ABSTRACT
This study investigated the effect of peer review technique on
the achievement of students in English essay writing in Odigbo Local Government
Area of Ondo State. Five research questions and five null hypotheses were
formulated to guide the study. The study engaged quasi-experimental research
design. The sample for the study consisted of 160 SSS2 students from two
co-educational schools in Odigbo Local Government Area. The experimental group
comprised 78 male and female students from schools located in rural and urban
areas. The control group comprised 82 male and female students from schools
located in rural and urban areas. A multi-stage random sampling technique
was used. First to draw the two co-educational schools and two intact classes
from each of the schools, and to assign schools to experimental and control
groups. Both the experimental group and control group were given the same essay
writing but the difference is that while those in the experimental group were
taught essay writing with PRT, those in the control group were taught essay
writing in using the lecture method. The instrument used for data collection
was Essay Writing Achievement Test (EWAT) which was marked over fifty. The EWAT
was validated by three experts. The instrument was trial tested on twenty
students from Methodist secondary school, Okitipupa, Ondo state. The data
obtained from the trial tests were used to calculate the reliability of the
instrument using Kendall’s formula. It yielded an index of 0.71. Mean was used
to answer the research questions while ANCOVA was used to test the hypotheses
at P< 0.05. From the results obtained, it was found out that students in the
experimental group had significant higher achievement score in essay writing
than their counterparts who are in the control group. Also, gender had a
significant effect on the achievement of students in essay writing but school
location did not. In addition, the interaction effect between treatment and
gender was not significant as well as the treatment and school location was not
significant. Based on the findings, it was recommended that English language
teachers should adopt peer review technique in teaching essay writing.
Different tasks which can aid extensive writing activities should be employed
from junior secondary schools to senior secondary school being the foundational
classes. The curriculum planners should also include the use of peer review
technique in the next review of curriculum.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
Language is an arbitrary system of symbols which enables man to
communicate an infinite number and variety of messages, meanings, intentions,
thoughts, requests and items of information. It is involved in thinking, memory
and reasoning, problem-solving and planning. Indeed, language is involved in
higher order mental processes. It is also a means of cultural and value
transmission from one generation to the next and from country to the other
(Uzoegwu, 2010). Language is a human activity and the development of the
individual depends on its usage. Obi (2005) explains that one notable function
of language is the record of observations, incidents and processes. Language,
he continues, 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 makes the human society what it is as it plays a leading
role in the cultural orientation of the person in the socio-cultural group he
belongs (Anasiudu, 2002). English language has played a major role in
Nigeria which could be seen in the areas of education, government, business,
commerce, mass media and most of internal and external communication. Following
Nigeria’s independence from British colonization in 1960, English was retained
as the medium of instruction through the implementation of a transitional
bilingual education policy. The policy as embedded in the National Policy on
Education (Federal Republic of Nigeria, 2004) states that throughout early
childhood, pre-primary and the first three years of primary education, pupils
must be taught in the “Mother tongue or language of the immediate community”
(Sections 14 (b), 19 (e). The language of immediate community refers to
the 521 local languages (Euron Monitor International, 2010) of which three,
Hausa, Yoruba and Igbo, are spoken by over 70% of the population and
serve largely regional functions (Ibekwe, 2006, P.45). From the fourth year of
primary school onward, English is to be employed as the medium of instruction
while the language of the immediate community (LIC) and French are to be taught
as subjects(Sections 19 (f). By S.S.3, students are expected to be proficient
in English and are assessed for English language ‘competence’, judged as the
degree of closeness to standard British English (Akeredolu, 2007). The
assessment is conducted nationally by the West African Examinations Council
(WAEC), in a test of written comprehension and verbal skills for the award of
the West African Senior School Certificate in English.
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. Akinwamide (2012) observes that the poor
performance of students in English could be connected to their inability to
write effectively. This translates to low performance of students in other
subjects in both external and internal examinations.
