School Certificate Literature In Nigeria: A Study In Content Analysis And Classroom Interaction

ABSTRACT

The shortcomings in students' performances in the literature examination at the West African School Certificate level have been found to be underlined by teaching deficiencies. These deficiencies could, in turn, be remedied by certain basic strategies for teaching. The study has postulated that a combination of Stylistic Analysis and Literary Criticism be adopted as a frame of reference for developing teaching plans for literature. It is also believed that if the teachers were to conduct their lessons in conformity with the study's two- dimensional system of lesson interaction, some of the short- comings in literature lessons would be rectified.

Literary criticism and stylistic analysis are two major approaches to the study of literature which have applied well formulated theories to the description, analysis, interpretation and evaluation of literary works. They have basic principles and strategies for teaching literature as a school subject. From these two approaches, a checklist of criteria for analysis and interpretation of literary materials wasderived and applied to a selection from the school certificate syllabus.