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A RESEARCH PROJECT
BY

REG. NO: CRSCOE/SL/2012/


DEPARTMENT OF
SUBMITTED TO
SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
CROSS RIVER STATE COLLEGE OF EDUCATION
AKAMKPA
IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR
THE AWARD OF NIGERIA CERTIFICATE IN EDUCATION
(N.C.E)
SEPTEMBER, 2015

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CERTIFICATION
This is to certify that this research projects was carried out by Mr. Enene
Ogbu Enene uner my close supervision and guidance.
Name of Supervisor: Dr. Julius U. Ushie

Signature: ..

Date:..

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DEDICATION
This work is dedicated to the Almighty God for his absolute guidance and
protection throughout my period of study.
Followed by my dear parents Mr. and Mrs Enene Ogbu who led the
foundation for this programme but the called of nature could not allowed him to see
the manifestation of his dream.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENT
I must sincerely express gratitude to the Almighty God for his protections,
strength and good health granted me throughout the course of this research project.
My appreciation equally goes to my supervisor, Chief Dr. Julius U. Ushie for
his encouragement, assistance and guidance towards the success of this research
work.
My special appreciation goes to my Head of Department Dr. (Mrs) Marcelina
Edu.
Also I wish to thank the Dean of my School Dr. Usani for his readiness
towards students problems at all times, that has brought me to the end of this
academic work.
It is by the special grace of God on my mother Mrs. Nko had whom my
father has left the whole burden on her and she has been able to carry it to the end.
May God bless her.
I wish to thank Mr. Paulinus Idang for the effort he made to encourage me on
this study Sir God bless you.
My gratitude goes to my father in the Lord Pastor and Pastor Mrs Okpo Kanu
for their care, prayers and contribution that made this academic work a success.
Other members of the family are not left out my. God richly bless you all. Amen.
Finally this project work could have be incomplete if the names of my friends
and my course mate is not mentioned. Etta Lucy B. Comfort, Veronica Happiness,
Ekarika, Victor, Sambso, Mikey, to mentioned but few. I love you all.

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TABLE OF CONTENT
Title page

Certification

ii

Dedication -

iii

iv

Acknowledgement
Table of Content

vi

Abstract

ix

Background of the Study -

Statement of the Problem-

Purpose of the Study

Significance of the Study -

Research Questions

Scope of the study

13

Teachers attitude and differences in performance -

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CHAPTER ONE
Introduction

CHAPTER TWO
Review of Literature
Development stage-

Sex differences and students performance in literature


Performance of students in literature in relation to their
home background -

Parents level of educational attainment and differences in

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academic achievement

Summary of literature review

15

16

CHAPTER THREE
Research Methodology
Research design

18

Area of the study -

18

Population of the study -

19

Sample and sampling techniques

19

Instrument for data collection

20

Validation of instrument

20

Method of data collection

21

Method of data analysis -

21

Presentation and interpretation of Results

22

Discussion of findings

CHAPTER FOUR
Results
-

25

CHAPTER FIVE
Summary and Conclusion
Summary of Results

27

General Conclusion

28

Implications of the study -

28

Recommendation -

29

Limitations of the study -

29

7
Suggestions for further study
References
Appendix

30

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ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of broken homes on
academic performance of pupils in Baise Local Government Area of Cross River
State. A review of related literature was carried out, this study research question
were formulated for the study and twenty (20) items questionnaire were
administered to the sample class to elicit data to analyse data for research question
I, II and III the following results were obtained. It was discovered that broken
homes have serious adverse influence on pupils academic performance. Although a
negligible number of respondents did not accept that broken homes affect pupils
academic through the finding it prove that broken homes has an effect on pupils
academic performance due to lack of parental guidance hence divorced parents and
non-availability of school basic needs or materials. Based on this study the
researcher made some recommendations to help governments and other stakeholder in education especially in primary schools to stem the tide against the
influence of broken homes and its associable problems.

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CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Marriage, as instituted by God suppose to be a life time affair (i.e for better or
for worse) irrespective of the type of marriage i.e, traditional, rigious of court marriage
(Matt. 19.5, Number 30.2).
However, either deliberately or conditionally cases at broken homes bound in
history are staidly on the increase in the countenperally world, both in literate and nonliterate families it is most prevalent in communities that divorce or separation are
permissive.
When marital home is separated, both couples and offspring of such families are
psychologically affected on the part of divorce, couples loss their intimacy when the
children often do not enjoy infant maternal care, therefore their psychological and
social development are often hampered. They are often deployed to stay with their
age grand parents or relations who are often illiterates, thus do not realize the need for
early education.

