IMPACT OF ECLECTICISM ON NIGERIAN ESL LEARNERS’ COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE: A COMPARATIVE STUDY

Authors

  • Chinomso P. Dozie Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Nigeria
  • Adaeze Regis-Onuoha Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Nigeria
  • Lovina I. Madu Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Nigeria
  • Favour O. Egwim Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Nigeria
  • Mary C. Okere Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Nigeria
  • Richard C. Ihejirika Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Nigeria

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.46827/ejel.v8i1.4694

Keywords:

Eclectic Approach, ESL learners, Nigerian, second language teaching/learning, writing fluency

Abstract

This study adopted three practical teaching strategies intended to positively affect learners’ writing skill while neutralising negative factors affecting their writing competence. To achieve the study objective which aimed at the assessment of the best teaching strategy to enhance learners’ writing proficiency, a comparative study of three teaching methods (namely communicative, eclectic and task-based methods) was used over a 6-week period as a treatment on three experimental groups A, B, C respectively and a control group (D) was taught using the conventional method. A pre-test was administered on two hundred (200) freshmen/subjects purposively selected from different Departments at the Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO). A post-test was used to ascertain the outcome of the six weeks period of treatment on their essay writing. Results varied according to groups but, most importantly, Group B showed very significant improvement and control group D showed no significant improvement at all in the post-test assessment while groups A and C’s writing ability improved just marginally at best post-test. Our findings suggest the need to pay attention to eclectic teaching techniques as a crucial element in enhancing writing proficiency among learners. The implications and limitations of this research in addition to guidelines for future research are discussed.

 

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Author Biographies

  • Chinomso P. Dozie, Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Nigeria

    Chinomso P. Dozie, PhD, is a senior lecturer in the Directorate of General Studies, Federal University of Technology, Owerri. Her areas of interest and research are applied linguistics, discourse analysis, teaching English as a second/foreign language, communication and language studies.

  • Adaeze Regis-Onuoha, Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Nigeria

    Adaeze Regis-Onuoha, PhD, is a lecturer in the Directorate of General Studies, Federal University of Technology, Owerri. Her current research focuses on communication, literacy, gender studies and language arts.

  • Lovina I. Madu, Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Nigeria

    Lovina I. Madu, MA, is a doctoral candidate and lecturer in the Directorate of General Studies, Federal University of Technology, Owerri. Her areas of research and specialization are gender studies/feminist literature, eco-criticism, literary studies and discourse analysis.

  • Favour O. Egwim, Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Nigeria

    Favour O. Egwim, MA, is a doctoral candidate and lecturer in the Directorate of General Studies, Federal University of Technology, Owerri. Her current interests include – sociolinguistics, discourse analysis and phonetics.

  • Mary C. Okere, Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Nigeria

    Mary C. Okere, PhD, is a senior lecturer in the Directorate of General Studies, Federal University of Technology, Owerri. Her areas of interest are language education, applied linguistics and gender issues.

  • Richard C. Ihejirika, Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Nigeria

    Richard C. Ihejirika, PhD, is an associate professor of Applied English linguistics at the Federal University of Technology, Owerri. His research focuses on Applied English linguistics, general linguistics and literature in English.

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Published

2023-03-01

Issue

Vol. 8 No. 1 (2023)

Section

Articles

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