ii
METALINGUISTIC AWARENESS ON STUDENTS’ WRITING SKILLS:
A CASE OF SELECTED HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS,
OROLU, OSUN STATE, NIGERIA
BY
SANUSI KAMALDEEN KOLA
1161-07086-04274
A THESIS REPORT SUBMITTED TO THE COLLEGE OF HIGHER
DEGREES AND RESEARCH FOR THE PARTIAL FULFILMENT
OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF A
MASTER OF ARTS DEGREE IN ENGLISH OF
KAMPALA INTERNATIONAL
UNIVERSITY
MARCH, 2018.
i
DECLARATION
I hereby declare that this research report is my original work and has never been submitted
to any university or institution of higher learning for an academic award.
………………………………………
Kamaldeen Kola SANUSI
………………………………………
Date
ii
APPROVAL
This research work compiled by SANUSI KAMALDEEN KOLA has been done
under my supervision and guidance. His work is now ready for submission.
………………………………………
Dr. J. Kalema
……………………………………..
Date
iii
DEDICATION
I dedicate this work to my energetic mother Alhaja Rafatu Ayoka Morenike Sanusi-
Tepamose and my empathetic brother Alhaji Muhibudeen Tepamose, the founder and CEO
MUTEP Global Farms and Allied Products Limited, Ifon, Osun state, Nigeria.
iv
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
All praise and thanks are due to Allah the Almighty for granting me endless grace and
bounties, for blessing me with guidance and wisdom to reach this academic attainment, and
for enabling me to complete this research work. Without His aid and mercy, this work
would never have seen the light of day.
I am deeply grateful to Dr. J. Kalema, my research supervisor, for his support, comments
and invaluable feedback during all the stages of writing my MA Thesis. His advice,
assistance and suggestions were always invaluable and inspiring.
Also, to Mr. Nkonge Kiyinikibi, Wassaja J. (PhD), Ongodia S. (PhD) and Kibuuka
Muhammad (PhD), whose motivational tutelage I passed through during my study period at
Kampala International University, I plead gratitude. I’m in the same breath indebted to Mr.
Kamulegeya Siraje and Dr. Kayindu, the present and former Heads, Department of
Educational Foundation, for discharging their administrative obligations towards the success
of my program. I would also like to express my sincere thanks to my advisors; Prof. (Mrs.)
I. B. Anumaka, Professor Edward Bantu, Dr. Sofia Gaite, Dr. Fabiyi Oluseyi, and Dr. Tindi
Seje, for their professional advice and constructive criticisms in my attempt to make this
work a success. I’m as well appreciative of the management and students of the selected
high schools, for hosting my experiments and investigations.
My sincere and deepest appreciation to Alhaji Muhibudeen Tepamose, a man of highest
integrity, moral rectitude, astonishing humility, high intellect with impeccable credibility,
who is also the Chairman MUTEP Global Farms and Allied Products Limited, Ifon, Osun
state, Nigeria. His funding and generosity respectively enabled me to reach this academic
level. To him I give unalloyed so much thanks.
And to my family – Asake my dear wife, an amazing woman, mothering the rest of us;
Ishola, Opeyemi, and Ajoke. Honestly, their patience is inimitable, and deeply appreciated.
I am truly indebted to my mother for her endless support, advice, encouragements and
prayers. Her words and acts of concerns for me and my family were always helpful. My
ardent thanks finally go to Mrs. Mercy Tepamose, my classmates(Zannah Babagaji and
Elungat Martin), Mr.&Mrs. Adegoke, Mr. Shakur(Abu Arafat), Barrister Ogunsola, Alhaji
Tapa, Alhaji Oladejo, Mr.&Mrs. Adejumobi, Mum Qareeb, and the rest of our people at
Agunbelewo area, Osogbo, Nigeria. For your prayers and concerns, I say a big thank you to
you all.
v
ABSTRACT
The study examined the impact of metalinguistic awareness on students’ writing skills with a view
to improving their writing performance in English language. The objectives were to determine the
level of metalinguistic awareness on the written output of the students in the selected schools., to
determine the level of writing skills of the students in the selected schools, and to examine the
impact of metalinguistic knowledge in the areas of content words, organization and use of linking
devices on the written output of the students in the selected schools. An experimental design was
adopted for the study and the sample size was 166 respondents. All the student respondents were
randomly divided into either control or experimental group of 83 students each. The research
instruments in this study were test papers used as questionnaires. A pre-test was administered to
gain the necessary background knowledge on student participants' subject-matter knowledge in
writing skill which was thereafter followed by a post-test after a two-week explicit instruction on
the established areas to measure the two groups' performances on their written output. The data
obtained was analyzed using Descriptive statistics, Independent Sample T-test and Pearson
Correlation. The obtained findings revealed that Metalinguistic Knowledge really does have an
impact on writing performance of the language learners. That when students master words
commonly used in the content areas of writing, organize and plan their written work very well and
appropriately make use of connectives, they improve in their written output. Based on the finding,
the study concluded that the approach of making the student writers be metalinguistically aware of
certain well-defined aspects proved reliable and rewarding in the development of writing skills. The
study recommended that teachers should be encouraged to consider implementing direct
metalinguistic strategy instruction to improve students’ written skills when describing words.
Writers of English language textbooks should be more current in order to produce textbook
materials that would reflect developments and innovations in teaching essay writing. Governments,
through the Education Ministries and other concerned people with the organization of conferences,
seminars and workshops are encouraged to hold regular programmes to facilitate English essay
writing skill using the approach exposed in this study.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
DECLARATION.......................................................................................................... i
APPROVAL ................................................................................................................ ii
DEDICATION............................................................................................................ iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ......................................................................................... iv
ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................................v
LIST OF TABLES .......................................................................................................x
CHAPTER ONE ..........................................................................................................1
INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................1
1.0 Introduction ............................................................................................................1
1.1 Background to the study ........................................................................................1
1.1.1 Historical perspective .........................................................................................2
1.1.2 Theoretical perspective .......................................................................................5
1.1.3 Conceptual perspective .......................................................................................6
1.1.4 Contextual perspective .......................................................................................8
1.2 Statement of the problem ......................................................................................9
1.3 Purpose of the Study ............................................................................................10
1.4 Specific objectives ................................................................................................10
1.5 Research Questions ..............................................................................................10
1.6 Research Hypotheses ...........................................................................................10
1.7 Scope of the study.................................................................................................11
1.7.1 Geographical scope ...........................................................................................11
1.7.2 Content scope ....................................................................................................11
1.8 Significance of the study ......................................................................................11
CHAPTER TWO .......................................................................................................12
LITERATURE REVIEW .........................................................................................12
2.0 Introduction ..........................................................................................................12
2.1 Theoretical Review...............................................................................................12
2.1.1 Schema theory ...................................................................................................12
2.2 Conceptual Framework .......................................................................................13
2.3.1 Metalinguistic awareness..................................................................................14
2.4 Writing Skills ........................................................................................................22
2.5 Impact of metalinguistic awareness in improving students’ essay
writing ability .............................................................................................................28
2.6 Summary of the gap .............................................................................................29
CHAPTER THREE ...................................................................................................30
METHODOLOGY ....................................................................................................30
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3.0 Introduction ..........................................................................................................30
3.1 Research Design ...................................................................................................30
3.2 Research Population ............................................................................................30
3.4 Sampling Technique ............................................................................................31
3.4.1 Sample Size ........................................................................................................31
3.5 Data Collection .....................................................................................................31
3.6 Research Instruments ..........................................................................................31
3.7 Validity and Reliability of Instruments .............................................................32
3.8 Data Collection Procedure ..................................................................................33
3.9 Data Analysis ........................................................................................................33
3.10 Ethical Consideration ........................................................................................34
3.11 Limitations of the study .....................................................................................35
CHAPTER FOUR ......................................................................................................36
DATA PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION ....................36
4.0 Introduction ..........................................................................................................36
4.1 Demographic profile of the respondents ............................................................36
CHAPTER FIVE .......................................................................................................43
DISCUSSION, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS ..........................43
5.0 Introduction ..........................................................................................................43
5.1. Discussion of findings .........................................................................................43
5.1.1 The level of Metalinguistic Awareness on written output of the
students. ......................................................................................................................43
5.1.2 The level of the writing skills of the students in the selected schools. ..........44
5.1.3 Impact of metalinguistic knowledge on the written output of the
students in the selected High Schools .......................................................................45
5.2 Conclusions ...........................................................................................................45
5.3: Recommendations ...............................................................................................46
5.4 Suggestions for Further Research ......................................................................46
REFERENCES ...........................................................................................................47
APPENDICES ............................................................................................................54
APPENDIX I: TRANSMITTAL LETTER .............................................................54
APPENDIX II: STUDENT ASSENT SCRIPT .......................................................55
APPENDIX III: QUESTIONNAIRE .......................................................................56
APPENDIX IV: MARKS SCORED BY THE STUDENT
PARTICIPANTS IN THE TESTS ...........................................................................59
viii
LIST OF ACRONYMS
FCE First Certificate of Education.
L1 Mother Tongue; one’s first (native) language. The language learned
by children and passed from one generation to the next.
L2 Second language, which is the language that you speak in the addition to the
language you learned as a child (English language).
MA Metalinguistic Awareness
MA Masters of Arts
MED Macmillan English Dictionary.
NECO National Examination Council.
SPSS Statistical Package in Social Sciences.
SS 2 Senior Secondary 2
WASSCE West African Senior School Certificate Examination.
ix
x
LIST OF TABLES
Table 3.1 Population distribution for the students………………………………….……………... 30
Table 3.2 Assessment guide. ……………………………………………………………………....34
Table 4.1 Gender and Age of the student Respondents……………………………………. ………36
Table 4.2 Descriptive statistics showing the pretest and posttest scores of the students of the control
group ………………………………………………………………………..................................... 37
Table 4.3 Descriptive statistics showing the pretest and posttest scores of the students in the
experimental group ………………………………………………………………………............... 38
Table 4.4 Descriptive statistics of mean showing the level of writing skills of the students in
Control and experimental groups …………………………………………………………………..39
Table 4.5 Independent Sample t-test for the pretest scores of the students in control and
experimental groups………………………………………………………………………………... 40
Table 4.6 Independent Sample t-test for the posttest scores of the students in control and
experimental groups………………………………………………………………………………... 41
Table 4.7 Correlation between pretest and posttest scores on metalinguistic awareness of students
in experimental group …………………………………………………………………………… 42
1
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.0 Introduction
The current study is to examine the impact of Metalinguistic Awareness in the areas of
content words’ knowledge, organization and use of linking devices on the writing skills of
high school students. The focus will be on mastering of specific academic vocabulary
commonly used in a content area, concentrating on structural and organizational aspects and
using connecting words and phrases to relate each point/idea to earlier and later points. If
students are aware of the language used in the description/characterization of certain
linguistic concepts, make their written text well organized to achieve logicality and strictly
adhere to the features expected of writing skill in terms of cohesion and coherence, this may
go some way in improving their written output.
1.1 Background to the study
The benefit of metalinguistic awareness and what it brings into language learning and how
these benefits relate to performance in language cannot be overemphasized. This culminates
the extent to which teachers of first, second or foreign languages should promote the
development of metalinguistic skills at school or at university for effectiveness in written
texts. This was reiterated in a Bangor Language Awareness seminar by James and Garrett
(1992) with an assertion which says: “The study of language is patently self-justifying”. It is
however unfortunate today that most of our students in the secondary schools and even
products of tertiary institutions have continuously display a very low level of competence in
the use of the language. Johanne, (2002) argues that the ability to write well is not a
naturally acquired skill; it is usually learned or culturally transmitted as a set of practices in
formal instructional settings or other environments. He maintains that writing skills must be
practiced and learned through experience. It involves composing, either to tell or retell
pieces of information in the form of narratives or description, or to transform information
into new texts, as in expository or argumentative writing.
