Attitudes of Senior Secondary School Students Towards English Language Learning in Borno State

This study investigates the attitudes of senior secondary school students towards English language learning in Borno State, North East Nigeria, examining the motivational orientations, affective responses, and contextual factors shaping learner attitudes in a region characterised by complex multilingualism and prolonged educational disruption from armed conflict. Borno State's educational system has experienced significant disruption over the past decade, with many students receiving interrupted secondary schooling, and the attitudes of students who have persisted in the system towards the English language as a subject and as a life resource have not been systematically studied. The study employs a mixed-methods approach, administering a Likert-scale attitude questionnaire to 300 SS2 students across eight secondary schools in Maiduguri and Konduga Local Government Areas, supplemented by focus group discussions with 30 students. Quantitative data were analysed using descriptive statistics and chi-square tests, while qualitative data underwent thematic analysis. Findings indicate that the majority of students hold instrumentally positive attitudes towards English, associating it with educational advancement, employment prospects, and national communication. Integrative motivation is lower, with fewer students reporting desire to connect with English-speaking communities or cultures. Female students show slightly more positive integrative attitudes. The conflict experience is shown to have a significant attitudinal impact, with students from schools that experienced closure periods showing measurably lower learning confidence. Recommendations include trauma-sensitive language learning support programmes for post-conflict educational recovery in Borno State. Keywords: learner attitudes, English language learning, Borno State, motivation, secondary school.