Reading and Dictation as Diagnostic Approaches on English Language Learning Process among Junior Secondary School Students in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State

In Nigeria, learning English as a second language has continued to pose great challenge to Learners. This research investigates the potency of Dictation and Reading Exercises as viable diagnostic tools in English Language learning among Junior Secondary School ESL Learners in Ado – Ekiti, Ekiti State, Nigeria. The survey research design was employed for the study. A self-constructed questionnaire named Students’ Dispositions towards Dictation and Reading (SDTDR) was used as the research instrument. A correlation co efficient of 0.75 was obtained and this was significant at 0.05. A total of seventy five respondents were randomly selected from five Junior Secondary Schools in Ado Local Government Area. Frequency counts and Percentages were used to analyze the data. The results of the research give an insight into the problems associated with the second language (L2) learning of which JSS ESL Learners in Ado Ekiti are not left out. The problems identified include: Pronunciation difficulties, Spelling Challenges, Mother tongue interference, Vocabulary inadequacy and Comprehension incapability. Also, the findings show that regular dictations and reading exercises in language classes help in easy detection and correction of English Language deficiencies for the improvement of Language Learning endeavours. Based on the findings, it is recommended that dictation and reading exercises in language classes should be used regularly for easy discovery and correction of English Language deficiencies for learners’ better linguistic outputs.