2
1.1.1 Historical perspective
The term “metalinguistics” appeared between 1950 and 1960 to designate the whole field of
research that has to do with ‘metalanguage’ that is to say the language that is used to refer to
language itself, based primarily on linguistic terminology (e.g. Syntax, morpheme, subject
verb agreement). This shift of function of the most basic tool of internal and external
communication requires a consistence level of abstraction. Over past two decades,
metalinguistics has become a burgeoning area of educational enquiry. A number of studies
(e.g. Berry, 2009; Hu, 2011; Henry, & Roseberry, 1999; Jessner, 2005; Robinson, 2005;
Roehr, 2007; and White & Ranta, 2002) have made efforts to investigate the role of the
concept in first (L1) and second language (L2) learning contexts and its impacts on learners’
language performance. As Benveniste (1974) pointed out, metalinguistic ability refers
primarily to “the possibility of raising ourselves above language, of abstracting ourselves
from it, of contemplating it, whilst making use of it in our reasoning and observations” (as
cited in Gombert, 1992, p2).
Nonetheless, Gombert (1992) did recognize some of the specific demands of writing and
that metalinguistic understanding in writing may be different from that related to talk. He
notes that the absence of an immediate reader and immediate feedback makes writing more
challenging, ‘the cognitive consequence of [this…] is the higher level of abstraction and
elaboration required in the processing of written language’ (1992:151) and suggests that, as
a consequence, ‘metalinguistic development thus appears to be of primary importance in the
acquisition of writing’. He also argues that metalinguistic activity is, to an extent, an
inevitable consequence of the demands of writing because ‘most of the components of the
activity of writing are consciously monitored by the subject at some stage during the
learning process, from first acquaintance with activity of writing to expertise in the
production of written text’ (1992:17).
Myhill & Jones, (2015) make a submission that there is very limited understanding of how
older writers in the secondary or high-school phase of schooling develop metalinguistic
understanding about writing. Yet writing, by its very nature, is always an act of decision-
3
making (Kellogg, 1994): decisions about the communicative content, about the medium,
about the audience, about text structure, about word choice and so on. Arguably, writing is
always an act of selecting, shaping, reflecting and revising (Myhill, 2011) and thus draws on
metalinguistic activity. He stresses that researchers such as Tolchinsky (2001) and Fortune
(2005) have argued that metalinguistic activity is an inevitable element of text production –
in other words, it is impossible to write without engaging in metalinguistic activity at some
level. Hence, Venuti, (2015) states that teachers tend to fail to develop their students’
metalinguistic competence or to make them understand language in itself in favour of
proficiency and fluency in the use of language. Cumming (2001) finally reflects on this and
states that children who have a more developed sense of metalinguistic awareness are likely
also to have more developed language in general skills; this appears to be true for written
language skills, as these metalinguistic and written language skills are also shared across
both languages.
With this in mind, Bialystok’s (1987;1999) work on metalinguistic development in bilingual
children is useful: she argues that metalinguistic understanding involves two related
components of language processing, analysis and control, which are responsible for
language learning and use (e.g. fluent reading, writing coherent texts). She refers to analysis
as the ability to represent explicit and conscious knowledge and control as the ability to
selectively attend to and apply knowledge (Bialystok, 1987). Bialystok argues that
developments in linguistic abilities are a result of developments of analysis and control.
This analysis and control framework provides a means with which learners’ development of
metalinguistic understanding can be described. The concepts of analysis and control have
some resonance with Gombert’s division of his definition of metalinguistic understanding
into, firstly, ’activities of reflection on language and use’ (1992:13), similar to Bialystok’s
analysis; and secondly, individuals’ ‘ability to monitor and plan their own methods of
linguistic processing’ (1992:13) which is akin to Bialystok’s control. What is common to
both is the notion that metalinguistic activity involves both recognizing and identifying
patterns of language use, and being able to regulate one’s own language use and language
choices. This appears very prominent in the context of writing, because of its being actively
involved in decision making.
4
Similarly, in today’s society, the act of writing is ingrained in every aspect of our lives and
continue to shape human interaction as we head full force into the 21st century. Writing and
the explicit teaching of writing has played a central role in education in many historical
periods, from the ancient Greeks through much of the twentieth century. The Greeks valued
writing for its rhetorical and persuasive powers; the Romans prized eloquence in writing;
and the British of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries saw it as a tool for instilling moral
values (Graham, S., and Hebert, M. A. (2010). Fifty years ago, writing was taught via
technical aspects of proper grammar, spelling, punctuation and other conventions. Grammar
instruction, or essentially, “how the English language works,” was thought to be essential to
learning how to write and therefore, a principal focus in teaching (Hillocks, 1987).
As scholars began to study writing systematically, it became clear that the written word is
an indispensable tool for communication and achievement. In today’s electronic world,
writing provides an almost instantaneous means for communicating with family, friends,
and colleagues (Graham, 2006). People use writing to explore who they are, to combat
loneliness, and to chronicle their experiences. Writing is beneficial both psychologically and
physiologically (Smyth, 1998). Writing is also a valuable tool for learning (Bangert-
Drowns, Hurley, and Wilkenson, 2004; Graham and Perin, 2007a), enabling us to gather,
preserve, and transmit information with great detail and accuracy.
The ability to write articulately gives one the power and opportunity to share and influence
thoughts, ideas and opinions with others, not only in day-to-day situations, but across time
and space. As May Heller writes, “The value that is placed on reading and writing arises out
of share need to literate people, this is a function of our society and of our culture” (1996,
p13). As writers, it is important to produce quality works, and as educators, we have to learn
a great deal about what it means to teach others to do the same. According to Graham and
Herbert (2010) Writing plays two distinct roles in school. First, it is a skill that draws on sub
skills and processes such as handwriting and spelling; a rich knowledge of vocabulary;
mastery of the conventions of punctuation, capitalization, word usage, and grammar; and the
use of strategies (such as planning, evaluating, and revising text). All are necessary for the
5
production of coherently organized essays containing well developed and pertinent ideas,
supporting examples, and appropriate detail (Needels & Knapp, 1994)
Furthermore, before the advent of process oriented instruction in ESL literacy instruction,
teacher feedback to second language writing often was excessively concerned with
eradicating errors (Applebee, 1981; Zamel, 1985). Often, that feedback was notably
unsuccessful in helping to reduce error frequency in subsequent student writing (Truscott,
1996). However, as process oriented practices, with their emphasis on student writers’ and
individual writing process achieved widespread acceptance, some swung to the opposite
extreme, giving little or no attention to morpho-syntactic or lexical accuracy of students’
final products (Horowitz, 1986).
It is hence, according to Zamel, (1982) asserts that……if, students learn that writing is a
process through which they can explore and discover their thought and ideas, then, product
is likely to improve as well. Thus, according to Frodesen and Holten (2003) mentioned in
(Ferris and Hedgcock, 2005) research suggests that “it is best interest of L2 writers to attend
to language issue consistently throughout the drafting process” (P 145).
1.1.2 Theoretical perspective
Khaled Barkaoui, (2007) emphasizes that learning and teaching writing in second language
are very challenging tasks, not least because of the myriad affective, linguistic, cognitive,
and sociocultural factor involved. This study therefore, draws on theory of Schema. Schema
beyond being a theory is a phenomenon that is commonly referred to as an outline of a plan.
Schema is closely related to information process, for this reason, it has to do with how the
brain works in terms of association i.e. recollection of old, and matching of newly acquired
information to the previously consciously or unconsciously internalized information.
(Adekoya, 2013).
Schema theory has increasingly aroused interest of English teachers. A new field in English
writing research thus appeared. Schema refers to a collection of knowledge related to a
concept and it contains background knowledge of content, text structure and hierarchical
6
organization of the text. During the writing process, students need to activate their previous
schemata stored in their long-term memory and they also have to obtain new knowledge
which helps them create good essays. Schemata supply the necessary knowledge of phrases,
content and organization forms, which have much influence on writing planning, revising
and editing process. Most of the teachers, however just study the relationship between the
schema theory and writing, and at best they offer some suggestions about how to improve
students’ writing ability. (Fushan Sun, 2014).
1.1.3 Conceptual perspective
Metalinguistic awareness according to Andrew, (1999) is an awareness of the language, its
structure and functions that lead the speaker of the language to think about and use the
language consciously; it consists of the knowledge and awareness of phonemes, syllables,
rhyme and morphology. According to Malakoff, (1999) Metalinguistic Awareness as the
awareness of the features of the language that gives the speakers of the language ability of
not only comprehending or producing utterances, but also checking the linguistic form and
the structure underlying the meaning of the utterances. Metalinguistic knowledge, according
to Donmall, (1985, p.7) is used in at least two senses: in the first sense, it stands for “a
person sensitive to and consciously awareness of the nature of language and its role in
human life”; as well, in the second sense, it refers to state of linguistic and grammatical
rules and mastering of the specific terminology used to describe concept and functions.
Conceptualizing the term metalinguistic, Gombert’s (1992) analysis of metalinguistic
development as cited in (Myhill D & Jones S, 2015) remains a positive contribution. He
conceptualized metalinguistic development as having five sub domains:
i. Metaphonological: developing understanding of the sounds that build words
ii. Metalexical/metasemantic: developing understanding of word structures and word
meanings;
iii. Metasyntactic: developing the ability to reason consciously about syntax and
intentionally control it;
iv. Metapragmatic: developing understanding of how to use language appropriately in
social contexts;
7
v. Metatextual: developing understanding of text structure including cohesion and
coherence
From these five identified subdomains, 2nd and 5th domains (metalexical and metatextual)
remain very pertinent to the development of students’ writing skills which is one of the
major variables of this study. Metalexical is important because writing is built on
developing understanding of how words are structured. Similarly, metatextual also remain a
germane factor in writing because it is said to develop understanding of the text structure
which includes cohesion and coherence. The twosome of cohesion and coherence are the
same two text-oriented standard of textuality which (Beaugrande and Dressler, 1981) said
needed to be considered to have been satisfied, if communicative occurrence is to be
achieved. They maintain that the first two standards, cohesion and coherence are “text
centered notions, designating operations directed at the text material” (p.7).
The above stated Gombert’s analysis has unequivocally made a reflection, that there are
many genres including that of writing which knowledge of metalinguistic can offer in the
development of written texts. However, this study is delimited to three areas which include
knowledge of content word, organization and use of linking devices.
Writing according to Richard, (2002) is undoubtedly a complicated skill to master for L2
learners. The difficulty stems from the fact that generating and organizing ideas and then
translating them into readable text are time–consuming and long-sought skill even for native
speaker. The complex skills which are used in writing require L2 learners to not only focus
on planning and organizing skills in higher level but also on spelling, punctuation, word
choice skills in a lower level.
Operational Definition
Metalinguistic Awareness
Metalinguistic Awareness can be said to be a collection of knowledge that has to do with the
use of linguistic features like knowledge of contents words, hierarchical organization of the
text and appropriate use of linking devices to achieve logicality and coherency in the
development of effective written texts.
8
Academic language
Academic language is the language that is used by the teachers and the students for the
purpose of acquiring new knowledge and skills…. impacting new information, describing
abstract ideas, and developing students’ conceptual understanding. Academic language in
other words also referred to as content words: these are key terms used in essay questions.
Organization
Organization refers to the conditioning of one’s write-up to its expected pattern, in terms of
planning, gathering ideas, outlining ideas, etc.
Linking devices
Linking devices are linking words or phrases which are employed in written work to exhibit
effectiveness and smooth transition from one sentence to another and more importantly,
from one paragraph to another.
Writing skill
This is the ability possessed in carrying out writing activities which involve composing in
written forms. For example, writing of books, essays, letters, stories, etc.
Define: Concise, clear meaning or explanation of a key term or concept, usually goes
beyond the bare dictionary definition.
Analyze: Break up into parts; investigate which requires critical assessment and comments
based on evidence of its merit or correctness.
Critique: Critical appraisal or assessment of an argument or theory; requires a judgement as
to its correctness on merit.
Compare: Look for similar features, characteristics or elements in common.
1.1.4 Contextual perspective
According to Stephen Slima (DailyMonitor, Uganda, 2016) students need to be proficient in
academic language. He explains further, that academic language is the language typically
found in textbooks, used daily in our classrooms, and presented in tests, we regularly give. It
is the language students must master in order to succeed in any content area. It is comprised
of discipline in specific vocabulary, grammar and punctuation and application of rhetorical
9
conventions and devices that share commonly in a content area. A number of studies,
globally, at continental or national levels have looked at writing and concluded that it is a
rich phenomenon which is first seen as a means of communication, and gradually separated
out as system in its own right. Writing being a process that is accelerated at school, its
development starts as soon as a child makes a mark with crayon or any tool on a surface.
