The Teaching of Comprehension and Student’s Performance in Junior Secondary Schools Keffi Local Government Area of Nasarawa State
CHAPTER ONE
Objectives of the Study
The objectives of this study are:
- determine the difference between the performances of students taught comprehension and those not taught comprehension in junior secondary schools in Nasarawa
- examine the extent to which gender difference affect the performance of students taught comprehension in junior secondary schools in Nasarawa
- compare the performance of students taught comprehension in rural and urban junior secondary schools in Nasarawa
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
The Concept of Reading Comprehension
Definitions of Reading
Nunan (2003, p. 68) mentions that reading is a fluent process of readers combining information from a text and their own background knowledge to build meaning. Alyousef (2006, p. 64) defines reading can be seen as an interactive process between a reader and a text which leads to automaticity or (reading fluency).
Reading is a multidimensional process that involves the eyes, the ears, the mouth, and most importantly, the brain (Brassell and Rasinski, 2008, p. 15). Brown (2004, p. 185) states that reading is likewise a skill that teachers simply expect learners to acquire. Hedge (2000, p. 221) claims that reading lesson should aim to build learners‘ ability to engage in purposeful reading, to adopt a range of reading styles necessary for interacting successfully with authentic texts, and to develop critical awareness.
Komiyana (2009, p. 32) shows that reading is an important skill for English language learners in today‘s world; it supports the development of overall proficiency and provides access to crucial information at work and in school. Reading is an extremely complex and multifaceted process, and assessing this process is also complex and multifaceted (Caldwell, 2008, p. 2). Murcia (2001, p. 188) adds that reading is taking general comprehension as the example requires that the reader draw information from a text and combine it with information and expectations that the reader already has.
De debat (2006, p. 8) says that the nature of reading—how people learn to process textual information—has been researched by cognitive and behavioral scientists for many decades, and their work has contributed contrasting theories about what works best in the teaching of reading. Brown (2004, p. 189) explains that there are several types of reading which is required as follows:
- In keeping with the set of categories specified for listening comprehension similar specifications are offered here, except with some offering terminology to capture the uniqueness of reading. Perceptive reading tasks involve attending to the components of larger stretches of discourse: letters, words, punctuation, and other graphemic symbols. Bottom-up processing is implied.
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research Design
The research employed the use of quasi-experimental design. This design was used to investigate the effect of teaching of comprehension instruction on social studies academic performance of junior secondary schools in Nasarawa state, Nigeria. The research adopted quasi-experimental design based on the recommendation of Schoenfeild (2006) that, quasi-experimental design can be used in research when its involves selection of groups upon which a variable is tested, without any random pre-selection process as well as with a variable being compared between different groups or over a period of time, it is a type of design which aim to determine whether an intervention has effect on a study participant.
CHAPTER FOUR
DATA PRESENTATION AND DISCUSSIONS
Description of Study Variables
Frequency and percentage of respondents based on Groups
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Summary
The study examined the effect of teaching of comprehension on the performance of students in junior secondary schools Nasarawa State. The study was carried out with the objectives to; determine the difference between the academic performances of students taught comprehension and those not taught comprehension in junior secondary schools in Nasarawa state; examine the extent to which gender difference affect the academic performance of students taught comprehension in junior secondary schools in Nasarawa state; and find out the performance of students taught comprehension in rural and urban junior secondary schools in Nasarawa state. The study adopted quasi-experimental research and the total of fifty-two (52) students was sampled to form experimental group, while sixty-five (65) students was sampled for the control group making the total of one hundred and seventeen (117) students, comprising of seventy-two (72) male and forty-five (45) female students. Data for the study was collected through the pre-test, treatment and post-test using a teacher made instrument (Test), the Test consisted of 30 objective test items. Data collected were analyzed statistically through the use of the descriptive (mean and standard deviation) and inferential statistics of independent t- test. Finding among others shows that, there was a significant difference in the academic performances of students taught comprehension and those not taught comprehension in junior secondary schools in Nasarawa State. Finding also revealed that there is no significant difference in the extent to which gender difference affect the academic performance of students taught comprehension in junior secondary schools in Nasarawa State. Based on the findings, recommendations were made that teaching of comprehension should be incorporated into the teaching of Social studies at the secondary school level since it stimulate students to effectively learn and retain the concepts presented to them. Teachers should ensure they plan their lessons with equal learning chances for both male and female students in junior secondary schools in Nasarawa State.
Conclusion
Conclusion were made based on the findings of this study, it can be concluded that the use of teaching of comprehension can better complement the traditional method of teaching social studies as it boosts the performance of students taught social studies in junior secondary schools in Nasarawa State. Also, gender factor does not affect the academic performance of students taught social studies with the use of teaching of comprehension because both male and female students were given equal chances to succeed when taught social studies with the use of teaching of comprehension in junior secondary schools in Nasarawa State. It can also be concluded that location can affect the performance of students (either positively, negatively or both).
Recommendations
Based on the findings from this study, recommended can be drawn that:
- Teaching of comprehensionshould be incorporated into the teaching of Social studies at the secondary school level since it stimulate students to effectively learn and retain the concepts presented to
- Teachers should ensure they plan their lessons with equal learning chances for bothmale and female students in junior secondary schools in Nasarawa
- Teachers should consider the school location when planning for the teaching of comprehension injunior secondary schools as students from rural schools tends to perform better in the project
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