Abstract

The low performance annually recorded in the English language examinations, particularly at the secondary school level has been linked to ineffective teaching methods usually employed by language teachers to teach oral English. Besides, the failure rate consistently observed in oral English examinations was as a result of inadequate strategies adopted to teach this aspect of the English language. Hence, this study examined the effects of the Audio-Lingual and Total Physical Response Instructional Methods on Secondary School Students Academic Achievement in Oral English, with a view to determining which of the methods is best suited to teach Oral English at the secondary school level. A pretest- posttest, control group quasi experimental design was adopted for the study. Twenty-four Senior Secondary Schools were randomly selected from the senior secondary public schools in Ijebu-Ode Local Government Area of Ogun State.  In all, a population of one hundred and twenty (120) participants was selected for the study. The instrument that used was Achievement Test in Oral English. Hypotheses were formulated and tested at 0.05 Alpha levels. The data obtained were analyzed using Analysis of Covariance and Multiple Classification Analysis.The results showed that participants that were exposed to the Audio-Lingual Instructional Methodsperformed brilliantly well than those exposed to Total Physical ResponseInstructional Method and the Conventional Teaching Method in Oral English.It is concluded that the Audio-Lingual Instructional Methods has the potentials of becoming a veritable innovative method of teaching oral English in our schools, particularly at the secondary schools that is the thrust of this experimentation.It is recommended that language teachers should adopt the Audio-Lingual Instructional Methods in teaching oral English in our secondary schools. Additionally, in-service training, conferences, lectures, workshops and seminars be organized regularly for language teachers in order to assist them learn more of current, up-to-date and innovative approaches, methods and techniques of teaching and learning oral English in our schools, and of which can positively obliterate the incessant failure rate that is annually recorded in English Language examinations at the secondary school educational level.