Literacy couching: Effectiveness of using mentoring strategy to upgrade students’ self efficacy and performance in poetry.

Abstract

Mentoring as a coaching aid could be a critical personal development and empowerment tool for enhancing poetry and literature generally. Many students believe that poetry is too abstract, and difficult to comprehend. This study therefore investigated the effectiveness of using mentoring strategy to upgrade students‟ self-efficacy and performance in poetry in Benue State, Nigeria. Two research questions guided the study while two hypotheses were formulated and tested. The study adopted the quasi-experimental design, specifically the non-randomised design using intact classes. The sample consisted of 40 senior secondary one  students drawn from two schools through purposive and simple random techniques. Data were collected through researchers‟ developed “Questionnaire on Students‟ Self-efficacy in Poetry” (QSSP) and Poetry Performance Test (PPT). Data collected were analysed using mean and standard deviation to answer the research questions while Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) was used to analyse the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. Findings of the study indicated a significant difference in the mean rating levels of self-efficacy of mentored and non-mentored students. Further finding showed that students who were mentored significantly performed higher in poetry than those who were not mentored. The study therefore recommended that Literature-in-English teachers should be specially trained on the use of mentoring teaching strategy to upgrade students‟ self-efficacy and performance in poetry.