From the foregoing, it is evident that achieving student
proficiency in the English language has been difficult. However, it is even
more difficult to ensure social mobility and economic development in the face
of this problem. Individual’s prospects for further education, and higher
skilled jobs are consequently foregone, as a credit pass in English is required
for admission to all Universities in Nigeria and for appointment to such
positions (World Education Services, 2011). In addition, as all subjects
are taught in English, this incompetence leads to limitation in student
understanding and ability to grasp curriculum content which impacts on them
overall academic achievement (Obameata, 1999), as cited in Jekayinta, 2010).
From the perspective of the labour market, English remains a critical skill for
employability, compensation and career success (EuroMonitor International,
2010), implying that the average student is unqualified for positions in key
sectors of the economy. Finally, incompetence in the English language has
severe implications for the realization of the nation’s goals. This is
especially so for national unity, where the language is to foster inter-tribal
communication, as well as economic growth through Foreign Direct Investment
(FDI), 58% of which received from English speaking countries (Federal Republic
of Nigeria, 2004; Euromonitor International, 2010). As a result of the
innumerable and numberless roles being played by the English language in
Nigeria, this makes the Nigerian educational system adopt it as a school
subject. The singular aim is to help students acquire the basic elements and
skills in the language and also to educate them on the easy, coherent and
articulate method of communication in the language.
Conversely, students’ performance at (both junior and senior
secondary schools) levels in English language is deteriorating every
year. This statement is re-iterated by WAEC Chief Examiners’ Report (2011) “The
questions are generally within the scope of the students, although the performance
of the students bellied the quality and simplicity of the questions.
They generally organized their essays badly and they made no
conscious efforts at grammatical corrections”. From the above comment by
WAEC Chief Examiners’ Report, it is observed that even though the questions
were very cheap, the students failed to organize their essays well and they
committed grammatical errors which also contributed to their poor performance.
The report further stated that the poor knowledge of students in the four
language skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing) contributed to their
poor performance. For these reasons, proper attention should be given to the
teaching and learning of essay writing in the English
Language.
Essay writing is a common linguistic activity. Writing an essay
provides a natural outlet for the writer’s reflections on a given topic. It is
a form of composition whose content and organization are guided by the topic
and purpose of writing (Ezema, 2010). Onyekwere, (2012) sees essay as short
piece of writing on a particular or given subject. He continues by saying that
essay entails the expressions of the writer’s thought with words. An essay
reveals not only the writer’s ability to communicate ideas, but also provides
the basis for assessing whether the writer possesses a lively mind.
In addition, Oyinloye (2005) upholds that essay writing has
always held a hallowed place within the English syllabus and that it is usually
the first questions to appear in most examinations and always carries a
substantial amount of marks. From this point of view, the time spent in
paying close attention to essay writing is not unjustified. It is not only
within the English syllabus that essay writing is a necessary skill, many examination
questions in other subjects take the form of essays. It is necessary that
students adopt their answers to the specific type of essay writing technique
that the question requires. Polio (2003) in cognizance of the task involved in
teaching essay writing points out that in essay writing, the sentences
must be guided or controlled by the language teacher.
Also, Ezema (2010) attributes failure of students to write good
essay to many factors. Ezema observes that writing as one of the language
skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing) has been neglected. This
neglect has led to the students not being proficient in essay writing. The
teaching of essay writing should aim at the achievement of a technique of
expression adequate to the pupils’ future practical needs, the development of a
capacity for orderly constructive thinking and the ability to respond to
and if possible to use some of the responses of English language.
In essay writing, the writer is interacting with a reader
who does not know what the writer has in mind, the writer has to ensure
that what the reader writes can be understood. Oyinloye (2005) sees writing as
a very complex skill in language learning. A person is deemed a good writer if
he is able to put down his thoughts and ideas on paper in an organized manner.
In language learning, it is a very important skill because it affords the
students the opportunity of using the appropriate words, phrases, and clauses
to describe persons, events and situations and to express personal and
individual thoughts or ideas. It gives the language teachers the opportunity of
assessing their students to monitor their language problems. Writing consists
of having something to say and knowing how best to say it on paper.
