ABSTRACT
The study investigates the Effect
of Cooperative Learning Strategy on Achievement Motivation of Low Achieving
Students in Reading Comprehension. The area of the study was Nsukka educational
zone of Enugu State, Nigeria.Four research questions and three null hypotheses
were generated to guide the study. The design of the study was a quasi-
experimental non-equivalent pretest– posttest control group design involving
one experimental group and one control group. The sample size consists of two
hundred and three (203) identified low achieving SSII students from two schools
in Nsukka Local Government Area in Nsukka Education Zone of Enugu State. Two
instruments were used for the study- Reading Comprehension Test (RCT) and
Achievement Motivation Rating Scale (AMRS). These instruments were validated by
experts and used for data collection. Mean and standard deviation were used to
answer the research questions while analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used to
test the hypotheses. Major findings of the study reveal that cooperative
learning strategy has some influence on achievement motivation of low achieving
students in reading comprehension. There is no significant difference in the
mean achievement motivation scores in reading comprehension of male and female
low achieving students exposed to cooperative learning strategy. Instructing
low achieving students in cooperative learning strategy has a significant
effect on their achievement motivation in reading comprehension. The
interaction effect of cooperative learning strategy and gender on achievement
motivation of low achieving students in reading comprehension was not
statistically significant. Based on these findings, conclusions were drawn and
the educational implications discussed. Major recommendations were made: First,
adoption of cooperative learning strategy in schools will expose low achieving
students to constant and active participation in their learning process. It
will enable low achieving students to learn, retain and recall concepts, ideas
and principles when they take part in the learning process. Second, both male
and female low achieving students should be exposed to cooperative learning
strategy without any form of discrimination since they benefit equally from
such exposure. Third, teachers should expose their students to cooperative
learning strategy and encourage students to demonstrate the techniques among
their peers in order to improve low achieving students performance in reading
comprehension.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
Reading
is very important in the life of every learner. Reading is one of the most
fundamental media for acquiring and promoting knowledge at all levels of
education. It is a language skill that aims at facilitating the acquisition and
development of literacy skills needed for effective communication in different
contexts. The Federal Government of Nigeria seems to have realized this by
stating in her National Policy on Education that one of the goals of secondary
education is to inculcate permanent literacy, numeracy and ability to
communicate effectively in the recipient (FGN, 2004).
Reading
is the cornerstone for a child’s success in school and indeed, throughout life
(Onukaogu, 2002). Reading is a dynamic process in which the reader actively
participates. It is an interaction among the reader, text and the reading situation.
It is a progressive development of skills ranging from the recognition of
verbal words to the interpretation and evaluation of reading materials of
greater complexity. Reading is the act of communication in which information is
transferred from a transmitter to a receiver (Smith, 2001). Reading is the
process by which the reader makes personal connection with a text to construct
meaning. The success of any reading depends entirely on the intensive and
extensive reading a child is able to do (Kolawole, 2005). Reading is
meaningless if a reader cannot understand a text being read. It is
comprehension that centers on understanding.
Comprehension
is the ultimate goal of reading. Comprehension is the process in which readers
construct meaning by interacting with text through the connection of prior
knowledge and
previous experience in relationship to the text (Duke, 2003). Comprehension
goes beyond getting the facts straight. It is the interpretation and
understanding of what is read. Comprehension is not peculiar to English
language alone. Its importance embraces all fields of knowledge. Comprehension
is not something that happens after reading. It is the thinking done before,
during and after reading (Biemiller and Bootee, 2006). To be able to accurately
understand written material, students need to be able to decode what they read,
make connection between what they read and what they already know and think
deeply about what they have read. Most students who are explicitly taught
reading comprehension skills are likely to learn, develop and use them
spontaneously (Collins, Block and Presley, 2001). Comprehension may be
difficult without a thorough reading of a given text and then taking into
account the background knowledge of the reader.
Reading
comprehension is the active process of constructing meaning through the dynamic
interaction among the reader, the text and the content of the reading material
(Idogo, 2011). Reading comprehension could be described as the processing of
written language to get ideas, relating to experience, organizing ideas,
evaluating and utilizing the ideas for required purpose. It combines the
elements of the reader, the text and the activity of the reading (Snow, 2002).
Reading comprehension is not a passive one way but it is an active two way
process in which the reader and the text interact to construct meaning (Clara,
1997). In reading comprehension some intellectual preparations are needed by
the reader in order to comprehend. This is because comprehension is not only
getting meaning from printed symbols on pages of paper. Reading comprehension
is not found on the printed symbols but in the mind of the reader who read the
printed texts. This is why comprehension becomes building bridges between the
known and the unknown. Reading comprehension therefore, involves interpretation
and alteration
of what is read in accordance with prior knowledge. It also involves a lot of
inference making and this is why it is an active and constructive process which
involves the use of textual cues and the reader’s background knowledge to build
a model of the author’s intended meaning.
Good reading comprehension is the
most critical element in school learning (Rathvon, 2004). The need to read for
comprehension permeates all the school subjects in the social sciences,
humanities and sciences. Success in school requires that learners read for
comprehension. Reading for comprehension is not just reading with loud voice
but to be able to understand the meaning of words, sentences and paragraph as
well as sense relationship among the ideas (Simanjunkak, 1998).
In
this study, reading comprehension is the active process of simultaneously
extracting and constructing meaning through interaction and involvement with
the text. Whenever a student just read loudly but cannot understand the content
of the text, it means that he fails in comprehending the passage. Students who struggle with reading comprehension
fail to realize that reading is active searches for meaning, they are often
fearful, anxious about reading and many avoid reading at all cost. As a result,
these students lack the ability to decode words, understand as they read
through text and strategies necessary for becoming proficient readers and
sometimes they are labeled low achieving students (Sousa, 2002).
Low
achieving students are those who consistently do not perform according to
expectation in the classroom (Berger, 1990 & Sousa, 2002). Berger et al
describe low achieving students as those who as a result of high level of
self-doubt and procrastination at school do not show interest or perform high
in their studies. Low achieving students need to be helped to break the barrier
of failure. The quest for improving the condition of low achieving students’
academic performance
has placed a considerable demand on teachers (Smith, 2005). Low achievement can
be influenced by a combination of factors both in the home and at school
(Sousa, 2003). On the basis of current research in cognitive development and
reading comprehension, two important reasons for students’ low achievement in
any academic area can be identified as (1) their inadequate understanding of
how to select, adapt and monitor strategies for learning and (2) their
insufficient motivation to apply actively the understanding they have. If
students see themselves as failure, they may eventually place self – imposed
limits on what is possible. It can be as a result of behavior pattern which
learners develop through consistent failure.
They can
still learn and achieve higher in school if provided with the appropriate help
(OgbanniaChukwu – Etu, 2009). Low achieving students need assistance in
regaining self-confidence in their academic abilities and in developing
strategies for coping with failure and persisting with problem –solving effort
when they experience difficulties. Bewaji and Ugwuegwu (2000) point out that
many secondary school students perform below expectation because they lack some
reading comprehension skills required for effective study in a particular
subject area. Katims, (1997) in Adimora (2012) states that low achieving
students usually manifest inability to read, understand and answer questions
correctly. Katims further explain that students who have wrong understanding usually
provide wrong answers. Many of their teachers lack appropriate teaching method
and skills to motivate and encourage these students in order to break the
barrier of failure. Teachers often test student reading comprehension instead
of teaching them how to read and comprehend. They usually employ the
traditional learning approach where reading is seen as a solo affair in which
the learner is hooked to its text and they are not encouraged to read and
dialogue with peers or in groups (Isiugo, 2002).......
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