FACTORS RESPONSIBLE FOR SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS' FAILURE IN ENGLISH: A CASE STUDY OF SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN OREDO LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA, BENIN CITY, EDO STATE.

This study seeks to examine the factors responsible for students' failure in the English language taking Oredo Local Government Area of Edo State as a case study. The blame has continued to be shifted from teachers to parents, government, students and the society regarding who is responsible for students' failure in the English language in secondary schools. It is against this background the study seeks to find out who is responsible, with close attention to the poor formative assessment practice of English lessons by teachers and promotion of students irrespective of their failure in English at a lower level. Four research questions were raised to guide the study, and a survey research design was adopted for the conduct of the study with the use of a questionnaire as the instrument for gathering data to answer the research questions. The use of mean, standard deviation, frequency count and tables were used to present the results for ease of discussion and interpretation. The results show that teachers, government, students and parents contribute to the existence of this problem. The study concluded that the poor formative assessment practice by English teachers and the practice of promotion of students irrespective of their failure in English at a lower level contribute highly to students' failure in their certificate examinations. Finally, appropriate recommendations like regular supervision of teachers' classwork to ensure formative assessment is practised etc were given to solve the present and recurring problem.