However, students’ writing over the years has taken a downward trend which is
continuously reflected in their performance in both internal and external examinations. For
instance, a Chief Examiner reports (2005-2009) of an external examination which is mostly
used for admission into tertiary institutions like the West African Senior School Certificate
Examination (WASSCE) in Nigeria, describe a consistent decline in the way students write,
as exemplified in the various errors they commit in their written work or essay. The reports
state that candidates’ expressions are generally poor and their range of vocabulary is limited,
as expressed in the WASSCE Chief Examiners’ reports. Babalola and Akande (2002)
therefore, point to the fact that students’ writing especially those who are second learners of
English language (L2) e.g. Nigeria students should be properly corrected. It is a general
consensus among language experts that making or committing errors is a necessary and
natural process in language learning (Edge, 1989; Hendrickson, 1978). That is why the
findings of this study are tailored towards this direction.
1.2 Statement of the problem
Students’ essay writing skills continually fall below expectation (Zeng, 2005; Graham and
Perin, 2007; Akande, 2003). This may be due among other factors to their inability in
mastering of academic language skills for written discourse. More specifically, there is
always reflection of errors in students written output as a result of failure to master the key
words of an essay question that needed to be known well. Also, in the area of organization
and planning of their work, the use of connectives, articles, word order, verb tense, subject
verb agreement etc. This is shown in external examination chief examiners’ reports (2005-
2009) as cited in (Eyongo & Fawole, 2013). The external examination is called West
African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) in Nigeria. As expressed in the
WASSCE Chief Examiners’ reports (2009), given a paper that conforms to standards, many
10
candidates’ answers to the questions show that quite a number of them are not adequately
exposed to the skills of writing. Students’ poor writing skill has therefore been identified as
a major factor in students’ poor performance in English language examination.
1.3 Purpose of the Study
The main objective of the study is to measure the impact of Metalinguistic Awareness on
students’ writing skills.
1.4 Specific objectives
The study aims to achieve the following objectives:
1. To determine the level of metalinguistic awareness on the written output of the
students in the selected schools.
2. To determine the level of writing skills of the selected students.
3. To examine the impact of metalinguistic knowledge in the areas of content words,
organization and use of linking devices on the written output of the students in the
selected schools.
1.5 Research Questions
The study aims to find answers to the following questions:
1. What is the level of metalinguistic awareness with respect to areas of content words,
organization and use of linking devices on the on the written output of the students
in the selected school?
2. What is the level of writing skills of the students in the selected school?
3. Does metalinguistic knowledge in the areas of content words, organization and use
of linking devices impact on the written output of the students in the selected
schools?
1.6 Research Hypotheses
1. There is no significant relationship between pretest and posttest scores on
Metalinguistic awareness of the students in the experimental group.
11
1.7 Scope of the study
1.7.1 Geographical scope
This study was conducted from selected high schools in Orolu Local Government Area,
with the headquarters in Ifon, Osun state, in South-western Nigeria.
1.7.2 Content scope
The study examined the impact of metalinguistic awareness in the areas of knowledge of
content words, organization and use of linking devices on the written output of the students
in selected high schools.
1.8 Significance of the study
The findings of the study will benefit stakeholders and agencies in the following different
categories:
i. Curriculum developers, authors of language books and policy makers: They
may use the information generated here to develop an integrated academic language
course and plan for availability of instructional materials for language education and
literacy, more specifically the writing skills.
ii. Teachers and Schools: They might find this work beneficial by making use of it to
look for strategies of improving writing skills and to develop their students to
achieve competence in the said writing skills.
iii. Students: It will also serve as source of information for students who are in the
position to read it, understand it, and apply the information therein, in order to have
better improvement in their essay writings.
iv. Future researchers: The research may also be helpful to other researchers, who
might be interested in carrying out further research on this topic.
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CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.0 Introduction
This chapter covers the theoretical review and conceptual frame work. It also reviews other
related literature under the sub topics adopted from objectives of the study; as the summary
of identified gap is also analyzed.
2.1 Theoretical Review
2.1.1 Schema theory
Rumelhart (1980) puts forward the concept of schema theory basically as a theory of how
knowledge is mentally represented in the mind and used. He wrote that “all knowledge is
packaged into units. These units are the schemata”. Three years later, Widdowson defined
schema as “cognitive constructs which allow for the organization of information in a long-
term memory”. From the above definitions, we may conclude that schema is the prior
knowledge gained through experiences stored in one’s mind. It is an abstract structure of
knowledge.
This theory is relevant to this study in the sense that, in the analysis of schema theory
typology by the theorists, “Formal schemata” types are identified and described as the
organizational forms and rhetorical structures of written texts. They include knowledge of
different text types and genres, and also include the knowledge that different types of texts
use text organization, language structures, vocabulary, grammar and level of formality
differently. Formal schemata are described as abstract, encoded, internalized, coherent
patterns of meta-linguistic, discourse and textual organization that guide expectation in our
attempts to understand a meaning piece of language. Readers use their schematic
representations of the text such as fictions, poems, essays, newspaper articles, academic
articles in magazines and journals to help comprehend the information in the text. Studies
show that the knowledge of what type and genre the text is can facilitate reading
comprehension for readers because the type of the text will offer detailed evidence of the
content of the text (Carrell, 1984).
13
2.2 Conceptual Framework
Source: primary data 2017.
Figure 1: Conceptual Framework of the Study
The study is based on the concept that the knowledge of metalinguistic in the areas of content
words, organization and use of linking devices would improve students writing skills, hence,
develop well planned, organized and coordinated written text. Metalinguistic Awareness is the
independent variable, while writing skills is the dependent variable. The researcher also takes note
of the knowledge on mechanical accuracy, appropriate use of vocabulary and appropriate use of
tenses as intervening variables that could bring about a successful written discourse.
Independent variable
Metalinguistic awareness
Knowledge of content
words in writing
Organization
Use of linking devices
Dependent Variable
Writing Skills
Improvement in the writing
skills:
Grammar
Spelling
Cohesion and coherence
Intervening variables
Knowledge of
mechanical accuracy
Knowledge of
appropriate use of
vocabulary
Knowledge of
appropriate use of
tenses.
Vocabulary use
Expression
Mechanical
Accuracy:
Spellings
Punctuations
Use of articles
Spellings
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2.3 Literature Review
2.3.1 Metalinguistic awareness
In a sphere where knowledge is largely consolidated through writing, mastering the written
form of expression is a key to the success and consequently a skill which receives a great
deal of attention from the students. Acquiring academic writing proficiency entails not only
mastering the technical and the formal aspect of genre, such as using source references and
the citation, but also ability to think in more abstract terms, such as reflecting critically on
vocabulary choice and language usage within the academic context. This ability to engage
cognitively in one’s own thought process to think about thinking- is referred to as
metacognition. Acquiring academic writing proficiency involves mastering the often tacit
conventions of academic writing. The tacit nature of such conventions makes them
particularly easy to grasp for students; at the same time, mastering them is the ultimate
emblem of success and a prerequisite for membership in the academic discourse.
Meara (1990:35) argued that “lexical competence is at the heart of communication
competence: without sufficient vocabulary, learners may struggle with their written and
spoken communication”. It is therefore of the utmost priority to start the analysis of the
point at issue by discussing the several meanings with which the term metalinguistic
awareness has been used.
According to Roehr (2007), metalinguistic awareness is defined as one’s ability to
consciously think about language and its nature by means of the skills mentioned below:
i. An awareness that a language is not just the symbol of that language but it can go
beyond the meaning.
ii. An awareness that the words and their referents are built separately (meaning is in
the language user’s mind, not in the word.)
iii. An awareness that language is rule-based and its structure can be manipulated, you
can write things in many different ways.
Metalinguistic knowledge is typically defined as the learners’ ability to correct, describe and
explain second language (L2) errors (Roehr, 2007). The famous linguist, Noam Chomsky
15
(1975), has defined the field of metalinguistics as the subject knowledge of the
characteristics and the structure of langue”. Metalinguistic awareness is said to be the
understanding that language is a system of communication, connected to the rules, and form
the basis for the ability to discuss different ways of using language (Kuile, et al 2010).
Usually, when a student writes a composition, a specific question or topic to write about
must have been given. Therefore, you have to focus on your given topic and design your
assignment carefully. In doing this, student writers need to be aware and possess certain
abilities metalinguistically, in order to impact in their written output and produce well-
structured and effective written texts for academic or professional purposes. It sounds
simple, but too often writers skim over the directions and embark on writing projects that do
not fulfill the expectation of their readers. In order to avoid this trap, certain abilities need to
be developed in order to impact positively on your writing skills.
2.3.2 Understanding Certain Lexical Items Usually Used in Composition Writing
Instructions.
According to Nakanyike & Edgar, (2010.p:13) writing assignments are frequently defined
using action verbs, such as define…., describe…., analyze…., critique…., explain….,
compare…., discuss…., and so on. They maintain that “these words tell you what you are
expected to do in your writing”. For example,
Discuss: If you are to discuss in a composition, this means to consider or examine by
argument, comment, talk over or write about, especially to explore solutions by expressing
pros and cons of a proposal. To present reason for or against a thing, that is, using reasons or
proof to support or refute an assertion, proposition or principle, as this can be most
experienced in argumentative essays. Usually, ‘discuss’ collocates with certain nouns
frequently used as objects like issue, matter, plan, proposal, question, subject, topic.
Linguists maintain that the verb ‘discuss’ is never used with the preposition ‘about’. It is
simply followed by a direct object. (Macmillan English Dictionary, 2007) For example,
i. I would like to discuss about the advantages and disadvantages of students using
credit cards - wrong.
16
ii. I would like to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of students using credit
cards - right.
iii. Jury members are not allowed to discuss about the trial - wrong.
iv. Jury members are not allowed to discuss the trial - right.
Describe: This is giving account in words about (someone or something), including all the
relevant characteristics, qualities or events. To describe also means to tell or depict in
written or spoken words. It is used to convey in words the appearance nature, attributes, etc.
of something. It implies vividness of personal observation; to describe a scene, an event.
Understanding of the meaning of this word ‘describe’ by a student writer will definitely
enhance his/her awareness very greatly in any given composition, especially, descriptive
writing. For example, if instruction of an essay says describe, perhaps accident, damage,
death, loss, injury or problem, do not mention the cause alone. State the cause and effect.
Macmillan English Dictionary (2007) suggests that source, origin and root, all refer to the
first or original cause of something, with root often used with reference to something bad:
i. Village clerks could not keep a proper record of deaths, since they were so frequent.
This was the source of the central authorities’ difficulty in making adequate
assessments.
ii. The origins of this popular movement lie in the first wave of pressure for
disarmament.
iii. In all three countries, the root of the problem is highly unequal system of land
distribution.
Just as stated earlier, explaining the cause alone may not justify your description of an
event, therefore, the effect must be stated. In expressing effect, you can refer to the effect
produced by an event, action or state by means of an adverb therefore or the conjunction so
that, or by a noun such as effect or result.
Furthermore, describing a situation means describing similarities and differences. When you
write an essay, report or similar document, you need to link two or more points, ideas, or
17
situation by comparing and contrasting them, which is showing the similarities and the
differences between them. This can be done in following ways:
I. Describing similarities by comparing: Macmillan English Dictionary (2007) Second
Edition states that “you can use several expressions to show that two or more points,
ideas or situation are similar. The common one is using nouns such as resemblance,
similarity, parallel and analogy to show that two points, ideas, or situations are
similar in certain ways”. if there is resemblance between two or more points,
situation, or people, they share some characteristics but not exactly the same:
i. There is a striking resemblance between them.
ii. He would have recognized her from her strong resemblance to her brother.
iii. There is remarkable similarity of techniques, of clothes and of weapons.
The noun similarity also refers to particular characteristic or aspect that is shared by two
or more points, ideas, situation or people:
i. These theories share certain similarities with biological explanation
ii. The orangutan is the primate most closely related to man: its lively facial
expression show striking similarities to those of humans.
