ABSTRACT
This
study sought to examine the effect of peer tutoring on performance in essay
writing of primary six pupils in Ughelli South Education zone of Delta State.
The population of the study comprised of 3843 primary school pupils in Ughelli
South Education zone. The sample size was 160 respondents using multi stage
sampling technique. The study adopted quasi-experimental design. The instrument
for the study was Essay Writing Achievement Test (EWAT). The instrument was
validated by three experts from the faculty of Education University of Nigeria
Nsukka. Data collected were analyzed using mean, standard deviation, while
hypothesis were tested using one way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and t-test
statistic. The findings of the study revealed that pupils taught English
language essay writing using peer tutoring had a higher gain score than those
group of pupils taught English language essay writing using conventional
method. The male pupils achieved higher in English language essay writing when
taught using peer tutoring. Also, in the peer tutoring group pupils in urban
school had a higher mean score than those in rural schools. Based on this
findings the following recommendation were made; English language teachers
should endeavour to teach English language generally using peer tutoring
method; the government and professional associations should organize
conferences and in service training to inform and train English language
teacher on the use of peer tutoring method. The teacher training institution
should restructure their programme to include peer tutoring in teaching
subjects: The curriculum planners should incorporate peer tutoring method in
teacher education programme.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
Human Language is a unique communication system that is learned instead
of biologically inherited. Symbols are sounds or things which have meaning
given to them by the users. Originally, the meaning is arbitrarily assigned.
Language enables man to communicate in infinite number and variety of messages,
meanings, intention, thoughts, requests and items of information (Uzoegwu,
2010). Language is a human activity and aids in the development of the record
of observation, incidents and processes. Language, according to Uzoegwu has also
been considered as an integral part of culture. It reflects the culture of the
people concerned and their world view. Language serves as a means through which
people living together structure and organize their experiences. It make the
human society what it is as it plays leading role in the cultural orientation
of the person in the socio-cultural group he belongs and which English Language
is one of such languages (Kalu, 2002). English Language is a set of codes of
arbitrary vocal symbols and signs for communication in a speech community. By
these definitions, it is a peculiar possession of human beings who have
conventionalized utterances that are accepted consciously as a means of
communication.
English Language has played major roles in Nigeria which could be seen in
areas of education, government, business, commerce, mass media and most internal
and external communications. English Language is a West Germanic language that
was first spoken in early medieval England and is now a global lingua franca.
It is an official language of almost 60 sovereign states, the most commonly
spoken language in the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Australia,
Ireland, and New Zealand. It is also, a widely spoken language in countries in
the Caribbean, Africa and southeast Asia. It is the third most common native
language in the world, after Mandarin and Spanish. It is widely learned as a
second language and is an official language of the United Nations, of the
European Union and of many other world and regional international
organizations.
English has developed over the course of more than 1,400 years. The
earliest forms of English, a set of Anglo-Frisian dialects brought to Great
Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the fifth century, are called Old English.
Middle English began in the late 11th century with the Norman conquest of
England. Early Modern English began in the late 15th century with the
introduction of the printing press to London and the Great Vowel Shift. Through
the worldwide influence of the British Empire, Modern English spread around the
world from the 17th to mid-20th centuries. Through newspapers, books, the
telegraph, the telephone, phonograph records, radio, satellite television and
the Internet, as well as the emergence of the United States as a global
superpower, English
has become the leading language of international discourse and the lingua
franca in many regions and in professional contexts such as science.
As important as English Language is parents, guardians, teachers, and the
society have been lamenting over the poor performance of primary six pupils in
the subject. Many factors may have been seen as the causes of pupils’ poor
performance. The researcher observed that in Ughelli, Urhobo language is the medium
of communication. These children who transit from the home to the school, their
thought process is in the language of the immediate environment and thereby
this makes it difficult for them to write simple essay in English Language .The
situation is worse as pupils cannot construct one single error free sentence
which has made them lose interest in the subject during teaching and learning.
