EFFECT OF SEMANTIC-MAPPING ON PUPILS' ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IN LITERACY IN IREPODUN LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF KWARA STATE

Abstract

The foundational skills of literacy are not taught effectively in the twenty-first century. There is an increase in demands for learners who are skilled in literacy and this was evident in 2017 and 2018 common entrance examination in which the performance of pupils was poor. The study investigated effects of Semantic-Mapping strategy on Pupils’ Literacy academic performance in Irepodun Local Government Area of Kwara State. Seven hypotheses were formulated and tested at 0.05 level of significance. This study adopted pretest posttest control group quasi – experimental research design. The target population comprise all primary two pupils in Irepodun Local Government Area of Kwara state. Purposive sampling technique was used to select four mixed primary schools (two public schools and two private schools. Two experimental groups (One public school and One private school) and two control groups (One private school and One public school) were selected purposively for the study. Four intact classes of primary two pupils were selected for the study. One validated and reliably tested research instrument titled pupil’s literacy academic performance test (PLAPT) was used. The reliability co-efficient was 0.76 using Pearson Product Moment Correlation. Hypotheses were tested using Analysis of Covariance. The study revealed that there were significant main effects of treatment on pupils’ literacy academic performance (F(1:32) = 16.544; P<0.05), there was no significant main effect of gender on pupils academic performance in literacy (F (1.32 = .182; P > 0.05), there was no significant main effect of school type on pupils academic performance in literacy (F (1:32) = .1.504; P>0.05), there was no significant interaction effects of treatment and gender on pupils academic performance in literacy (F = .282; P>0.05), there was no significant interaction effect of treatment and school type on pupils academic performance in literacy (F (1.32) =.2.151; P > 0.05.), there was no significant interaction effect of gender and school type on pupils academic performance in literacy (F (1.32 =1.356; P >0.05), and there was no significant interaction effect of treatment, gender and school type on pupils’ academic performance in literacy (F (1:32) = 1.548; P > 0.05.). It was concluded based on the findings that semantic-mapping strategy were effective in teaching at primary level of education. It was recommended that teachers in the targeted area should adopt the use of Semantic-Mapping strategy as part of strategies for teaching literacy.

Keywords: Semantic-Mapping, Academic performance, Literacy