This work investigated the influence of students’ home background on their academic achievement in O’ Level English in Nigeria, using Oyo State secondary schools as a case study. In the selection of the respondents, multistage sampling approach was adopted. Stratified sampling technique was used to select four schools. Purposive sampling technique was used to select students on the basis of home background. Only students from illiterate homes were selected from the public schools while only students from literate homes were selected from private schools. Two private and two public schools were selected from each of the zones making a total of ten private and ten public schools in all. Random sampling technique was used to select twenty students from each of the twenty selected schools, making a total of four hundred respondents in all. Three research hypotheses were raised. Questionnaire was used to gather information on the availability of materials on English language on the basis of home background. It was also used to gather information on students’ attitudes to English language on the basis of home background. Fifty multiple test items were used to test students’ level of achievement in English language based on home background. Chi-square was used to analyse all the hypotheses set. The findings showed that there was a significant difference in the availability of reading materials on English; there was a significant difference in the attitudes of students to English and there was a significant difference in students’ achievement in O’ Level English on the basis of home background. Recommendations were made to the stakeholders.
Keywords: Achievement, Attitudes, O Level English, home background