Assessment of grammatical competence and reading comprehension levels of junior secondary school (JSS3) students in Taraba State

Abstract

This study entitled "Assessment of grammatical competence and reading comprehension levels of selected Junior Secondary School (JSS3) students in Jalingo metropolis, Taraba State, Nigeria" investigated the extent to which grammatical competence affects reading at different comprehension levels. Most especially, reading for literal comprehension level, reading for inferential comprehension,
reading for critical evaluation and the effect of location on performance of both rural and urban schools in the two variables measured. A sample size of four hundred and forty (440) students from four (4) Junior Secondary Schools in Jalingo metropolis was drawn. Junior Secondary Schools (JSSIII) was the focus of the study because they are the most affected in terms of language learning theory and standard set by Junior Secondary School Certificate Examination JSSCE) in preparation for Senior Secondary School Examination The method used for data collection was reading comprehension and grammar tests at 0.05 significant levels. The instruments were submitted to experts in the field of linguistics and later pilot tested to ascertain their content and face validity. The test of grammar and reading comprehension were administered at two different periods. Most of the questions for the test of grammar were set in structures like elements of sentence structure and word class identification test format. The questions for reading comprehension tested all levels of comprehension in this study. The reliability of the instruments was measured using Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient (PPMC) and two-tailed test. The computed r-value for the correlation coefficient and t-value did not show any significance difference. The overall findings revealed that grammatical competence affect reading at various comprehension levels. It was also noticed that students from the study areas could comprehend reading without understanding the structures of English sentences. Therefore, the study recommended that second language readers should be given thorough exercises in grammar before they are introduced to reading at various comprehension levels. This will help secondary school students to get over the grammatical problems that affect their performance in reading comprehension.