SOCIO- EDUCATIVE ACTIVITIES, LANGUAGE ENVIRONMENT AND PEDAGOGICAL APPROACH AS DETERMINANTS OF FRENCH LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY AMONG CULTURAL IMMERSION STUDENTS IN FRENCH LANGUAGE VILLAGE, BADAGRY, NIGERIA

Abstract

This study examined Socio Educative Activities, Language environment and Pedagogical approach as determinants of Students’ Proficiency in French language in Nigerian French Language Village, Badagry. The study adopted descriptive research design of correlational type. The population of the study was all University students in French Language Village, Badagry, Nigeria. Hundred students were randomly selected from 2000 students. Twenty French language Lecturers were randomly selected from 30 Lecturers. In all, a total number of 100 French language students and 20 French language Lecturers participated in the study. Four instruments were used in this study. These included: Questionnaire on Social Educative Activities (QSEA), Questionnaire on Students’ Attitude to Language Environment (QSALE), French Language Lecturers’ Classroom Practices Observation Scale (FLTCPOS) and Students’ French Language Proficiency Test (SFLPT). The result indicates that students’ proficiency in French language had positive moderate and significant relationships with socio-educative activities. Students’ proficiency in French language had positive high and significant relationships with lecturer’s pedagogical approach while it had positive low and nonsignificant relationship with attitude to language environment. The findings further revealed that the joint contribution of the three independent variables to students’ French proficiency was significant. The result indicates that the relative contribution of lecturers’ Pedagogical Approach was significant while the relative contributions of Socio-Educative Activities and attitude to Language Environment were not significant. It was therefore recommended that more emphasis should be placed on socio-educative activities and teacher pedagogical approach in order to enhance the foreign language proficiency of the learners of French Language.