Socio-Economic Effects on Students’ Essay Writing Performance under Selected Teaching Strategies in Senior Secondary Schools in Ondo State Nigeria

Socio-Economic Effects on Students’ Essay Writing Performance under Selected Teaching Strategies in Senior Secondary Schools in Ondo State Nigeria

Funmilayo Mabel Oguntade

GNS Department, Institute of Technology-Enhanced-Learning and Digital Humanities, Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria.

DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.47772/IJRISS.2024.806058

Received: 14 May 2024; Revised: 26 May 2024; Accepted: 31 May 2024; Published: 03 July 2024

ABSTRACT

This study investigated the effect of socio-economic status (SES) on students’ performance in essay writing after using Reading-writing, Think-Pair-share, a Combination of TPS and RW strategies and the conventional method in secondary schools in Ondo State Nigeria. The study adopted a quasi-experimental pre-test post-test four-group design as well as a descriptive survey-type design. The population for the study comprised all the 25,297 public Senior Secondary School (SSS) II students of the 2019/2020 Session in Ondo. The sample for this study was 308 SSS II students who were selected from public senior secondary schools, using a multi-stage sampling procedure. The instruments used for this study are a questionnaire on Students’ Socio-economic Background Status (SSBS) and the Essay Writing Performance Test (EWPT). The EWPT was a standardized WAEC past question while the SSBS was validated by experts in the Arts and Language Department, Faculty of Education, Ekiti State University. The reliability of the EWPT was established through the test re-test method and the reliability coefficient of 0.70 was obtained. The reliability of the questionnaire was established by subjecting the score from a single administration to the Cronbach Alpha Reliability Co-efficient test. The instrument was found reliable as the calculated value was 0.82. The data collected for this study were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The hypothesis was tested at a 0.05 level of significance. The finding of this study revealed that after being instructed with different strategies in SSS in Ondo State, there was no significant difference in the performance of students from different SES in essay writing.

Key Words: Reading-Writing, Think-Pair-Share and socio-economic status

INTRODUCTION

Writing appears to be the most significant development in human history. Writing is a critical communication skill Blease & Condy, (2015). Effective communication can only occur if one knows the language and understands its grammatical aspects and structure and these can be mastered when writing is practiced often. The student who writes becomes alert to the structure of sentences, and the rhythm of multiple words together (Allyn, 2020). Writing practice helps learners use their target language and explore various linguistic elements like grammar, idioms, and vocabulary in their texts, and with more writing opportunities they can become better writers (Isleem 2012). It is important to note, however, that there can be a breakdown in communication if a message is not understood by the listeners or readers (Mkwinda-Nyasulu, 2014). In both language learning and academics, the ability to write is critical. It is through writing that learners develop critical skills like innovation, creativity, and self-expression; these skills are essential for academic success. Language learning is incomplete without writing. Individuals require the ability to organise their thoughts and information through writing in their daily lives and as individuals advance in life and become working adults, proficiency in writing becomes crucial (Ngubane, Ntombela,. & Govender, (2020). Gallagher (2006) opines that schools must teach their students both the curriculum and good writing skills to be successful. Unfortunately, according to Oyetunde and Muodumogu (1999), the public school system in Nigeria barely teaches writing in any meaningful way. As a result, academics and educators have made concentrated attempts to investigate the nature of this skill as well as the most effective strategy for teaching it successfully and communicatively. Writing is a skill that students should be allowed to develop over time. According to Moses and Mohamad (2019), the writing skill is typically regarded as very challenging for second-language speakers because it necessitates the systematic development and presentation of ideas. Reading and writing skills deficiencies may make it difficult to obtain a good job (Moses & Mohamad, 2019). Apart from that, those who do not have good aptitude in reading and writing English are disadvantaged in educational, political, social, and economic concerns.

