An Investigation of the Level of the Acquisition of Aural-Oral Skills in English by Selected Upper Primary School Pupils in Nigeria
Dr. Ojetunde Cecilia Folasade; Dr. Oyetade Eunice Modupelola; Mrs. Fabinu Folake Abidemi; Mr. Yede Francis, Setonji

Abstract
It has been observed that problems of illiteracy and language acquisition have been attributed to failure in Nigerian educational system. In order to address this unsatisfactory and deplorable state of education in the country, especially at the basic level, which serves as the foundation for other forms of education, many researches have been carried out and solutions proffered. As part of the efforts towards ensuring the effective acquisition of the English language at the primary level and for all round educational development, this study investigated the level of acquisition of aural-oral skills by upper primary school pupils with a view to determining their preparedness/readiness to receive instruction in English in order to facilitate the learning of other subjects across the curriculum. The data were drawn from 20 pupils in Michael Otedola International Nursery and Primary School in Epe Division of Lagos State, Nigeria, using purposive random sampling procedure. To examine their level of acquisition of aural-oral skills, three different exercises drawn from the primary four course book were administered on the pupils: 10-item dictation exercise, listening comprehension with 10 questions and oral composition. The findings revealed that the pupils were grossly deficient in the oral skill (i.e. 34%) while their performance in the aural skill was above average (i.e. 62%). These results showed that the pupils have not acquired substantial degree of competence in aural-oral skills to receive instruction in English, because a language that cannot be spoken cannot be read and written. The study, therefore, concluded that auraloral skills should be given priority attention in the primary school curriculum by curriculum designers and teachers.

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