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Sometimes, they stand the danger of victimization by their step mothers in the
home such women over engage them in domestic activities thus robbing them of their
precious time of studying, naturally their academic works often suffer, in such
circumstance, the children grow under depressed condition and this their
psychological status inter-plays to affect their educational pursuit.
STATEMENT OF PROBLEM
By Gods standard, marriage is supposed to be without divorce or separations
however, marital ties get separated, when this happen both the separated couples and
the children alike suffer the issue of broken homes and the effect on the families and
society of large is a thing of great concern our welfare offices are crowded daily with
complains form separated couples.
Both religious couples, family heads, society leaders are actually crying through
all available media for all hands to be on deck to arrest this society ill. It this problem
is not viewed with the seriousness, it deserves and promptly too, the future hope and
leaders of this great nation will be jeopardized since the victims of this societal ill are
the children and future hope and leaders of tomorrow.

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Thus whatever affects their educational advancement leaves our dear nation and
the world at large in nothing less of a disturbed future, then the problem is do unstable
home affect the academic performance of pupils especially in Baise Local
Government Area? And who is more affected, male or female child?
Do children from broken home have equal academic aspirations as children
from stable homes?
These are the problems that this research study will attempt to investigate and
try to address.

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY


This research work is made necessary by the debate or controversy stated
earlier. The study sought to find out whether or not female students really perform

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better than their male counterparts in SSCE as seen in a comparative analysis of the
academic performance of students, Essien (1982).
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
Just like every other educational research, this study will be of benefit to the
field of education. The results of the study will help various school counselors and
teachers to step-up campaigns against gender biasness that will work against
performance in literature of both boys and girls.
It will also encourage healthy competition between male and female students in
SSCE literature. It will further be of immense benefit to both teachers and parents by
making them encourage their wards in choosing careers. The study will also be seen
useful by future researchers on similar or related topics. The recommendations of this
study will form the basis for further research in other Local Government Areas as well
as other subjects like Mathematics, Chemistry, and Geography Social Studies etc.
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
This study is targeted at answering the following questions:
1. Do boys perform better than girls in SSCE literature?
2. To what extent do boys perform better than girls in SSCE literature?

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3. To what extent do sex influence the performance of boys and girls in SSCE
literature?
SCOPE OF THE STUDY
The research is solely concerned with the performance of boys and girls in a
particular subject which is literature in the SSCE only in four (4) years (2011-2014).
It will cover only four (4) selected schools that have written SSCE for up to four (4)
years in Ogoja Local Government Area.
In an attempt to find out the performance of boys and girls in literature in the
SSCE, the study is limited to Ogoja Local Government Area in Cross River State.
This is so because, as an indigene, the researcher is placed in an advantage position to
carry out a detailed study. However, the result of this study might be affected by some
other constraints. One of those problems was lack of adequate/sufficient time, since
the period coincided with lectures and examinations.

Other extraneous factors

hindering the comparison which were not the result of those highlighted in the
literature review were ignored; such factors includes; the health of the subjects
truancy, teachers and school influence.

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Finally, it is pertinent to note that this investigation did not go beyond the
comparison of the results of both boys and girls in the target area.

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CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
This chapter presents a review of facts, ideas and studies related to comparison
of boys and girls in literature. A brief consideration of the emergence and status of
literature teaching in Nigeria is undertaken under various sub-headings:

Development stages
Sex differences and students performance in literature
Performance of students in literature in relation to their home background
Teachers attitude and differences in performance
Parents level of educational attainment
Summary of literature review

DEVELOPMENT STAGE
Despite various unsolved theoretical and methodological problems, some of the
established differences between the gender and various points of development were
summarized by Ezewu (1987, pp 111-189) thus; At birth the boys are stronger,
healthier, taller and more active and more aggressive than the girls, but the girls are
less susceptible to genetic defeat and more resistant to other biological hazards.
The boys indicate an early orientation to visual stimuli-geometric patterns,
novel and complex stimuli. The girls on the other hand, show stronger orientation to