In this study, three strategies will be used to facilitate students’ active participation in writing and encourage critical thinking in English language classrooms. Reading-Writing (RW), Think-Pair-Share (TPS), and a combination of Reading-Writing and Think-Pair-Share (RW+TPS). There are different types of strategies that can be deployed in teaching writing. One of the commonest is the conventional method known as the lecture method. Other methods of teaching writing are the Process, Genre, Integrated, interactional Process Genre, Think-Pair-Share, and Product approach also known as the Reading Writing strategy (RW), among others. Another name used for the RW strategy is the model strategy (Akinwamide, 2012). RW is a conventional approach to teaching essay writing, which uses the model text for study, investigation, and imitation (Ghufron, 2018). Researchers believe that RW is very effective, especially in large classes. Public schools in Nigeria are usually large and this will be an opportunity to try out a new method. Also, the students will be able to get feedback from their teachers on their essay writing almost immediately. Students’ performance will increase if teachers use this technique to carefully mentor their students as they write essays. On the other hand, TPS is a good tool for teachers and students who are new to collaborative learning. It is a strategy that inspires students to take on and solve a challenge that is originally beyond their grasp. According to Sugiarto and Sumarsono, (2014), learning will be more exciting with TPS, and students will be able to increase their knowledge more quickly because in the process of teaching and acquiring a language, parents, caregivers, instructors, and peers play significant roles. The combination of RW and TPS will also be used to ascertain how effective it will help students in their essay writing. RW and TPS have never been used in teaching essay writing in Nigeria. This study addressed this gap by teaching essay writing to students in secondary schools in Ondo State using the RW, TPS, and a combination of RW and TPS. This study will investigate how the socio-economic background of the students can affect students’ performance in essay writing after they have been taught using the RW, TPS, and the combination of both strategies RW+TPS and the conventional method in senior secondary schools in Ondo State, Nigeria.

The study investigated the impact of students’ socio-economic background on their performance in essay writing under the RW, TPS, Combination of RW & TPS, and the Control Group in senior secondary schools in Ondo State.

The performance of students is crucial in producing top-notch graduates who will serve as excellent leaders and manpower for the country. However, they will eventually oversee the country’s economic and social development. Academic achievement is one of the most important factors that employers examine when employing new graduates. Writing ability is a quality that employers demand and highly value. When looking for work in Nigeria, any applicant who does not speak, read, or write in English may be at a disadvantage. Given the prominent position of the English Language in the Nigerian educational structure, as well as the fact that it is a Language of greater communication and opportunities, it must be taught successfully in schools so that our students can acquire the essential skills. The essay writing part of the English Language becomes extremely crucial to students to gain this competency. In public examinations, essay writing accounts for fifty percent (50%) of the total marks for the English Language. A child’s environment may have an impact on their education or attitude toward learning, and parental status is one such component to consider (Bhat et al, 2016). The ability of parents to provide their children’s fundamental requirements may be limited by their income. This is because children whose parents have higher incomes appear to have enough school facilities in terms of books, uniforms, and access to additional learning opportunities. The educational progress of students may be impeded if such facilities and amenities are not available. Parents with lower income cannot afford to supply all these things, which are critical for their children’s scholastic advancement.. In addition, educated parents can create a conducive environment for their children’s academic success. They can effectively communicate with their children about schoolwork, activities, and material provided at school. It is quite likely that students’ motivation to use the English Language in the classroom and at home will have an impact on their language performance. A child who has educated parents can get assistance from his/her parents at home when it comes to matters of essay writing. The parents can guide such a child by going through his/her written essay. Communication in the English Language too may likely continue at home if the parents are educated and this will help such a child in his/her expression when asked to write essays in class. The level of education of parents can be categorised as no formal education, primary, secondary and tertiary school graduate. Parents who are graduates are in the best position to assist their children with their school work. The income and the level of education of parents are two critical factors that determine the parents’ socio-economic status. Other critical factors include the type of occupation of parents and the location of residence. Occupation of parents could be civil servants, farmers, traders, artisans, etc. while the location of residence could be rural or urban. The socio-economic background of students has the potential to affect the learning outcomes of secondary school students (Thomson, 2018). It is therefore imperative to investigate how socio-economic status can affect students’ performance in essay writing and determine which of the strategies is effective for teaching essay writing in secondary schools in Ondo State Nigeria.