There are four type of essays: narrative, argumentative,
descriptive and expository essays. A narrative essay is one that requires the
writer to relate an event or incident as an eyewitness. Narration is a process
of telling any kind of story such as biographies, experiences, factual stories
and fairy tales, (Ezema, 2010). An expository essay is one that requires a
writer to explain something fully. This explanation necessarily demands writing
a great deal about what distinguishes the subject of the essay from all other
things, (Ezema, 2010). A descriptive essay on the other hand is one that
requires a writer to write a description of an object, a person, an animal, an
incident or a scene. An argumentative essay is one that requires a writer to
present a subject with a view to persuading his reader to agree with his own
point of view. It is expected of the learners to know how to write these essay
types, skillfully within and outside the four walls of the classrooms.
For second language learners, there are many factors that can
hinder students’ academic achievement. These problems can be traced to teachers
and their teaching methods, learning environment, and gender. Augustine (2013)
observes that non-enhancement of teaching with modern teaching resources,
inadequate coverage of course contents, teachers’ inadequacy to teach
effectively and inability to assimilate what teachers teach students are
problems facing teaching and learning of English language. In view of this
statement, it can be inferred that this same problems are facing essay writing
teaching and learning. Gloria (2008) sees essay writing as a very complex skill
in language learning. Therefore, the best way to learn it is to use appropriate
method, assigning hour-long periods each day to focus on its direct teaching.
Conversely, teachers often avoid teaching essay writing on regular basis
because its teaching makes little meaning to the students. They see essay
writing as unimportant area of language learning and whenever the teachers
teach it, they use methods that are not innovative and practical oriented
(Oyinloye, 2005).
In teaching essay writing, the teacher has many teaching methods
to adopt in order to enhance effective teaching and learning. Basically, any
teaching method chosen by the teacher should make learning activities active
and practical rather than passive and theoretical. It should give students
opportunity to practise what they are learning in the real context and appeal
to all their language skills. There is general belief that the method
chosen by English language teachers to a large extent determines students’
achievement in the language. Uzoegwu (2005) and Oyinloye (2005) hold the
view that the method of teaching is indispensable in the teaching-learning
process of English as a second language. This view is reinforced by Bolunde
(2005), that stresses that the teaching method used by the English language
teacher can affect students positively because it is a weapon of enhancing the
language ability of his students. There are many teaching methods. These
include Lecture Method, Grammar Translation Method (GTM), Audio-Lingual Method
(ALM), Direct Method (DM) etc. All these methods are conventional teaching
methods. They are methods that involve teacher in complete verbal instruction
or expression. Communication flows from teacher to students (Anyima, 2011).
They stress on the knowledge of language than use. Azikiwe (1998) observes
that, in conventional teaching methods, students learn the speech sound like
parrots. Students are expected to internalize the rules of
the target language through memorization.
Most teachers have been using lecture method where the students
are arranged in straight lines down and across the classroom. The teacher
assumes that all the students in the class have equal knowledge or that they
know little or nothing. He stands in front of the class and delivers his
lessons. As the teacher dominates the lesson, the students’ potentials are
rarely used to the fullest and impatience rather than enthusiasm is generated
(Offorma 2013). For language learning, grammatical analysis and rote learning
of grammatical rules, vocabulary acquisition and translation from the target
language to the learner’s mother-tongue and vice-versa are emphasized in
conventional method (Offorma, 2004). The students work individually and are
assessed individually. Only the best students are rewarded which forces
students to work against each other so as to be the best.
In using the lecture method to teach English language essay
writing in senior secondary school, the teacher devotes the whole lesson period
to explain essay writing and its types and how to write these types of essays.
There are no practical strategies or techniques such as flash cards and word
games that will stick the vocabulary items to use into the students’ memory
when writing a particular type of essay. Throughout the lesson period, there
will be no attempt made by the teacher to enable the students practise essay
writing. The students, therefore, become passive rather than active in
classroom activities. Since no single teaching method takes care of all
the components of the language, it may be possible for teachers to combine
appropriate methods to suit the lessons they want to teach. As a result of the
shortcomings of the existing language teaching methods, the researcher has
decided to investigate the effect of a novel teaching
method peer review technique on the achievement of
students in English essay writing.
