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The English language is an invaluable legacy of colonialism which has increasingly assumed a great importance all over the

world. Many countries, especially the former British colonies, realized the importance of English as a language of International Communication and voluntarily adopted it for official and, sometimes inter-ethnic communication purposes (Akabogu, 2006). Consequently, there have emerged different varieties of English as a result of the nativization of the non-native varieties of the language. This is so because whenever languages come into contact they are bound to influence one another.
ICT COMPETENCIES POSSESSED BY ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHERS FOR INSTRUCTIONAL DELIVERY IN UNITY SCHOOLS OF SOUTH EAST NIGERIA 2

Modern means and tools of communication have been very influential factors in the crossfertilization of languages. The English language is one of the popular modern languages that have oiled the wheels of contemporary technologies of communication and information dissemination. Information and Communication Technology as a modern means of communication is usually called ICT and is often used as a synonym for Information technology (IT) but it is a more general term that stresses the role of telecommunication(telephone lines and wireless signals) in modern information technology.
ICT COMPETENCIES POSSESSED BY ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHERS FOR INSTRUCTIONAL DELIVERY IN UNITY SCHOOLS OF SOUTH EAST NIGERIA 3

ICT consists of all technical means used to handle information and aid communication, including computer and network hardware as well as necessary software. ICT covers any product that will store, retrieve, manipulate, transmit or receive information electronically in a digital form. In other words, ICT consists of IT as well as telephony, broadcast media, and all types of audio and video processing and transmission.
ICT COMPETENCIES POSSESSED BY ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHERS FOR INSTRUCTIONAL DELIVERY IN UNITY SCHOOLS OF SOUTH EAST NIGERIA 4

The field of education has not been unaffected by the penetrating influence of information and communication technology. Undoubtedly, ICT has impacted on the quality and quantity of instructional delivery and research in traditional and distance education institutions. In concrete terms, ICT can enhance instructional delivery through its dynamic, interactive, and engaging content; and it can provide real opportunities for individualized instruction. ICT has the potential to accelerate, enrich and deepen skills; motivate and engage students in learning. (Davis and Tearle, 1999; Lemke and Coughlin, 1998).
ICT COMPETENCIES POSSESSED BY ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHERS FOR INSTRUCTIONAL DELIVERY IN UNITY SCHOOLS OF SOUTH EAST NIGERIA 5

It is observed that the numerous benefits of ICT can only be realized when teachers who still remain the key to learning have developed the necessary pedagogical competencies (Onuzulike, 2011) There is a global awareness of the centrality of the teachers role in the instructional process, even in ICTrich contexts teachers cannot be replaced by the best Technology. Jones (2003) reiterates this fact and opines that no matter what educational systems mandate and expects, in the end effective learning is very dependent on the will and competence of the teacher. ICT COMPETENCIES POSSESSED BY ENGLISH
LANGUAGE TEACHERS FOR INSTRUCTIONAL DELIVERY IN UNITY SCHOOLS OF SOUTH EAST NIGERIA 6

Competence will be needed for successful integration of ICTs in Instructional delivery. One thing is to possess the basic skills another is to successfully achieve predetermined objectives which are the responsibility of competence. Therefore, teachers of English language require the needed ICT competences for there to be successful achievement of the objectives of the ICT policy. The required teachers ICT-competencies to be developed for instructional delivery include ICT literacy, content development, and pedagogical teaching approaches using ICT, the use of ICT for management and administration and technical skills on implementation, management and maintenance of ICT facilities.
ICT COMPETENCIES POSSESSED BY ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHERS FOR INSTRUCTIONAL DELIVERY IN UNITY SCHOOLS OF SOUTH EAST NIGERIA 7

The ability of English language teachers to use ICT for instructional delivery and expand students understanding of English language in the context of this study is termed: ICT Competency. This study is out to look at the ICT Competencies of English teachers in Nigerian unity schools, based on the ICT Standard stipulated by UNESCO for all member countries. Therefore, the problem of this study is to find out the ICTCompetencies possessed by English language teachers in Unity Schools of South East Nigeria and the extent to which it is it is influenced by gender and qualification DELIVERY IN UNITY SCHOOLS OF SOUTH
ICT COMPETENCIES POSSESSED BY ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHERS FOR INSTRUCTIONAL EAST NIGERIA 8

The following research questions guided this study. 1. What are the ICT competencies possessed by English language teachers in the unity schools for instructional delivery? 2. What is the Influence of English Language Teachers Qualification on their ICT competencies? 3. What is the Influence of Gender on the English language Teachers ICT Competencies

