The Relationship between Language Proficiency, Language Dominance and Performance in Language Studies
The study examined the relationship between language proficiency, language dominance and performance in language studies. The aim of the study is to investigate student’s poor performance in English language. Participants were seventy-seven (77) comprising (20) male and (57) female students of D S Adegbenro ICT Polytechnic, Itori-Eruku, Ogun State; who were randomly selected among the population of students. Their ages ranged between 18 to 32 years. A cross sectional design was adopted. Two instruments were used for data collection. Language Experience and Proficiency Questionnaire (LEAP-Q) (Marian, Blumenfeld, & Kaushanskaya, 2007) and Bilingual Dominance scale (Dunn & Fox Tree, 2009). Finding on language dominance indicated that majority of students use Yoruba language more than English language in their daily communications and interactions. The implication of this that their linguistic competence in L2 would be affected significantly. This could be a plausible explanation for poor performance of students in English language. It is recommended that student be encourage to use English language at home and varied settings in order to improve their mastery of the language.