Effects of Language Experience Approach on Students’ Reading and Comprehension Levels in Jos North Local Government Area, Plateau State, Nigeria

Abstract

Many students in public Junior Secondary Schools in Nigeria are unable to read text books meant for their classes meaningfully. In the schools, they are taught to read using recitation or choral reading methods. This makes the students to have poor vocabulary for use to communicate in English language. This study investigates effects of Language Experience Approach on students reading and comprehension levels in Jos north LGA Plateau state. Two research questions and hypotheses were set to guide the study. Quasi experimental research, specifically; equivalent group pretest posttest design was used for the study. Eighty four (84) students with reading difficulty were used as population for the study with sample forty (40) students. Simple random sampling technique was employed for the study. Sight Word Recognition Test (SWRT), Informal Reading Inventory (IRI) and Language Experience Approach (LEA) were used for data collection. Data collected was analyzed using percentage and t-test. The results showed significant improvement in the students’ reading and comprehension levels.  The students were able to read meaningfully and answer inferential and critical comprehension questions. The researcher concluded that the improvement recorded was due to the intervention given using LEA. The researcher recommended that students should be made to read texts that are based on their background knowledge and experiences. The text must be at their reading and comprehension levels.

Keywords:  Language experience Approach, Student' reading and comprehension level