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face people auditory stimulation, linguistic stimuli and vocalization; they speak earlier
and faster than the boys. Fairbank (1937) purport that the boys organism has an
activity orientation to environment. He remarked that the early differences shown by
both genders in attraction to stimuli are carried over to infant play with the boys
showing more interest in object play and manipulation and girls in dolls. He further
painted out that boys orientation activity and their greater exploration and
aggressiveness are gradually transformed through pre-school years into what adults
call or term intrinsic achievement motivation. The girls early interest in people
persist in the form of higher interest.
Laban (1978) equally observed that from school onward, the boys shows
increasing superiority in verbal comprehension and reasoning skills, arithmetic and
mathematical leanring, spatial perception and orientation speed and accuracy of
reactions to visual and auditory stimuli, mechanical aptitude and problem solving
ability. When compared, the noticeably difference of the latter physical maturity of
the boy together with his relatively impersonal rather than interpersonal orientation
seem to put him at a disadvantage point, in both coping with school subjects and
teachers. In early school years, girls are more popular with peers and are approved of

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by teachers; boys become significantly more acceptable by peers. In the early school
years as strongly observed by Miller (1978), the two genders seem to be exploring
different cognitive styles. While the girls show more attention to detail use for
narrower categories when classifying materials and give routine and non-creative
responses in their imaginative activity, boys uses broader categories for classification
and pay more attention to both novel elements in their imaginative activities. At the
end of the junior years, these cognitive differences are paralleled by the familiar
traditional differences in interests.
He explained that boys pay greater attention to sports, adventure; mystery and
sciences while girls show more interest in romance, tragedy, home and animals lives in
reading. During the high school year, the only considerably increased differences is
the boys showing much greater skills in mathematics, science and mechanical
superiority on verbal reasoning. The girls show superiority in superior articulation,
grammatical construction and spellings, though from the fifth grade, girls shows
superiority in all clerical skills as well as those involving manual dexterity.
Tyler (1959) on the bias of a comprehensive study of his own, summarized the
differences between boys and girls approaches under five (5) general principles.

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These fit in with most of the research study on personality differences and are as
follows:
(a) Boys thinking is oriented more in terms of self, whereas girls thinking is
oriented more in terms of the environment.
(b) Boys thinking anticipates rewards and punishment more as a result of the
adequacy or inadequacy of self, whereas girls thinking anticipates rewards and
punishment determined more as a result of the friendship or hostility of the
environment.
(c) Boys thinking finds values more in boys violent and hostile actions against a
comparative society, where as girls thinking finds values more in freedom from
restraints in a friendly and pleasant environment.
SEX DIFFERENCES AND STUDENTS PERFORMANCE IN LITERATURE
Sexes as a factor in English Language performance. Fry (1980) observed that
there are more boys than girls in literature performance across the curriculum. This
trend, he observed, is not an accidental finding, but that there is no ready explanation
as observed by Fry, 1980. He pointed out that most first grade teachers were women
and they presented better role models for girls or somehow are more emphatic towards
girls.

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He contended that girls tend to develop fine motor skills including slightly
earlier than boys, when reading and writing which requires motor activities. Prescott
(1978), using five hundred and fifty (550) students in the first grade of the Los
Angeles City School taught literature in sex segregation groups. Care was taken to
ensure a wide range of socio-economic levels. Two English grammar periods were
offered, one in the morning and another one in the afternoon.
On the other hand, Laban (1978) maintained that girls have added advantage
over boys because books characters and cultural beliefs as wells as the very materials
used in teaching literature, favoured girls. Though not much research in Nigeria have
delved either partially or specifically into this problem, it is therefore pertinent and
will be rewarding in this study to discovered the mode of achievement in the literature
performance of boys and girls respectively in the developing world especially Nigeria
where females are culturally, consciously and constantly responsible for performing
house chores as well as serving the males. The involvement is not only very exerting
and strenuous, but it is also capable of depriving them of the desire for reading and
writing.

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Labons take on the issue is confirmed by the outcome of the study carried out
by Fry which after a statistical analysis of performance in literature; boys taught in the
absence of the girls did not show more significant gain in achievement or growth than
boys taught in mixed grouping.

Again, the girls as a group achieved more

significantly than boys. Meanwhile, it was found that there is a significant difference
between boys and girls responses to auditory presentation of materials.
According to Maslow (1969), girls appear to excel in verbal ability, where this
is defined as fluency, the use of words rather than the comprehension of verbal
meaning. Girls tends to talk more, read faster and less susceptible to reading and
speech difficulties. A number of studies have found sex differences usually favouring
girls in literature performance especially during the early years of instructions.
In a study of nearly fifteen thousand (15,000) students, Gay (1966) reported a
somewhat superior performance by first grade girls in metropolitan literature tests as
against the first grade boys. However, this and other studies suggest the commonly
reported early gender differences favouring girls in reading, maybe due to
environment and instructional influence and not natural.

