whether they relate to the physical
states of schools and the availability of teaching and learning materials, class sizes, or the
changing characteristics of the student population.

Motivation is the most used concept for explaining failure or success of a learner. Also
motivation has been regarded as one of the main factors that influence the speed and amount
of success of foreign language learners (Gardner, 2006). For instance, Gardner (2006) reported
Students with higher levels of motivation will do better than students with lower levels (p.
241). He further added that If one is motivated, he/she has reasons (motives) for engaging in
the relevant activities (p. 243).

In teaching, motivation is one of the factors that influence success or failure in learning a
language, particularly a second language or foreign language (Gardner, 2006). In the same
Petty (1998) argued that if students do not want to learn, their learning efficiency will be slow
such that they may learn virtually nothing, and if you know how to motivate students, you can
highly increase their learning. Apart from motivation and attitudes, researches show clearly
that home environment has a part to play in students poor performance in schools (Suleiman,
1999; Mapuri, 1999).

In another development, Elliot, Kratochil, and Cook (2000) see motivation as an internal state
that arouses to action, pushes us in particular directions, and keeps us engaged in certain
activities. They added that learning and motivation are equally essential for performance and
they enable us to acquire new knowledge and skills. Furthermore, motivation provides the
impetus for showing what we have learned, and that more motivated people achieve higher
levels but Harmer (2004) cautioned that motivation that brings students to task of learning
English could be affected and influenced by the attitudes of a number of people.