Research Questions

Will there be any difference between the interaction effects of strategies and socio-economic status on the overall achievement of students after being instructed with different strategies?

Research Hypothesis

There is no significant difference in the post-test performance score of students from different socio-economic statuses in essay writing using different strategies.

LITERATURE REVIEW

The strategies that will be used in this study to facilitate students’ active participation in learning writing are Reading-Writing (RW), Think-Pair-Share (TPS), and a combination of Reading-Writing and Think-Pair-Share (RW+TPS). The conditional reflex of Pavlov’s behaviourism (Ting, 2010) projected the idea of stimulus and response as the main source of learning, which gave rise to Reading-Writing (product-based approach). The product approach to writing classes is teacher-centered, with limited interaction among the students (Mourssi, 2006). The Reading-Writing strategy is also referred to as the model approach) (Akinwamide, 2012). It is a traditional way of language acquisition. This approach sees writing as a product that is taught by imitating, replicating, and modifying supplied models, and that must be evaluated by explicit feedback from teachers. It is a conventional method of teaching students writing whereby they are provided model essays to guide them in writing their own essays. Its focus was on model texts’ relatively inflexible text properties. It emphasizes more on grammar principles in writing instruction and learning (Nystrand, 2006). RW is a method of teaching writing that emphasises the students’ most recent creation, which is the text they are required to write. The focus is on the final output, which is intended to be flawless in terms of grammar and structure, just like the model. Students focus more on analysing and practicing the primary aspects (content, vocabulary, syntax, and text organization) of the text genre they are intended to produce when they use this strategy. The four steps of this method are familiarisation, controlled writing, guided writing, and free writing. The model is taught to the students for reading at the familiarisation stage, so that they can analyse the text features. Learners analyse the major features of the given type of text after reading the model text. These characteristics could be associated with content, lexis, organisation, grammar, or style. Instructions will be given to the students to practice the main aspects of the text genre, usually in isolation, throughout the control writing stage. Students will have the opportunity to reflect on what they want to write throughout the guided writing stage. They will need to come up with content and linguistic ideas at this point in order to complete the work. This stage is critical in Reading-Writing because supporters of this technique feel that organising ideas is more important than the concepts themselves, and that language management is just as crucial. The students will compose their final copy during the free writing period. The model will be taken away from the students at this point so that they can write freely without looking at it. Students will choose from a variety of writing activities and will apply the structures, and vocabularies they have previously learned to create a draft that demonstrates their ability to use the language fluently and competently.

Learners can improve their analytical skills by using the Reading-Writing technique. Teachers can assist students in developing their writing skills, discourse, grammar, and lexis. These skills are crucial for real-world awareness because models are frequently used to construct texts and knowing how to spot basic norms can help students become more skilled and independent writers. When compared to other writing strategies, this one takes less time. When deciding on a plan, it is critical to take time into account.

Some researchers have used this RW strategy to teach essay writing. The impacts of RW, discussion, and lecture methods mixed with linguistic packages on students’ academic performance and attitudes in essay writing were researched by Oyinloye and Gbenedio (2010). The results of their research suggest that students who were provided with a linguistic package performed well in essay writing. Teachers were advised to use RW to teach essay writing. Thulasi, Salam, and Ismail (2014) compare the effects of process and product approaches to writing on ESL students’ writing skills in Malaysia. Their research revealed that teachers prefer to apply the product approach (RW) because it is simple to implement, and they avoid the process method since it is time-consuming.