II. Describing difference by contrasting: Macmillan English Dictionary (2007) also
argues here that “you can use several expressions to show that two or more points,
ideas, or situations are different. The most common one uses nouns contrast and
difference. You can use the nouns contrast, difference and distinction to express
contrast:
i. However, there was an important contrast between rural and urban settings.
ii. Table 1 shows the significant differences in marital status.
iii. The sharp distinction between domestic politics and international politics.
Explain: this is giving details, defining scope and structure, expressing opinion and making
a concept plain and comprehensible. It is very clear that implication of knowing this term
will definitely lead to having better composition wherever the question asks to explain a
concept. According to vocabulary.com dictionary, to explain something is to define it, show
how it works, or just tell what it is. It argues further that explain means to justify i.e. by
providing justification or proof. There are various ways through which an idea can be
18
explained in essay writing. A concept can actually be explained through expressing personal
opinion, exemplification or reformation. (MED. 2007).
1. Expressing personal opinions: you sometime need to give your personal opinion
when you write an essay, report, or similar document. This can be done in two ways:
(a) There are expressions you can use to give your opinion explicitly, with phrase or
structure that contains the words ‘I and my’. You can use several expressions for
giving your opinion explicitly when explaining a point or an idea. The most frequent
ones are in my opinion or in my view:
i. In my opinion, the prison system is not outdated.
ii. In my view, women and men are equal.
Student writers need to be careful here, because learners often use the expressions to
my mind, from my point of view, and as far as I am concerned. However, these
expressions are rare in academic writing and professional reports.
(b) There are expressions you can use to give your opinion implicitly without using
first person reference. As a general rule, implicit expressions are preferred in
academic writing and professional reports.
Academic writing and professional reports favour an impersonal style in which the author’s
presence is not directly revealed. When explaining an idea, you can use impersonal
structures to give your opinion, without using first person reference:
i. It is reasonable to assume that such changes have significant social and
economic effects.
ii. It is essential to have good professional advice, and review the adequacy
of your insurance cover from time to time.
2. Exemplification: when you want to explain something more fully, you often need to
introduce example in most useful ways of exemplifying either by using for example, for
instance, and abbreviation ‘e.g.’ (Exempli gratia in Latin). The most frequent ways of
introducing an example during course of explaining ideas especially in academic writing
is ”for example”
(a) It can be used at beginning of a sentence, followed by a comma:
19
i. These conflicts have had the repercussions throughout the region. For
example, there are large refugee populations in the surrounding states,
while Honduras has seen a greatly increased US presence.
(b) It can be used more frequently, within the sentence, enclosed by commas,
especially after the subject of the sentence:
i. Critics say that the division of responsibilities is unclear social security,
for example, is the responsibility of central government but education is
handled by local authorities.
3. Reformulation: sometimes, in the course of writing, you may want to explain
something expressing it in a different way or by providing more detailed or more
precise information. That is, when you want to explain or define exactly what you
mean by something. The abbreviation i.e. (short for ‘id est.’, Latin equivalent of
“that is”) or the expression ‘that is’ can be used. This is much more frequent in
academic writing or professional reports. ‘That is’ is usually enclosed by commas.
The abbreviation i.e. follows a comma or is used between brackets.
i. The police now have up to ninety-six hours, i.e. four days and nights, to
detain people without charge.
ii. Descartes was obsessed by epistemological questions, that is, question about
what we can know and how we can know it.
iii. Network emergencies (i.e. network failures) should be reported immediately.
2.3.3 Organizing Ideas
Oluikpe (1979) says writing is a skill, which demands that students plan and organize their
imagination clearly and in sequential order to fulfill essence of writing. Organization and
discovery of thought are prerequisites for creative writing and very important part of writing
process. Making lists by the students is also a good way to stretch their imagination while
keeping their ideas organized. If the students are restrained they will not be able to maintain
the originality of their work and the creativity might as well be compromised.
The writing process begins well before pen to paper or fingers to a keyboard. Pre writing, or
planning out what is going to be written is an essential step in writing process and account
for 70 percent of the writing time (Murray, 1982). Research indicates that skilled writers
20
spend significantly more time organizing and planning what they are going to write
(Hillocks, 1986). Most students however, spend on average about 3 minutes to prepare for
their writing (National Center for Educational Statistics, 1996). Students spend little time
thinking and planning how to express their thoughts before writing them down and therefore
are not accessing information and ideas that could possibly enhance their writing.
According to Thornbury (1997: p, 140) “as readers we assume that the organization of a text
is not arbitrary, but that it serves to convey the writers intention, that it makes the writer’s
intention coherent”. Worrall (2000) says, most students writing at First Certificate of
Education (FCE) level tend to lack a clear structure and they often lack a sense of cohesion.
At sentence level, there is often coherence and accuracy problem but overall, the students
manage to convey the main message. We must then consider not only the clear linking of
the information of written work but also clear structure, paragraphs, punctuations and so on.
Moreover, ordering of ideas is an area that always leads to the breakage of the
communication link between the writer and the reader. The writer may fail to present his/her
ideas in a manner that makes sense to the reader. He may start with an idea that would have
come last and vice versa. He/she may fail to be precise or straight to the point where it is
supposed to be made. Furthermore, relating ideas is another weakness that writers should
look out for. The communication link is broken when the writer fails to relate his/her ideas
properly. This in most cases due to inappropriate use of linking words like though, besides,
however and many others that show transition within and between ideas.
It is therefore up to the teacher, to convey to the students that they must consider the target
reader of any written work that they produce and to encourage good writing habits. Students
need to be able to plan, draft and redraft their texts in order to be proficient in writing skills.
Skilled writers will revise their writing skills at all levels of lexis, sentence and discourse.
Writing class should not just be concerned with mechanics of grammar, spelling,
punctuation and vocabulary (Nunan 1991:90).
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2.3.4 Writing Well Coordinated Text with the Use of Linking Words
Kolawole (1998) says the technical nature of writing and the need to use writing to express a
writer’s thought in a logical and coherent manner call for it to be taught well. All other
macro-skills of language are taught without facing serious challenges on how to coordinate
ideas, thoughts and the application of mechanics as is required in writing skills. Therefore,
there should be appropriate use of transitions for an effective written discourse. Transitions
play an important role in the development of an academic essay. They help to create a sense
of coherence and provide signposting for the reader to follow the writer’s thread of thought.
Choosing the appropriate transition that makes the logical connection will ensure that the
reader understands the text in the way the author had intended.
Basing on this, Crew (1990:321) outlines three pedagogical approaches which represent
what he describes as “three stages of awareness that connectives have as textual meaning
and not just surface-level fillers” these approaches may help to explore the ways of
enhancing students’ ability to use linking devices. He refers to these three approaches as
‘Reductionist’, ‘Expansionist’ and ‘Deductionist’.
The Reductionist approach suggests that students should be presented with a small subset of
a long list of linkers, and over time, students should become more aware of their semantic
and discourse value. A shorter list would have the advantage of “allowing the contrasts
between the connectives to be more easily stressed” (Crew 1990; 322); where he describes
the three problematic areas of conceptual categories: ‘Additives’,’ Adversative’, and
‘Causal’.
The Expansionist approach encourages “explicit markers” (Crew 1990; 322) which are
expressions which explicitly state the connection with either the preceding or following
textual matter. Most of expression would contain the reference word ‘this’. Some examples
that Crew list are: ‘because of this’, ‘for this purpose’, ‘as a result of this’.
The criticism of the above two approaches is that they work from backward to discourse.
Rather than concentrating on discourse first, they only consider method of controlling
22
output. As they focus at the level of lexis, the logical development of the argument or
discussion is taken for granted.
To try to remedy this effect, Crew presents a third approach: the ‘deductionist’ approach,
which begins by obliging the students before the writing process (within the essay plan), for
example, to state the connection between the stages in the argument (Crew 1990:323). If we
do this first , we can use lexical selections from a more complex list, rather than having
terms like ‘additive’ and ‘adversative’ as the category titles, the sections could be labeled
with discourse questions. Crew (1990:323) suggests some of the following:
i. Does your next section add another similar point to the argument? If so, is it of same
importance or of greater importance? Same? Use ‘also’, ‘in addition’, or ‘besides’.
Greater? Use ‘moreover’, or ‘furthermore’.
ii. Does your next section add an opposing point to the argument? If so, are points valid or
does the second one cancel out the first? Both valid use ‘but’, ‘however’, ‘nevertheless’
or ‘on the other hand’. The second cancel the first? Use ‘on the contrary’.
Crew says that the schema above will ultimately need to contain a full range of discourse
moves (1990:323), for example, listing, comparing, exemplifying, showing consequence,
rephrasing and concluding.
2.4 Writing Skills
Writing Skill according to Diana H.K., (2012) is a comprehensive writing program for beginners,
reluctant and struggling writers. Also for proficient and advanced writers, it offers strategies,
techniques, and opportunities to apply them. Research shows that explicit instruction benefits both
struggling and proficient writers. Writing Skill is designed as a structured, comprehensive program for
teaching the composition, grammar, and transcription skills necessary for effective writing. Writing
Skill provides step-by-step instruction in the foundational skills needed by students to become good
writers, including grammar, sentence structure, paragraph composition, mechanics and usage, and
transcription.
According to Aliyu (1997:81) when summarizing problems that contribute to hinder effective
writing communication in secondary schools, he says: most students at secondary schools also
lack adequate knowledge of the writing skills such as, grammar, spelling, punctuation,
23
organization, and proper use of tenses and connectives. These affect their writing negatively
because their message is not normally conveyed (Aliyu, 1997:81).
2.4.1 The Role of Grammar in Improving Students’ Writing Skills
Grammar is a key concept in general linguistic theory. Grammars function as aids to learning
instead of being an object for knowledge per se (Corder 1988; Kachru 2010) Grammar is, in
other words, understood to be an explicit metalinguistic description of a languages. “Grammar
includes the rules for correct writing and speaking. An important part of learning, but to learn
how to speak is more important. Grammar guides how language should be written or spoken in a
correct way, grammatical correctness and the correct way of forming sentences. Learners should
therefore display a very high metalinguistic awareness when reflecting on cross-linguistic
influence in written English by maintaining common grammar rules, in the form of:
i. Knowledge and elaboration of grammar rules.
ii. Recognition and identification of part of speech, word order structure, (non)
existence of article and word building rules.
2.4.2 Spelling in the Writing Process
Spelling is one of the tools that facilitates the effective communication of the writer’s
message. It is an integral part of the writing process and should take precedence, in the
publication stage of children’s writing. Beginning writers need to know when spelling matters
in the writing process. They need to know that composition, language use and organization are
more important than accurate spelling in the early stages of the writing process. However, in
the final draft, when the writing is ready for publication, accurate spelling will determine how
the writing will be received by the audience. According to Phenix & Scott-Dunne (1994, p. 28)
Spelling is one of the less interesting and more laborious aspects of writing. It can also be the most
noticeable, one that can create a good or bad impression before the reader thinks about what the writer
has to say. The primary purpose of developing competence in spelling is to facilitate effective
written communication. It must be understood that insistence on correct spelling all the time
may limit the written communication of beginning writers. Children who are encouraged to take
responsibility, use resources, experiment with language, and create further learning opportunities, are
all part of an exciting world for teaching and learning spelling. (Lacey 1994, p. 11). Teachers are
24
expected to make decisions about the content of the spelling program, plan suitable activities
and assess and evaluate children’s knowledge and use of spelling.
Recent research has provided a clearer understanding of the process of learning to spell and
how to facilitate progression through this process. The following points were therefore
suggested in facilitating spelling development.
• Involvement in meaningful language experiences in a print-rich
Environment.
• Understanding of the individual nature of the developmental stages of spelling.
• Understanding of the problem-solving nature of spelling development.
• Distinct lessons that promote an understanding of the process of rule generation and
hypothesis testing.
• The promotion of a spelling consciousness that values and promotes risk-taking.
2.4.3 Cohesion and Coherence
Cohesion is a part of study of the texture which engages the communication between the cohesion
and other aspects of text association (Martin, 2003). It is referred as the existence or nonexistence
of signals in a text (McNamara, et. al, 2010). Cohesion involves the connection between ideas that
readers made in a text which denotes to the existence or nonexistence of explicit signs in a text. On
the other hand, coherence involves the readers’ understanding of a text, which may be less or more
coherent in regards to several factors such as preceding knowledge or reading skills (O’ Reilly &
McNamara, 2007).
