GENDER, READING HABIT AND PERFORMANCE IN THE WRITING OF SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL 1 STUDENTS IN ABEOKUTA NORTH LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA, OGUN STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

This study assessed the correlation between gender and writing skill among 80 students in a Senior Secondary School One (SSI) class in Abeokuta North Local Government, Ogun State, Nigeria. The students wrote a narrative essay as the pre-test ('A terrible accident I witnessed'). Both the male ( 3.09) and female ( 3.60) scored below average in the pre-test. The treatment applied was the reading of four short stories by each student within a period of eight weeks. Each student read a book per week and wrote a summary at the weekend. The researcher marked the essays and the students wrote a correction of each essay fortnightly. By the eighth week, the students wrote a post-test assessment essay, same as the pre-test. The female students' performance improved, post-test with a mean score of 15.98, while their male counterpart had 14.00. The study recommends that male students should be encouraged to read more to enhance their writing skill.

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