The peer review technique (PRT) was developed by Charles
James a linguist at Johns Hopkins University in 1990 (Peterson, 2003). Peer
review technique is referred to as “peer feedback”, which is an assessment form
performed by equal status learners (Gielen, 2010). This technique involves
collaborative learning in which students review and evaluate each other’s
writing and offer each other with feedback. It offers students the opportunity
to contribute to a dialogue concerning the text. Students become active
participants in discussion. Students could play two roles, both reviewers
and writers, to comment with their own observations and other students’
inspections on the same writing (Wang, 2004). This technique is different from
the traditional one-way teaching mode, and students can also take notice of
their own errors and find different problems during this procedure. On one
hand, students act just as reviewers, editing compositions from a diverse
reader point of view. On the other hand, students as writers could also be
trained to improve their own writing capabilities. Peer review technique can
also improve both spoken and written standard of English Language among the
learners (Hansen, 2002). The standard English will be encouraged by teacher and
the peers during the review process in the classroom setting.
Peer review technique could be in small groups (two, three,
four, or five) or class-wide (a peer tutor to the whole class) and could
involve cross-age or cross -ability groups (Oviawe, 2008). In this technique, a
child trains another child in the skill in which the first child has mastered.
He provides individualized instructions to other students for skill remediation
and supplemental instruction. In peer review technique, students become exposed
to new patterns of cooperative, collaborative, consensual and non-authoritarian
exchanges of ideas (Onabanjo, 2000). Peer review technique is very useful as it
makes learners actively engaged in the learning process while the teachers become
facilitators of instruction using penetrative questions to make students learn.
It allows learners to build on their knowledge base (constructivism) as well as
reflect on and regulate their thinking and behaviour as they learn in the
classroom (Gielen, 2010). It is not only a good pedagogical tool, but also has
the potential to foster and strengthen learning in schools. It makes learners
know each other better, share experiences, improve quality of education and
build relationships in the school (Hu & Tsui, 2010). The choice of using
peer reviewing was based on a strong conviction by the researcher. This
conviction was founded in both theory and practice. Theoretically, peer review
in process-oriented instruction finds its theoretical support in two different,
but closely related disciplines: learning and rhetorical theories.
In terms of learning, Vygotsky’s (1978) theory on learning and
language coincides with the use of peer review. Vygotsky deemed social
interaction an essential element for cognitive learning and accorded great
importance to language in human thought development. To him, learning is a
cognitive activity that takes place in social interaction. By the same token,
writing is a learning activity in which the writer learns best through interacting
with his peer reviewers. With regard to rhetorical theories, those stressing
the social nature of writing have also favoured the use of peer reviews
(Nassaji &Swain, 2000; Rollinson, 2005).
In terms of practice, empirical research findings emphasized
the positive impacts of peer review technique. Among studies conducted
internationally, results showed that gains in reading were achieved in the
United Kingdom using a peer reading approach (Topping, 2000). A similar result
was recorded by (Cheng, 2004). The peer review technique leads to gain not only
in cognitive domain but also in affective domain. Oviawel (2008) found that the
peer review technique helped boost students’ staff concept. Onabanjo (2000)
also recorded significant improvement in students’ attitude towards mathematics
when peer review technique was employed.
The effectiveness of PRT has been noted in some school subjects
like chemistry, mathematics, typewriting, introductory technology etc. both
within and outside country can never be denied. However, the fact that PRT
recorded great success in the sciences does not mean it will yield the same
result when tried out in the humanities, especially English language essay
writing. The researcher, therefore, attempts to investigate whether the peer
review technique will have any effect on the achievement of students in English
essay writing in senior secondary school in Odigbo Local Government, Area of
Ondo State.
