EFFECT OF REFLECTIVE INQUIRY INSTRUCTIONAL TECHNIQUE ON STUDENTS’ ACHIEVEMENT IN ENGLISH ESSAY WRITING IN SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN NSUKKA EDUCATION ZONE ENUGU STATE NIGERIA

ABSTRACT

The main purpose  of this study was to determine the effect of reflective  inquiry  instructional technique on students’ achievement in essay writing in senior secondary schools.  The study was guided  by  five  research  questions  and  five  null  hypotheses.  The  study  adopted  a  quasi• experimental  research  design.  The study was carried out in Nsukk:a Local  Government  Area which is one of the Local Governments that made up Nsukk:a Education Zone in Enugu State, Nigeria.  The population of the study was made up of 5381  senior secondary school II students of Nsukk:a Local Government  Area both in urban and rural areas.  The study sample consisted of

173 senior secondary 2 English language students made up of 78 male students and 95 female students.The  sample was purposively  selected from 4 public co-educational  secondary schools. A research instrument was developed by the researcher for the study titled English Essay Writing Achievement Test (EEWAT). The reliability of the EEWAT was determined using data got from thetrial testing done in a school outside the study area but within the same educations zone so as to  allow  for  similar  characteristics  among  schools  used.  The  scripts  were  scored  by  three people.To avoid the error of non-equivalence  and reduce the initial group differences  due to the non-randomization  of subjects and to establish scorers’ reliability among raters, the scores of the different  raters were correlated using Kendell coefficient  of concordance  with the help of the Statistical  Package  for Social  Sciences  (SPSS).  This  yielded a coefficient  of 0.810 which  is approximately  0.81.  This  showed  that  the  instrument  was  highly  reliable.Mean  scores  and standard deviation were used to answer the research questions. The hypotheses were tested using analysis of covariance  (ANCOVA)  at 0.5 level of significance.  This helped to block  off the effect of pretest on posttest. The result of the study,among others,  showed that reflective inquiry instructional technique improved students’ achievement in essay writing than the lecture method. Finding also showed that reflective  inquiry instructional technique  improved the achievement score of both male and female students but favoured the female students more than the male students.   It  was  also  found  that  reflective   inquiry  instructional   technique   improved  the achievement  score of both  students  from urban  and rural schools with the students  from the urban schools achieving higher than the students from the rural schools. Conclusions were made, implications of the study were highlighted and it was recommended,  among others, that English language teachers should endeavour to adopt the use of reflective inquiry instructional technique as it would enhance the overall achievement of students especially in essay writing.  It was also recommended  that  regular  sensitisation  workshops  should  be  organised  to  retrain  English language teachers  on the development  and use of reflective  inquiry instructional  technique  in teaching.

CHAPTER  ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background  of the Study

English   language   is  the  recognized   medium   of communication   in  the  business   of government   in  Nigeria   as  a  country  with  over  four  hundred   indigenous  languages;  English language is the medium  of instruction  through which learners acquire knowledge  and skills at all levels of education.  Also it is language of formal education;  According  to the National  Policy on Education  2004,  English  is the medium  of instruction  from the fourth year of primary  education to tertiary  level.  Some text which  is currently  in use in the schools  is written  in English.  In the same document mentioned  above, English is a core subject in both primary and secondary school curriculum. Advancement  in education after the secondary school level is dependent upon a good grade in the English language in any of the O’level examinations.  In line with this, Okoye (2004) observes,  that the students at both junior  and secondary school levels need solid base on which to build their future academic pursuits’.  This  ‘solid base’ should be in English  language,  because  it is even difficult  to perceive  an end to the primacy  of the language  considering  the multilingual nature of Nigeria.

