A SURVEY OF METHOD OF TEACHING ESSAY WRITING IN JUNIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS WITH SPECIAL REFERENCES TO...

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

This study is based on improving the teaching

of composition writing through the process writing

method in some selected Junior Secondary Schools in

Akure South Local Government Area in Ondo State.

It is therefore appropriate to attempt a definition

of composition and writing skills.

Composition can be defined as the different

parts which something is made of, the way in which

the different parts are organized. It can be

further defined as the orderly arrangement of

something into desire configuration. Applying this

to language, English Language composition can be

said to be the formation of a whole writing passage1

by putting words, phrases, clauses, sentences,

discourse and paragraphs into their proper

positions.

On the other hand, writing skills is concerned

with encouraging and teaching students to use

effectively, what they have within them in their

essay that is, ideas, feeling, and command.

Writing can be said to be the particular way

in which somebody forms letters. It can further be

defined as creating meaningful text like

information, place, recording thoughts and ideas

using socially accepted symbols. There is a need

to highlight the fact that teaching composition

writing involves a process. The process method of

teaching composition writing, is a stage by stage

process of teaching whereby the teacher encourage

2

the students through each stage and certain

rudiment of writing are observed. The stages

involved in process method of teaching are:

Control stage

Guided stage

Free stage

There are also steps involved in teaching

composition with the process methods. These are:

(a)Pre-writing

(b)Writing activity

(c)Free writing

The need to emphasis development of effective

writing among students is due to the fact that

English language is the language of communication.

It is also the language of administration,

politics, and it is used in almost all sector of3

the Nigerian economy. This is owing to the fact

that Nigeria was colonized by Britain which

bequeathed the English language, as its Multi-

Lingual Nation, so there is need to agree on using

a neutral language through which everyone can

communicate and transact business. To this end, in

schools, students cannot but endeavour to develop

competence in writing in English.

It has been observed that students lack

competence in writing skills and this stands as an

obstacle in their way of passing examinations.

Under examination condition, even if a student

knows what to write but lacks the skills of

arranging and composing his points, this can leads

to failure. For instance, the Chief Examination

officer’s of the West Africa Examination Council

4

(WAEC) notes that many of the answer presented by

students were hereby literature in terms of English

Grammar, idioms and their usage.

Over time, businessmen and companies have

complained that most of our graduates lack

competences in spelling, punctuation and even

letter writing. This research therefore, looks at

ways of improving the writing of composition

through process writing method at the Junior

Secondary school level.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Most Junior Secondary schools students are

lacking in the area of writing skills. Students

exhibit problems in arranging their essays in

suitable paragraphs and poor in constructing

grammatical and meaningful sentences. Also, the

5

issue of experiential backgrounds is a problem

faced by students in the course of writing their

essay. The level of competences in writing among

Junior Secondary School students is hardly one to

be proud of. As a result of this, the teaching

profession has come under increased attack for

failing to produce competence students not having

problems of linking paragraphs, construction lack

adequate experiential background. The teacher’s

teaching method is not also left out. Most

teachers, if not all, teaching English Language,

teach composition writing product method. The

students were only tested and not trained in the

act of composition writing.

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

6

The study is to look into improving competence

in writing skills among Junior Secondary Schools,

by teaching composition through the process method.

This will be done by addressing the problem of

composing therratic paragraph and construction of

sentence as faced by students.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1.What are the present methods of teaching

composition writing?

2.To what extent is the process method of

teaching composition effective among Junior

Secondary Schools students?

3.To what extent does students’ experiential

background affect or enhance the development

of writing skills among Junior Secondary

School students?

7

RESEARCH HYPOTHESES

1. There is no significant differences between

the method of teaching composition used by the

teachers and the performance of the students

in essay writing

2. There is no significant differences between

the process method and other methods on the

achievement of students in essay writing

3. There is no significant difference between the

background of the students and their

achievement in essay writing.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The significant of this study is of the fact

that it will help increase development of writing

skills among Junior Secondary Schools students

through the teaching of process writing method.

8

This study is significant to students, teacher and

society at large as they will all benefit from it.

DELIMITATION OF THE STUDY

This study is limited to Junior Secondary One,

Two and Three of some selected secondary schools in

Akure South Local Government Area. However, it is

hoped that findings from the study, will give a

general idea of problem experienced by students in

essay writing.

DEFINITION OF TERMS

Composition: It is the different parts which

something is made of, the way in which the

different parts are organized.