Studying culture and

performance carefully, Ezewu (1987) noted that there is cultural expectation and sex

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role stereotyping. He also states that as a part of the community and the larger society,
invariably affects the schools and their performance. Social values, he maintains
already imbibed by members of the society are likely to infiltrate the school system
and the students performance positively or negatively.
Sex role stereotyping plays an important role in the socialization of children as
they grow into adulthood. Essien (1982) reported that children as young as two (2)
years of age shows substantial knowledge of sex-role stereotyping. This sex-role
attitude to an extent moderate the relationship of girls achievement, motivation and
performance. Therefore sex-role emerges as a substantial and consistent determinant
of girls performance in literature. This same view was expressed by Fry (1988) who
opine that concepts of low expectation and eagerness at lessons of African girls and
roles expected are transmitted to daughters by their mothers. He stated that this
prescribes their preparation.

There are several world-wide gender difference in

students of fields of study. This may therefore be believed to be the reason behind
girls showing more interest in literature and some people regarding the subject as
feminine.

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PERFORMANCE OF STUDENTS IN LITERATURE IN RELATION TO
THEIR HOME BACKGROUND
Garner (1981) held the view that home background poses a problem in literature
education because the attitude and values that children from various backgrounds
brings to school may or may not fit into the culture of the school. According to him,
people have limited economic circumstance to hire houses and whose existence
revolves primarily around the attainment of the basic needs of food and shelter,, have
an outlook on life that is coloured by the day-to-day struggle for survival. This outlook
influence the way their children talk and behave in the presence of prominent figures,
as well as the way they feel about themselves and their future.
The slow childs way of life also affects the development of language skills, a
critical need for success in the classroom. After an extensive research, he stated that
there are three kinds of under-developed languages found among disabilities which
includes:
(i)

Some have under-developed language skills as a result of a paucity of fully

(ii)

conceptualized experiences.
Some have true verbal destritution, in other words, less language use in
literature performance.

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(iii)

Others have full but non-standard language development, that is language


that is highly developed but deviates from literature.

He reiterated that the school, as it is well known is largely an extension of the


middle-class home not only in its culture, but also in its social organization. The
school attempt to help bring the child into him/her adult world lime-light and that
world is therefore most likely to succeed with middle-class students who have already
acquired the social skills and background experience necessary to meet the
expectations of teachers.
TEACHERS ATTITUDE AND DIFFERENCES IN PERFORMANCE
Prescott (1978) held that teachers role in students acquisition and performance
in literature has been of good concern to educationist and researchers. Teachers play a
very vertile role and sometimes indispensable role in the childs learning at school.
This view was also shared by Pumpfeh (1978) who says that a teachers
attitudes towards his students and the subjects he/she teacher usually affects the
students learning experience which may in a long way influence their literature
achievement. This view is equally shared by Fry (1980) who noticed that the learners
previous language learning experience may influence his literature achievement. If

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the teacher treats his/her students fairly, recognizes the individual strengths and
weaknesses and provides for them, the students will develop a positive self-concept of
themselves. They will be interested in the teacher and consequently would show
interest in what is presented to them.
PARENTS LEVEL OF EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT AND DIFFERENCES
IN ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT
In line with the research conducted by Miller (1978), he stated that the level of
parents education affects the academic performance of the child.

Parents who are

intelligent and educated will provide their child a favourable environment and will
likely encourage the child to develop interest at school. He further observed that the
level of parents education is related to the literature test performance of children. He
confirmed that parents who have relatively higher level of education may be
transmitting to their children more of the culture of the school than parents who had no
education.
Gay (1966) from his investigation with Ghanaian Secondary School students
found out that fathers who attended only primary school have little use of English
Language and so have negative association. The end result of this is that, children

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from such homes tends to imbibe a similar attitude towards literature which
undoubtedly has a telling effect on their performance in the subject. He further
emphasized that educated parents usually show interest in their childrens progress,
meet and collaborates with teachers. From this investigation, he realized that parents
educational background influence the academic achievement of their children in
school. The childrens educational achievement therefore depends to a large extent on
the kind of educational attainment of their parents.
SUMMARY OF LITERATURE REVIEW
The review of literature has sewed as the empirical foundation for the study.
The review focuses on the comparison of Boys and Girls performance in Literature.
However, the researcher aims at the holistic investigation of these factors
(comparison of boys and girls performance in literature). Similarly, the influence of
sex of adolescent in the school system have served as the aforementioned variables
others numerous related factors on sex of adolescents, these variables includes;
developmental stage, home-background, teacher attitude e.t.c.
The researcher did not mention the factor that exert significant influence on sex
performance in literature of adolescent in the non-formal setting of society. However,

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the literature review has brought to a different societal variable which exist greatly on
the academic performance of adolescence.

