WELCOME TO KENTERPRO:
COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE PERFORMANCE OF LITERATURES IN ENGLISH AND SCIENCE STUDENTS IN NARRATIVE ESSAY IN SELECTED SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN MANGU

 CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

• Background to the Study

English Language is one of the core subjects in the curriculum of senior secondary schools in Nigeria. Adams (2019) posit that the status of English as a second language implies that it plays a very key function in the social, professional and educational life in Nigeria. The authors maintain that to be regarded as an educated Nigerian, some level of proficiency in English Language is required. A credit pass is also required in English language for admission into tertiary institutions and the universities across the country (JAMB 2016/2017 Brochure). However, reports have shown that students normally perform poor in English Language. Chief Examiner’s reports of WAEC (2017 and 2018) indicate that candidates performed poorly in English language, as many compositions were seriously marred by poor spellings, poor punctuation and faulty grammar. Majority of candidates were ignorant of the basic components needed in an essay topic such as content, organisation, expression and mechanical accuracy. Most students do not have the knowledge of reading comprehension thereby leading to poor performance in that section of English language.

Literature is a body of written works. The name has been traditionally applied to those imaginative works of poetry and prose distinguished by the intentions of their authors and the passive aesthetic excellence of their execution. Literature may be classified according to language, national origin, historical period genre, and subject matter. In literature, every piece of writing falls under a general category, also known as a genre. Genre is part of our daily lives, such as movies and music, and in each case, the individual genres typically have distinctive styles in terms of how they are composed. There are essentially three main genres for literature – poetry, prose and drama and each can be broken down even further, resulting in dozens of subgenres for each. Some resources will cite only two genres: fiction and non-fiction, though many classics will argue that fiction and non-fiction can, and do, both fall under poetry, drama or prose.

Many Language teachers often use essay writing while assessing students’ literacy development over time since it tests the ability of the students to use English as an effective means of communication to express themselves with clarity and coherence in a manner appropriate to the situation. The process of learning to write clearly and effectively is not a simple matter of acquiring information or memorizing rules. It requires a parallel and simultaneous process of learning to read with more sophistication. Because reading and writing are related activities, learning to write entails a complex interaction between the writer and the reader: students write while teachers respond. Language teaching is an art of teaching man to communicate with the verbal tool in which his uniqueness rests. The formal teaching of a language takes place in the classroom, even though in the modern computer world, the electronic media may take teaching outside the conventional classroom. Language teaching audience could vary from one to several people. This means that a language class could be (i) Small (ii) normal (iii) large, (Nnaji, 2019).  Before the Nigerian Civil War and indeed the oil boom period, which brought about the Universal Primary Education (UPE), language classes were normal. At the moment, there seems to be no controversy about normal language class size. But certainly, some concerns have been expressed about large language classes (Otagburuagu&Enuesike, 2011).

            The term grammar carries different meanings for different people, depending on the context it is used, the intended meaning and the background of the speaker. Hornby (2010) defines grammar as the rules in a language for changing the form of words and joining them into sentences. Opega (2015) posits that every language has a set of rules and conventions which, if correctly applied, produce well-formed and acceptable sentences. In the grammar of English language, the speakers must be conversant with how verbs, prepositions, adverbs and adjectives operate in sentences. Mastery of the order in which adjectives should appear, the correct question tag to use and the right way of punctuating a given sentence will help the students to make correct sentences. Opega (2015) maintains that grammar is concerned with the description of the relationships within the structure of language. Knowing the grammar of a language, essentially, means knowing the correct ordering of words to make meaning (syntax) and how words are formed (morphology) in that language. This implies that literature and non-literature students must know the grammar of English Language.

            Grammar consists of rules of syntax, which specify how words and phrases combine to form sentences, and rules of morphology, which specify how word forms are constructed (for example, present and past tense distinctions; love, loved; number distinctions; word, words) and so on. Students should not only be able to produce grammatical structures that are formally accurate, but should be able to use them meaningfully and appropriately as well. No wonder, Adams (2019) posit that the term grammar has come to include not only the structure of a language but also aspects of usage and social acceptability.

            Every language has a set of rules and conventions which, if correctly applied, produces well-formed and acceptable sentences. These rules are in the form of statements about how a language should be used to acceptable or unacceptable level in any language. It is the descriptive statement about the syntactic structure and the morphological feature that constitutes the grammar of that language. The aspect of English Language that concern this research are reading comprehension and the grammatical or syntactic structure.

Language is a rule-governed behaviour. To be able to use it effectively, one must know and apply its rules of usage. The study of grammar enables one to understand the phenomenon of language which affords one an insight into how language works, thus enabling one to use one’s knowledge of grammar in a practical way. Thus, it enables one to speak and write English correctly. The notion of correctness and of wrong use can only be detected and corrected through a sound knowledge of the grammar of English Language. Therefore, a sound knowledge of English grammar and the ability to use the language most effectively in speech and writing is often considered the hallmark of the user’s literacy and competence in the language.

