Locus of control as correlate of students’ achievement in french amojsgsome selected junior secondary school students in ibadan

Abstract

Low performance and high level of attrition in foreign language programmes with particular emphasis on French language in Nigeria have generated an outcry among stakeholders in foreign language education in Nigeria. Learners of French language tend to attribute their success or failure to their personal decisions, efforts, fate, luck or external circumstances. However, researchers have suggested looking into a personality construct such as locus of control as a determinant of learners’ achievement in French language. Therefore this study sought to investigate the influence of locus of control on learners’ achievement in French in some selected secondary schools in Ibadan, Oyo state, Nigeria. 150 subjects participated in the study. Simple random sampling technique was used to select two local government areas in Ibadan, Oyo State while purposive sampling technique was used to select four schools' from the two local government areas. Two instruments were used for the study: Levenson IPC (intentionality, powerful others and chance) scale and French Language Achievement Test (FLAT).Data collected were analyzed using Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PPMC) and Multiple Regression Analysis. The result reveals that there are significant relationships between students’ achievement in French with Intentionality (r= 0.394, P<.05), and chance (r= 0.392, P<.05), while students’ achievement in French has no correlation with Powerful others (r= 0.086, P>.05). Locus of Control (Intentionality, Powerful Other, and Chance) jointly contributed 25.6% (Adj. R2x 100 = 0.256) to variance in students’ achievement in French. Moreover, Intentionality (p=0.345, t=4.425, P<0.05), and Chance (P=0.338, t=4.367, P<0.05) have relative significant contribution to the students’ achievement in French language. Therefore, foreign language teachers are admonished to be aware of the fact that learners’ success or failure in foreign language is determined by either chance or intentionality. They should be encouraged to take responsibility for their success or failure in foreign language learning process.