Writing  is one of the most  important  activities  of a literate  community.  Students  need to read so they can learn about the world but they need to know how to write so they can change the world  in this  statement, captures  the centrality  of writing  to life  generally.  Writing  is an extra ordinary  complex  activity  that incorporates  thought  processes,  feeling,  and social interaction.  It is also an act of creativity, putting  down  ideas,  feelings  and  opinions  using  the correct  words. Perin  (2007)  adds  that  it can be  a satisfying  and  mind-expanding  activity  to those  who  have acquired  the necessary  skills but a frustrating and even aversive  experience  when the skills are

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lacking. Teachers, therefore, should take the teaching of writing serious to enable the students master the fundamentals of effective writing.

The subject in which the writing skill is tested in the Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination  is English  language.  The  subject  is  compulsory  and candidates  are required  to obtain at least a credit pass in it in order to gain admission into any institution of higher learning in Nigeria.  In order to do this, candidates must possess good writing abilities. This is because the part (paper 1)  of the WAEC examination requiring a direct application of writing skills carries the highest  marks-120 marks  (60%)  out of a total  of 200 marks  for the whole paper  which includes paper 2 and 3.  Paper  I is further divided into three  sections-A  (Essay writing  = 50 marks), B (comprehension= 40 marks), and C (summary= 30 marks). In all, the essay writing section  carries  the  most  marks  in paper  1    (41.7%).  The  essay  writing  section  demands  the following kinds of writing-  letter, speech, narration, descriptive, debate/argumentation, report, article, exposition and creative writing (WAEC, 2014).

However,  as important as the ability to write well is to students’  academic life generally and success in the English language examination specifically,  research has shown that students are generally poor in written English (Oladunjoye,  2005; Asokhia,  2009;  Ezeokoli&Ezenandu,

2013). Adedeji (2008) observes that the level of educational achievement in terms of competence in written English in Nigerian schools has been quite low. The various Chief Examiners’ Reports of WAEC have consistently shown that students’ performance in writing has been poor (WAEC,

2007-2013).In 2009 report reveals that candidates’ weaknesses include, among others, students’ unfamiliarity with the written word.  In spite of the fact that deliberate attempts are made to give candidates tests within their experience and capabilities,  it has been noted that most of them fail to show understanding  of the requirements  of the questions they attempt and their essays are

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dominated by errors of grammar/poor  expression, spelling and punctuation  and wrong amalgamation WAEC (2007-2015).  However,  in spite of the vital roles of the English language, most Nigerian students are unable to acquire proficiency in the skills of the language especially writing.  kolawole  (1998),  observe  that  the  poor  performance  of English  students  could  be connected to their inability to write effectively.  This translates  to a very low performance  of students  in  other  subjects  in both  external  and internal  examination.  Writing  is the medium through  which  academic  performance   of the  student  is  assessed.  As  such  the  students’ achievements  in  written  essay  affect  their  performance  in  other  subjects.  The  importance attached to efficient writing by examination bodies such as West African Examination  Council makes it important that it has to be taught properly

Several reasons have been given as causes of the poor performance  of students in essay writing. However, as Ahmad (2008) notes, success in teaching in the classroom lies in teachers’ hands because they are responsible  for stimulating students’  interest and in directing the mood and flow of the class.  Thus, a major cause of students’ underachievement  in essay writing is that of poor  technique  in teaching.  Teachers  of writing  usually  adopt  ineffective  techniques  and strategies  in the class.  For  example, teachers  tend to lecture over the  duration  of the period allotted to English language on the school time table thereby making the classroom a teacher• centric classroom  (TCC).  This  situation  supports Kolawole’s  (1998) survey which  found the traditional techniques and methods to be more dominant in the classroom. Similarly, Agboola&Olayede  (2007) study in Benin City reveals that English language teachers in public secondary schools in Nigeria still depend heavily on the traditional techniques in English lessons.Many reasons  have been  advanced  for learners’  inability  to write but teacher  related factor appears to be the most constant and repeated factor . The researcher observed that students’