Based on the views taken from Halliday (1994), it is believed that cohesion is the set of resources in
building discourse relations which surpasses grammatical construction. It can as well be explained
as the process of a guidance meaning into a consumable existing of discourse. To use writing as a
means of communication, it is necessary to go beyond sentence-level manipulation to the
production of paragraphs and subsequently to multi-paragraph compositions. Once people are
involved in writing two or more interconnected sentences, they have to use cohesive devices and
coherence as a means of linking sentences together. They should also have the ability to organize
ideas into a unified whole.
25
2.4.4 Writing Skills Strategies that Teachers Use to Teach in a Satisfactory Writing Assignment
Investigations show that a variety of strategies, carefully structured lessons and usage
exercises integrated into writing instruction help students to write more efficiently and
effectively. This is why certain pedagogical issues needed to be considered in order to achieve
effectiveness in students’ writing. These include:
• Explanations of how to teach writing through explicit instruction, models, and samples of
student writing at various stages.
• Detailed explanation of the proofreading and revising process and tips on how to help
students revise their writing.
• Writing prompts and activities organized by grade and genre, allowing for differentiated
instruction.
• Discussion of state and national standards and how to help students meet those standards
in the general classroom.
• Instructional guidelines for teaching spelling, spelling generalizations, and how to address
spelling within the larger context of writing instruction.
• Detailed instructions for transcription including proper cursive letter formation with verbal
cues, proper grip and positioning, and keyboarding.
• Reproducible assignment sheets, reference information, and planning tools for enhanced
practice and instruction.
While much studies on L2 learners’ metalinguistic awareness on writing skills have not been
carried out within the south-western context of the nation, a study by Hellekjær (2005) is
relevant here because it sheds light on a competence closely related to writing; namely,
reading. In his study, Hellekjær looked at the English reading proficiency of Norwegian
secondary school students and its implications for the transition from secondary to higher
education. He found that upon graduation, possibly as many as two thirds of the students in his
study did not possess the skills necessary to read textbooks in higher education, and that the
reading problems persisted into university level, although to a slightly lesser extent (Hellekjær,
2005, p. 232). Furthermore, he found that for about a third of the university level students in
the study, the problem was poor English linguistic proficiency in general, rather than poor
26
reading skills in particular (Hellekjær, 2005, p. 239). This indicates that the challenges
students entering higher education face go beyond reading in English and might include other
skills, such as writing in English. This is particularly relevant to this study because it raises the
question whether similar findings might surface when investigating the English academic
writing proficiency of beginner students in higher education.
Similarly, Dreher and Zenge (1990) investigated the relationship between metalinguistic skills
on reading comprehension scores with 65 children in a mid-Atlantic county school system of
varying socioeconomic class. Researchers conducted 20-item interviews with children when
they were in first grade to measure their metalinguistic awareness. They documented
metalinguistic awareness by asking the children questions to determine the following: (a) their
understanding of reading as a meaning gathering process, (b) their ability to identify language
segments (e.g., letters, words, sentences), and (c) their ability to define instructional terms
specific to reading. They measured reading comprehension in third and fifth grades using the
California Achievement Test, and also measured academic aptitude using the Short Form Test
of Academic Aptitudes. Using a regression analysis, they determined that academic aptitude
accounted for 20% of the variance in reading comprehension in third grade and 35% in fifth
grade; both were statistically significant. Metalinguistic awareness accounted for 17% of the
variance in reading comprehension scores in third grade and 26% in fifth grade, which were
not statistically significant. However, combining metalinguistic awareness with academic
aptitude strengthened the predictive quality of both measures, resulting in statistically
significant variances at both grade levels. In combination, metalinguistic awareness skills and
aptitude accounted for 28% of the variance in reading comprehension scores in third grade and
47% of the scores at fifth grade. The researchers concluded that metalinguistic awareness
skills provided useful predictive information regarding future reading comprehension abilities.
Following this line of inquiry, since one of the concerns in this study is towards the language
learners’ knowledge of writing proficiency, a review of some other related literature appears
relevant for better understanding. Johnson, Mercado, and Acevedo (2012) explored a large
group of Spanish-speaking learners̓ written performance in terms of writing fluency,
grammatical complexity, and lexical complexity under pre-task planning conditions. Pre-task
27
planning condition was found to have a small significant effect on writing fluency, whereas its
impact on lexical complexity and grammatical complexity was insignificant. In a study
conducted by Shang (2007), he made an attempt to measure the learners' writing performance
in three aspects of syntactic complexity, grammatical accuracy and lexical density through e-
mail application and its impact on 40 EFL Taiwanese students, employing qualitative and
quantitative methods. Improvements on syntactic complexity and grammatical accuracy were
observed in students̓ written output; however, with respect to lexical density, the results did
not demonstrate any improvements.
Ojima (2006), in a similar attempt, examined three Japanese students' writing performance to
explore the effect of concept planning (as a resource-dispersing factor and as a form of pre-
task planning) on their learning. The results indicated that while pre-task planning triggered
greater fluency and complexity, grammatical accuracy did not improve. Following this line of
inquiry, Wigglesworth and Storch (2009) conducted a study in order to determine whether pair
and individual working produced any identifiable differences in the learners' essays. The
essays were analyzed for fluency, complexity, and accuracy. Their findings revealed that
collaboration had a positive effect on accuracy, but did not affect fluency and complexity of
language production.
Furthermore, since effectiveness in writing has to do with linguistic features and pedagogical
issues, Morteza and Yagoub (2014), also conducted a research on impact of teachers’
metalanguage awareness on writing performance of certain number of pre-service teachers.
The obtained findings demonstrated that metalanguage awareness does affect pre-service
teachers’ writing performance. It is then suggested that linguistic awareness be raised and
developed through various awareness raising activities.
In her 1999 study, Bialystok proposed the idea that metalinguistic awareness involves
operation of control as a cognitive process. She defines control as the process of selective
attention, the ability to monitor and to regulate processing information. It concerns the
intentional selection and application of knowledge employed in solving metalinguistic
problems. Similarly, according to Roehr, (2007) metalinguistic knowledge is parallel to
28
explicit knowledge about L2 categories and relation between categories and important process
such as proficient manipulation. Metalinguistic knowledge defined in this way are analysis of
and creative use of language. Therefore, describing and explaining an error and tagging of a
linguistic unit and also the connection of this with a store pedagogical structure that explains
an aspect of its use, in the phrases, sentences, or connected discourse.
Generally speaking, a metalinguistic task is the one that requires the individual to reflect on
the linguistic features of the language and linguistic nature of the message. (Malakoff 1999).
2.5 Impact of metalinguistic awareness in improving students’ essay writing ability
Metalinguistic ability in the L2 is often promoted by classroom attention to the formal system
of the L2. Metalinguistic awareness allows creative and unique language use that is unseen
without such awareness (Malakoff 1999). Past studies have shown that it is better to improve
the metalinguistic awareness of the bilingual children, as the learning of two languages
requires learners to focus on the features of the two languages.
Furthermore, previous studies have shown that metalinguistic awareness has a positive
correlation with upgraded reading and writing ability in young children (Castles and
Colheart, 2004). Metalinguistic awareness has been found to be closely linked to reading
comprehension (Zipke, 2007). It was found that bilinguals have a better ability compared to
monolinguals to understand an unknown language, mostly because of their greater
metalinguistic awareness.
Knowledge and use of metalanguage is likely to make the development of an L2 learner’s
metalinguistic awareness easier, that is, an improved self- awareness and sensitivity to the
form and functions of language (Carter, 2003), which can lead to language development.
Children with deficient or insufficient comprehension and production processes might have
to rely on their metalinguistic abilities in order to learn certain aspects of language. Several
recent studies have discovered that there is a positive correlation between metalinguistic
awareness and L2 proficiency. In a study involving 372 first year undergraduate students in
Hong Kong, Berry (2009) found that the students were to a great extent, different in
29
knowledge of 50 items of metalanguge and that this knowledge was considerably correlated
with top grades in English, indicating a correlation between knowledge of language and
proficiency in English. (Cremin & Myhill, 2012, p.102) maintain that “acquiring such
conscious control necessitates having a language for reflecting upon the various choices
involved in the writing process, and “how they are working in the text”.
Consequently, a metalanguage facilitates metalinguistic reflection on and awareness of the
various aspect of the writing process. In the context of higher education, where the
discourses represent “constellation of beliefs about writing, beliefs about learning to write,
ways of talking about writing” (Ivanic, 2004, p. 224), having a metalanguage for talking
about L2 writing practices becomes particularly important as it contributes to making the
tacit conventions of L2 academic writing explicit to the students.
2.6 Summary of the gap
The amount of research on the role of metalinguistic awareness and metalanguage in L2
academic language is limited. However, a study by Schleppegrel (2013) talking about
language in a meaningful manner in L2 language teaching context contributes to developing
students’L2 academic language proficiency and metalinguistic awareness because it helps
student to develop new understandings about language, enabling them “to abstract from
particular language use and “consider the linguistic choices they have in participating task
and contexts”(p.166).
The above research represents important contributions to different aspects within the field of
metacognition and academic writing proficiency. However, the limited amount of research
on the role of various metacognitive skills in the development of L2 academic writing
proficiency reveals a gap in this particular field of research, and points to an area which
merits further attention. In this context, my study is a contribution to a field of research
where much work remains to be done.
30
CHAPTER THREE
METHODOLOGY
3.0 Introduction
This chapter presented the research design, research population, sampling technique, sample
size, data collection, research instrument, validity and reliability of the instrument, data
collection procedure, data analysis, ethical considerations and limitations of the study.
3.1 Research Design
The researcher made use of an experimental design. Two group-quasi- experimental design
was employed for the study. This allowed the application of treatment on the experimental
group and comparison with the control group. The goal is to determine the level of
awareness of certain linguistic features in writing performance of students in the selected
schools through pretest before treatment which was done with the help of descriptive
statistics. Also to examine the impact of such awareness after treatment in order to make
inference about means of the population which was divided into control and experimental
groups where Independent Sample T-test was used. Amin, (2005) says: “if two samples are
drawn from two independent population (e.g. population of boys and that of girls, control
and experimental groups etc.) the appropriate t-test is called the independent sample t-test.”
3.2 Research Population
The population of the study included all students of the three selected high schools which
comprised, Ifon-Erin High School 1, Ifon-Erin High School 2, and United Christian Middle
and High School, Idi-Ogun, all in Ifon-Osun, Orolu Local Government, Osun state, Nigeria.
Below is the table showing the distribution of the population.
Table 3.1: Population distribution for the students
Name Of School Class Target population
Ifon-Erin High School 1 SS 2 80
Ifon-Erin High School 2 SS 2 44
United Christian Middle and
High School.
SS 2 42
Total 3 166
31
The population for the research study totaled 166 students, both male and female. The
reason for using SS2 students for the study was because they were the most senior students
in the school at the time of carrying out the research study.
3.4 Sampling Technique
The researcher used universal sampling technique where the whole population in the
selected schools were considered as sample size. The reason for this was because as at the
time of carrying out this research, Orolu Local Government had 10 secondary schools out of
which 3 are high schools and the remaining are middle schools which were not up to senior
classes.
3.4.1 Sample Size
The researcher made use of whole target population of 166 students as sample size. The
whole 166 students in selected schools were used as sample size using universal sampling
method where the whole selected students were considered for the study. This is done in
order to have a reasonable number of student participants.
3.5 Data Collection
The researcher commenced by collecting an introductory letter from the Kampala
International University, College of Education, Open and Distance Learning, department of
Higher Degree and Research. Then, proceeded to the selected school for familiarization. The
researcher worked together with administration of the selected schools and selected the
representatives in the sample study.
3.6 Research Instruments
The instrument is a test paper with 3 sections. Section A is an exercise adapted from a
student English book called High Standard English Language for Senior Secondary Schools.
