American Heritage Journal of Creativity

Contents

The Concept Of Creativity

The Written English Of First-Year Students’ Of A Nigerian University: Implications For Futuristic Job Productivity.

Fostering The Social Integration And Empowerment Of Nigerian Youths: The Role Of The Visual Arts

The Impact Of Initial Literacy In The Mother Tongue On Students’ Academic Performance

Benin Woodcarving Tradition Through Time From Ere, The Second Ogiso King, To Oba Erediauwa

In-Service Teachers’ Awareness And Perception Of Inclusive Education: Concepts And Practice In Lagos State, Nigeria.

An Insight Into The Future Directions Of Human Civilization And The New World Economic Order: A Reflection On The Future Of Sustainable Development For Nigeria And The Black Race

Parental Involvement In Children’s Language And Literacy Development In Lagos Metropolis In Nigeria

Festus Iyayi As A Psychological Novelist

The Eminence Of The English Language And Creative Ways To Learn The Language

AuthorHouse™

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.authorhouse.com

Phone: 1-800-839-8640

© 2012 by American Heritage University of Southern California. All rights reserved.

No part of this journal may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by American Heritage University Press and AuthorHouse 11/20/2012

ISBN: 978-1-4685-8147-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4685-8146-1 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012908467

American Heritage University Press

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Editorial/Advisory Board

•   LEAH OJINNA

Editor-in-Chief

•   AUSTEN OGHUMA

Business Editor

•   CECELIA SEAVER

Copy Editor

•   SIR VICTOR UWAIFO

Review Editor/Creative Arts

•   OSE OYAMEDAN

Review Editor/Theater Arts

•   UCHE UGWUEZE

Advisor

REGIONAL EDITORS:

CECELIA GASCON

Asia

PETRUSEVSKI LJUBISHA

Eastern Europe

CHUKUNPURA PAULSON

Middle East

VICTOR OWHOTU

Africa

PRINCIPAL OFFICERS

PROF TONY B.E. OGIAMIEN

DR. JYOTIRIMAY DEB

DIANA DZIB

DENISE C. FLANAGAN

JOHANNA YAISRAEL

Introduction

The American Heritage Journal of Creativity (AHJC) is a biannual journal of research from American Heritage University of Southern California located in the San Bernardino County in California, USA. It is published twice in a year. It accepts creativity as going beyond the possession and use of artistic, musical or writing talent, but permeating throughout the curriculum, in science, social studies and other areas. Research works conducted in the academia without restriction to subject are invited. The objectives of AHJC are to disseminate internationally pragmatic academic research solutions in diverse disciplines that are functionally creative and relevant to community and universal issues. Essentially, the crucial requirement is that it has to be a research paper with empirical findings. AHJC provides a multidisciplinary forum for the publication of original research and technical papers, short communications, state-of-the-art developments in the liberal arts and sciences

Aside from articles, we also encourage prospective authors to submit book reviews, notes, short commentaries and full page relevant advertisements.

The views presented in this journal are essentially and restrictively the opinions of the respective authors. They represent neither the opinions of the editors, editorial board members nor the staff of American Heritage University Press. Although AuthorHouse will actively review articles, it does not warrant the accuracy of the information provided in the article nor its relevance in the journal.

The editors are grateful to the editorial board members and ad-hoc reviewers as well as individuals who have submitted their research papers for publication consideration

Editorial Policy:

The journal accepts scholarly manuscripts from authors in diverse fields. Peer reviewing is optional, especially as the author is responsible for sponsoring the review. However, paper must not have been previously accepted for publication or review elsewhere. Acceptance of the article for publication largely depends on the evaluation report of reviewers, originality, relevance to the ideas presented and its contribution to field of knowledge.

Readership:

Researchers, graduates, bureaucrats, professionals, and individuals inclined to the enhancement of creativity for success-oriented programs and activities.