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inability to write  a comprehensive  acceptable  essay  is due mainly  to the technique  used  in teaching.Technique  here is the way educational  aims are transmitted  to practice  as well as to reality. Teachers in the secondary schools are ill-equipped to handle writing and are therefore not comfortable teaching  it. It is particularly  worrisome  that irrespective  of the importance  of the written  composition  in English  language  examinations,  there  are  still problems  in  students’ writing.  It is discouraging that after most students have spent six years in most of the secondary schools in Nigeria, they fail to obtain a pass mark in English. Writing as a result is the most neglected  of the  language  skills and this had continued  to have negative  effect  on students’ achievement  as proficiency  in writing  is critical to excellence  in academics  and in the work place. According to Perin (2007, p, 242), low writing skill may mask a student’s true state of knowledge, which may make leamers’assessment confusing.

The traditional teaching technique involves the teacher in the complete verbal instruction or exposition.  It  is a process  whereby  communication  flows  only  in  one direction-from  the teacher to the students. The teacher in this technique is active while the learners are mere passive listeners  who just  take  down  what  is  given  to them  by the  teacher  but  are not  allowed  to participate   in  classroom  activities,Ughamadu   (2006).The  lesson  content  and  delivery  are considered to be the most important and learners master knowledge through drill and practice which leads to rote learning,Oranu  (2003).  It gives power and responsibility to the teacher and the teacher plays the role of an instructor and decision maker (with regards to curriculum content and specific outcomes).  This technique is highly teacher – centered as it sees the teacher as the essence of instruction while the learners are seen as mere knowledge bank meant to be filled with information. Boyle, Duffy and Dunleavy(2003)

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The  predominant  use  of traditional  teaching  technique  especially  the  teacher-centric technique could be one of the reasons for the low achievement of the students in English essay writing. This is because the technique is generally known to encourage passivity in learning and does not allow learners the opportunities of actively participating in classroom activities.  In view of this, there is therefore need for a more practical and innovative technique to teaching that can allow learners the opportunities to participate actively in classroom activities. Reflective inquiry instructional technique is one of such recommended teaching technique. Owodunni, ( 2011 ).

Reflective inquiry is abroad based instructional technique that affords learners the opportunity to think critically, discuss and share their wealth of knowledge and experiences (both past and current) together in small groups on a particular subject matter. It is an innovative trend that incorporates  a blend of scaffold  learning,  inquiry and critical thinking  skills,  questioning skills,  discussion,  use of concept maps and collaborative learning in order to promote effective teaching and learning.  It is not a one way technique.  It draws from scaffold instruction, thinking and questioning skills to make learning more enjoyable  and interesting for learners’. Reflective inquiry is learner centered as it engages learners’ in senses of questioning and thinking processes that  make  learners  construct  knowledge  within  and  among  themselves  without  necessarily relying on the teacher for everything (Ogbuanya and Owodunni 2013)

It is anchored on the fact that learners come into class with certain life experiences which when explored brings about effective teaching and learning.  The part of the teacher is to explore and filter such experiences bringing out the best for the benefit of the entire class (Owodunni,

2011).It is very useful as it helps learners to be actively involved in the learning process while teachers  become  facilitators  of instruction  using  questions  that  will  make  students  discover realize  and understand  new knowledge.  It  is a common  feature  of schools  that  maintaining

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improvement efforts  is their goal. Reflective  inquiry does not only elicit efforts, it also elicits conversation  (Oral discussion)  among students  about what is important.  It  creates  a sense of purpose and cooperative work among students, Garrison, (2003).

Reflective  inquiry  technique  helps  learners  build  on their  knowledge  base (constructivism)  as well as think on and control their thinking process  as they participate  in learning activities  in the classroom.  In the study by Lyons,  (2010) It is a pedagogy by which inquiry thinking is nurtured to allow students to consider how they know, the way they learn and become more aware of themselves as knowledge constructors and knower’s.It is also seen as an inquiring and constructivist approach to teaching which emphasizes on students’  active learning and creative problem solving, Eastern Mennonite University (EMU), (2013). Reflective inquiry instructional technique is,  therefore,  seen as a continuous learning process that encourages life• long learning which motivates and sustains student’s  interest in learning and as well facilitates long time retention and transfer oflearning in real life situation Navaneedhan, (2007).