The TPS method is another strategy considered in this study. It’s a problem-solving or question-answering approach in which pupils collaborate to solve problems. This method requires students to reflect on a topic or answer a question individually before sharing their thoughts with their classmates. The “sharing” can be expanded into a whole-class discussion by teachers. Think, Pair, and Share are the three procedures in the strategy. Students contemplate on a given question at the thinking level, while they pair up and discuss responses in the Pairing stage, and the broader group reconvenes at the Sharing stage, while pairs report back on their dialogues. The teacher can also invite pupils to share what their companion mentioned. This will aid in the development of the children’s listening abilities. The TPS by design is intended to differentiate instruction by giving the students time and structure to think about a topic, allowing them to express their thoughts and share them with a peer. This learning technique encourages students to participate in class.  It increases the number of pupils who respond, as opposed to a few students answering all the questions. Additionally, TPS encourages students to share their thoughts thus increasing their sense of participation in the classroom activity. Participation in collaborative learning activities is crucial to students’ success and development. The level of participation and inherent interest of students in schoolwork is described as student engagement. According to Carini, Kuh, and Klein (2006), student engagement is one of the factors for predicting learning. Think-Pair-Share can also be used to assess information. While students are exploring their ideas, the teacher can move around the class to listen to their discussion. He/she can also help students by responding quickly to their needs. This is an effective way of getting students to think critically and communicate clearly in class. According to researchers, when students have several opportunities to build on thoughts through discussion, their learning is enhanced (Pressley 1992 in Teachervision, 2007).

Students will become responsible for their own learning as a result of sharing their thoughts, as they will be learning through the contributions of others under the careful supervision of the teacher, who will operate as a facilitator rather than an authority figure.

Other advantages of using the Think-Pair-Share strategy include the improvements in students’ self-esteem which take place when they listen to one another and appreciate others’ viewpoints. Students can acquire higher-order thinking abilities through interaction with their classmates, get more time or encouragement if needed, and gain confidence when presenting their thoughts to the entire class. Furthermore, the pairing of students ensures that every student is carried along in the conversation. Even students that are shy and cannot face the entire class, will be heard by their partners. Although this technique appears to take more time, it ensures effective classroom discussions because students would have had time to think about their ideas before joining the class in the debates. Learning will be more exciting with TPS, and students will be able to increase their knowledge more quickly (Surgiato & Sumarsono, 2014).

Some academics have looked into the various ways that Think-Pair-Share can be utilised in teaching. Sahardin, Hanum, and Gani (2017) investigated if the TPS strategy can help students write descriptive texts in English more easily and effectively. Their findings appear to support the idea that a collaborative learning technique can help students perform better in English classes. Likewise in another study carried out by Sumekto (2018) the impact of TPS on ninth-grade students’ reading achievement was explored in Pandowoharjo, Sleman, Yogyakarta’s Special Region where 35 public secondary school students participated in this classroom action research. It was discovered that TPS boosted the students ‘practical ability to communicate, discuss, make a decision, and reduce conflict in the groups’ learning. According to the findings, using think-pair-share as an alternate learning strategy can help students improve their collaborative skills.

Beyond strategies used in teaching essay writing, other intervening variables can affect students when learning how to write. These intervening variables could be students’ attitude, their sex, location, or their socio-economic status. This study focuses on investigating how student socio-economic status can affect students in learning how to write effectively after they have been taught essay writing using RW, TPS combination of RW & TPS strategies, and the conventional method. These strategies were deployed in teaching essay writing to students in senior secondary schools in Ondo State for six weeks.

Socio-economic Status and Students’ Performance in Essay Writing

Students’ socio-economic status (SES) and academic performance are two elements that can have an impact on language learning in school, particularly essay writing. According to Bhat, Joshi, and Wani (2016), SES is a combination of economic and sociological indicators of a person’s job experience, as well as the individual’s and family’s economic and social position in terms of income, educational level, and employment.

