Communicative performance in the written discourse of undergraduate students: what can literature offer?

Abstract

This study examines two groups of students of the University of Nigeria who were taught using two approaches (literature-based and grammar-based) in order to measure the effect of the approaches on their communicative performance. The data comprises 100 essay scripts (50 for each group) qualitatively analysed based on content, expression, organisation and mechanical accuracy; and also quantitatively analysed using SPSS in order to measure the difference between the two groups. The findings show that there are significant differences in the performance of the two groups in favour of the literature-based approach. The study closes with conclusions and recommendations for SLT (Second Language Teaching) pedagogy. The findings of this study supports Krashen’s (1982) Naturalist Approach to language learning, which has far-reaching implications for the field.

Keywords

• communicative performance/competence
• language teaching/learning
• literature
• applied linguistics