Abstract

This study investigated the extent to which attitude and verbal ability influenced senior secondary school students' achievement in English Language in Ibadan, Nigeria. Using the descriptive research design, three research questions were answered. Participants were 500 senior secondary two students from 10 senior secondary schools in Ibadan, Nigeria. Questionnaires on Students' Attitude (r= .77), Verbal Ability Test (r= .72) and Achievement tests in English Language (r= 0.81) were used for data collection. Data collected were analysed using Pearson's Product Moment Correlation and Multiple regression at .05 level. There was a positive relationship between verbal ability (r=.16) attitude(r=.50) and achievement in English Language. Verbal ability (â=.-097) and attitude (â = .311,) made relative contributions to achievement in English The joint contribution of the independent variables to achievement in English were also significant. It is, therefore, recommended that English Language instruction should take cognisance of these students' variables for better results.