The American Psychological Association (APA) (2018) defines SES as “an individual’s or group’s social standing or class.” The educational level, employment status, and income level of a child’s parents are usually used to determine his or her SES (Jeynes, 2002). SES is usually classified into three levels; namely: high, middle, and low. One of the recurring themes in educational research is educational achievement and its relationship to socio-economic status (Sirin, 2005). It is frequently utilised as a latent construct to assess the history of the family (Bofah & Hannula, 2017).

There have been numerous studies on the impact of SES on student performance (Lee & Burkam, 2002). However, there is no agreement among empirical investigations on how to best operationalize the term. According to Bornstein and Bradley (2014), the assessment of SES has gotten little attention, and there has been little discussion about why certain indicators were picked over others. According to Liberatos, Link, and Kelsey (1988), there is no single best measure because all of these factors are considered, including the potential role of social class in the study, conceptual relevance, the applicability of the measure to the specific populations being studied, the relevance of a measure at the time of the study, the measure’s reliability and validity, and the number of indicators. Throughout history, socio-economic status has been conceptualized and quantified in different ways. It has been defined by several academics as the father’s occupational learning. Other researchers agreed that the parents’ household possessions, education, father’s work, and other pertinent information might be used as a measure of SES (National Center for Education Statistics, 2012). Eventually, it was agreed that SES should be treated as a consolidated variable, with income, education, and employment being naturally quantified because they indicate different perspectives of family history (Brese & Mirazchiyski, 2013). It’s critical to recognize that gathering information about parents’ earnings can be extremely thought-provoking. Keeves and Saha (Keeves & Saha, 1992).

Given this context, the study used the parents’ educational level and occupational reputation to determine the family’s socio-economic status. According to Lareau (2003), SES is naturally divided into three categories: high, middle, and low. Because in Nigeria, families with high SES do not frequently send their children to public schools, which are the focus of this study, the middle and low economic status were evaluated in this study. SES is also linked to educational attainment both directly and indirectly through several interconnected systems, including students’ cultural backgrounds, among others.

Researchers from several sectors have investigated the effect of students’ socio-economic status on their academic achievement. Bhat et al. (2016) investigated the effect of socio-economic background on students’ academic performance. The findings demonstrate that there is a considerable difference in academic performance of students with a high socio-economic status and those with low status. Also, Rana, Nadeem, and Saina (2015) investigated the impact of the educational levels of parents on students’ academic performance and concluded that parents with a high level of education have a greater influence on their children’s ability to achieve and perform well in their secondary school studies. In a similar vein, Osei-Owusu, Ampofo, Akyina, Ampomah, and Osei-Owusu (2018) investigated the SES of parents and its impact on the academic achievement of Yamfo Anglican School pupils in Ghana’s Brong Ahafo Region. The study’s findings demonstrated that parents’ levels of education, occupation, income, and parental care have an impact on their children’s academic achievement. This supports Rana, Nadeem, and Saina’s findings in (2015). In Nigeria, Oyinloye and Gbenedio (2010) investigated the impact of combining three approaches with linguistic packages and SES on writing. This study discovered, among other things, that children with high SES performed best in the reading and writing approach. The results of the two-way ANOVA indicated a significant difference in the interaction effects of students’ approaches and SES on their overall academic performance in essay writing.

When it comes to matters of essay writing, a child with educated parents can seek help from their parents at home. They can help such a child by reading their written essay. If parents are educated, communication in the English Language will likely continue, and this will aid such children in their expression when requested to write an essay in class. When a child leaves school and there is no continuity between what they did at school and what they do at home, there is a significant gap.

When a child is deprived of parental and material care as a result of the death, divorce, or abandonment of any of the parents, the child’s education can be jeopardized, as most single parents are unable to purchase books and uniforms as well as pay school fees. A child who grows up in this scenario is more likely to skip school, which might negatively impact his or her academic achievement.

Parents with poor socio-economic levels cannot afford to supply all of these tools, which are critical for their children’s scholastic advancement in school. According to Mbaru (2002), as reported by Muchunku (2014), effective parenting combined with a strong economic base can lead to a child’s strong academic success.