Submission

For submission, typescript and soft copy in MS-word format should be submitted by email: l.ojinna@amheritageuniv.net. Typescripts should be written in English, double-spaced and single-sided on either A4 sheets or quarto or A4-sizeed sheets, and the 14-20 page article should be numbered beginning with the title page. The first page of the article should be created to contain the title of the paper, the name(s) and address(es) including current email of the author(s), a short title not exceeding 45 letters with space and an abstract of 50-200 words should follow the title page on a separate sheet.

Contributors are expected to adhere strictly to the format of the journal as specified in the website.

The publication fee, which is just the subscription fee of $70.00, should be paid to:

American Heritage University of Southern California, 255 North D Street, San Bernardino, CA 92401

Telephone: 909 884 9000; Toll Free: 888 484 8689 FAX: 909 885 3000

Annual Subscription is $70.00 annually for two volumes for each edition but future electronic version is $40. Please complete your subscription at our website.

Article Format:

Articles should be in double-space between 12-20 pages and contain not less than 200-word abstract. Headings and subheadings for different sections of the paper (e.g. Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussions) should be clearly indicated. Units of measurement, abbreviations and symbols should follow the international system of units (SI), Equations and formulae should be typewritten or word-processed. Equations should be numbered consecutively with Arabic numerals in parentheses on the right-hand side of the page. Special symbols should be identified in the margin.

Tables and Figures

Tables should be given short informative titles and should be numbered consecutively in Arabic numerals. Tables will be reproduced directly from the typed or word-processed softcopy. Figures in a form suitable for reproduction should be submitted separately from the text as original drawings in Indian ink, or as high contrast sharp photographs on glossy paper. Lettering on figures should be proportional to the size of the figure to ensure legibility after reduction. On the back of each figure, the orientation of the figure and the author and figure number should be cited consecutively in the text and a list of short descriptive captions should be provided at the end of the paper.

References

References should be cited in the text using a number in square brackets in order of appearance. The references are listed at the end of the paper in numerical order.

The American Heritage Journal of Creativity, ISSN: 2161-5209 Volume 1, Number 1, Summer 2012 is published by American Heritage University Press in collaboration with AuthorHouse Publishing.

The institution is located at 255 North D Street, San Bernardino, CA 92401Telephone: 909 884 9000; Toll Free: 888 484 8689 FAX: 909 885 3000

THE CONCEPT OF CREATIVITY

From the Editor-in-Chief: Dr. Leah Ojinna

The very essence of the creative is its novelty, and hence we have no standard by which to judge it.—Carl R. Rogers, On becoming a person.

The word creativity has attracted multiple definitions. It has been defined in a variety of ways. In spite of its multifarious interpretations, creativity goes beyond possession and use of artistic, musical or writing talent, but throughout the curriculum, in science, social studies and other areas. An artist may have wonderful technical skills, but may not succeed in evoking the emotional response that makes the viewer feel that a painting, for example, is unique. Furthermore, creativity has been considered in terms of process, product or person (Barron and Harrington, 1981) and has equally been defined as the interpersonal and intrapersonal process by means of which original, high quality, and genuinely significant products are developed. As Moran, 111(1983) aptly posits, creativity is essentially a form of problem-solving, a special type of problem-solving—one that involves problems for which there are no easy answers, like problems for which popular or conventional responses do not work. Creativity involves adaptability and flexibility of thought. These are the same types of skills that numerous reports on education (e.g., the Carnegie Report, 1986) have suggested are critical for students.

In this maiden issue of American Heritage Journal of Creativity (AHJC), which is objectively an international journal, African authors have largely responded to it even though papers are welcome from all nationalities. They have exquisitely developed original, high quality research papers by dint of their work through interpersonal and intrapersonal processes. Some, in their bid to be creative are judiciously involved in adaptability and flexibility of thoughts and ideas that have worked in other parts of the universe based on the likelihood of successful application.