English language composition: It is the formation

of a whole writing passage by putting words,

9

phrases, clauses, sentences, discourse and

paragraphs into their proper positions.

Writing skills: Is concerned with encouraging and

teaching students to use effectively, what they

have within them in their essay, that is, ideas,

feeling, and command.

Writing: It is the particular way in which somebody

forms letters.

Process method: It is a stage by stage process of

teaching whereby the teacher encourages the

students through each stage and certain rudiment of

writing are observed.

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CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

In this chapter, the researcher will attempt

to review available literature in the use of

process method in the teaching of composition

writing in English Language. The chapter will be

discussed under the following sub-headings.

Concept of Writing

Composition

Method presently used by Teachers to teach

composition writing.

Importance of process method

Teacher’s role

Problems associated with process method of

teaching composition writing.

CONCEPT OF WRITING12

Writing is the expression of language in the

form of letters, symbols or words. The primary

purpose of writing is communication. Writing is

the most abstract of the four language and

communication skills.

Writing is undoubtedly the most difficult of

all language skills. Writing creates meaningful

text like information piece, recording thoughts and

ideas. It is a complex process and competent

writing is frequently regarded as the last language

skill to be acquired.

Robert Louis Stevenson (2003) Writing is used

to express and explain ideas. It is most

importantly, purposeful selection and organization

of experiences. By experience he means all,

thoughts, fact, opinion, ideas, whether acquired

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first hand through direct perception or second

hand, that is through reading. They include all

kinds of writing from poems to the scientific

experiments from all have a purpose and an

organized body of selected facts, opinions and

ideas.

From the process perspective, writing is a

complex recessive process or set of behaviours that

is very similar in its broad outlines for students

in secondary school.

Theodor W. Adorno (2000) “Writing skills are

essential for effective communication. Writing

skill is concerned with encouraging students to use

maximally, what they have within themselves that is

feelings, emotion and imagination; in such a way

that language is at their disposal or command. He

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explains further that a student must first think

and excogitate his matter, then choose his words

and examine the weight of whether, then, take care

in placing and ranking both matter and words so

that the composition is presentable.

Having studied other people’s view about

writing, we are left with the knowledge that this

is a very important aspect of school learning. It

is not a skill that can be acquired in a rush.

COMPOSITION WRITING

According to Marilisa Sachteleben (2010)

“Composition may mean different things in different

circumstances”. It could be a personal narrative,

a short work of fiction or prose, an essay, a

dramatic work or a poem. Each of these works has

its own set of rules. It is the writing of

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paragraph and composing of paragraphs in connected

discourse, continuous writing as it is also called.

Composition writing is not the mere collection of a

string of sentence. E.g. Mr. Dada is a farmer. He

is a good man. His wife sells his farm product.

She is a good woman. They are both good people.

Each of the above sentences might just as well

have been listed as separate sentences on different

lines of the book. It is called writing

essentially at the sentence level. The four

traditional types of composition according to Grace

Flaming (2000) are:

- Argumentative Essay

- Narrative Essay

- Descriptive Essay

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- Expository Essay

Oyinloye (2003) explains the process of

Narrative and Descriptive composition. Narrative

Essays are told from a defined point of view.

Since a narrative relies on personal experiences,

it’s often in the form of a story. The writer must

be sure to include all the conventions of

storytelling: plot, character, setting, climax and

ending. Examples are report and biographies.

Narrative Essay provides records of facts generally

supplement by critical observation on the part of

the writer. Arrangements of fact pose no difficult

but however, students make two common errors in

writing this essay. These are:

(a) Composition of Tenses

(b) Participial Errors

17

In the former, in narrating events that took

place in the past, we naturally use simple past

tense, but sometimes, when we wish to give a vivid

account of a particular event, we use the present

tense, similarly in an account of a plot of novel

or a play or poem. The present tense may be use

but is it advisable for all including the skill

writer not to use the present in Narrative events,

in order to secure vividness.

Descriptive composition is a record of

observed facts and the purpose of a Descriptive

Essay is to describe a person, place or thing in

such vivid detail that the reader can easily form a

precise mental picture of what is being written

about. The writer may accomplish this by using

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imaginative language, interesting comparisons and

images that appeal to the senses.

Description of uninteresting detail should be

avoided and attention should be paid to choice of

words. The writers should try to secure unity of

expression. There is a temptation to use the

colloquial “You” in sentence.

“If you were in a poultry farm, you would see

lots of different kinds of birds”.

