Television and Digital Resources of Communication and Entertainment as Correlates of Perceived Decline in Folktale Practice in Delta State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study examined the current status of folktale practice in connection with the patronage of television and other forms of digital resources for communication and entertainment in Delta State, Nigeria. Recent studies suggest that folktale's practice is declining because of television and other digital communication media. Therefore, this study investigated the current state of folktale practice in Delta State and its relation with watching television and using digital communication and entertainment resources. We adopted the Uses and Gratification theory as the theoretical guide and used survey and questionnaire as the method and instrument. We analyzed the data with descriptive and inferential statistics and tested at a 0.05 level of significance. We found that the respondents do not partake in folktale practice, unlike most of them that watch television always and use other digital resources of communication and entertainment frequently. They prefer watching television and using other digital resources of communication and entertainment to the folktale. We also establish a significant correlation between watching television and digital communication resources and the decline in Delta State's folktale practice.

Received: 3 January 2021 / Accepted: 22 March 2021/ Published: 10 May 2021