Theoretical Framework

The behaviourist and sociocultural theories serve as the foundation for the strategies’ theoretical framework. A natural language learning theory called behaviourism was partly created in opposition to conventional grammar. The RW strategy tilts towards the behavioural theory because it uses a model essay as a stimulus to which the students respond. It is believed that when students are exposed to what the examiners require through a model essay, they can learn by practice and reinforcement to reproduce similar essays (Akinwamide, 2012). On the other hand, the Socio-cultural theory by Lev Vygotsky (1978) feels that a child will be able to accomplish things with assistance that they would not normally be able to achieve on their own. According to the principle, a teacher is not the only one who can convey knowledge; they also serve as a facilitator of learning. It holds that children can pick up knowledge from their peers as well as from society, which includes adults, elders, and family members among other potential teachers. This theory is implemented in the TPS strategy, where students are encouraged to reflect on the questions before responding, to brainstorm, to learn from their peers, and to share their ideas. The teacher is recognised as the facilitator of learning in this approach

METHODOLOGY

This study utilised a quasi-experimental pre-test post-test four-group design (one Control and three experimental Groups). It also employed a descriptive survey-type design. The baseline of the knowledge of students that were used for this study was established by pre-test while post-test was used after the treatment to measure performance. The population for the study comprised all the 25,297 public Senior Secondary School (SSS) II students of the 2019/2020 Session in Ondo. This class was chosen because they are expected to have covered a significant proportion of the English Language West African Secondary School Certificate syllabus, including essay writing. The SSS are spread across the 18 Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Ondo State. The schools that fell into the sample are only mixed gender. The sample for this study comprised 308 SSS II students in Ondo State selected through a multi-stage sampling technique. This is the equivalent of the sample size for a population of 25,297 at 5% margin of error and a 92.3% confidence level. In Stage One, four LGAs were randomly selected from the 18 LGAs in Ondo State. In the second stage, one SSS was chosen in each LGA purposively, making four schools in all. In the third stage, an SSS II class was chosen randomly from each secondary school. The RW strategy was used in one school/LGA, while TPS was used in another school/LGA, Combination RW+TPS was also used in another school/LGA, and one school was chosen from another LGA for the conventional method which served as the control. An overview of the experimental design is presented in Table 1.

Two instruments were used for this study. They are the “Essay Writing Performance Test” (EWPT) and questionnaire on Students’ Socio-economic Background Status (SSBS). EWPT consists of five different essay questions and students were requested to answer just one within 50 minutes. These questions were drawn from past questions of the West African Secondary School Certificate Examination (WASSCE). Students’ socioeconomic background Status (SSBS) questionnaire was used to elicit information on students’ socio-economic background. SSBS was designed to collect demographic data from the respondents, which included: the name of the school, identification number, gender, and other socio-economic data. The description of the key variables used in the study is presented in Table 2.

To determine the face and content validity of the instruments, the Essay Writing Performance Test (EWPT), and the students’ socio-economic background Status (SSBS) were validated by experts in the Arts and Language Department, Faculty of Education, Ekiti State University. Thorough scrutiny of the instruments was carried out and necessary corrections were done before the instruments were certified valid.

The reliability of the EWAT was established through the test-re-test method. Forty-three students drawn from two schools that were not part of the study were used for the test-re-test method. Scores obtained from the tests were tested using Pearson Product Moment Correlation statistics to obtain the correlation coefficient. EWAT gave 0.70. This instrument according to these results is reliable. As for the reliability of the questionnaire (SSBS), it was administered once to 40 students from two schools that were not part of the study. The scores of the respondents from a single administration were subjected to the Cronbach Alpha Reliability Co-efficient test. The instrument was found reliable as the calculated value was 0.82.