It  is amenable to the teaching  of English  essay writing as a school subject because  it affords  learners  the  opportunity  of being  actively  involved  in  the  class  which  learners  are conversant  with.  Reflective  inquiry  is  crucial  in  the teaching  and  learning  of essay  writing because it encourages the creation of small groups where learners can ask questions,  air their views and possibly analyze certain issues together. Similarly, since essay writing is a subject in which learners are taught to develop their ideas in effective  sentences, paragraphs, the use of reflective  inquiry  is necessary  in making  learners  think  and reason  out points  and  ideas  to answering  and writing  a good  essay.A  study conducted  in the United  States of America  by Clarke  (2006)  showed  positive   effect   of reflective   inquiry  on  students’   achievement   in mathematics.  Similarly other studies carried out in Nigeria by Owodunni (2011) recorded great

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success in introductory (known basic) technology, in his independent investigation found out that students taught with reflective inquiry instructional technique performed better than those taught with  lecture  method.   In  the  same  vein,  reflective   inquiring  instructional   technique   was significantly   more  efficacious   in  improving   students’   achievement   and  interest  than  the traditional technique. Ogbuanya and Owodunni (2013) concluded that reflective inquiry instructional technique is a learner centered technique that significantly improves students’ academic achievement. However, the fact that reflective inquiry instructional technique recorded great success in the science does not mean it will obtain the same result when tried out on essay writing. The researcher therefore attempts toinvestigate  whether reflective  inquiry instructional technique will have any effect  on the achievement  of students in secondary school in English essay writing.

However, although there is a general agreement that students’ poor achievement in essay writing could be traced to inappropriate teaching technique adopted by teachers, it is likely that some intervening variables such as gender and location of students can also have effect on the effectiveness  of teaching  technique  and learning outcome  especially  in essay writing.  Gender refers to the social attributes associated with being a male or female.Uzoegwu(2005). Gender is a variable  that plays  important  role  in learning.  Ashford,  Lecrory  and  Lortie  (2001)  refers  to gender as value socially and culturally constructed roles, qualities, behaviour and so on, that are ascribed  to women  and men  of different  societies.  According  to them,  gender  is the  social definitions  of male  and  female  traits.  For  this  study,  gender  is the  behavioral,  cultural  and psychological   characteristics   associated   with  boys   and  girls  which   may  influence   their achievement in easy writing. Filthaski (2006) studying differences in male and female communication  wrote that men and women have many different  conversational  rituals  which

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might be as a result of influence of their parents, age, class and gender. This influence their ways of talking and even writing while some researchers revealed that boys perform better than girls in some school subject such as English language, mathematics, home economics etc, some others believe that girls are better. The works of Okoro, 2008; Benwari, 2007; Eze and Okoro, 2010 depicts  this  fact. This study will find out whether  gender  will influence the achievement  of students  in essay writing  if exposed  to reflective  inquiry  instructional technique.  Related  to gender is also location.

Location pertains to the place or area where a school is situated.  This is determined by the need of the area or availability of school space  for the building.  School can be located in urban  or  rural  areas  in  Nigeria.  The  location  of a  school  determines  to  some  extent  the availability  of different  educational  facilities  to be used by the teachers  and  students  in the teaching and learning process.  The quality of teachers is also sometimes determined by location. Location of students in either rural or urban setting has posed great debate among researchers in recent  times.  While  some revealed  that there  was insignificant  difference  between  academic achievement of students in rural and urban areas in public examinations.  Some others argued that there was no significant difference between students’  academic achievement in rural and urban areas (Owoeye,  2002;  Musibau and Johnson,  2010).  This study will find out whether location will  influence  the  achievement  of students  in essay  writing  if exposed  to reflective  inquiry instructional technique.

