Abstract
The study investigated the effects of 5Es instructional model on students’ achievement and interest in essay writing. Six research questions and six null hypotheses guided the study. Quasi-experimental 2x2x2 factorial design was adopted for the study. Specifically, the non-equivalent control group type. This study was carried out in Onitsha North L.G.A. in Onitsha Education Zone of Anambra State. The population of the study comprised 3412 SS11 students in all the public secondary schools in Onitsha North L.G.A. of Anambra State. The sample of this study comprised of 140 SSII students drawn from four intact classes in two co- educational public secondary schools in the L.G.A. Purposive-sampling technique was used in drawing the sample for the study. 5Es instructional model was used for the experimental group. The treatments lasted for five weeks. The instruments for data collection in this study wereEssay Interest Inventory (EII) and Essay Achievement Test (EAT) with reliability index of 0.81. Data collected from the research questions were analyzed using mean, standard deviation and Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) was used to test the hypotheses. The results revealed that students taught essay writing using 5Es instructional model had higher achievementf(4,139) =116.984, p<.000 than their counterpart taught using the conventional lecture method. The result showed statistically significant difference in the mean achievement score of students taught with 5Es model. Students taught essay writing using 5Es instructional model had higher interest score f(4, 139) = . 22.999, p<.000 than their counterparts taught essay writing using the conventional lecture method. Male students had higher achievement score in essay writingwith gain score of 15.67 than their female counterparts 11.47. The test for hypotheses showedf(4,139) = 19.481, p<.000.There was significant difference of gender on students’ achievement in essay writing.Female students had higher interest score in essay writing than their male counterparts f(4,139) =p>7.005.009 The test of hypotheses showed no significant influence of gender on students’ interest in essay writing. In line with the findings of the study, the educational implications of the findings were highlighted and the recommendations were equally proffered among others that English language teachersshould use 5Es instructional model in teaching, and curriculum planners should adopt 5Es model approach when designing and redesigning the curriculum in other to enhance students’ achievement and interest in essay writing. Finally, the limitations of the study and suggestions for further studies were equally made.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
The evolution of English language in Nigeria can be traced to pre-trans-Atlantic slave trade era, specifically in 1553 when some British were said to have paid a very brief visit to the Nigerian coasts, especially the parts of Benin and old Calabar. There was communication barrier between the natives and the English men. To bridge this gap, there came the need to teach English language to the natives. The language was then meant for communication, business transaction, missionary activities, and for other official functions. The communication was initially in English based pidgin, but English language was later introduced in order to train clerks, interpreters, stewards and messengers to help the Europeans in administrative and domestic activities(Alabi, 1994)
Many countries in the world use English language as their medium of communication. English language at the moment is the world’s premier language (Oyeleye, 2005). Evans (1984) pointed out that English as a world premier language has become an indispensable tool for commerce, science and technological development. According to Evans, English language is used in almost all corners of all continents, even in countries where it is not their mother tongue such as the case of Nigeria. For the learning of English as a Lingua Franca, various policy statements in the National Policy on Education and the Universal Basic Education relating to the teaching of English language have been made. Some of these statements include the use of mother tongue and /or language of the immediate community as the language of initial literacy at the pre-primary and junior primary levels, but at upper primary levels English language should be used as the medium of instruction. National Policy on Education (2004). This means that the use of English as a medium of instruction right from primary four should be enforced in both private and public primary schools. The policy is on ground and duly stated in the National Policy on Education (2004), studies have shown that they are not being implemented at primary four.Most schools, especially the ones in the rural areas use local languages instead of the English Language at primary four, thereby making it almost impossible for pupils to learn the four skills at the time stipulated. It is envisaged that if this policy is implemented to the last letter, pupils in primary four and beyond will be introduced to the four basic skills in English language which are listening, speaking, reading and writing.
It has been noted by Magajiya (2004) that English language is very important in the education of a child, and that it is because of this that policy makers adopted it as the medium of instruction from upper primary school level. Ukwuegbu (2004) stated that the realization of the importance of English language makes it absolutely necessary that students should pass it at credit level in Senior Secondary Certificate Examinations (SSCE) and West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE). Examination bodies such as West African Examination Council (WAEC), National Examination council (NECO), and Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) also recognised the importance of the language, and made it compulsory in their examinations.
Apart from examination requirement, English language is the common language in the shopping malls and eating houses in Nigeria. If traders do not communicate in English language, they will be limited to only local customers. English language is also the main language of the media; and most books in most fields are written in English language. About eighty percent of computer data are processed and stored in English (Bearer, 1996). Much satellite communications are carried out in English language, more than half of the newspapers published in the world, are published in English Language. Therefore, it becomes pertinent and essential that students should be grounded in English language. A quality pass in it qualifies a candidate for admission into a tertiary institution in Nigeria. Such good performance in the subject requires determination to learn, persistence and commitment to learning the different aspects of English language such as essay, comprehension, summary, lexis and structure, and oral English.
Writing is a method of representing language in visual form. It is the recording of information to be read later (Ager, 2012). According to Ukwuegbu (2004), the process of learning to write clearly and effectively requires a simultaneous process of writing down all the relevant points one can think of on a piece of paper. This will go a long way in the organization of the content. The points should be organized in a coherent, logical argument to create that vividness required in a story. It is also important to plan well, since it makes for natural and coherent argument. Planning entails ordering the information in such a way that the pages of the essay be covered in relevant and strong points. The points should either be organized chronologically, that is, from earliest to latest; from first to last; from concrete to abstract; from the simple to the complex or from most important to least important, all depending on the nature of the question. It is important to have a clearly defined order of presenting ones argument. This shows that the writer has a clear knowledge of what is expected of him.
Essay is a short piece of writing that discusses, describes, or analyses a topic. It should be presented from the writer’s point of view. In presenting the ideas the points should be well planned and organized chronologically or in the order of importance depending on the type of essay. The organization will help to create the vividness required in a story, if properly done.
The WAEC Chief Examiner’s Report (May/June 2014)stated that there was major weakness in the area of essay writing;the report suggested that teachers should improve on their method of teaching essay writing. Osunde and Aduwa (2005) stated that, despite the new approaches to learning and instruction in English language at senior secondary level, the subject is still being plagued with poor results and low achievement. Many students in Onitsha Education Zone of Anambra State Nigeria, equally perform poorly in English Language Examinations, particularly essay writing.The woeful performance of students in WASSCE and SSCE in English language exams has become a worrisome issue, and it continues to deteriorate year after year. The WAEC Chief Examiner’s report went further to say that if the situation remains like this; it may affect both economic and technological growth of Nigeria.
The report attributed the poor performance to ignorance of the rudiments of the language. According to it, most candidates lost all the marks allotted to spelling, punctuation, grammar and sequence of tenses because they were unable to handle these aspects of the language completely. It was also observed in the report that there was insufficient exposure of the candidates to the skills of writing, lack of familiarity with the required formats, construction of loose sentences, and transliteration from mother tongue and the abuse of rules of grammar. Therefore, essay is one aspect of English Language that students perform poorly in. The report advised that students should read novels, good magazines and journals. Considering the WAEC Chief Examiner’s Report on students’ poor performance in English Language, it has become pertinent to look into the teaching/learning of English Language essay in secondary schools. Essay is usually allotted more marks than other parts of English Language examination. Making a good performance in essay is necessary for a good performance in the subject.