We should use the passive voice, thereby

avoiding colloquialism. E.g. “In the poultry, there

are lots of different kinds of birds to see.

However, to avoid repetition and dullness, one can

invent an observer, to whom references can be made

in third person. “The tourist saw lots of different

kinds of birds in the poultry ....”

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An Exposition composition requires writing to

explain a process, thing or idea. The purpose of

an Expository Essay is to present, completely and

fairly, other people’s views or to report about an

event or a situation. Expository writing or

Exposition, presents a subject in detail apart from

criticism, Argument or development, i.e. the writer

elucidates a subject by analyzing it. Such writing

is discourse designed to convey information or

explain what is difficult to understand.

Exposition usually proceeds by the orderly analysis

of parts and the use of familiar illustrations or

analogies. The writer must state the materials

needed for a process, the stages and procedures,

given explanation, purpose and reason for each

stage. In this type of composition, the subject

may be a statement, often a quotation or proverb

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embodying an idea. E.g. “let the sleeping dog lie”,

“If I had known” etc.

Argumentative composition is a genre of

writing that requires the student to investigate a

topic, collect, generate and evaluate evidence, and

establish a position on the topic in a concise

manner. Argumentative composition also known as

reflective composition involves discussions. The

writer discusses a certain problem and presents a

logical statement from his point of view. Examples

of such topics for such composition are “GSM is a

cause of accident on our high ways”. “Farmers are

better than Doctors,” “Male child is better than

Female child etc. in dealing with such topics,

students must first determine what his view are,

arrange the composition so that the view comes in

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the last paragraphs while he ensures that the

opening part of the composition contains

explanation of the nature of the problem to be

discussed.

METHOD PRESENTLY USED BY TEACHERS TO TEACH

COMPOSITION WRITING IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS

For some years, linguists have been writing

textbooks designed to teach foreign students spoken

English. But only recently, as teachers have found

that many students want and need to learn how to

write English as well as speaking it. The

linguistically oriented textbooks designed to teach

writing in English appeared. These textbooks

applied a number of methods to the teaching of


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Teachers of writing used such methods as found

in these textbooks to teach writing composition.

These methods are:

1. The copy book method

2. The product method.

Obviously, grammar, comprehension, reading and

even oral production are involved in very high

degrees in writing. Certainly, we cannot teach a

course in writing which never touches these areas.

But at the same time, teaching writing which covers

only these areas is redundant given the limited

time. Most teachers have to teach students as much

as they can about writing English composition.

Teachers ought to use a method which teaches the

students the kind of writing that will be useful in

their further career. That is, what they cannot23

learn from conscientiously, translating vocal

symbols into orthographic ones. From orals or

written pattern practice or form reading, that is,

talking about using a method which emphasizes that

which is unique to writing.

The copy book method is a method used by

teachers to teach students to do all writing like

speech, students are not taught to combine short

sentences of spoken English by modification or

using sentence connection of various kinds of

conjunctions words like however, therefore, like in

the first place etc.

The product method on the other hand is a

method used by teachers. The teachers write the

topic on the board and tell the students to write

composition on such topic. In this method, the

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teacher does not care how the students write; he is

only concerned about the end products of such

composition.

These methods are lacking in some ways and

these lacks has always been in efficiency.

One of the biggest problems in teaching

writing is that the students must have facts and

ideas in order to write and these must be

manifested in the students, they will reason it in

their own language and try to translate those words

for words into English often with most

ungrammatical result. This is why the copy method

for teaching writing is just as unsatisfactory as

the product, but in a different way. The students

make so many grammatical errors that their

composition loses much of the original meaning.

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The methods are not appropriate because they limit

the students’ knowledge of grammar and idioms of

English.

IMPORTANCE OF PROCESS METHOD

Contending that learning to write is a process

whereby students learn to use grammar and facts as

tools in carrying out a particular purpose. We are

confronted with the questions of precisely how we

are going to teach them to do this. Just as

writing is a process so also is the teaching of

writing.

Deborah M. Sims (2010) process approach

empowers students with the tools to build an essay,

consciously honouring their skills during each

increment of the process. One vital component to

the writing process is the outlining procedure.

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The process approach provides a way to think about

writing in term of what the writer does (planning,

revising etc) instead of what the final product

looks like, the pattern of organization, spelling

and grammar.

The introduction of the process method to

teaching and writing English composition seems to

have been motivated by dissatisfaction with the

copy book method and product method.

