Effect of School Location on Reading Literacy among Nigerian Learners of English as a Second Language

Abstract

This study determined whether school location was a predictor of English as a second language learners’ achievement in reading when taught with synthetic phonics using the non-equivalent, non-randomized control group quasi-experimental design. The population of the study comprised 1844 primary one school pupils in Enugu East Local Government Area of Enugu State. Out of this population, a sample of 66 pupils from urban location and 52 from rural location was drawn using multi stage sampling technique. The instrument used for data collection was Initial Reading Achievement Test (IRAT) which was designed by the researcher. Mean, Standard Deviations and Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) were used to analyse the generated data. The results of the study revealed that school location significantly influenced pupils’ achievement in reading. It also showed that there was significant interaction effect of teaching method and location on pupils’ achievement in reading. It was concluded that in addition to teaching method, school location proved to be a predictor of pupils’ achievement in reading. Hence, it was recommended that pupils from different school locations should be exposed sufficiently to equal literacy-enriched environment to bridge the gap in achievement among learners from urban and rural school environments.

Keywords: School location, literacy-enriched environment, achievement in reading, interaction effect, Initial Reading Achievement Test, synthetic phonics