Statement of the Problem

The  global  spread  of English  language  as  one  of the  most  far-reaching  linguistic phenomena  of our time is already an established  fact. It not only serves as Nigerian’s  official language, but also used for business transaction, politics, media, teaching language and medium

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of communication with the outside world.  It is also the language of the computer and satellite. These have made it so important that it has remained a subject  of constant examination  and analysis.  Writing  is the medium through which the academic performance  of the students is assessed. As such students’  performance in written English affects their performance in other subjects.

The importance attached to efficient writing by examination bodies such as West Africa Examination   Council   (WAEC)   makes   it  imperative  that   it  has  to  be  taught  properly. Unfortunately,  most Nigerian  secondary school students find it difficult to write good essays. The  various  Chief Examiners’   Reports  of WAEC  have  consistently  shown  that  students’ performance  in  writing  has  been  poor  WAEC,(2007-  20015).For  example,  the  2009  report reveals  that  candidates’  weaknesses  include,  among  others,  students’  unfamiliarity  with  the written word.  In spite of the fact that deliberate attempts are made to give candidates  tests within their  experience  and  capabilities,  it  has  been  noted  that  most  of them  fail  to  show  an understanding of the requirements of the questions they attempt and their essays are dominated by  errors  of grammar/poor  expression,  spelling  and  punctuation  and  wrong  amalgamation WAEC,(2007- 2015).  This is due to a number of reasons,  which include  the use of inadequate technique in teaching.  The technique used in teaching essay includes giving instructions, reading sample  essays,   dependence   on  textbooks   and  chalkboard   as  medium   for  disseminating knowledge. With these techniques, the learners’  creativity and experiences are not considered. Learning here is based on other people’s views and experiences. Although studies have been conducted to determine the effect of project method on teaching essay writing, no study has been done in Nigeria to examine reflective inquiry instructional technique in teaching essay writing. Thus the problem  of this  study is to determine,  the effect  of reflective  inquiry  instructional

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technique  on students’  achievement  in essay writing  in senior secondary  schools  in Nsukka

Education Zone.

Purpose of the Study

The  main  purpose  of  this  study  is  to  determine  the  effect   of  reflective  inquiry instructional technique on students’ achievement in essay writing in senior secondary schools.

Specifically the study will determine the;

1.    Effect  of reflective  inquiry  instructional  technique  on students’  mean  achievement  1n

essay writing.

2.   Effect  of gender  on  academic  achievement  of students’  taught  essay  writing  usmg reflective inquiry instructional technique.

3.   Effect  of location  on  academic  achievement  of students  taught  essay  writing  usmg reflective inquiry instructional technique.

4.   Interaction effect of instructional technique and gender on students’  mean achievement score in essay writing at the secondary school level.

5.   Interaction effect of location and instructional technique on students’  mean achievement scores in essay writing at the senior secondary school level.

Significance of the study

Constructivist theory is basically a theory that emphasizes the importance of the active involvement of learners in constructing knowledge  for themselves.  Students are taught to use background knowledge and concept to assist their acquisition of novel information when such new  information  is  approached;  the  learner  faces  a loss  of equilibrium  with  their  previous understanding which demands a change in cognitive structure. This change effectively combines

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previous   and  novel  information   to  form  an  improved  cognitive   schema.   Constructivism transforms  the students from a passive recipient  of information  to an active participant  in the learning process.  Always  guided by the teacher,  students  construct  their knowledge  actively rather than just mechanically  ingesting knowledge from the teacher or the textbook. By this, a justification  was made for the need to employ the reflective inquiry instructional technique in the teaching and learning of essay writing in senior secondary schools,  through which achievement can mmprove.

The result  of the  study   therefore  confirms  that the technique  is effective  in English language particularly in the teaching of essay writing.  This would add to the number of subjects the technique has been tried on.It would be a fresh addition to the existing body of knowledge on how best to improve students’ achievement in essay writing in Nigeria.

