EFFECTS OF METACOGNITIVE STRATEGIES ON SENIOR SECONDARY STUDENTS’ READING COMPREHENSION ACHIEVEMENT IN JOS SOUTH LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA, PLATEAU STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

Investigation has shown that secondary school students achieve poorly in reading. Against this backdrop, this study examined the effects of metacognitive strategies on senior secondary students’ reading comprehension achievement in Jos South Local Government Area, Plateau State, Nigeria. Non-randomized pre-test, post-test quasi-experimental control group research design was adopted in the study. Using simple random sampling technique, a sample of 100 SS 2 students in intact classes was selected from the population of 1,823 SS2 students in 20 public senior secondary schools and assigned to the experimental (metacognition) and control (conventional) groups. Two research questions and two corresponding null hypotheses guided the study. Data were collected using a test tagged Reading Comprehension Achievement Test (RCAT). Data collected were analysed using mean and standard deviation to answer the research questions and ANCOVA to test both null hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The findings revealed that students exposed to reading comprehension using metacognitive strategies achieved significantly higher mean scores in literal and inferential comprehension levels than their counterparts who were not. It was, therefore, recommended among other things that teachers of English as a Second Language should guide students to employ metacognitive strategies during the reading process for maximum comprehension