EFFECT OF CONTENT- BASED INSTRUCTIONAL METHOD ON SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENT'S ACHIEVEMENT IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE COMPOSITION WRITING IN KATAGUM LGA BAUCHI STATE

This study investigated the effect of content-based instructional method on secondary school students’ achievement in English language composition writing in Katagum,LGA Bauchi State. The study was motivated by the persistent poor performance of students in English language, particularly in composition writing, which has often been attributed to the use of ineffective teaching methods. The content-based instructional method emphasizes the integration of subject matter content with language skills, thereby creating meaningful contexts for students to develop their writing competence.A quasi-experimental research design was adopted, involving two groups of senior secondary school students: the experimental group was taught using the content-based instructional method, while the control group was exposed to the conventional teaching method. A sample of students was selected from public secondary schools in Katagum Local Government Area using a stratified random sampling technique. An English Language Composition Achievement Test (ELCAT) was used for data collection. The instrument was validated by experts in English education, and its reliability was established using the test–retest method, yielding a reliability coefficient of 0.82.Data collected were analyzed using mean, standard deviation, and t-test statistics to test the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The findings revealed that students taught with the content-based instructional method performed significantly better in composition writing than those taught with the conventional method. The results further indicated that the method enhanced students’ creativity, organization of ideas, and grammatical accuracy.It was concluded that the content-based instructional method is effective in improving students’ achievement in English composition writing. The study recommended that English language teachers should adopt content-based instruction in teaching writing skills, curriculum planners should integrate the approach into secondary school English curriculum, and workshops or training should be organized to acquaint teachers with innovative methods of teaching writing.