The study explored parents, teachers, and students' beliefs about the use and study of mother tongue (MT) in selected secondary schools in Akinyele Local Government Area, Oyo State, Nigeria. Descriptive survey design was adopted. Twelve public senior secondary schools were randomly selected. Purposive sampling technique was used to select at least 15 literate parents, 12 teachers from different subject areas, and 20 students from each school. Overall, 211 literate parents, 195 teachers and 237 SSII students participated. Three instruments used were: Parents' Questionnaire (r=0.87), Teachers' Questionnaire (r=0.90) and Students' Questionnaire (r=0.87). Data were analysed using frequency count, percentage, mean and standard deviation. Results show that parents, teachers and students have strong beliefs that using the MT to teach will facilitate the learning of English and other subjects and enhance participation in lessons. They also believe that studying the MT as a school subject would promote students' sense of identity and positive attitude towards the Nigerian culture. Students believe that the MT remains the best language to learn with. The study has shown that the participants have strong beliefs about the pedagogical and sociocultural relevance of the MT in education. There is a positive indication that the main stakeholders (parents, teachers and students) are ready to embrace the study of MT as a subject in the secondary school. It is therefore recommended that the governments should endeavour to invest in the development of the orthographies of the Nigerian languages to make them usable in education.

Writing is a tool for communication and learning.However, students’ performance in essay writing in Nigeria has been poor. This under-achievement has been traced to ineffective methods and strategies. Literature reveals that most studies focused on innovative ways to improve students’ achievement in essay writing without attention to essay structure-based instructional strategies. This study, therefore, determined the effects of two modes of Essay Structure-Based Instructional Strategies (ESBIS) on students’ achievement in argumentative and expository (cause/effect) essays. The moderating effects of vocabulary knowledge and attitude to essay writing were also examined. The study adopted a pretest-posttest, control group, quasi-experimental design using a 3×2×3 factorial matrix. Two Local Government Areas (LGAs) in Benin City were randomly selected. Three public secondary schools from each LGA were purposively selected while two intact SS II classes were randomly assigned to each of the treatment and control groups. The instruments used include: Achievement Testsin Argumentative (r=.79) and Expository Essays (r=.80), Vocabulary Knowledge Test (r=.83), Questionnaire on Students’ Attitude to Essay Writing (r=.73). Data were analysed using ANCOVA and Bonferroni post-hoc test at 0.05 alpha level.There was significant main effect of treatment on students’ achievement in each of argumentative (F (2, 284) = 9.78;.064) and expository (F (2, 284) = 55.26;.28) essays and in both combined (F (2, 284) = 4.80;.033). The two-way interaction effect of treatment and the moderator variables on students’ achievement in each of argumentative and expository essays as well as in both combined was not significant.

This study investigated the effects of two methods of instruction on secondary school students ' critical response to Prose Literature text. The study adopted a pretest, posttest, control group quasi experimental design. The participants in the study were 84 Senior Secondary II students of Literature-in-English purposively selected from four Schools in Ikpoba-Okha Local Government Area of Edo State. Two intact classes were randomly assigned to each of the treatment and control groups. Three hypotheses were tested at 0.05 alpha level. The instruments used were: Critical Response to Prose Literature Test (r = .75), Questionnaire on Home Background of Students (r = .82), and Critical Response to Prose Literature Test Marking Guide. Data obtained were subjected to Analysis of Covariance and graph. The results showed significant main effect of treatment on students' critical response to Prose Literature (F (1, 77) = 44.731; p < .05). Students exposed to Engagement Strategies Method performed better than those exposed to the Conventional Method of instruction. Further, home background of students had no significant effect on students' critical response to Prose Literature text (F (2, 77) = 4.902; p < .05). There was significant interaction effect of treatment and home background of students on students' critical response to Prose Literature text (F (2, 77) = 3.508; p < .05). It was concluded that Engagement Strategies Method is effective in promoting students' critical response to Prose Literature text. Teachers of Literature-in-English should employ Engagement Strategies Method in teaching Prose Literature to students in Senior Secondary Schools.