EFFECTS OF INDIVIDUALISED INSTRUCTIONS ON STUDENTS’ PERFORMANCE IN HAUSA LANGUAGE IN SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN KADUNA STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

Despite Hausa being a widely spoken indigenous language, students' performance in the subject has remained poor, largely due to conventional, teacher-centred teaching methods that limit engagement and comprehension. This study investigated the effects of individualised instruction on students' academic performance in the Hausa language in senior secondary schools in Kaduna State, Nigeria. The study adopted a quasi-experimental design involving pre-test and post-test measures, with 112 Senior Secondary II students purposively selected from two schools: 50 in the experimental group (taught using individualised instruction) and 62 in the control group (taught using conventional methods). The Hausa Language Performance (HLP), a 50-item multiple-choice test, was used for data collection. Mean and standard deviation were used to answer research questions, and the t-test was used to test the hypotheses at the 0.05 level of significance. Findings revealed a significant improvement in the experimental group's post-test performance (mean = 43.52) compared to their pre-test (mean = 29.26), with a mean difference of 14.26 (p = .000). Similarly, the experimental group outperformed the control group (mean = 33.70) by a mean difference of 9.82 (p = .000). The study concluded that individualized instruction significantly enhances students' performance in Hausa language compared to conventional methods. Recommendations include encouraging Hausa language teachers to adopt individualised instruction and providing necessary instructional resources to support its implementation. School authorities should also create a conducive learning environment to facilitate the effective application of this learner-centred approach. The study underscores the importance of tailored teaching strategies in improving language education outcomes in Nigeria.