EFFECT OF PICTORIAL READING STRATEGY ON PUPILS’ INTEREST OF READING COMPREHENSION IN ENGLISH STUDIES IN ANAMBRA STATE

Abstract

This study examined the effect of pictorial reading strategy on pupils’ interest of reading comprehension in English Studies in Awka South Local Government Education Authority of Anambra State. Two research questions guided the study while two null hypotheses were formulated. The design of the study was quasi-experimental design. Specifically, it used pre-test post-test non-equivalent control group design. The population of this study comprised all the 25,137 (12,963 males and 12,174 females) primary two pupils in the 43 public primary schools in Awka South LGEA. The sample for this study consisted of 139 primary two pupils using the multi-stage sampling technique. The experimental school has 68 pupils (29 boys and 39 girls) while the control school has 71 pupils (33 boys and 38 girls). The instrument is titled Reading Comprehension Interest Inventory” (RCII) developed by the researcher. The instrument was validated by three experts using face and content validity. The scores of RCII obtained through trial testing using Cronbach Alpha Method, and a co-efficient value of 0.75 was obtained. Mean and standard deviation was used to answer the research questions while Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) was used to test the null hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The findings revealed that the pictorial reading strategy was more effective than the teacher-directed method in enhancing pupils’ interest in reading comprehension, as evidenced by a significant difference in their mean interest scores. Although female pupils demonstrated higher interest than their male counterparts when taught with the pictorial reading strategy, the corresponding hypothesis indicated no significant difference between the mean interest scores of male and female pupils. It was recommended that primary school teachers should adopt and consistently integrate pictorial instructional materials such as charts, pictures, and illustrated story texts into reading lessons.