The process method or approach calls for

providing a positive, encouraging and collaborative

workshop environment with which students with ample

time and minimal interference can work through

their composing process.

The teachers’ role is to help students develop

viable strategies for getting started that is

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finding topic, generating ideas and information,

focusing and planning structure and procedure. For

drafting, multiple draft should be encouraged and

for revising (adding, deleting, modifying and re-

arranging ideas). For editing (attending to

vocabulary, sentence structure, grammar and

mechanism).

In the process – centered approach to

composition, writing is viewed as a recessive

process in which students are encouraged to revise

as they write and to produce multiple drafts of

their essays.

Gocsik (2004) was one of the pioneers writes

tend to revise at the lexical level only and that

they tend to adhere to rigid rules of style and

usage regardless of appropriateness. Experienced

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writers however tend to revise at all levels

(lexical, phrasal, sentence etc).

The process method can be divided into three

activities namely:

(1) Pre-writing activity

(2) Writing activity

(3) Revision or Re-writing or post writing

activity

Pre-writing activity: This activity involves

organizing the class to promote and encourage

writing, using displays like pictures, object

books, topics that stimulates discussion and

provide the background needed for writing to take

place. This activity includes reading, imaginative

work involving students in critical thinking. The

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students exchange views and ask questions to

explore and jolt down. Brain storming gives his

point while the teacher helps to arrange the points

according to how they will be used in writing.

The Writing/Drafting Activity: This is when the

actual writing takes place. Here, the generated

points are developed. The term drafting implies

that what is written is not final, there must be

some revision. The teacher can either tell the

students to take their work home as an assignment

or they write it in class under the supervision of

the teacher who walk round to inspect their work as

they write. This writing should be in the mind of

the students so also is their purpose of writing.

Revision/Re-writing Activity: This stage is

neglected in our schools and without this activity;

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it cannot be called the process method, but the

product method. The drafts are brought out; the

writing of the students is detached, revised,

improved, proofread by the teacher. But in case of

a large class, they exchanged their books and

proofread themselves.

The revision should cover the choice of words,

ideas, expression, organization and mechanical

appearance. The revision should be based on

checklist of questions on these different aspects

of writing.

(a) Have I expressed my ideas clearly?

(b) Have I written enough?

(c) Are there other ideas to add?

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(d) Does each paragraph contain one central

idea?

(e) Have the paragraph been well developed?

(f) Have I used the correct tenses, vocabulary

items related to topics?

(g) Did each sentence start with a capital

letter?

The teacher acts as coach, a facilitator and a

guide during the revision, this means that he is

intervening in the students writing instead of

waiting for the finished work. An important

feature of the process method of teaching

composition writing is that, in groups, so that

they can learn from each other through interaction.

And for a large class, the group work is submitted

for assessment, in order to reduce the teacher’s32

work load and promote regular writing. Writing is

primarily an act of communicating and as such,

frequent writing and re-writing must form the

bedrock of training effectively writing.

The emphasis is on training the students to

write well not in grading. At the initial stage

there should be no grading, it can come up much

later when student have perfected some skills.

Students with the process writing method have

co-operation in group work and solve problem of

time.

Donovan (2010), revision is all about change.

More specifically, it’s about making changes that

improve our work.

Again, process method of teaching composition

writing is known to consume time because of all the33

process and stages involved in this method.

Teachers find it tasking and exhaustive; therefore,

they prefer to use their limited time using other

method to teach composition writing.

TEACHER’S ROLE

The teachers must provide an environment in

which a child will want to write. The school is an

environment of demonstrations. The most direct and

relevant way for a teacher to demonstrate to the

child the power of writing is to write with the

child. Joining students in the discovering and

development of a theme story may provide an

excellent stimulates and organizing basis for

writing. In some circumstances, there may be an

adequate reason for requiring students to write on

a given theme to explore an issue in a particular

34

subject area, if the aim is to help the students

learn how to write good sentences, everything

should not be reviewed to the student at a time in

order not to get everything, right at the first

time. They should be given enough time to write,

revise and rewrite before an improved draft is

accepted for assessment.

Student should be taught to write good

introduction to attract reader and to write good

paragraphs, each paragraph must be linked with

cohesive device (like furthermore, however, first

of all, secondly etc) and that each paragraph must

contain one main idea.

They must also be taught to write good

concluding paragraphs. All these steps can be

practical within the different types of

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compositions we have, that are Narrative,

Argumentative, Expository and Descriptive.

PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED WITH PROCESS METHOD OF

TEACHING COMPOSITION WRITING

Campbell (2002), simply put, strong essay

writing comes with lots of practice. The more

experience you have with the process, the more

natural it will become.

Wood (2003), some of the biggest problems

associated with essay writing are research,

organization, strong supporting statements and

voice. Showing weakness in one area of your

writing can lead to weakness in others.

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Short comings on the part of the teachers.

Some teachers view process method of teaching essay

writing as strenuous, tedious and time consuming.

As a result of this, many teachers prefer the easy

way out which is the product method.

Teachers’ resistance to change is another

problem because some teachers would prefer to

continue to teach composition writing though the

old methods rather than accept the new effective

process method. Other problem associated with

composition and if the consequence of selected

theme is to make writing less probable, then its

imposition will not help the child become

competence in writing.

Conclusively, the different aspect of

production writing environment cannot deliver to

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children in one but of a time. Reading, Writing,

talking about writing and in order to write, it

must be a continual process.

38

CHAPTER THREE

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This chapter discusses the procedure of the

research study. It deals with the methods adopted

in gathering information and how the data collected

were analyzed. The area covered in this chapter

includes research design, population of the study,

and sample for the study, research instrument,

validity of the instrument, and reliability of the

instrument, administration of instrument and data

analysis.

RESEARCH DESIGN

This research adopted the descriptive survey

design method. The aim of the research was to find

out the best method of teaching essay writing in

39

Junior Secondary Schools in Akure South Local

Government area of Ondo State.

POPULATION OF THE STUDY

The population of the study consisted of 1,500

students and 50 teachers in the Junior Secondary

Schools in Akure South Local Government area of

Ondo State.

SAMPLE OF THE STUDY

The schools selected are in Akure South Local

Government and forty (40) students were randomly

selected from each school making 120 students and

five (5) teachers from each school making 15

40

teachers selected to represent the whole population

for the study.

RESEARCH INSTRUMENT

The instrument used for the study is

questionnaire. The questionnaire was designed to

elicit the relevant information required for the

thorough investigation into the study. The

structural questionnaire was used which was divided

into two sections.

The section A is the demographic section to

elicit information on personal data.

Section B contained structured items which

will help to provide useful information on the

focus of the study.

41

VALIDITY OF THE INSTRUMENT

To validate the instrument, a number of steps

were taken by the researcher. A draft copy of the

instrument was submitted to the researcher’s

supervisor for correction and approval.

RELIABILITY OF THE INSTRUMENT

After the items had been prepared by

researcher, they were distributed to a set of 40

students randomly selected outside the target

sample schools, test and retest method was adopted.

A correlated coefficient 0.6 was obtained and

considered sufficient enough at 0.5 level of

significance.

ADMINISTRATION OF THE INSTRUMENT

42

The researcher visited the selected schools to

collect data after due consultation with the school

principals. The researcher was around to ensure

that no mistake was made when filling the

questionnaire by the students and teachers in the

schools.

The instrument was administered by direct

contact. The researcher monitored the filled of

the questionnaire in the various areas of works.

The completed 135 copies of the instrument

questionnaire were returned that very day, which

gave a (100%) returned rate.

DATA ANALYSIS

In analyzing the data collected, frequency

mean and simple percentages were used.

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CHAPTER FOUR

RESULT AND DISCUSSION

This chapter focuses attention on the analysis

and discussion of the study. In analyzing the

data, the percentages of the students and teachers

who responded to each of the statements were

calculated two types of questionnaire that were

used and analyzed separately.

Tables were used to show responses on items of

the questionnaire. The results of the data

collected are represented thus.

ANALYSIS OF DEMOGRAPHIC DATA OF STUDENTS.

Table 1: Demographic characteristics of the

Respondents.

VARIABLE GROUP POPULATION FREQUENCY IN

44

%

SEXMale

Female

50

70

41.7

58.3

TOTAL 120 100%

AGE

10 – 12

13 – 14

15 – 16

20

85

15

16.7

70.8

12.5

TOTAL 120 100%

Table 1 show that distribution according to

gender revealed that 41.7% of the respondents were

male, while 58.3% of the respondents were female.

Distribution according to age revealed that

16.7% of the respondents fall between 10-12 years

of age, 70.8% of the respondents fall between 13 –

14 years of age, while 12.5% of the respondents

fall between 15-16 years.

In the table below Yes are merge together with

No to analyze the table.

45

TEACHERS

Research Questions

Question 1: What are the present methods of

teaching composition writing?