However, although there is a general belief that students’ poor
achievement in English essay writing could be traced to inappropriate method of
teaching adopted by teachers, it is likely that some intervening variables such
as gender and school location of students can also have some effects on the
effectiveness of teaching method and learning outcome especially in English
essay writing.
Gender as a psychological term is used to describe male or
female humans. Some people assume that gender and sex mean the same, while
others regard gender and sex as different. Sex is an inborn physiological
condition that makes individuals to be either males or females (Nwafor, 2002).
Gender on the contrary is a learned, socially constructed conditions ascribed
to males and females (Offorma, 2004).
The effect of gender on students’ achievement in languages has
been an area of focus by researchers. Opinions differ on which gender achieves
better than the other. For instance, Akabogu (2002) and Marja (2008) recorded
no gender difference in performance of male and female students in reading
comprehension. Offorma (2009) reported that girls achieve more than boys in
foreign language acquisition. On the other hand, Anizoba (2004) and Uzoegwu
(2004) also reported no significant influence of gender on the students’
achievement in essay writing. Following the findings, it seemed that the exact
nature of the differences in abilities according to gender was not yet clear;
therefore, there is need for further studies in the nature of students’
performance by gender.
Closely related to gender influence on students’ performance in
English essay writing is location of the school. Differences in school location
imply the existence of differences in demographic and socio-economic parameters
of the school. Anizoba, (2004), Uwa (2005) and Adepoju (2008) observed that
students in schools located in the urban area perform better in second language
learning than those in schools located in the rural area. The observation is
that schools in the urban area have access to electricity which in turn
attracts infrastructures like language laboratory, computers, for computer
based learning, availability of well equipped school libraries, conducive
classroom and enough qualified English language teachers. On the contrary,
schools located in the rural areas lack most of these amenities. So far studies
carried out on the influence of location on reading comprehension have shown
controversial results. This calls for further investigation. The researcher,
therefore, intends to find out the effectiveness or otherwise of school
location on students’ academic achievement in English essay writing.
Based on the previous studies, the effects of peer review
technique (PRT), school location and gender on students’ academic achievement
seem to be inconsistent and contradictory. This calls for continuous and
further research on the effects of PRT, gender and school location on students’
academic achievement from time to time and place to place. Consequently, the
aim of this study is to find out the effectiveness or otherwise of PRT,
location and gender on students’ academic achievement in English essay writing
in senior secondary schools in Odigbo Local Government Area of Ondo
State.
Statement of the Problem
There have been consistent reports of poor achievement in
English language among Nigerian students over the years. Also, students’
performance in Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (SSCE) in English
language over the years has not been commendable. Students’ achievement in
essay writing at Senior School Certificate Examinations has been generally
poor. This low level of achievement has been attributed primarily to poor
teaching methods. The method often used by English language teachers is the
lecture method. This method makes students passive listeners in the class. More
so, the lecture method does not allow teachers to adapt learning to the level
of students’ understanding.
The poor achievement of students in English essay writing may
also be attributed to poor knowledge of the Standard English. Many students
could not express themselves in the Standard English. Most students go straight
into answering the questions without properly understanding them. Some of them
are not well prepared for the Examination. It is evident that major weakness of
the student could be their inability to express themselves very well in the
Standard English.
Although the use of peer review technique has been tried in
subjects like chemistry, government, social studies and typewriting. However,
its effectiveness is yet to be determined in the study of English language essay
writing, and narrative essay in particular. Also, no study to the best of
the researcher’s knowledge explored the effect of the peer review technique on
students’ achievement in English essay writing in Nigeria, Odigbo Local
Government in particular.
Purpose of the Study
The general purpose of this study is to find out the effect of
peer review technique on the achievement of students in English essay writing.
Specifically, this study is aimed at
1 Finding out the achievement of students
taught essay writing using peer review technique and those taught
using lecture method.
2 Establishing the achievement of male and
female students taught essay writing using peer review technique and those
taught using lecture method.
3 Determining the achievement of urban and
rural students taught essay writing using peer review technique and those
taught using lecture method
4 Determining the interaction effect between
treatment and gender on students’ achievement scores in English language essay
writing.