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ICT COMPETENCIES POSSESSED BY ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHERS FOR INSTRUCTIONAL DELIVERY IN UNITY SCHOOLS OF SOUTH EAST NIGERIA

Two hypotheses was formulated and tested at 0.05 level of significance. 1. ICT Competencies possessed by English language teachers in Unity Schools do not depend significantly on Teachers Qualification. 2. Gender is not a significant factor in the mean rating of ICT competencies possessed by English language teachers in unity schools of South-East Nigeria.
ICT COMPETENCIES POSSESSED BY ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHERS FOR INSTRUCTIONAL DELIVERY IN UNITY SCHOOLS OF SOUTH EAST NIGERIA

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METHOD The study adopted a descriptive survey research design. It was carried out in all the unity schools of South-East, Nigeria because of the availability of ICT facilities for Instructional delivery. All the unity school English language teachers numbering eighty two (82), constituted the population for the study. Since the population of this study is manageable, the entire population numbering 82 English language teachers constitutes the sample of this study. ICT-Competencies of English language teachers questionnaire (ICT-CELTQ) was used for this study. The questionnaire was developed by the researchers based on the standard given by UNESCO (2008) and Akudolu (2006) to cover the various levels of ICT-Competencies COMPETENCIES POSSESSED BY ENGLISH (Personal,ICT pedagogical, subject oriented and didactical LANGUAGE TEACHERS FOR INSTRUCTIONAL DELIVERY IN UNITY SCHOOLS OF SOUTH competencies. EAST NIGERIA 11

The mean score analysis in Table 1 show that English language teachers in Unity Schools in south-east zone of Nigeria have very low or fair competencies in all the required areas of ICT as stipulated by UNESCO (2008). This finding is not different from that of a similar study by Apanpa and Lawal (2009) which also reported that English language teachers in Lagos State are not ICT competent. This has great implication for the success of ICT policy implementation in Unity Schools and also its usage in Instructional delivery.
ICT COMPETENCIES POSSESSED BY ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHERS FOR INSTRUCTIONAL DELIVERY IN UNITY SCHOOLS OF SOUTH EAST NIGERIA 12

Qualification, as can be seen in Tables 2 and 4, is not a factor in the ICT competencies of English Language teachers. This may be because ICT is not taught specifically to any particular group or level but integrated in the teaching and learning process. All the teachers are qualified to teach in the Unity school but their qualification failed to reflect on their use of Information Communication and Technology in instructional delivery.
ICT COMPETENCIES POSSESSED BY ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHERS FOR INSTRUCTIONAL DELIVERY IN UNITY SCHOOLS OF SOUTH EAST NIGERIA 13

Tables 3 and 5 reveal that both gender (male and female) have very low or no ICT competencies. However, male teachers performed better than their female counterparts. This result agrees with earlier findings of Liaw (2002), Chen &Tsai (2005), Ong & Lai (2007), and Eke (2009) who found gender variations in which males rating of perception towards ICT use in the classroom, self-efficacy, perceived usefulness and behavioural intentions to use ICT in instructional delivery were all higher than that of their female counterparts. This finding is not surprising considering the socio-cultural barrier Nigerian females encounter as they venture into ICT COMPETENCIES POSSESSED BY ENGLISH science related disciplines. LANGUAGE TEACHERS FOR INSTRUCTIONAL
DELIVERY IN UNITY SCHOOLS OF SOUTH EAST NIGERIA
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EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATIONS The finding of low-ICT competencies among English teachers in Unity Schools of southeast Nigeria impedes the rich gain of ICT in our language classroom. The numerous benefits of ICT in instructional delivery can only be realized when teachers who remain the key to learning have the necessary and required ICT competency. Where they fail to possess these competencies there is no way the benefits of ICT can be realised.
ICT COMPETENCIES POSSESSED BY ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHERS FOR INSTRUCTIONAL DELIVERY IN UNITY SCHOOLS OF SOUTH EAST NIGERIA 15

utilization of the facilities that have been provided for instructional delivery, the following recommendations were made: + ICT should be a compulsory course in all teachertraining Institutions. + In-service training should be organised for serving teachers till all becomes ICT competent. + ICT qualification should be introduced in line with other educational qualification as criteria for teachers recruitment. + ICT competency should also be made one of the compulsory requirements for teachers promotion. + The Federal Government should make the development of teachers ICT competencies a priority and set targets when all long serving and newly qualified teachers are expected to become ICT-literate to mandatory standards.ICT COMPETENCIES POSSESSED BY ENGLISH
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