The experimental procedure of the study was in three stages: The pre-treatment Stage was when the researcher Solicited permission from the authorities of schools. And that was when the research assistants (teachers) were trained by the researcher, at this stage the Reading Level test, EWPT, and EWASSSBS were administered. The Treatment Stage was when the Teaching Learning Guide (TLG) was deployed. The post Treatment Stage was the last stage when EWPT and EWASSSBS were re-administered

RESULTS

Research Question: Will there be any difference between the interaction effects of strategies and socio-economic status on the overall achievement of students after being instructed with different strategies?

Hypothesis:  There is no significant difference in the post-test performance score of students from different socio-economic statuses in essay writing using different strategies.

For a variety of reasons, parents’ socio-economic status has been shown to influence their children’s educational achievement. As a result, the socio-economic status of the test subject’s parents is a potential intervening variable in the treatment effects of the strategies used to teach students essay writing in this study. Given the various strategies used in teaching essay writing, this hypothesis seeks to determine if socio-economic status affected the students’ performance. Table 3 shows the results of an ANCOVA of students’ post-test performance concerning socio-economic status differences.

The F-calculated for socio-economic status is 1.23 in Table 3, which is not significant at 0.05 level because the P value (0.27) is greater than 0.05. This means that students’ socio-economic status did not affect their performance in any of the experimental groups. As a result, the null hypothesis is accepted. As a result, after being instructed with different strategies in senior secondary schools in Ondo State, there was no significant difference in the overall learning outcomes of students from different socio-economic statuses in essay writing 

Table 1: Experimental Design

Table 2: Description of Key Variables

Table 3: Summary of ANCOVA of Post EWPT Mean Score by Socio-economic Status

R Squared = .247, Adjusted R Squared =.234

DISCUSSION

This study found no significant differences in overall learning outcomes in essay writing between students from different socio-economic backgrounds after being taught different strategies in senior secondary schools in Ondo State. This result differs from what was found in the majority of the reviewed literature. (Bhat et al., 2016; Rana, et al., 2015, Ovansa, 2014 and Osei-Owusu, et al., 2018). In particular, Oyinloye and Gbenedio (2010) investigated the impact of a combination of reading-writing, discussion, and lecture methods, as well as packages of linguistic inputs and socio-economic background, on senior secondary school students’ essay writing achievement in Nigeria. They discovered that SES had an impact on students’ essay writing performance. Similarly, Ovansa (2014) investigated the effects of senior secondary school students’ socio-economic status on their academic achievement in Adavi LGA, Kogi State, and discovered that the students’ academic achievement was influenced by their parents’ socio-economic status. As a result, an a priori expectation for this study is that the low and medium SES students will have a significant difference in post-EWPT scores. However, the analysis revealed no significant difference in the EWPT scores between students from low and medium socio-economic backgrounds.

The reason why the outcome of this study, in this respect, is different from what the other authors found could be a result of the current status of the national economy in Nigeria and the status of educational infrastructure and human resources in Ondo State in particular. For instance, Princewill (2019) has argued that the middle class in Nigeria has disappeared. The nation is left with the upper class on the one hand and all others together in one single class (Medium/ Low) SES. According to the World Bank (2020), 40 percent of Nigeria’s population, or nearly 83 million people, live in poverty; therefore, many families can be classified as low-income. Looking at Ondo State, one would not find major differences in the status of infrastructures in most of the public secondary schools. So, whether a student is from a low- or middle-income family, the school environment in which they must learn does not differ in terms of teacher qualifications. The experience of the researcher while on the field revealed that teachers across the schools were all equally qualified to teach the subject matter. Thus, students of parents with two SES statuses experience the same learning environment and are taught by the same teachers who are equally qualified.

CONCLUSION

This study concluded that in Ondo State there were no significant differences in overall learning outcomes in essay writing between students from different socio-economic backgrounds after being taught different strategies in senior secondary schools in Ondo State. This is most probably because there is not much difference between the two socio-economic classes used in the study. After all, the middle class in Nigeria has disappeared.

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