The implication is that when there is a wrong usage, the meaning is lost completely. Students who are learners of English as a second language must be careful with grammar, if they are to succeed in their academics. On the other hand, if literature and non-literature students use these aspects of grammar correctly in spoken form they will be able to transfer that to writing.

            Research has shown that the term literature has been defined variously by different authors. Gar (2019) defines literature as those writings that are carefully created from the imagination of a writer for the purpose of telling a story or conveying a feeling. Akor (2016) sees literature as that work of art that has to do with imagination and focuses on the culture and environment of the people for which it is written, which could be drama, prose or poetry. From the definitions, it is clear that the power of imagination must be present in creating a work of art that is qualified to be identified as a literary work. This may imply that literature students will have the power of imagination to be able to perform well in any examination. Research has shown that reading literary texts assumes a critical role especially in Nigeria, where English is a second language. Adams (2019) posit that literature reading provides a means for continued learning of English language outside the classroom, and also serves as a demonstration of the language in use. If students actually want to gain proficiency in English language (reading comprehension and grammar), they need to read extensively even if they do not offer Literature-in-English as a core subject in the senior secondary school.

Literature-in-English is very important in the understanding of English Language. Thread (2018) states that, the specific purpose for the study of literature in the second language is that, it promotes language competence, creates awareness and understanding of content, issues, culture and develops creative and critical thinking skills. It is only in Literature-in-English that learners of English Language come in meaningful contact with the language in its real form. Supporting this claim, Ani (2017) identifies literature as the manifestation of language in action; or as creative writing meant for use in developing reading interest, skills, and enriching and extending the cultural horizons of individual learners. The knowledge gained from Literature-in-English may help students to be familiar with figures of speech (simile, metaphor, irony and personification) among others due to their being part of daily language usage. This implies that literature students will transfer knowledge gained from literature-in-English to answer questions in English Language without any difficulty, if they are serious. It is argued that those who read a lot acquire knowledge of words incidentally which may help to enrich their creative writing skills.

            It is in the light of the above study that this study seeks to make a comparative performance of literature students and science students in narrative essay in senior secondary schools in Mangu Local Government Area, Plateau State.

• Statement of the Problem

            There is no need emphasizing on the already existing fact that students’ poor performance in writing is a source of concern to many. It is not amusing to find secondary school leavers still struggling to compose a creative piece. Such scenerios are embarrassing to our education system. The continual poor performance in writing has been attributed to so many factors such as poor teaching methods, students’ attitudes towards writing, lack of adequate school facilities among others.

            The main problem that arose the researchers interest is that she discovered that literature students express themselves better that science students in writing. This discovery was made during her teaching practice and has therefore, raised a number of questions which this present study seeks to answer. There, the present research is set out to comparatively study the performance of literature students and science students in narrative essay writing in senior secondary schools in Mangu Local Government Area.

• Aim and Objectives of the Study

            The aim of this study is to make a Comparative study of the performance of literatures in English and science students in narrative essay in selected senior secondary schools in Mangu Local Government Area. The specific objectives of the study include:

1. To determine the difference in the performance of literature and science students in organisation of narrative essay writing.
2. To determine the difference in the performance of literature and science students in accurate punctuation narrative essay writing.
3. To examine the difference in the performance of literature and science students in ideas organisations of narrative essay writing.
4. To examine the overall difference in the performance of literature and science students.
   • Research Questions

The following research questions were raised to guide the study:

1. What is the difference in the performance of literature and science students in organisation of narrative essay writing?
2. What is the difference in the performance of literature and science students in accurate punctuation narrative essay writing?
3. What is the difference in the performance of literature and science students in ideas organisations of narrative essay writing?
4. What is the overall difference in the performance of literature and science students?
   • Significance of the Study

            The importance of this study cannot be overemphasized especially now that education stakeholders are throwing searchlights everywhere to find a lasting solution to the problems of mass failure in writing, especially and the external examination levels. Therefore, this study will be beneficial to students, teachers, curriculum planners, government and school administrators:

            The government will understand the importance of literature on the performance of both science and literature students, therefore, they will pay attention to the provision of literary materials such as novels, drama texts and recruitment of more qualified literature teachers in senior secondary schools.

            The curriculum planners will benefit from this study as they will see the need to incorporate literature in the science curriculum which will enhance the reading ability of the students and as well boost their performance in essay writing.

            The teachers of literature will be informed on the need to take their time in teaching and learning of literary genres as it enhances the performance of students in English written essays. They will in the light of this, use appropriate teaching methods and instructional materials for be understanding of literature-in-English as a subject.

The students will benefit from this study as they will come to understand the importance of literature in developing writing skills. Students of literature are exposed to various types of literary works ranging from drama, prose and poetry, therefore their exposure to various writing of different literary artists will increase their writing proficiency.

            Finally, when this study is completed, it will add to the already existing body of literature and also serve as a reference material to future researchers who would want to carry out further research on the same topic.

• Scope of the Study

            The study is covers a comparative performance of literature students and science students in narrative essay writing in Senior Secondary Schools. The study is restricted to selected secondary schools in Mangu Local Government Area of Plateau State. The researcher shall however, generalized the findings of this study to other parts of the State and country as a whole where it is applicable.