This part has 5 items which needed the students to identify by underlining the word which
guide them on what to do in their writing in each of the given topics. Section (B1) is culled
from June 2006 WASSCE English language. This allows the students to organize a
disorganized paragraph of discourse which talks about ‘malnutrition’ While (B2) asks them
to carefully read a given paragraph and identify the topic sentence in it.. Section C1 asks the
32
students to provide certain linkers which are necessary in achieving a well-coordinated
written discourse. They are to do this by indicating each of the linkers appropriately in the
provided table. While C2 asks them to write an essay not more than three paragraphs to
discuss two major problems facing their country and suggest ways of solving them.
3.7 Validity and Reliability of Instruments
3.7.1 Validity
This means the degree of consistency and level at which the research can be interpreted
accurately and related to other population. This can be attained if the research instruments
measure what they are meant for. To achieve this, the instruments was presented to an
expert to assess the relevance of each item involved to the stated objectives of the study.
This helped in testing whether the instrument would fetch the right information from the
field.
For face, content analysis and editing, the instruments were given to experts in the field of
Measurement and Evaluation, Language Testing Experts as well as the Researcher's
Supervisor for critical appraisal before administration. The main instrument is of
international standard and so its credibility and validity could be sustained and guaranteed.
3.7.2 Reliability of Instruments
The reliability coefficient was established before administration using the test retest method.
In doing this, the instrument was personally administered to 10 students on two occasions in
Ifon-Osun and after two weeks the same test was administered on the same respondents.
The Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was also used to determine the coefficient (r) 0.88
3.7.3 Reliability
This is to ascertain the consistency and stability of the instruments in measuring what they
are intended to measure. Reliability coefficient expresses the relationship between error
variance, true variance and observed score. The higher reliability coefficient, the lower error
variance. Thus, the higher the coefficient, the more reliable the tools or higher acceptable. A
33
pre-test was conducted in the high schools selected, as this assisted in determining the
instruments reliability.
3.8 Data Collection Procedure
The researcher made use of a stage by stage approach to achieve the objective of the study
during the research. Stage one, the participants were assigned to two groups of control and
experimental which was followed by administering of a pretest to both groups in order to
test for the level of their metalinguistic awareness with respect to three areas of content
words, organization and use of linking devices in essay writing. The test was also used to
ensure homogeneity in their written performance.
In the second stage, after collecting the first set of data from the participants, their written
works were examined by the researcher to identify the poor area of the students’ written
output. Afterwards, the experimental group was given necessary instruction on certain
content words that are used to define writing assignments together with knowledge of
organization and use of linking devices which lasted for two weeks.
To compare the two groups’ writing performance and the effectiveness of the treatment on
the experimental group, in the third and the last stage, a post-test was administered to the
two groups of the study, ensuring the effect of the metalinguistic awareness and the
influence of given instruction on the students’ written performance. The tests were thereafter
marked and analyzed using Descriptive statistics and Independent Sample t-test, statistical
package in (SPSS).
3.9 Data Analysis
The researcher used tables (frequencies and percentages) to analyze the profile of the
student participants. Descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation) and Independent
Sample T-tests were used to analyze the data with respect to each objective of the study as
discussed below:
1. Data analysis of objective one: Descriptive statistics ( Mean and standard deviation) was
used to determine the level of metalinguistic awareness in the areas of content word,
34
organization and use of linking devices on writing skills of the students, using Statistical
package for social science (SPSS).
2. Data analysis of objective two: Descriptive statistics (Mean and standard deviation) was
used to determine the level of the writing skills of the students, based on the use of
grammar, spelling and cohesion and coherence, using Statistical Package for Social Science
(SPSS).
3. Data analysis of objective three: Descriptive statistics and Independent Sample T-tests
were used to examine the impact of metalinguistic knowledge and compare the students’
tests scores with respect to the three mentioned areas of content words, organization and use
of linking devices on the written output of the students in the selected schools, using
Statistical package for social science (SPSS) as the mean difference is significant at the 0.05
level. Pearson correlation was as well used to test for the hypothesis.
In this study, the researcher used range based on the assessment guide (rating guide). To
interpret the average mean that was obtained from individual construct in the study, each
item was marked out of 20 marks. The analysis on each item shows the strength and
weaknesses based on the indicator in terms of means. Therefore, the mean scores can be
explained as:
1. A mean score that is less than 10 is rated low.
2. A mean score that is between 10 and 15 is rated average.
3. A mean score of greater than 15 is rated high.
Table 3.2: Assessment Guide.
INTERPRETATION
High Average Low
Mean range
16-20
10-15
0-9
3.10 Ethical Consideration
The researcher took certain ethical procedures which include; explaining clearly to the
students what he wanted them to do as far as the research study is concern. He sought the
consent of all the students to be used as respondents before embarking on the exercise and
35
assured them that information obtained from them would be used for academic purpose
only. More so, the researcher properly recognized all the authors and academicians of the
books and ideas he used in the research through getting proper citations and referencing.
3.11 Limitations of the study
The study was limited to the three selected high schools because the remaining secondary
schools in the study area were not up senior classes, they were middle schools at the time of
carrying out the research work.
36
CHAPTER FOUR
DATA PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION
4.0 Introduction
Following the data collection, this chapter gives a presentation of findings from the study.
The chapter begins with demographic characteristics of the respondents followed by the data
collected on the variables as they were indicated in the objectives of the study.
4.1 Demographic profile of the respondents
Here, the study aimed at documenting the demographic characteristics of respondents. On
this, information on respondents’ gender and age were compiled.
Table 4.1: Gender and Age of the student respondents
Gender Frequency Percentage
Male 77 46.4
Female 89 53.6
Total 166 100
Age Frequency Percentage
14-17 years 82 49.4
18-20 years 84 50.6
Total 166 100%
The above table shows that out of the 166 total number of respondents, 77 representing
46.4% are male, while, 89 representing 53.6% are female. This indicates that female
respondents have the majority even though the difference between male and female used in
the study is little.
The results from the study presented in Table 4.1, revealed that most of the students
respondents (50.6%) were in the age bracket of 18 to 20 years, followed by those who were
between 14 and 17 years at 49.4%. This implied that majority of the pupils who participated
in the study were within the range of 18 and 20 years of age.
37
Having presented the profile of the respondents, their performances on the pre-test and
posttest were also submitted to statistical analysis with the use of Descriptive statistics and
Independent Samples t-tests. The written outputs of the participants were measured with
respect to three areas of Content words, Organization and use of linking devices in a written
discourse. The findings are presented, as the following section explains the findings in
details.
Objective 1: Determining the level of Metalinguistic Awareness on the written output
of the students.
Here, the study sought to determine the level of metalinguistic awareness in the areas of
content word, organization and use of linking devices on writing skills of the students in
control group. A descriptive statistics was conducted for the pretest and posttest scores.
Table 4.2: Descriptive statistics showing the pretest and posttest scores of the students
in control group.
PRETEST
Items
N
Mean
Std. Deviation
Interpretation
1
CONTENT WORDS
83
5.157
2.616
Low
2
ORGANIZATION
83
7.554
2.182
Low
3
LINKING DEVICES
83
7.578
2.215
Low
AVERAGE 6.763 2.338 Low
POSTTEST
Items
N
Mean
Std. Deviation
Interpretation
1
CONTENT WORDS
83
4.916
1.908
Low
2
ORGANIZATION
83
4.313
1.807
Low
3
LINKING DEVICES
83
7.433
2.237
Low
AVERAGE 5.554 1.984 Low
The results of both pretest and posttests presenting the means of the students in control
group for both pre and posttests were contained in this table because they centered on one
objective which aimed at determining the level of Metalinguistic Awareness on the writing
38
skills of the control group’s students, based on content word, organization and linking
devices usage. Therefore, according to the findings of the research, as shown in Table 4.2,
item 1 in the students’ pretest scores has the mean of 5.157, Std. is 2.616, item 2 mean is
7.554, std. is 2.182, then item 3 mean is 7.578, std. is 2.215 respectively. Then, the total
average mean for the items 1, 2, 3 is 6.763. This shows that level of the level of
Metalinguistic Awareness based on the knowledge of content word, organization and
linking devices usage on the writing skills of the control group’s students in pretest is low
according to the interpretation guide. Also, in the posttest scores, item 1 has the mean of
4.916, Std. is 1.908, item 2 mean is 4.313, std. is 1.807, then item 3 mean is 7.433, std. is
2.237 respectively. Then, the total average mean for the items 1, 2, 3 is 5.554, which is also
low according to the interpretation guide. This indicates that the level of Metalinguistic
Awareness based on the knowledge of content word, organization and linking devices usage
on the writing skills of the control group’s students in both pretest and posttests are low.
Table 4.3: Descriptive statistics showing the pretest and posttest scores of the students
in the experimental group.
In
PRETEST
Items
N
Mean
Std. Deviation
Interpretation
1
CONTENT WORDS
83
4.723
2.431
Low
2
ORGANIZATION
83
7.277
2.355
Low
3
LINKING DEVICES
83
7.470
2.132
Low
AVERAGE 6.490 2.306 Low
POSTEST
Items
N
Mean
Std. Deviation
Interpretation
1
CONTENT WORDS
83
16.530
2.050
High
2
ORGANIZATION
83
15.651
2.189
High
3
LINKING DEVICES
83
16.072
1.892
High
AVERAGE
16.084
2.044
High
39
Table 4.3 above, the information on the mean and std. deviation on the pretest and posttest
scores of the students in experimental group were indicated. The two results took care of the
same objective which focused on determining the level of the knowledge of content word,
organization and use of linking devices on the writing skills of the students in experimental
group.
It is therefore indicated that item 1 in the students’ pretest scores has the mean of 4.723 Std.
is 2.431, item 2 mean is 7.277, std. is 2.355, then item 3 mean is 7.470, std. is 2.132
respectively. Then, the total average mean for the items 1, 2, 3 is 6.490. This shows that the
level of the knowledge of content word, organization and use of linking devices on the
writing skills of the students in experimental group is low according to the interpretation
guide. However, in the posttest scores, item 1 has the mean of 16.530, Std. is 2.050, item 2
mean is 15.651, std. is 2.189, then item 3 mean is 16.072, std. is 1.892 respectively. Then,
the total average mean for the items 1, 2, 3 is 16.084. This according to the interpretation
guide, shows that in the posttest, the level of the knowledge of content word, organization
and use of linking devices on the writing skills of the students in experimental group is high.
Objective 2: Determining the level of writing skills of the students
Table 4.4: Descriptive Statistics of mean showing the level of writing skills of the students
in control and experimental groups.
Writing skills
N Average
mean
Std.
Deviation Interpretation
Control group 83 6.156 2.0460 Low
Experimental group 83 6.524 1.9001 Low
The results of pretest presenting the mean scores of the students in control and experimental
groups were contained in this table on the level of writing skills of the students.
According to the findings of the research as presented in Table 4.4, the control group has an
average mean of 6.156 which is low based on the interpretation guide. The table also shows
that experimental group has an average mean of 6.524 which is also low according to the
40
interpretation guide. This therefore, indicates that the levels of writing skills of the students
in selected schools both control and experimental groups are low.
Objective 3: Examining the impact of metalinguistic knowledge in the areas of content
words, organization and use of linking devices on the written output of the students in the
selected schools.
Table 4.5 Independent Sample t-test for the pretest scores of the students in control
and experimental groups.
Items Groups N Mean Std. Deviation t-value df Sig (2-tailed)
Content word Control 83 5.060 2.505 0.880 164 0.380
Experimental 83 4.723 2.431 0.880
Organization Control 83 7.494 2.211 0.612 164 0.542
Experimental 83 7.277 2.355 0.612
Linking
devices use
Control 83 7.578 2.215 0.321 164 0.748
Experimental 83 7.470 2.132 0.321
In the above table 4.5, students’ pretest scores on content word indicate that, for control
group the mean is 5.060, std. is 2.505, t(164) is 0.880 and sig (2-tailed) is 0.380 while for
the experimental group, mean is 4.723, std. is 2.431, t(164) is 0.880 and sig (2-tailed) is
0.380. On Organization for control group the mean is 7.494, std. is 2.211, t(164) is 0.612
and sig (2-tailed) is 0.542 while for the experimental group, mean is 7.277, std. is 2.355,
t(164) is 0.612 and sig (2-tailed) is 0.542. On use of linking device for control group, the
mean is 7.578, std. is 2.215, t(164) is 0.321 and sig (2-tailed) is 0.542 while for the
experimental group, mean is 7.470, std. is 2.132, t(164) is 0.321 and sig (2-tailed) is 0.748.
