IMPACT OF LEARNING ENVIRONMENT ON STUDENTS PERFORMANCE IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN AKOKO SOUTH WEST LOCAL GOVERNMENT OF ONDO STATE

Despite government and educational authorities’ efforts to improve English proficiency, students continue to struggle in the subject. Several factors contribute to this poor performance, and one of the most crucial is the learning environment. Therefore, this study examined the relationship between the learning environment and students' performance in English language in secondary schools in Ondo State. Descriptive research design of the survey type was used in the study. The population of the study consisted of students in all public senior secondary schools in Akoko South West Local Government Area of Ondo State. The sample of the study consisted of 100 respondents. Simple random sampling techniques was used to select respondent for the study. Five schools were randomly selected of 20 students and purposive from each of the five public secondary schools in selected study area. Four research questions were raised and answered using descriptive statistics while three research hypotheses were formulated and tested using inferential statistics of PPMC at 0.05 level of significant. The result revealed that physical learning environment influence students’ performance in English language in Ondo State secondary schools was moderate, the result revealed that social environment have impact on students’ performance in English was very high, the result revealed that psychological factors such as student motivation, teacher support, and classroom climate affect students' performance in English was moderate, the result revealed that challenges related to the learning environment hinder students' performance in English in secondary schools in Ondo State was high, the result from hypothesis one revealed that there was significant relationship between the physical learning environment and students' performance in English language in Ondo State secondary schools [rcal(198)= .412, p < .05], the result revealed that there was a significant relationship between teacher-student relationships and students' performance in English language in Ondo State secondary schools [r(110)= .260, p < .05]. This means that there was significant relationship between teacher-student relationships and the result revealed that there was significant relationship between psychological factors and students' performance in English language [r cal(110)= .434, p < .05]. The study concluded that various aspects of the learning environment significantly influence students’ academic performance in English language across secondary schools in Ondo State. The physical environment, although moderately influential, still plays a critical role in supporting effective teaching and learning. Based on the findings, it was recommended that government and school authorities should invest in upgrading classroom facilities ensuring adequate lighting, ventilation, seating, and space conducive to effective learning.