Dr Idowu Stephen Olufemi

This Ph.D. research investigated the effectiveness of cooperative learning and literature circles as instructional strategies for improving the achievement of Nigeria Certificate in Education (NCE) English Language students in Prose Fiction, particularly in South-West Nigeria, where students’ performance had been persistently low due to overreliance on the traditional lecture method.

Using a pre-test, post-test quasi-experimental design with a 3 × 2 × 3 factorial matrix, the study involved 120 NCE English Language students drawn from three colleges of education. The research employed Things Fall Apart as the core prose text and utilized multiple validated instructional guides and a Prose Fiction Achievement Test (PFAT). Data were analysed using Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) at the 0.05 level of significance to determine treatment effects and the moderating influence of gender and source of basic education.

The findings demonstrated that both cooperative learning and literature circles significantly enhanced students’ achievement in Prose Fiction compared to the lecture method. Cooperative learning emerged as the most effective strategy, followed closely by literature circles, while the lecture method proved least effective. Importantly, the study found that gender and source of basic education had no significant main or interaction effects on students’ achievement, indicating that the effectiveness of the two instructional strategies was consistent across male and female students and across different educational backgrounds.

The study concludes that learner-centred, collaborative instructional strategies are more effective than teacher-centred approaches in teaching Prose Fiction at the NCE level. It recommends the deliberate adoption of cooperative learning and literature circles in NCE English Language classrooms, a redefinition of the teacher’s role as facilitator, and the reorganisation of classroom spaces to support group-based learning. Overall, the research contributes empirical evidence supporting innovative pedagogy in literary studies within Nigerian teacher education programmes.