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CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
RESEARCH DESIGN
The study is a descriptive type based on the survey method. Gay (1966) defines
survey as an attempt to collect data from a number of the population with respect to
one or more research results.

The research was carried out in Ogoja Local

Government Area of Cross River River State.


AREA OF STUDY
This study was carried out in Ogoja Local Government Area of Cross River
State. A total of 200 SS III students participated in the study. Forty (40) of those
students were randomly selected from each of the four (4) different schools located
within and outside Ogoja Urban. These schools are:
1.
2.
3.
4.

All Saints Comprehensive Secondary School, Abakpa


- Ogoja
Government Science School, Ishibori Ogoja
Technical School, Abakpa Ogoja
Mbubewest Community Secondary School, Mbube Ogoja
Each of these schools is co-educational and there are mostly located within
Ogoja Urban though with one from a rural area of the Local Government Area.

POPULATION

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The population of the study consist of all the Secondary Schools in Ogoja Local
Government Area. The researcher randomly selected four (4) Schools in Ogoja Local
Government Area.
SAMPLE AND SAMPLING TECHNIQUE
The researcher collected SS III certificate Examination Result in literature for
four (4) years (2011-2014) from the four (4) schools visited. The researcher collected
the data randomly in the schools. The literature performance of both boys and girls
was collected randomly then compared to ascertain which groups performance was
better in literature. The method used here for the data collection was preferred
because it was found to be more efficient, reliable, validated and less time consuming.
More over, it permitted the collection of data from a large sample. Thus, it allowed for
the collection of data within the time and resources available for the investigation.

INSTRUMENT FOR DATA COLLECTION


The SSCE results were collected by the researcher in person. When consulting
the original result, the researcher explained the purposes and objectives of the study

21
and cited the benefits of the findings of the study to the students and the school
authorities. The presence of the researcher enable her to cross-check the data correctly
and to explain certain mix-conceptions, doubts or errors in the interpretation of the
motive of data comparing the performance of males and females in literature.
VALIDATION OF THE INSTRUMENT
The document SSCE III results did not require any validation since there were
supposed to be testimonies of how each student performed. However, the assumption
that guided the decision of the researcher in choosing the result of the examination
included the fact that:
(1) The teachers in all the schools at least were either trained Nigeria Certificate in
Education (NCE) or University graduate in the subject.
(2) All the secondary schools chosen for the research followed the same SS III
approved syllabus.

METHOD OF DATA COLLECTION


The SSIII result of four (4) schools for four (4) consecutive years (2011-2014)
were examined. These results were meant to provide empirical evidence for the
respective schools understudy.

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METHOD OF DATA ANALYSIS
The researcher analyzed the data using simple percentage, using the formula
number that performed better in literature viz-a-viz total number of candidates that
registered and sat for the examination.

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CHAPTER FOUR
RESULTS
PRESENTATION AND INTERPRETATION OF RESULTS
This chapter presents the results of the data analysis. For the sole purpose of
this study, the results are presented school by school. Therefore, a discussion of the
various results is as follows:
Table I
Table I: Boys and Girls performance in SS III literature in all Saints Comprehensive
Secondary School Abakpa-Ogoja.
Subject

Year

2011

Pass

Fail

2012

Pass

Fail

2013

Pass

Fail

Literature

Boys

15

15

50

15

13

15

14

Girl

15
30

15
30

0
0

50
10
0

15
30

15
28

0
2

33.
7
50
83.
7

15
30

15
30

0
1

35.
6
50
85.
6

Total

201
4
15

Pas
s
15

Fai
l
0

15
30

15
30

0
0

50
100

50

The table I shows the performance of boys and girls in literature in All Saints
Comprehensive Secondary School, Abakpa-Ogoja. The school results form 20112014 indicates that thirty (30) students wrote the SS III certificate Examination, fifteen
(15) boys and fifteen (15) girls. The results also shows that in 2012 thirteen (13) boys
and fourteen (14) girls passed and 2013 fourteen (14) boys and fifteen (15) girls

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passed the examination, while two (2) boys and one (1) girl and one (1) boy and no
girl failed respectively. Form 2011-2014 the same number of students sat for the
examination and all passed the examination in 2011 and 2014.
Table II
SS III Results of Government Science School Ishibori-Ogoja
Subject