It is therefore suggested that the participants in the two groups of study do not possess any
form of Metalinguistic knowledge in their writing skills. They were homogenous in their
written output with respect to three mentioned dimensions.
41
Table 4.6 Independent Sample t-test for the posttest scores of the students in control
and experimental groups.
Items Groups N Mean Std. Deviation t-value Df Sig (2-tail)
Content word Control 83 4.916 1.908 -37.784 164 0.000
Experimental 83 16.530 2.050 -37.784
Organization Control 83 4.313 1.807 -36.387 164 0.000
Experimental 83 15.651 2.189 -36.387
Linking
devices use
Control 83 7.434 2.237 -26.861 164 0.000
Experimental 83 16.072 1.892 -26.861
Average
Control 83 5.554 1.186 -55.560 164 0.00
Experimental 83 16.084 1.255
In the above table 4.6, students’ scores indicates that in the posttest on Content word for
control group, the mean is 4.916, std. is 1.908, t(164) is -37.784 and sig (2-tailed) is 0.000
while for the experimental group, mean is 16.530, std. is 2.050, t(164) is -37.784 and sig (2-
tailed) is 0.000. On Organization for control group the mean is 4.313, std. is 1.807, t(164) is
-36.387 and sig (2-tailed) is 0.00 while for the experimental group, mean is 15.651, std. is
2.189, t(164) is -36.387 and sig (2-tailed) is 0.000. On use of linking device for control
group, the mean is 7.434, std. is 2.237, t(164) is -26.861 and sig (2-tailed) is 0.000 while for
the experimental group, mean is 16.072, std. is 1.892, t(164) is -26.861 and sig (2-tailed) is
0.00. Then from the average score of the items, for control group, mean is 5.554, std. is
1.1863, t(164) is -55.560 and sig(2tailed) is 0.00. For experimental group, mean is 16.0843,
std. is 1.255 and sig (2tailed) is 0.00.
It shows here that students in experimental group outperformed their counterpart in the
control group. The results therefore suggested that Metalinguistic Knowledge really does
have an impact on writing performance of the language learners. Specifically, it is suggested
that when students master words commonly used in the content areas of writing, organize
and plan their written work very well and appropriately make use of connectives, they
improve in their written output.
42
Hypothesis 1: There is no relationship between pretest and posttest scores on metalinguistic
awareness of students in experimental group.
Table 4.7: Correlation between pretest and posttest scores on metalinguistic awareness of
students in experimental group.
Metalinguistic
awareness(pretest)
Metalinguistic
awareness posttest
Metalinguistic
awareness pretest.
Pearson Correlation 1 .068
Sig. (2-tailed) .544
N 83 83
Metalinguistic
awareness posttest.
Pearson Correlation .068 1
Sig. (2-tailed) .544
N 83 83
*. Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).
Table 4.7 above shows the results of the hypothesis which was to examine a relationship
between pretest and posttest scores on Metalinguistic awareness of the students in
experimental group. A Pearson’s r data analysis revealed no significant relationship (r =
0.068, N = 83) and (2-tailed) is 0.544. Therefore, the null hypothesis is accepted and
concluded that there was no statistically significant relationship between pretest and posttest
scores on Metalinguistic awareness of the students in the experimental group.
43
CHAPTER FIVE
DISCUSSION, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
5.0 Introduction
This chapter presents the discussion, conclusion, recommendation and suggestion for further
research.
5.1. Discussion of findings
The present study aimed to examine the impact of Metalinguistic Awareness on the
language learners’ written performance with respect to knowledge of content words,
organization and use of linking devices. The underlying rationale is to explore ways of
improving students’ writing skills by focusing on some linguistic awareness that can enable
them to be more effective in their English essay writing. As this is supported by NECO
(2004/06) which states, “The objective of the essay writing section is to test candidates’
ability to communicate effectively in writing”. The results of the findings are therefore
discussed according to the research objectives as follows:
5.1.1 The level of Metalinguistic Awareness on written output of the students.
The main aim here is to find out the level of metalinguistic awareness in the areas of content
words, organization and use of linking devices on the writing skills of the students in control
group. The study through the average means of the results revealed low level of writing
performance in both pretest and posttests, implying that the participants in control group do
not possess any form of metalinguistic awareness in their writing skills. The findings are in
line with the submission of Okoye, (2002) who pointed out that one problem facing teachers
of English language is to help students overcome writing problems which depict their low
level of metalinguistic awareness in written text. This substantiates the findings of
Akinwamide (2012) whose findings revealed that there was no significant difference
between the pre-test and posttests mean scores of the students in the Control group. He said
that, this was in line with the general out-cry of the nation about the mass failure recorded
yearly in this subject. WASSCE chief examiner’s reports (2009) also supported this.
44
Thus, considering (Read, 2004; Schmitt, 2000), whose findings of this study also lend
support from revealed that the participants’ receptive knowledge, referring to the vocabulary
size, was not as developed as expected. The results of the word association test lead similar
results; the participants’ depth of vocabulary knowledge was again limited. This result could
be explained due to limited deeper processing abilities of the participants. The participants
seemed to have a limited capacity to process the word with its associations and connectivity
with other words in their lexicon. As a results, the learners did not vary their content words
in their essays. However, in the posttest mean scores, the level of their overall performance
is high. This implies that the experimental group is favoured according to posttest mean
scores. The implication here was as a result of the exclusive treatment received by the
experimental group after pretest which really helped the students to realize new information
to develop their writing skills. The findings are in line with those of (Mostafa, 2002;
Mogahed, 2007; Hamdouche, 2010). The results can be explained that the development of
the writing skills involve dealing with writing with an approach that entails different
strategies and not as a product of accurate use of grammar alone. Thus, making students
aware of different processes of writing can help them to overcome the difficulty they faced
when they write to produce well written texts.
5.1.2 The level of the writing skills of the students in the selected schools.
The results of the analysis for objective two show that the level of the writing skills of the
students in the control group in the areas of grammar, spelling and cohesion and coherence
is low according to their pretest average mean scores. Similarly, according to the average
mean scores of the experimental group, the level of their overall performance is also low.
This implies that both control and experimental groups are homogenous in their writing
skills. These findings are in agreement with those of (Awatef, A., Faten, A., & Aly, A.,
2015) whose findings revealed no statistically significant differences between the mean
scores of the students in the Control group and experimental groups on their pretest overall
writing performances.
45
5.1.3 Impact of metalinguistic knowledge on the written output of the students in the
selected High Schools
The findings of objective three here sought to examine the impact of metalinguistic
knowledge on selected high schools students’ written output, with respect to three
dimensions of knowledge of content words, organization and the use linking devices. The
researcher, after using a range of measures to check for the comparability between the
students in control and experimental groups found that the participants in control group do
not possess metalinguistic knowledge based on the three mentioned dimensions, whereas
their experimental counterpart does as a results of the treatment it received. The excellent
performance which experimental group recorded over the control group implies that
Metalinguistic Knowledge really does have an impact on the writing skills of the language
learners. The findings also converged with the findings of stated hypothesis two which
revealed statistically significant differences in the writing performance between the
language learners in control and experimental groups. The findings of this study is in
agreement with those of Morteza and Yagoub (2014), whose results obtained from a
conducted research on impact of teachers’ metalanguage awareness on writing performance
of certain number of pre-service teachers implied that providing teachers with necessary
linguistic knowledge can develop their awareness of the underlying system of the language
and, hence, improve the accuracy of their written output. The results of this findings are also
in line with those of Wigglesworth and Storch (2009) and Shang (2007). However, as found
by this study, metalinguistic awareness in the areas of content words, organization and
linking devices usage alone do not single-handedly impact to learners improved writing
performance.
5.2 Conclusions
This study was conducted with the aim of examining the impact of metalinguistic awareness
on writing performance of some language learners in some high schools in Orolu Local
Government Area of Osun state, Nigeria. This was done by making a comparison between
two groups of control and experimental to which the whole students were divided. The
findings of the study revealed a wide range of different performances as shown across the
learners’ mean scores. The outperformance of the experimental group as a results of the
effect of the treatment given to them stand them out from the control group. The study
46
concludes that this approach of making the student writers be metalinguistically aware of
certain well-defined aspects proved reliable and rewarding in the development of writing
skills. It is reliable because it enables the understanding of content words appropriateness
and usage. Also, organization of ideas in sequential order could be said to be sustained. It is
rewarding because once students’ ability to write with confidence are generated, the student
ability to compose logically and coherently can be guaranteed. It is obvious that the merit of
a piece of writing is judged in terms of the writer’s success in achieving the purpose, be it to
entertain, instruct, inform, admonish or to persuade.
5.3: Recommendations
The study made the following recommendations:
1. Teachers should be encouraged to consider implementing direct metalinguistic strategy
instruction to improve students’ written skills when describing words.
2. Writers of English language textbooks should be more current in order to produce
textbook materials that would reflect developments and innovations in teaching essay
writing.
3. Governments, through the Education Ministries and other concerned people with the
organization of conferences, seminars and workshops are encouraged to hold regular
programmes to facilitate English essay writing skill using the approach exposed in this
study.
5.4 Suggestions for Further Research
The following areas of research should be explored further:
1. Another research can be conducted on the areas of Mechanical Accuracy since
Metalinguistic awareness focusing only on the areas of content words knowledge,
organization and the use of linking devices on students’ essay writing does not
resolve all linguistic and pedagogical issues to achieving effectiveness in writing.
Because “without grammar little can be conveyed; without vocabulary nothing can
be conveyed” (David Wilkins, 1972: 111).
2. This study was done in Osun state in South-western Nigeria, similar studies should
be replicated in other regions since this problem of ineffectiveness in writing at high
school level is countrywide.
47
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APPENDICES
APPENDIX I: TRANSMITTAL LETTER
55
APPENDIX II: STUDENT ASSENT SCRIPT
Hi Class,
My name is Mr. Kamaldeen Kola Sanusi. I know some of you have seen me working your
school.
I am going to school, just like you are, at Kampala International University, Uganda. I am
conducting a research on “Impact of metalinguistic Awareness on students’ Writing: A case
study of selected High School Students, Orolu, Osun state, Nigeria.” And I would like you
to be a part of it. I am asking every SS 2 student in this school to be in my study.
Please answer the test scripts that will be given to you accurately and religiously. The
research results will be used for academic purposes only and information provided will be
treated with confidentiality. Your cooperation is highly appreciated.
Thank you so much.
56
APPENDIX III: QUESTIONNAIRE
TESTING INSTRUMENT FOR ALL GROUPS OF STUDENTS
Name of student…………………………………………………………………….
School………………………………………………………………………………..
Class………………………Age……………Gender………………Date………….
Attempt all sections A – C.
SECTION A
Identify by underlining the word which guides you on what you are supposed to do in your
writing in each of the following essay topics:
i. Describe an outbreak of fire you witnessed last week.
ii. The media or newspapers have done more harm than good to modern society.
Discuss.
iii. Examine the skill needed to impress your future employers during a business
interview.
iv. You have a colleague who is poor at making public speeches. Explain how you
could coach such a person to become an effective speaker.
v. Justify how reading is a receptive skill of communication.
SECTION B
(1a)Organize the following disorganized discourse, by making it a well formed paragraph.
The paragraph talks about “malnutrition”. (Culled from June 2006 WASSCE English
language)
For example, in 1996, the United Nations set the goal of reducing by half the number of the
world’s under nourished some 400 million people by the year 2015. But the report of the
food and agricultural organization of the United Nation for 2001acknowledges that
unfortunately, there has been a slowdown in the projection and that the number of the
undernourished people has actually increased considerably in the majority of developing
countries. Although, world agencies have made numerous efforts to stop malnutrition,
achievements have fallen short of hope. Commendably, some progress has been made.
57
(1c) Carefully read the following paragraph and identify the topic sentence in it:
Khaki is a type of material made of cotton and some other raw materials like wool. It is a
widely useful and recognized by different categories of people. It is an established fact that
wearing khaki has come to be not only as a necessity but also a fashion.
