Using the collaborative learning approach to enhance reading competence, interest, autonomy and reduce reading anxiety in secondary school children

Abstract

Background Reading is critical for survival in Nigeria and in every society. Unfortunately, the reading culture in Nigeria is lamentable. Poor reading skills can truncate the academic ambitions of students and ultimately result in economic and political underdevelopment. With large class sizes and the paucity of reading materials in many schools, students’ reading proficiency, interest and autonomy would suffer and reading anxiety would increase. This demands an instructional strategy such as the Jigsaw that mitigates the effect of the large class sizes and inadequate access to reading materials. Purpose of the study The study sought to find out the effect of the jigsaw instructional strategy on reading proficiency, anxiety, interest and reading autonomy of secondary school students in Calabar Education Zone, Cross River State, Nigeria. Methodology A quasi-experimental pre-test and post-test research was conducted using nonrandomised intact classes of 192 students. A 50-item multiple choice reading comprehension test with (KR-24 = 0.79) and a 30-item Affects Rating Scale (ARS) with Cronbach alpha reliability indices of 0.73 to 0.83 were administered to experimental and control groups. The One-way Analysis of Covariance was used to analyse the data. Results The students exposed to the jigsaw instructional strategy outperformed those who were taught reading comprehension using the traditional expository methods in the reading proficiency test. Moreover, students exposed to the jigsaw strategy had less reading anxiety, demonstrated more reading interest, and increased reading autonomy. Unique contributions to knowledge The study provides empirical evidence on the effectiveness of the jigsaw instructional strategy in enhancing reading proficiency, reducing anxiety, boosting reading interest, and fostering reading autonomy among Nigerian secondary school students. This research contributes to language education knowledge, particularly in the contexts of large classes and limited resources. Recommendations and conclusions It is recommended that language teacher trainers include the jigsaw strategy, particularly for large classes. Moreover, teachers should embrace innovative evidence-based instructional approaches.

Keywords

• comprehension
• competence
• reading anxiety
• reading autonomy
• reading interest
• reading proficiency