Dr. Stella Adebimpe Okueso

The poor writing skills of students account for their poor performance in English language as reported in the West African Examination Council and National Examination Council results. The conventional method of teaching English is said to be deficient in abating this poor performance of students hence the search for innovative strategies for teaching and learning English in an attempt to improve learners’ continuous writing skills. Therefore, the study investigated the effect of corrective feedback and literature circle strategies on students’ learning outcomes in English language.

One hundred ten (n= 110) participants were chosen using a multi-stage sampling procedure: the first stage used a stratified random sampling technique where the study used the three senatorial districts of Ogun East, Ogun West, and Ogun Central as the three strata; the second stage used a simple random sampling technique to choose a local government from each of the three districts of the state; and the third stage used a purposive sampling technique. Ijebu Southern Grammar School, Ala-Ijebu to Corrective Feedback, Orile-Ilugun Comprehensive High School, Orile-Ilugun to Literature Circle, and Sango Otta Senior High School to Convention Method were among the three (3) schools that were arbitrarily assigned to receive therapy. The study used an intact class to avoid distraction and disruption of regular school activities.

The data collected for the study were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Descriptive statistics were used to present participants’ demographic characteristics and their distribution by strategy, gender, and parental educational support, employing frequencies, percentages, graphs, means, and standard deviations. Inferential analysis involved ANCOVA to test fourteen hypotheses, while Multiple Classification Analysis (MCA) was used to interpret post-test achievement and attitude scores. The study examined three instructional strategies, two gender groups, and two levels of parental educational support, with Scheffe post-hoc tests applied to significant main effects at the 0.05 level.

The study indicated that corrective feedback and literature circles are more effective than conventional methods in improving students’ continuous writing. Corrective feedback helps learners understand the reasons for their errors and how to correct them, while literature circles promote student-centred learning through shared roles, interaction, and diverse texts. Reading aloud also enhances writing skills. The findings further show that gender and parental educational support do not significantly influence students’ performance when these strategies are used, suggesting that they are inclusive and effective for all learners.

Based on the findings, it is recommended that secondary school English teachers adopt corrective feedback and literature circle strategies to improve students’ skills and attitudes in continuous writing. Teachers should be supported with adequate resources, such as books and access to e-libraries, and encouraged to attend relevant training and professional development programmes. Schools should promote the use of diverse literary texts, peer-reading clubs, and well-equipped libraries to support group reading activities. In addition, the Teaching Service Commission should organise workshops and seminars to train teachers on these strategies, and, with university approval, the recommendations should be forwarded to the Ministry of Education and relevant agencies for wider implementation.