Note: This paragraph is adapted from High Standard English Language (for SSS. P. 133)
(2) The following is also a disorganized plan of work on an essay, titled, “An
Outbreak of Fire I Witnessed”. Now, reorganize the plan of work to facilitate the
development a full logical essay:
a) The scene at the end; houses or property damaged by the fire outbreak; the street
and around the house: the departure of the firefighters and the victims taken to
hospital
b) Your sympathy for the souls and property.
c) Arrival of the fire service people; efforts of the firefighters and onlookers; any brave
acts? Any lives lost or serious injury.
d) How fire was controlled and put down.
e) How it was seen and how people got to know; alarm raised; the smoke and the
flames; the winds; the crowd and their behavior.
f) When, where and how fire broke out; description of the building where it started,
and of the houses nearby.
Note: This exercise is adapted from High Standard English Language (for SSS. P. 43)
58
SECTION C
(1) Indicate the best usage of the linking words by choosing from the provided connectives
to fill the following table appropriately.
Adding similar point
of same importance.
Adding similar point
of greater
importance.
Adding opposing
point of views but
both valid.
Adding opposing
view when second
cancel the first
NOTE: The connectives (Linkers) are: also, on the contrary, moreover, however, in
addition, nevertheless, but, furthermore, besides, on the other hand.
(2) In not more than three paragraphs, discuss two major problems facing your country
and suggest ways of solving them.
59
APPENDIX IV: MARKS SCORED BY THE STUDENT PARTICIPANTS IN THE
TESTS CONTROL GROUP EXPERIMENTAL GROUP
PRETEST POST-TEST PRETEST POST- TEST
S/N CW ORG LD CW ORG LD CW ORG LW CW ORG LD
1 4.0 8.0 8.0 4.0 8.0 8.0 4.0 8.0 8.0 20.0 16.0 18.0
2 4.0 8.0 8.0 4.0 4.0 5.0 4.0 5.0 8.0 16.0 14.0 17.0
3 4.0 5.0 8.0 8.0 4.0 4.0 4.0 4.0 5.0 16.0 14.0 18.0
4 4.0 5.0 5.0 4.0 4.0 5.0 4.0 5.0 5.0 16.0 16.0 18.0
5 4.0 5.0 5.0 4.0 4.0 4.0 4.0 4.0 5.0 20.0 17.0 16.0
6 4.0 5.0 5.0 8.0 4.0 8.0 4.0 8.0 5.0 20.0 18.0 18.0
7 8.0 5.0 5.0 4.0 4.0 7.0 4.0 7.0 5.0 16.0 12.0 15.0
8 8.0 5.0 5.0 8.0 4.0 6.0 8.0 6.0 5.0 20.0 15.0 13.0
9 4.0 7.0 5.0 4.0 4.0 5.0 0.0 5.0 7.0 16.0 15.0 15.0
10 4.0 7.0 7.0 4.0 4.0 4.0 0.0 4.0 7.0 16.0 18.0 16.0
11 4.0 8.0 7.0 4.0 4.0 6.0 0.0 6.0 8.0 16.0 17.0 17.0
12 4.0 8.0 8.0 4.0 4.0 7.0 0.0 7.0 8.0 16.0 14.0 17.0
13 4.0 9.0 8.0 8.0 4.0 8.0 8.0 8.0 9.0 20.0 18.0 19.0
14 4.0 9.0 9.0 4.0 4.0 9.0 12.0 9.0 9.0 16.0 16.0 18.0
15 8.0 7.0 9.0 4.0 8.0 10.0 8.0 10.0 7.0 12.0 14.0 14.0
16 8.0 4.0 7.0 4.0 4.0 8.0 4.0 8.0 4.0 12.0 17.0 16.0
17 4.0 7.0 4.0 4.0 4.0 6.0 4.0 6.0 7.0 16.0 14.0 17.0
18 4.0 9.0 7.0 4.0 4.0 8.0 4.0 8.0 9.0 16.0 13.0 18.0
19 4.0 9.0 9.0 4.0 4.0 10.0 4.0 10.0 9.0 20.0 15.0 17.0
20 12.0 9.0 9.0 4.0 4.0 12.0 4.0 12.0 9.0 20.0 16.0 15.0
21 12.0 9.0 9.0 4.0 4.0 11.0 4.0 11.0 9.0 16.0 15.0 15.0
22 12.0 9.0 9.0 4.0 4.0 9.0 4.0 9.0 5.0 16.0 15.0 17.0
60
23 8.0 5.0 9.0 4.0 4.0 6.0 8.0 6.0 9.0 16.0 16.0 15.0
24 4.0 9.0 5.0 4.0 4.0 8.0 8.0 8.0 10.0 20.0 14.0 16.0
25 4.0 10.0 9.0 4.0 4.0 8.0 4.0 8.0 10.0 16.0 13.0 13.0
26 4.0 10.0 10.0 4.0 4.0 2.0 4.0 2.0 5.0 16.0 16.0 14.0
27 8.0 11.0 10.0 8.0 4.0 9.0 4.0 9.0 5.0 16.0 17.0 15.0
28 8.0 13.0 11.0 8.0 4.0 8.0 4.0 8.0 7.0 16.0 17.0 17.0
29 4.0 10.0 13.0 8.0 4.0 8.0 4.0 8.0 7.0 20.0 10.0 15.0
30 4.0 5.0 10.0 4.0 4.0 8.0 4.0 8.0 8.0 16.0 15.0 16.0
31 4.0 8.0 5.0 4.0 4.0 8.0 8.0 8.0 8.0 16.0 16.0 17.0
32 4.0 8.0 3.0 4.0 4.0 8.0 8.0 8.0 9.0 20.0 15.0 14.0
33 4.0 5.0 7.0 4.0 3.0 5.0 4.0 5.0 9.0 12.0 17.0 16.0
34 4.0 5.0 5.0 4.0 4.0 5.0 4.0 5.0 7.0 16.0 13.0 16.0
35 4.0 5.0 5.0 4.0 3.0 5.0 4.0 5.0 4.0 20.0 18.0 20.0
36 4.0 5.0 9.0 4.0 4.0 5.0 12.0 5.0 7.0 16.0 20.0 16.0
37 4.0 5.0 9.0 4.0 0.0 5.0 12.0 5.0 9.0 16.0 14.0 16.0
38 4.0 5.0 3.0 4.0 0.0 5.0 8.0 5.0 9.0 16.0 16.0 20.0
39 4.0 7.0 9.0 4.0 8.0 7.0 4.0 7.0 9.0 16.0 17.0 12.0
40 4.0 7.0 5.0 4.0 2.0 7.0 4.0 7.0 9.0 16.0 15.0 16.0
41 4.0 8.0 8.0 4.0 0.0 8.0 4.0 7.0 5.0 16.0 18.0 20.0
42 4.0 8.0 5.0 4.0 4.0 8.0 8.0 8.0 9.0 12.0 14.0 16.0
43 8.0 9.0 5.0 4.0 0.0 9.0 8.0 8.0 10.0 16.0 15.0 16.0
44 4.0 9.0 12.0 4.0 2.0 9.0 4.0 9.0 10.0 20.0 16.0 16.0
45 8.0 7.0 6.0 4.0 4.0 7.0 4.0 9.0 11.0 16.0 17.0 16.0
46 4.0 7.0 9.0 4.0 4.0 4.0 4.0 7.0 13.0 16.0 17.0 16.0
47 8.0 9.0 9.0 8.0 4.0 7.0 4.0 4.0 10.0 16.0 19.0 16.0
48 8.0 9.0 9.0 8.0 4.0 9.0 4.0 7.0 5.0 12.0 18.0 12.0
61
49 8.0 9.0 9.0 4.0 4.0 9.0 4.0 9.0 8.0 12.0 16.0 16.0
50 8.0 9.0 9.0 4.0 4.0 9.0 4.0 9.0 8.0 16.0 17.0 20.0
51 8.0 5.0 9.0 4.0 4.0 9.0 4.0 9.0 5.0 16.0 15.0 16.0
52 8.0 9.0 8.0 4.0 4.0 5.0 4.0 9.0 4.0 16.0 15.0 16.0
53 4.0 10.0 9.0 4.0 4.0 9.0 4.0 5.0 5.0 20.0 18.0 18.0
54 8.0 10.0 8.0 4.0 4.0 10.0 4.0 9.0 4.0 20.0 14.0 17.0
55 8.0 11.0 8.0 8.0 4.0 10.0 4.0 10.0 8.0 16.0 17.0 15.0
56 8.0 13.0 8.0 8.0 4.0 11.0 4.0 10.0 7.0 16.0 19.0 15.0
57 8.0 10.0 5.0 4.0 4.0 13.0 4.0 11.0 6.0 16.0 16.0 17.0
58 4.0 5.0 5.0 4.0 4.0 10.0 4.0 13.0 5.0 16.0 13.0 15.0
59 0.0 6.0 5.0 4.0 1.0 5.0 8.0 10.0 4.0 16.0 15.0 16.0
60 .0 8.0 5.0 12.0 4.0 3.0 8.0 5.0 6.0 16.0 16.0 13.0
61 0.0 5.0 5.0 12.0 4.0 7.0 8.0 3.0 7.0 16.0 17.0 14.0
62 0.0 4.0 5.0 8.0 4.0 5.0 4.0 7.0 8.0 16.0 17.0 15.0
63 0.0 5.0 7.0 4.0 4.0 5.0 4.0 5.0 9.0 16.0 19.0 17.0
64 0.0 4.0 7.0 4.0 4.0 9.0 4.0 5.0 10.0 16.0 18.0 15.0
65 4.0 8.0 8.0 4.0 4.0 9.0 4.0 9.0 8.0 16.0 14.0 16.0
66 4.0 7.0 8.0 8.0 5.0 3.0 4.0 9.0 6.0 16.0 16.0 17.0
67 4.0 6.0 9.0 8.0 6.0 9.0 4.0 3.0 8.0 16.0 17.0 14.0
68 4.0 5.0 9.0 4.0 7.0 5.0 4.0 9.0 10.0 16.0 18.0 16.0
69 8.0 4.0 7.0 4.0 4.0 8.0 4.0 5.0 12.0 16.0 17.0 16.0
70 8.0 6.0 4.0 4.0 5.0 5.0 4.0 8.0 11.0 16.0 15.0 20.0
71 8.0 7.0 7.0 4.0 3.0 5.0 4.0 5.0 9.0 16.0 15.0 16.0
72 8.0 8.0 9.0 4.0 3.0 12.0 4.0 5.0 6.0 16.0 17.0 16.0
73 8.0 9.0 9.0 4.0 7.0 6.0 4.0 12.0 8.0 20.0 15.0 17.0
74 4.0 10.0 9.0 4.0 7.0 9.0 4.0 6.0 8.0 16.0 16.0 17.0
62
75 4.0 8.0 9.0 4.0 7.0 9.0 4.0 9.0 2.0 20.0 13.0 10.0
76 4.0 6.0 5.0 4.0 7.0 9.0 4.0 9.0 9.0 20.0 14.0 15.0
77 4.0 8.0 9.0 4.0 7.0 9.0 4.0 9.0 8.0 16.0 15.0 16.0
78 4.0 10.0 10.0 4.0 6.0 9.0 8.0 9.0 8.0 16.0 17.0 15.0
79 4.0 12.0 10.0 4.0 5.0 9.0 0.0 9.0 8.0 16.0 15.0 17.0
80 4.0 11.0 11.0 4.0 9.0 9.0 4.0 9.0 10.0 16.0 16.0 13.0
81 4.0 9.0 13.0 4.0 5.0 8.0 4.0 9.0 6.0 16.0 17.0 18.0
82 4.0 6.0 10.0 8.0 8.0 9.0 8.0 3.0 4.0 16.0 14.0 20.0
83 4.0 8.0 5.0 4.0 10.0 8.0 0.0 2.0 8.0 16.0 4.0 14.0
NOTE:
SN = SERIAL NUMBER OF STUDENTS
CW = CONTENT WORDS
ORG = ORGANIZATION
LD = LINKING DEVICES