Table 2:

S/

N

ITEM YES NO TOTAL

Q1 Do you teach composition

writing?

15 0 15

Frequency in % 100 0 100Q2 What method do you apply?

Copy book method

Product method

Process method

6

5

4

15

Frequency in %

Copy book method

Product method

Process method

40

33.3

26.7

100

46

The above table confirms that 100% of the

teachers teach composition writing. While in the

second statement the analysis confirm that 40% of

the teacher used the copy book method, while 33.3%

used product method and 26.7% used process method

in teaching composition writing.

Question 2: To what extent is the process method of

teaching composition effective among Junior


Table 3:

S/

NITEM YES NO TOTAL

Q3

Do you know about the

process method of teaching


9 6 15

Frequency in % 60 40 100

Q4 Is the process method 5 10 15

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appropriate?

Frequency in % 33.3 66.7 100

Q5Have you used the copy

book method before?8 7 15

Frequency in % 53.3 46.7 100

Q6Have you used the product

method before9 6 15


Q7

Do you agree that the

process method is more

effective in teaching


7 8 15

Frequency in % 46.7 53.3 100

The table above shows that 60% teachers knew

about the process method as against 40%. Also,

33.3% accepted that process method is appropriate

against 66.7%. 53.3% teachers used the copy book

method to teach essay writing as against 46.7%. In

48

addition, 60% teachers used the product method

against 40% and 46.7% teachers agree that the

process method is more effective in teaching

composition writing while 53.3% disagree on it.

Question 3: To what extent does students

experiential background affects or enhance the

development of writing skills among Junior


Table 4:

S/

NITEM YES NO TOTAL

Q8Do you teach students with

magazine?10 5 15

Frequency in % 66.7 33.3 100

Q9 Do you encourage the

students to read story

4 11 15

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books and Novels?

Frequency in % 26.7 73.3 100

Q1

0

Do you encourage your

students to write essay

for publication?

10 5 15

Frequency in % 66.7 33.3 100

Q1

1

Do you test the students

on experience gained from

story books?

3 12 15


This table reveals that 66.7% teachers teach

with magazine against 33.3% while those who

encouraged students to read novels were 26.7% as

against 73.3%. Teachers who encouraged the

students to write essay for publication were 66.7%

as against 33.3% while those who test the students

on experience gained from story books were 20% as

against 80%.

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Table 5:

S/

NITEM YES NO TOTAL

Q1

2

Do your students

understand the process

method?

13 2 15

Frequency in % 86.7 13.3 100

Q1

3

Does your students prefer

the process method to

others?

8 7 15

Frequency in % 53.3 46.7 100

Q1

4

Is the process method

easier to teach?6 9 15


Q1

5

Would you recommend the

process method as the best

method of teaching


11 4 15

Frequency in % 73.3 26.7 100

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Item 12 – 15 – Are used generally to find out the

way process writing is being taught in Junior

Secondary Schools.

STUDENTS

Research questions

Question 1: What are the present methods of


Table 1:

S/

NITEM YES NO TOTAL

Q1

Does your teacher teach

you composition writing

stage by stage?

43 77 120

Frequency in % 35.8 64.2 100

52

Q2

Does your teacher write a

topic on the board and

tell you to write a

composition on it?

82 38 120

Frequency in % 68.3 31.7 100

Q3Does your teacher use the

copy book method?87 33 120

Frequency in % 72.5 27.5 100


product book method?41 79 120

Frequency in % 34.2 65.8 100


process method?46 74 120

Frequency in % 38.3 61.7 100

This table above shows that the students

taught stage by stage were 35.8% against 64.2%

while writing the topic on the board for them were

53

68.3% against 31.7%. The students who copy book

method were used for were 72.5% against 27.5% while

those who product book method were used for were

34.2% against 65.8%. In addition, process method

was used for 38.3% as against 61.7%.

Question 2: To what extent is the process method

of teaching composition effective among Junior


Table 2:

S/

NITEM YES NO TOTAL

Q8

Do you think the copy book

method is appropriate for

teaching?

38 82 120

Frequency in % 31.7 68.3 100

Q9 Do you think the product

method is the best for

43 77 120

54

teaching?

Frequency in % 35.8 64.2 100

Q1

0

Do you think the process

method is the appropriate

method to use in class?

