ABSTRACT

This study sought to examine the effect of peer tutoring on performance in essay writing of primary six pupils in Ughelli South Education zone of Delta State. The population of the study comprised of 3843 primary school pupils in Ughelli South Education zone. The sample size was 160 respondents using multi stage sampling technique. The study adopted quasi-experimental design. The instrument for the study was Essay Writing Achievement Test (EWAT). The instrument was validated by three experts from the faculty of Education University of Nigeria Nsukka. Data collected were analyzed using mean, standard deviation, while hypothesis were tested using one way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and t-test statistic. The findings of the study revealed that pupils taught English language essay writing using peer tutoring had a higher gain score than those group of pupils taught English language essay writing using conventional method. The male pupils achieved higher in English language essay writing when taught using peer tutoring. Also, in the peer tutoring group pupils in urban school had a higher mean score than those in rural schools. Based on this findings the following recommendation were made; English language teachers should endeavour to teach English language generally using peer tutoring method; the government and professional associations should organize conferences and in service training to inform and train English language teacher on the use of peer tutoring method. The teacher training institution should restructure their programme to include peer tutoring in teaching subjects: The curriculum planners should incorporate peer tutoring method in teacher education programme.