EFFECTIVENESS OF COMMUNICATIVE ACTIVITIES WITHIN FOCUS ON FORM INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES ON LINGUISTIC PROFICIENCY DEVELOPMENT OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN NORTH-WEST, NIGERIA

Abstract

This paper discusses the effectiveness of communicative activities integrated with focus-on-form instructional strategies in developing the English language proficiency of primary school learners in North-west Nigeria. The research employed a quasi-experimental design with a pretest-post-test approach. The population comprised tertiary institutions Demonstration Primary Schools in Kano and Katsina States. Primary five pupils formed the study sample. Data were collected using an English Language Proficiency Test designed to assess reading, listening, speaking and writing skills. Content validity was established by aligning test items with the Nigerian National Curriculum for Primary 5 English studies and through expert review by two English language lecturers from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, and two practising primary school teachers. The instrument was validated through expert review and a pilot study involving 15 Primary Five pupils. Reliability, as determined by Cronbach's alpha, was 0.78, exceeding the 0.70 benchmark for social science research and confirming internal consistency. Descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation) were used to summarise performance across tests, while a paired-samples t-test determined the significance of differences between pretest and post-test scores. Additional descriptive statistics were analysed to assess pupils' attitudes toward communicative learning activities. All analyses were conducted using SPSS at a 0.05 level of significance. Findings revealed that communicative activities significantly enhanced pupils' proficiency across all skill areas. The experimental group outperformed the control group in reading (M = 8.5 vs. 6.3), listening (M = 8.7 vs. 6.5), speaking (M = 8.9 vs 5.4), and writing (M = 8.6 vs. 5.2). Overall, communicative, form-focused instruction resulted in higher accuracy, improved fluency, and more consistent performance in the experimental group.