TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title
Page
i
Approval
ii
Certification
iii
Dedication
iv
Acknowledgements
v
Table of Contents
viii
List of Tables
xi
Abstract
xii
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
Background of the
Study
1
Statement of the
Problem
14
Purpose of the
Study
15
Significance of the
Study
16
Scope of the Study
18
Research
Questions
18
Hypotheses
18
CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF LITERATURE
Conceptual
Framework
20
Concept of Continuous
Assessment
21
Rationale for Continuous
Assessment
26
Characteristics of Continuous
Assessment
27
Techniques of Continuous
Assessment
28
Concept of Essay
Writing
31
Types of
Essay
33
Assessment of
Essay
34
Relevance of Continuous Assessment in Essay
Writing
36
Concept of
Gender
39
Concept of
Location
39
Theoretical
Framework
40
Behavioural
Theory
41
Constructivist
Theory
41
Review of Empirical Studies
43
Studies on students’
performance
43
Studies on Essay
Writing
44
Studies on Continuous
Assessment
51
Summary of Literature
Review
57
CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH
METHOD
61
Design of the
Study
61
Area of the
Study
61
Population of the
Study
62
Sample and Sampling
Technique
62
Instrument for Data
Collection
62
Validation of the Instrument
63
Reliability of the
Instrument
64
Method of Data
Collection
64
Method of Data
Analysis
64
CHAPTER FOUR:
RESULTS
65
Research Question
1
65
Research Question
2
66
Research Question
3
68
Research Question
4
70
Hypothesis
1
71
Hypothesis
2
71
Summary of Major
Findings
75
CHAPTER FIVE: DISCUSSION OF RESULTS, CONCLUSIONS,RECOMMENDATIONS
AND SUMMARY
Discussion of
Results
77
Conclusion
82
Implications of the Findings
82
Recommendations
83
Limitations of the
Study
83
Suggestions for Further
Research
84
Summary of the
Study
85
REFERENCES
86
APPENDICES
Appendix A: Population Distribution
of the
Study
93
Appendix B: Questionnaire 95
Appendix C: Reliability of the
Instrument
101
Appendix D: Result of Analyzed Data 107
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: Mean rating of
respondents oncontinuous assessment practices
of senior secondary school English language teachers in essay
writing..65
Table 2:Mean Rating of
respondents on the extent of teachers’ assessment of senior secondary students
in essay
writing.
66
Table 3: Mean Rating of
respondents on the factors militating against teachers’ effective assessment of
students in essay
writing 68
Table 4: Mean Rating of
respondents on the measures for improving teachers’ continuous assessment
practices in essay
writing.
70
Table 5: t-test analysis of the
significant difference in the mean ratings of male and female teachers as
regards continuous assessment practices in essay
writing.
71
Table 6: t-test statistics summary
table
72
Table 7: t-test statistics
analysis of the significant difference in the mean ratings of urban and rural
teachers as regards continuous assessment practices in essay writing 3
Tabe 8: t-test statistics summary
table
74
Table 9: Mean and Standard
deviation of English Language teachers on the observation check list on
teachers’ continuous assessment practices in essay writing.
74
ABSTRACT
The main purpose of this study was to investigate the continuous
assessment practices of senior secondary school English language teachers in
essay writing in Nsukka Education Zone of Enugu State. Three Local Government
Areas make the zone for the study; Igboetiti, Nsukka and Uzo-Uwani. The
population comprised all the male and female English teachers in senior
secondary classes. Two instruments developed by the researcher were used for
data collection are questionnaire and observation checklist titled;” Teachers’
Continuous Assessment Practices in Essay Writing’’ respectively. Instruments
were face validated by three experts from Language Education and Measurement
and Evaluation all from University of Nigeria Nsukka. The questionnaire was
trial tested on twenty (20) teachers in Onitsha North Local Government Area and
its reliability was established using Cronbach Co-efficient Alpha Formula. Mean
and Standard deviation were used to answer the research questions while t-test
statistics was used to test the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The
study adopted descriptive survey research design. Four (4) research questions
were posed to guide the study and two hypotheses on gender and location were
formulated for the study. The findings of the study revealed that teachers
rarely assess students on vital assessment practices in essay writing such as;
giving my students class tests (p. 74). The findings further showed that gender
and location are significant factors in the continuous assessment practices of
English language teachers in essay writing. Based on the findings,
recommendations were made which include that teachers should intensify efforts
in adequate use of continuous assessment practices to diagnose students’ needs
and adopt the practices for effective evaluation of students to improve
students’ performance. Also, the ministry of education should ensure that
teachers are well equipped with relevant instructional materials and other assessment
tools for effective assessment.