Furthermore, the findings  of this study are expected to be beneficial  to the following groups:  This  technique  will  enable  teachers  change  their  idea  of using  only  the  traditional technique which is usually boring to the students during essay writing.  This is because reflective inquiry instructional technique has a range of interesting and discovering guiding activities that motivates  students’  participation  in  essay  writing  classes.  As  the  student  goes  through  the different stages involved in the reflective inquiry instructional technique, it is expected that they write better. The preliminary stages in Reflective Inquiry Instructional Technique allow students’ to discuss, brainstorm  and share ideas about the given topic.  Reflective  Inquiry Instructional Technique  also  exposes  students  to  various  forms  of inquiry.  This  normally  removes  the tediousness of writing on a topic alone as an individual with the whole ideas from you.

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Students when taught with Reflective Inquiry Instructional Technique could become more interested in essay lessons thereby becoming creative writers. Essay writing task would improve students critical thinking abilities, and let them discover more knowledge  and students writing skills could be improved  generally, making  failure in essay writing  in particular  and English language in general will become a thing of the past,also  it will enable teachers’ to achieve the objectives of the lesson on essay writing easily.  Writing will no longer be anuphill task for both the  teachers’  and  the  students’  because  the  components  of reflective  inquiry  instructional technique are interactive in nature.

Furthermore, this study would provide  important  information  tocurriculum  planners  in preparing curriculum for the training of English language teachers.  They would see the need to incorporate Reflective Inquiry Instructional Technique into the curriculum for pre-service and in• service training of teachers for a vast improvement in teacher effectiveness in the classroom.

Authors  of English  language  textbooks  who  may  be  exposed  to  reflective  inquiry instructional technique may find it useful in planning essay writing exercises in their works in such a way that the exercises involves activities in reflective inquiry instructional technique. This kind of exercise would make students participate fully with required enthusiasm which will make them write better.

Scope of the study

This  study  is  delimited  to  investigating  and  determining  the  effect  of reflective  inquiry instructional technique on students’ achievement on English essay writing at senior secondary in Nsukka  Education  Zone, Enugu State. The studycoved  the senior secondary  II (SS2) in four selected  schools in NsukkaLocal  Government  Area in Enugu  State.This  work is restricted  to

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SSll  students  in four public  secondary  schools  in the zone.Two  of the schools  in the urban centre, while the other in the rural areas of the zone.  The study seeks to cover the narrative and descriptive aspects of essay writing.

Research Questions

The following research questions guided the study;

1)   What are the mean achievement  scores of students taught essay writing using reflective inquiry instructional technique and those taught using the lecture method?.

2)  What are the mean achievements scores of male and female students taught essay writing using reflective inquiry instructional technique?

3)  What are the mean achievement scores of male and female students taught essay writing using teacher-centric classroom technique?

4)  What are the mean achievement  scores of urban and rural students taught essay writing using reflective inquiry instructional technique?

5)  What  is the interaction  effect  of gender  on the mean achievements  of students taught essay writing using reflective inquiry instructional technique?

6)  What is the interaction  of location on the mean achievements  of students taught essay writing using reflective inquiry instructional technique

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Hypotheses:

The following null hypotheses guided the study:

HO;:     There  is no significant  difference  in the mean  achievement  scores of students  taught essay writing using reflective inquiry instructional technique and those taught with conventional method.

HO:     There is no significant difference between the mean achievement score of the male and female students taughtessay writing using reflective inquiry instructional technique.

H0,:     There is no significant difference between the mean achievement score of the male and female students taught essay writing using Teacher-centric classroom technique?

HO,:     There is no significant difference in mean achievement scores of rural and urban students taught essay writing using reflective inquiry instructional technique.

H0,:    There is no significant interaction effect of instructional technique and gender on students’ means achievement scores in essay writing. HO«There is no significant interaction effect of instructional technique and location on students mean achievement scores in essay writing.

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