Effect of Process Approach to Writing on Senior Secondary Students’ Achievement in Writing (Plateau Central Senatorial District)

Abstract

This study set out to ascertain the effect of process approach to writing on senior secondary students’ achievement in writing in Plateau Central Senatorial District. The study also examined the differential effect of process approach to writing on male and female students’ achievement in writing. The study was guided by two research questions and two hypotheses. The sample consisted of 128 senior secondary students selected from two co-educational secondary schools from Plateau State using a random sampling technique. The study adopted a quasi-experimental non equivalent pretest-posttest research design. One intact class was assigned the experimental group and the other the control group. Data were generated using Students’ Essay Writing Achievement Test (SEWAT) which was an instrument designed by the researcher. Means and standard deviations were used to answer research questions and Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) was used to test the hypotheses. Hypotheses tested revealed that students exposed to process approach to writing exhibited higher achievement (p=0.00˂0.05) in writing than those who were taught writing using the conventional methods. In addition, male and female students taught using process approach to writing did not differ significantly in achievement (p=0.95>0.05). Based on the findings, it was recommended that teachers of English language should be encouraged to use process approach in teaching writing and that more emphasis should be placed on teaching strategies that will focus on building and developing students’ writing skills.

Key words: process approach, product approach, essay, writing, achievement.