Year

2011

Pass

Fail

2012

Pass

Fail

2013

Pass

Fail

Literature

Boys

15

14

35.6

15

14

15

15

Girl

15
30

14
28

1
2

35.6
.
71.21

15
30

15
29

0
1

35.
6
50
85.
6

15
30

15
30

0
0

Total

Pas
s
15

Fai
l
0

50

201
4
15

50
30

15
0

15
100

0
0

50
100

50

The result in the table above (II) shows the performance of boys and girls in
literature in Government Science School, Ishibori Ogoja. In the result thirty (30)
students of which fifteen (15) boys and fifteen (15) girls sat for the SS III Certificate
Examination. In 2011-2014, out of the thirty (30) students that took part in the
examination, twenty-eight (28) passed and two (2) students failed (one (1) boy and
one (1) girl), in 2011, twenty-nine (29) passed and one (1) failed (one (1) boy in 2012)
but in 2013-2014, the same number of students sat for the same SS III examination
and they all passed.

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Table III
SS III Results of Technical School, Abakpa-Ogoja
Subject

Year

2011

Pass

Fail

2012

Pass

Fail

2013

Pass

Fail

Literature

Boys

15

14

35.6

15

14

15

15

Girl

15
30

14
28

1
2

35.6
.
71.21

15
30

15
29

0
1

35.
6
50
85.
6

15
30

15
30

0
0

Total

Pas
s
15

Fai
l
0

50

201
4
15

50
30

15
0

15
100

0
0

50
100

50

The above table III shows the performance of boys and girls in literature in
Technical School, Abakpa-Ogoja form 2011-2014. Here thirty (30) students sat for the
SS III Certificate Examination

in the aforementioned school, and only two (2)

students failed (one (1) boy and one (1) girl) both failed in the first year and the
following years, they all passed as their performance were all encouraging.
Table IV
SS III Results of Mbube West Community Secondary School, Mbube-Ogoja
Subject

Year

2011

Pass

Fail

2012

Pass

Fail

2013

Pass

Fail

Literature

Boys

15

14

50

15

15

50

15

14

Girl

15
30

15
28

0
0

50
50

15
30

15
30

0
0

50
10
0

15
30

15
29

0
1

35.
6
50
30

Total

201
4
15

Pas
s
13

Fai
l
0

15
30

15
28

2
0

50
83.7

33.7

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From the last table above IV, it shows the performance of boys and girls in
Mubube West Community Secondary School, Mbube-Ogoja. This school shows the
poor performance of boys in Ogoja. In 2011 all fifteen (15) boys and girls passed the
examination and the 2012 batch as well, in 2013 all the girls passed the examination
while one (1) boy failed. In the last year of my findings in 2014, all the fifteen (15)
girls passed and two (2) boys failed which when compared with the performance of
boys in the other schools, the researcher was made to believed that the performance of
girls was better than boys in literature and that it is not a mare speculation.
DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS
There is a significant relationship between performance of literature and gender
(sex). The results where collected from four (4) different schools in Ogoja and it
shows how well the students performed in literature. The results in all the schools
shows that the girls were superior over the boys in literature.
this findings contradicts the research carried out b Ukwa, Evelyn Atuane (2014)
who opines that the performance of the girls in general was poor as against their male
counterpart, there by inducing that the boys were more superior than the girls.

27
The findings made in this research study is in tandem with Grays (1966) study
of nearly (15,000) first grade students of Ghana of which the girl performance in the
test was superior over that of the boys; Prescott (1978) also pointed out in his study
carried out that boys show no significant growth in learning literature than those
taught in mixed grouping as against their female counter-parts who showed significant
difference due to their auditory presentation of materials.

28

29
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION
SUMMARY OF RESULT
The present study was a survey on the influence of sex differentials on the
performance of students in literature in Ogoja Local Government Area.

In the

introductory part of this research it was indicated that English and Literature are
important vehicles of instruction in Nigerian schools and that continued focus on
improved performance of students in literature has degerated in the subject.
Respondents in the study were Senior Secondary School students (SS III) drawn
from sedcondary schools in Ogoja Local Government Area. The survey method and
personal observation methods were used to collect data for this study.
The simple percentage data disclosed what the results showed. The results
obtained revealed that girls showed superiority over the boys. The results obtained
and their analysis revealed that:
1. Performance in literature relate significantly to sex.
2. Girls are inclined to be more superior to boy in literature

30
GENERAL CONCLUSION
The need and relevance of assessing the performance of students in secondary
school cannot be over-emphasized. The results collected from four (4) secondary
schools showed that girls are superior to boys in literature in English.
The results collected from the four (4) schools showed that girls performed
better than boys in some years, while in other years, they all performed well. For
instance, in the school like All Saints Comprehensive Secondary School, AbakpaOgoja, the performance of girls and boys for 2012-2013 showed that the girls were
leading while in other years they were all equal. Also in a school like Technical
School, Abakpa-Ogoja the data collected showed that the performance of both boys
and girls was good in the four (4) years.
IMPLICATIONS OF THE STUDY
Other factors may relate that girls showed superiority in literature over the boys.
The implication of the study therefore is that the girls perform better in literature than
boys which is contrary to what many people believe.

