A Comparative Analysis of the Effectiveness of Traditional Teaching Methods and Communicative Language Teaching In Improving Students Language Proficiency in Selected Secondary Schools, Uyo, AkwaIbom State

The study examines a comparative analysis of the effectiveness of traditional teaching methods and communicative language teaching in improving students’ language proficiency in selected secondary schools inUyo, AkwaIbom State. Three research objectives and one hypothesis were formulated and used in the study. 200 senior secondary school students were randomly selected for the study. Data was generated from the performance test, processed and analyzed with descriptive research design and hypothesis tested with t-test statistics at 0.05 level of significance. The comparative analysis shows that traditional teaching methods significantly outperformed Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) in enhancing student language proficiency. The computed T-value (4.56) surpasses the critical T-value (2.23) at the 0.05 significance level, affirming the superior effectiveness of traditional methods. These methods yield higher immediate proficiency gains due to structured repetition and memorization. It was recommended that secondary schools should combine the strengths of traditional teaching methods and Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) to maximize students’ language proficiency. Traditional methods can provide the necessary foundation and structure, while CLT can enhance practical usage and long-term retention.