EFFECT OF PHONOLOGICAL AWARENESS STRATEGY ON IMPROVING SPEAKING PERFORMANCE AMONG SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS II OF ZONE ONE, KADUNA STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

This study focused on investigating the effect of Phonological Awareness 
Strategy (PAS) on improving speaking performance among Senior Secondary 
School II students in Zone One, Kaduna State, Nigeria. The study aimed to 
examine the extent to which PAS enhances students’ pronunciation and fluency 
in English speech production and to assess differences in speaking performance 
between students taught using PAS and those taught through conventional 
methods. The study was built on the Phonological Processing Theory (Wagner & 
Torgesen, 1987) and the Speech Learning Model (Flege, 1995). It employed a 
quasi-experimental pre-test/post-test control group design. A total of 120 students 
were randomly selected from four schools, and data were collected using a 
validated Speaking Performance Test (α = 0.84). the results of the study were 
analyzed using descriptive statistics to answer the research questions and 
hypotheses were tested using t-test at .05 level of significance. The study also 
revealed significant improvements in pronunciation and fluency among the PAS 
group. The study concluded that phonological awareness instruction had 
significantly enhanced Senior Secondary School II students’ speaking 
performance, and recommended that the findings of the study should be 
integrated into English pedagogy.