31
RECOMMENDATIONS
1. Awareness should be created on the importance of literature to certain
courses like: Theatre Arts, English Studies Language etc in tertiary
institutions.
2. Libraries should be stocked with story books, plays, novels etc to help the
students develop more interest in the subjects.
3. More practical steps should be introduced by making students demonstrate
some of the stories read from their literature text. It is one thing to conduct a
research study and another to make use of the available information drawn
from same. Therefore, there should be a body of experts appointed by the
Federal

Government

to

monitor

the

implementation

of

research

recommendations throughout the country.


LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
In an attempt to investigate the difference in learning abilities and disabilities,
the researcher was in a better position to carry out a detailed study of the problem.
However, the results of this study might be affected by other results of those factors
highlighted.

32
On the basis of available evidence relating to the study, there is a significant
relationship between performance in literature and sex (gender).
SUGGESTION FOR FURTHER STUDY
There is need for this very research to be replicated in all other Local
Government Areas of Cross River State and indeed other states of the federation. This
will ensure greater generalization of any findings so that a much stronger basis would
be established for policy makers to enhance major improvements in the school system.
Other areas that need a similar study include:
(a) Effects of parental awareness on the performance of students in literature.
(b) Environmental effects on the performance of students in literature.
(c) Another research should be carried out involving more schools from different
local government areas in the state to ascertain an authentic result in the subject.

33
REFERENCES
Essien, G. A. (1982) A comparative Analysis of the Academic Performance of Cross
River State Secondary Grammar School Students. University of Calabar. B.
Ed Degree Research Project.
Ezeu, E. E. (1987) Social and Psychological factors of Human Learning in Schools.
Onitsha Nigeria Publisher
Fairbank, R. E, (1937) The subnormal child seventeen years after Mental Hygiene.
Journal 17, pp. 177-208.
Fry, E. B. (1980) Elementary Reading Instruction. New York. Mcgraw-Hill
Gardner, I. (1981) Language and social context. London-Penguin
Gay, L. R. (1966) Educational Research Competence for Analysis and Application.
Columbas: Merill.
Laban, H. (1978) Sex Differentiation on Academic Performance. Journal of education
Psychology. Pp. 25-30.
Maslow, A, H. (1969) Motivation and Personality. New York: Harper Bow
Millar, J. (1978) Principles of Classroom Learning and Participation. London: George
Allen.
Prescott, T. (1978) Attitude towards Mechanical Learning. London: Penguin
Pumpfeh, J (1984) Human Thinking and Development. New York: Longmans
Tyler, L. (1956) The Psychology of Human Differences. New York: Appleton

34
APPENDICES
MINISTRY OF EDUCATION CALABAR,
CROSS RIVER STATE 2011-2014 SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL
CERTIFICATE EXAMINATION MASTER SHEET RESULT IN OGOJA
LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA
SCHOOL: ALL SAINTS COMPREHENSIVE SECONDARY SCHOOL, ABAKPAOGOJA
S/N
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25

2011
Sex
F
M
M
F
F
M
F
F
F
M
F
F
M
M
F
M
F
F
M
M
M
F
F
F
F

Score
s
95
88
80
87
88
83
92
94
89
85
94
94
90
86
91
82
83
84
81
82
84
89
89
86
90

S/N
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25

2012
Sex
F
M
M
F
M
M
M
F
F
F
M
M
M
F
M
M
F
F
F
M
F
M
F

Score
s
70
68
64
71
66
63
63
68
71
75
70
66
80
68
70
73
70
64
67
71
68
64
73
68
69

S/No
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25

2013
Sex
M
F
F
F
F
F
M
M
F
M
F
M
M
M
F
M
M
F
F
M
M
F
F
F
M

Score
s
65
63
66
68
70
70
68
70
73
66
72
70
60
61
69
64
70
72
70
76
62
78
70
68
63