69 51 120

Frequency in % 57.5 42.5 100

The table above shows that 31.7% students

thinks the copy book method is appropriate against

68.3% while 35.8% thinks the product method is the

best against 64.2% and 57.5% students thinks the

process method is the appropriate method to use in

class against 42.5%.

Question 3: To what extent does students

experiential background affects or enhance the

development of writing skills among Junior


Table 3:

55

S/

NITEM YES NO TOTAL

Q6Do you read story books or

Novel?50 70 120

Frequency in % 41.7 58.3 100

Q7

Do you use the experiences

you acquire from reading

in your composition

writing?

44 76 120

Frequency in % 36.7 63.3 100

The above table shows 41.7% read story books

against 58.3% and 36.7% used the experiences they

acquire from reading in their composition writing

against 63.3%.

DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS

From the analysis of responses from the

learner and teachers of English language from

56

selected schools in Akure South Local Government

Area of Ondo State, shows that, though all the

students did composition writing but their teachers

did not teach them through the process method.

In addition, one of the characteristics of the

process method of teaching is the movement of a

concept from the simple to the complex. But the

response of the students shows that they were only

taught without examples like publication from the

Magazine and story books.

More so, the response of the teacher shows

that they teach composition writing through the

product method, more fact that they agree that they

are aware of the process method of teaching


57

Conclusively, from the research conducted, one

realizes that few teachers teach with Magazine and

publications.

Although, good number of them encourage the

students to read novels but it is obvious that not

all these students use the experience gained from

novel and story books in writing their composition.

Teachers need to be enlightened to know the effect

of other methods of teaching composition writing

and the benefit of the process method of teaching

so that the students will not be a mediocre in

English language.

58

CHAPTER FIVE

This chapter presents the summary of the

investigation, conclusion, recommendations,

suggestions for further research and limitation of

the study.

SUMMARY

This study investigated the method of teaching

essay writing in Junior Secondary Schools with

special references to process writing in Akure

Local Governments Area of Ondo State. Three

schools were randomly selected. A total of fifteen

teachers and One hundred and twenty students were

used as respondents. It has been established that

most teachers do not teach composition writing

through the process method. The questionnaire that

was administered to the students showed that

59

though, almost all the student do composition

writing in school. They do not teach them with

process method that is stage by stage.

CONCLUSION

The result of the data and research work shows

that although most of the students read novels,

they do not know how to use the experience gained

in their composition assignment. As it is

generally agree that acquisition of writing skills

is necessary for students, teachers should

endeavour to teach composition writing through the

process method and should always have it in mind

that the method they use can either help or

jeopardize the students chances of learning good


RECOMMENDATIONS

60

In view of the research findings that have so

far been carried out, I would like to recommend

that in higher institutions of education,

Undergraduates teachers should be taught to teach

composition writing using the appropriate method,

especially the process method.

Furthermore, in secondary school only

qualified teachers should be employed to teach

composition writing. I would also like to

recommend that school libraries should be well

equipped with educative and interesting books for

students who cannot afford to buy books. Teachers

and parents should also emphasis the importance of

reading and encourage their children to read

newspaper, novels, story books, listening to the

news and observe their surrounding as all these

61

will help build a solid background needed for

writing of good composition.

Apart from the school libraries, government

should build more libraries in various communities.

Private bodies and individuals should also be

encouraged to build and equip the libraries so that

even during holidays, students will still have to

read and borrow books. In schools, time should be

allocated on the school’s time table for reading.

This should be done under the supervision of a

teacher. At the end of the period, students should

be asked to write a story which is similar to what

they have read; this can also be a take home

assignment.

Students should be encouraged to write

articles for publication in the school magazine

62

which will be published for all to read. Finally,

more teachers should be employed to teach English

Language so that we can have different teachers

taking different aspects of English Language that

is Oral, Comprehension, Essay and Summary. This is

to enable the teachers to have enough time to teach

and concentrate on each aspect.

SUGGESTION FOR FURTHER RESEARCH

This research work covered Akure South Local

Government Area. Similar study can be carried out

in other Local Government Areas.

LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

During the process of writing and carrying out

this research work, hurdles such as uncooperative

63

attitudes of respondents and school authorities’

refusal to release their schools result and

shortage of English teachers were encountered but

with the researcher persistence and doggedness, all

these were summoned.

64

REFERENCES

Campbell, B. (2002). The Roles of Response in

Acquisition of writing. London: Edward Arnold.

Deborah, M. (2010). Elementary Composition Piece.

London: Oxford University.

Donovan , A. (2010). Depth and Brillancy in

Composition. New York: John Wiley and Son Inc.

