A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF STUDENTS’ PERFORMANCE IN FRENCH LANGUAGE ORAL COMPREHENSION

Abstract

This study comparatively examines students’ performance in French language oral comprehension at the Federal College of Education, Abeokuta. The study focuses on two groups of learners enrolled in different programmes: the University of Ibadan degree programme in French and the Nigeria Certificate in Education (NCE) French programme. The participants comprised 43 final-year NCE students and 61 100-level degree students, selected purposively. An oral comprehension test was administered in two sections: Section A, an audio-only listening test, and Section B, an audio-visual comprehension test. Each section contained ten multiple-choice questions. The findings indicate that the group with a longer duration of French-language learning performed better overall, irrespective of programme. The results also show that students performed better in the audio-visual component than in the audio-only component. The study therefore recommends sustained and extensive use of appropriate audio-visual materials in teaching and assessing French oral comprehension, together with adequate time allocation for oral comprehension courses.