S/N
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25

2014
Sex
F
M
M
F
F
M
F
F
F
F
M
F
F
M
F
M
F
F
M
M
M
F
F
F
F

Score
s
70
70
68
69
71
63
70
71
67
66
63
70
70
70
72
69
68
73
70
69
64
72
65
64
69

35
CROSS RIVER STATE 2011-2014 SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL
CERTIFICATE EXAMINATION MASTER SHEET RESULT IN OGOJA
LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA
SCHOOL: GOVERNMENT SCIENCE SCHOOL, ISHIBORI-OGOJA
S/N
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25

2011
Sex
M
F
M
F
F
F
F
F
M
M
M
M
M
M
M
M
M
M
F
M
F
F
F
M
M

Score
s
62
69
64
71
67
75
78
70
63
62
60
73
70
70
69
60
50
68
65
78
76
75
60
55

S/N
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25

2012
Sex
F
M
F
F
M
M
F
M
M
M
F
F
M
M
F
M
M
F
M
M
M
F
F
M
M

Score
s
69
68
64
68
70
80
69
65
70
78
76
60
71
70
65
68
73
66
62
60
70
75
58
60

S/No
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25

2013
Sex
M
F
F
F
F
F
F
F
M
M
M
F
F
F
M
M
M
M
F
M
F
F
F
M
M

Score
s
60
66
69
64
71
78
75
73
66
64
68
70
71
73
63
66
64
68
70
70
70
69
66
65
64

S/N
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25

2014
Sex
F
M
M
M
F
M
F
F
M
M
F
F
M
M
F
M
F
F
F
M
F
F
M
M
F

Score
s
69
68
63
60
70
75
68
70
60
61
63
61
60
66
66
65
69
73
70
69
70
65
6
61
63

36
CROSS RIVER STATE 2011-2014 SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL
CERTIFICATE EXAMINATION MASTER SHEET RESULT IN OGOJA
LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA
SCHOOL: TECHNICAL SCHOOL - OGOJA
S/N
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25

2011
Sex
F
F
F
F
M
F
M
M
F
M
M
F
M
M
F
F
F
M
F
M
M
M
F
F
F

Score
s
68
71
67
65
73
71
64
74
60
66
70
70
62
66
70
74
72
75
70
72
75
74
72

S/N
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25

2012
Sex
M
F
F
F
M
F
M
F
M
F
F
F
F
F
F
F
F
M
M
F
F
M
M
F
M

Score
s
68
71
70
70
68
70
70
70
65
68
67
70
75
78
69
67
66
64
60
62
70
61
69
69
60

S/No
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25

2013
Sex
M
M
M
F
F
F
F
F
F
M
M
M
F
F
F
F
F
F
F
F
M
M
M
M
F

Score
s
58
58
60
61
70
72
68
67
69
61
60
57
65
70
81
70
70
61
72
80
5
53
52
69
69

S/N
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25

2014
Sex
M
F
F
F
F
F
F
F
F
M
M
M
F
F
F
F
M
M
M
F
F
M
M
M
M

Score
s
60
60
60
68
70
70
72
71
69
68
67
59
57
68
71
60
60
61
60
65
56
58
70
70
70

37
CROSS RIVER STATE 2011-2014 SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL
CERTIFICATE EXAMINATION MASTER SHEET RESULT IN OGOJA
LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA
SCHOOL: MBUBE-WEST COMMUNITY SECONDARY SCHOOL, MBUBEOGOJA
S/N
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25

2011
Sex
F
M
F
M
F
M
F
F
F
F
F
M
M
M
M
F
F
F
M
F
F
F
F
M
M

Score
s
58
53
57
55
55
53
57
51
55
53
54
50
52
48
47
53
56
52
55
53
50
48
45
55

S/N
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25

2012
Sex
M
F
F
M
M
F
F
F
F
M
M
M
M
M
F
F
F
F
M
F
M
F
F

Score
s
66
72
72
69
69
71
70
68
67
60
61
58
55
59
68
69
66
64
71
68
5
74
58
68
70

S/No
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25

2013
Sex
F
M
F
M
M
F
F
F
M
F
M
M
M
M
F
M
F
F
M
F
F
M
F
M
F

Score
s
61
66
63
70
70
72
72
70
65
68
75
54
50
59
68
58
63
70
56
68
71
62
68
58
70

S/N
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25

2014
Sex
M
F
M
F
F
M
M
M
M
F
F
F
M
F
F
F
M
F
M

M
M

Score
s
33
58
60
61
68
60
65
67
66
71
70
69
60
60
61
58
56
71
70
67
80
61
62
63
67

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