Franks, D. (2002). Challenges for Enhance and

Sustainable Composition. Quigley Publisher.

Gerry, A. et al (2007). The Teaching of Essay

Writing as an International Language.

Gocsik, M. (2004). Students – Teacher Working

Journals in ESL Freehman Composition.

Grace, F. (2000). The Teaching of Essay Writing.

Guildford: Biddles Ltd.

65

Hench, H. (2000). Types, Faces of Composition, New

York: Stratford Press

Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (8th Edition)

International Student’s Edition.

Robert, L. (2003). Essay on Action and Event.

London: Oxford Press.

Theodor, W. (2000). Investigating English Writing

Style. London: Longman.

Wood, T. (2003). The Nature of Knowledge in

Composition and Literacy. Smagorinsky.

66

APPENDIX I

EKITI STATE UNIVERSITY

FACULTY OF EDUCATION

DEPARTMENT OF CURRICULUM STUDIES (ENGLISH)

QUESTIONNAIRE FOR TEACHERS

A SURVEY OF METHOD OF TEACHING ESSAY WRITING IN

JUNIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS WITH SPECIAL REFERENCES TO

PROCESS WRITING.

INSTRUCTION:

You are kindly requested to express your

opinion sincerely as your response will be treated

confidentially and will be used for the purpose of

this research only.

SECTION A

67

Please fill the gap below

1. Sex: ……………………………………………………

2. Qualification: ………………………………………….

3. School: …………………………………………………

4. Class Taught: ……………………………………………

SECTION B

Please tick as applicable

1. Do you teach composition writing? Yes

( ) No ( )

2. What method do you apply? Copy Book (

) Product ( ) Process ( )

3. Do you know about the process method of


68

Yes ( ) No (

)

4. Is the process method appropriate?

Yes ( ) No ( )

5. Have you used the copy book method before?

Yes ( ) No ( )

6. Have you used the product method?

Yes ( ) No ( )

7. Do you agree that the process method is more

effective in teaching composition writing?

Yes ( ) No ( )

8. Do you teach students with magazine?

Yes ( ) No ( )

9. Do you encourage the students to read story

books and novels

69

Yes

( ) No ( )

10. Do you encourage your students to write essay

for publication?

Yes ( ) No ( )

11. Do you test the students on experience gained

from story books? Yes

( ) No ( )

12. Do your students understand the process

method?

Yes ( ) No ( )

13. Do your students prefer the process method to

others? Yes

( ) No ( )

70

14. Is the process method easier to teach? Yes

( ) No ( )

15. Would you recommend the process method as the

best method of teaching composition writing?

Yes ( ) No ( )

71

APPENDIX II

EKITI STATE UNIVERSITY

FACULTY OF EDUCATION

DEPARTMENT OF CURRICULUM STUDIES (ENGLISH)

QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS

A SURVEY OF METHOD OF TEACHING ESSAY WRITING IN

JUNIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS WITH SPECIAL REFERENCES TO

PROCESS WRITING.

INSTRUCTION:

You are kindly requested to express your

opinion sincerely as your response will be treated

confidentially and will be used for the purpose of

this research only.

SECTION A

72

Please fill the gap below

1. Age: ………………………………………………

2. Sex: ………………………………………………

3. Class: ………………..……………………………

4. School: ………………………………………........……

5. Parent/Guardian Occupation: …………………………

6. Parent/Guardian Qualification:…………………………

SECTION B

Please tick as applicable

1. Does your teacher teach you composition

writing stage by stage?

Yes ( ) No ( )

73

2. Does your teacher write a topic on the board

and tell you to write a composition on it?

Yes ( ) No ( )

3. Does your teacher use the copy book method?

Yes ( ) No ( )

4. Does your teacher use the product method?

Yes ( ) No ( )

5. Does your teacher use the process method?

Yes ( ) No ( )

6. Do you read story books/novels?

Yes ( ) No ( )

7. Do you use the experience you acquired from

reading in your composition writing?

Yes ( ) No ( )

74

8. Do you think the copy book method is

appropriate for teaching composition writing?

Yes ( ) No ( )

9. Do you think the product method is the best

method for teaching composition writing?

Yes ( ) No ( )

10. Do you think process method is the appropriate

method to use in class?

Yes ( ) No ( )

75

A SURVEY OF METHOD OF TEACHING ESSAY WRITING IN JUNIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS WITH SPECIAL REFERENCES TO...

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