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IMPACT OF PROMPT CARDS STRATEGY ON THE ESSAY WRITING PERFORMANCE OF JUNIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN KOGI STATE

OBADARE, Felicia Tomi (Ph.D), OFODU, Graceful Onovughe (Ph.D)

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Abstract

The study investigated the impact of the prompt cards strategy on the essay writing performance of junior secondary school students in Kogi State. The sample for the study consisted of 320 Junior Secondary School II and III students that were selected from eight Junior Secondary Schools in        Kogi State. Multistage sampling technique were adopted in selecting the samples. At the first stage, simple random sampling technique were used in selecting a Local Government Area (LGA) in each of the three Senatorial Districts in Kogi State which comprises ,Western Senatorial district, Central Senatorial district and Eastern Senatorial district. The second stage involved the selection of two (2) schools using stratified sampling technique from each Local Government Area earlier selected to make six (5). The selected schools were randomly assigned to one experimental and one control group at four (4) schools for each group. Two arms of intact class were used in each of the school selected. The study adopted quasi experimental design of pretest, posttest and control groups design in which there was one experimental and one control group. A self-developed instrument was used to establish the effectiveness of prompt cards strategy on writing performance of Junior Secondary School II (JSS 2 and 3) students. The instrument was tagged “Student English Performance Test (SEPT)”. Data collected were analyzed using the descriptive and inferential statistics. Data gathered through pre-test and post-test were graded using a prepared marking guide. Mean and standard deviation were used to answer the research question raised for the study while a Two Way Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) and t-test of independent sample were used to test hypotheses formulated for the study at 0.05 level of significance. The findings of the study established the significant difference and effect of prompt cards strategy on junior secondary school students’ writing performance before and after treatment, as well as on students from rural and urban locations. Gender difference was however found not to be significant. It was recommended that prompt cards strategy should be encouraged among junior secondary school students in essay writing as it enhances better academic performance of students.

Keywords: Essay writing; Kogi State; Gender; Prompt Cards; Students’ performance