The methodology used to impart the knowledge could be faulty as teachers only
read lesson notes and copy on the chalkboard for pupils to copy in their
notebooks. Good teaching results in good learning and a good teacher is one who
has the attribute for teaching, possesses expert knowledge of his subject area
as well as sound methodology to impart the knowledge yet the absence of these
pose a serious problems in the area.
Also, there could be other factors involved. Some of these factors which
may be responsible are insufficient qualified teachers, inadequate equipment
and instructional materials, lack of appropriate methods for teaching the
subject among others. As a result of these prevailing factors that may be
responsible for pupils
poor performance in English Language in the area of study, the researcher is
interested in finding possible solutions to ameliorate the situation at hand.
Pupils who transit from primary to secondary school become deficient, lack
competence and skills in the use of the English Language. This could be because
of the faulty foundation of acquiring proper skills in English Language at the
primary school educational level.
For effective learning of English Language to take place, Okpako (2008)
suggests the adoption of a suitable instructional approach, maintaining that
teachers are under intense pressure to cover the curriculum and get pupils
ready for examinations. This makes teaching of English Language inadequate as
special approaches needed for teaching topics are over looked even when English
Language is stressed as the medium of instruction in the National Policy on Education
(NPE). The National Policy on Education (Federal Republic of Nigeria,2004)
states that throughout early childhood, pre-primary education and the first
three years of primary education, the medium of instruction must be taught in
the mother tongue or language of the immediate community (section 14 (b),
19(e)) and stressed that English Language should be taught as a subject. The
language of immediate community refers to any of the 521 local languages that
have been identified in Nigeria. From the forth year of primary school
education, English Language shall progressively be used as a medium of
instruction (Euron Monitor International, 2010).
Primary education is described as education given in institutions for
children aged 6 - 11 plus. It is the foundation of the entire education system
(NPE 2004). Since the rest of the education system is built upon it, the
primary education level is regarded as the foundation and key to the success or
failure of the whole education system. Its objectives include inculcating
permanent literacy, numeracy and the ability to communicate effectively, laying
of a sound basis for scientific and reflective thinking, to promote patriotism,
fairness, understanding and national unity. Others are to instill morals and
values in the child, develop in the child the ability to adapt to his changing
environment, giving the child opportunities for developing manipulative skills
that will enable him to function effectively in the society within the limit of
his capacity and providing basic tools for further educational advancement
including preparation for trades and crafts of the locality.
Inspite of the above objectives, primary six pupils are yet to attain
efficiency and literacy in English Language. Primary school pupils, according
to Suskin (2009) are children who develop and become more independent of the
influence of parents on the school. In line with Scaping (2006), the nature of
primary school pupils is obvious in terms of what they value when making
choices . Primary education is that which offers pupils opportunity to design
or form the habit of reflective thinking about their lives and their
environment generally. As this foundation is being laid, the pupils are
provided a basis for questioning
the validity of most inevitable presumption and mysteries about life which
surround the stories which were told at home.
In the primary school, English Language is employed as the medium of
instruction from primary four, such that when they are in primary six they are
expected to have mastered English Language skills especially in the area of
writing but worries still abound as pupils poor performance increase. Eda
(2012) observes that the poor performance of pupils in English Language could
be connected to their inability to write effectively as these translate to poor
performance of pupils in both internal and external examinations. It is
therefore evident that achieving proficiency in English Language has been
difficult. Moreover, it is even more worrisome to continue because any further
education is forgone due to the poor performance as English Language is a core
subject for educational advancement.
According to Okpako (2005) essay writing has always held a hallowed place
in most examinations and always carries substantial amount of marks. From this
point of view, the time spent in paying close attention to essay writing is not
unjustified. Polio (2003), in cognizance of the task involved in teaching essay
writing, points out that in essay writing, the sentences must be guided by the
language teacher.
Failure of pupils to write good essay in the views of Eze (2010) has been
attributed to negligence. Eze observed that writing as one of the language
skills has been neglected. Essay writing is aimed at achieving a technique of.....
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