5 Determining the interaction effect between
treatment and school location on students’ achievement scores in English
language essay writing.
Scope of the Study
The study was carried out in Odigbo Local Government Area of
Ondo State. Odigbo Local Government is made up of seventeen co-educational
secondary schools. Senior Secondary School Two (SSII) students were used for
this study. The choice of SSII is made because the students’ performance in
English essay writing in this area is very poor. The researcher intended to
investigate the effect of PRT on students’ achievement in English essay writing
in this Local Government.
The study covered only narrative essay writing. The researcher
chose narrative essay because students are familiar with narrative essay and
also for the researcher to be intensive in the teaching and learning of this
type of essay. The narrative essay questions were culled out from Senior
Secondary School Certificate Examination (SSCE) past questions. Lecture method
was used for the control group while peer review technique was used for the
experimental group. The variables of school location and gender were considered
along with peer review technique.
Significance of the Study
The
theoretical significance of this study is anchored on Vygotsky theory of
language learning (1978) which explains that the process of intellectual
development takes place within social and cultural contexts. It also views
learning as a process that requires environmental input and social interaction.
This theory shows how, within a set environment, individuals serve as each
other’s monitors, supporters, and guides. If the result of this work is
established, it will help students to create their own knowledge in a social
and cultural setting thereby supporting Vygotsky’s theory of language
learning.
The finding of this study will benefit the students, teachers,
education authorities, and curriculum developers. The findings of this study
will also contribute to the existing knowledge about methods used in the
teaching of English language especially the essay writing.
The utility values of English language to students and the
general public need not to be overemphasized. Every citizen of Nigeria needs to
be proficient in the use of the language for effective communication within and
outside Nigeria. This is why the public out-cry of students’ persistent poor
achievement in English language is very loud. Researchers have investigated the
effect of the use of various teaching methods to address the issue of students’
poor achievement in English language with minimal success. Therefore, the
students will benefit from the findings of this study because the use of peer
review technique will improve their achievement in English language essay
writing. Consequently, their achievement generally in English language will
improve.
Application of the findings of this study pedagogically will
reduce the teacher’s stress in the classroom as most of the learning activities
will be carried out by the students while the teacher will just be a
facilitator of learning. Peer review technique permits the award of group
scores to students. Because of the large number of students each English
language teacher handles in a class, group scoring will reduce the number of
scripts the teacher will have more time to prepare for subsequent lessons.
The findings of this study will enable education authorities to
organize seminars and workshops where they will enlighten the English language
teachers on how to use the peer review technique and impress on the teachers
the necessity to use the technique in their various schools as it will improve
their students’ achievement in English language.
Curriculum developers will also benefit from the findings of
this study. They will include the technique as an innovation in language
teaching technique in secondary schools curriculum. The technique will also be
included in the curriculum used for training teachers. When this work is
published, the end users will locate the findings of the study.
Research Questions
The following research questions guided this study:
i What are the mean achievement scores of students
taught essay writing using peer review
technique?
ii What is the effect of gender on the achievement
of students taught essay writing using peer review technique?
iii What are the mean achievement scores of urban and
rural students taught essay writing using peer review technique?
iv What is the interaction effect of treatment
and gender on students’ achievement scores in English
language essay writing?
v What is the interaction effect of
treatment and school location on
students’ achievement scores in English language essay writing?
Hypotheses
Five null hypotheses guided this study and were tested at alpha
level of 0.05.
HO1 There is no significant difference in the
mean achievement scores of students taught essay writing using peer review
technique.
HO2 There is no significant difference in the
mean achievement scores of male and female students taught essay writing using
peer review technique.
HO3 There is no significant difference in the
mean achievement scores of urban and rural students taught essay writing using
peer review technique.
HO4 There is no significant interaction effect
of treatment and gender on the mean achievement scores of students in English
essay writing.
HO5 There is no significant effect of
treatment and school location on the mean achievement scores of students in
English essay writing.