References:

http://www.quoteland.com/author/Carl-R-Rogers-Quotes/582/

Barron, Frank and David M. Harrington. :Creativity, Intelligence and Personality." ANNUAL REVIEW OF PSYCHOLOGY 32 (1981): 439-476

Moran, James D. III, Roberta M. Milgrim, Janet K. Sawyers, and Victoria R. Fu. Original Thinking in Preschool Children. CHILD DEVELOPMENT 54 (1983): 921-926

Carnegie Forum on Education and the Economy. A Nation Prepared: Teachers for the 21st Century. Washington, DC: Carnegie Forum on Education and the Economy, 1986

THE WRITTEN ENGLISH OF FIRST-YEAR STUDENTS’ OF A NIGERIAN UNIVERSITY: IMPLICATIONS FOR FUTURISTIC

JOB PRODUCTIVITY.

Dr. Kehinde Olojede

E-mail: kehindeolojede@yahoo.com

Department of Curriculum and Instruction,

Federal College of Education (Technical), Akoka, Lagos, Nigeria

Dr. A. N. Maduekwe

E-mail: tmadux@yahoo.com

Department of Arts & Social Science Education

Faculty of Education, University of Lagos, Lagos State, Nigeria

INTRODUCTION

English Language in the Nigerian Context

English language has a long history in Nigeria, and a long future too. As a result of the nation’s linguistically heterogeneous nature, English has been serving as the major language of government, education, commerce and inter-ethnic communication since the nation attained independence (Olateju, 2006). It is equally the major means by which Nigerians communicate with the outside world, hence Ajani (2007) describes the global spread of the English language as one of the most far-reaching linguistic phenomena of our time. In the education sector especially, as stipulated in the National Policy on Education (2004: 11), English is the medium of instruction from the fourth year of Basic Education onward. It is the language of interaction in most formal educational settings. This influence of English on the various facets of Nigerians’ day-to-day existence has made proficiency in the four skills—listening, speaking, reading and writing—a necessity.

Written English plays a crucial role at all levels of education in the country. This is especially true of the tertiary education level where, unlike at the primary and post-primary schools, academic activities require a lot of writing. This overall importance of the language to meaningful academic pursuit at the tertiary level informed the insistence on a minimum of a credit pass in English language at the Senior School Certificate/Ordinary Level as one of the entry requirements for admission into any university degree program in Nigeria. Besides, the University Matriculations Examinations (UME), which Senior School Certificate/Ordinary Level holders must pass before securing admission into any university, also has the Use of English as a compulsory requirement.

In spite of this importance of English for educational advancement, however, results of candidates in English language at the Senior School Certificate Examinations have, for decades, been generally poor. This poor performance has made scholars like Kolawole (1998), Akande (2002, 2003) Asiyanbola (2003) and Maduekwe (2007) to express worry about the problems of teaching and learning English effectively at the secondary level in Nigeria. Kolawole (1998) reported that the teaching and learning of written and spoken English language at the secondary level is beset by a myriad of problems. Other research efforts on the problems confronting the teaching and learning of English in Nigeria by Chigeonu (2000) and Taiwo (2003) have also revealed that many Nigerian secondary school students are faced with difficulties in learning the grammar and morphology of English.

The two national examining bodies in Nigeria, the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) and the National Examinations Council (NECO), have lamented about the performance of students in English Language, which has been steadily deteriorating over the years. Statistics reveals that in the Senior Secondary Examinations conducted by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) in May/June of 2009, only 356,981 out of the 1,373,009 candidates that sat for the examination secured credits in five subjects, including English and Mathematics

The candidates that sat for the same examinations conducted by the National Examinations Council (NECO) about the same time (July 2009) did not fare better either. Out of the 1,200,765 candidates who registered for the examinations, only 10.7% had credit pass in English and Mathematics and three other subjects. 24.5% had five credits without English and Mathematics. The performance of candidates in the NECO-conducted November/December GCE of the same year (2009) was