PROJECT PROPOSAL

PROPOSED PROJECT TITLE:

EPHRASED TOPIC: AN INVESTIGATION ON THE USE OF LITERARY CIRCLE ON

READING PROFECIENCY AMONG STUDENTS IN SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLIN
ATIBA LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF OYO STATE.

THE IMPACT OF LITERARY CIRCLE ON READING PROFICIENCY AMONG STUDENTS

IN SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL IN ATIBA LOCAL GOVERNMENT

STUDENT NAME: EYITAYO OLAKUNLE OLAOLUWA

MATRIC NO: 162036

DEPARTMENT: ENG/ENG

TO BE SUPERVISED BY

MRS. ADEOLA GOLD

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 CHAPTER ONE

1.0. INTRODUCTION
1.1. BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
In this chapter, there will be a preamble / introduction on the concepts of reading, literary circle,
Statement of the Problem, Purpose of the Study, Research Questions, Research Questions, Significance of
the Study, Scope of the Study and Definition of the terms:
Reading is very fundamental to an individual’s success in school and society. It is one of the
basic language skills. Others are listening, speaking and writing. Out of these skills, reading is at the
centre of every academic success and acquisition of general literacy (Todd, 2007). It is crucial to
knowledge acquisition because knowledge is predominantly stored in writing form. Reading proficiency
correlates highly with scholastic excellence and growth in professional career (Muodumogu, 2005). This
explains that the success of further education depends entirely on the intensive and extensive reading a
child is able to do because there is a strong relationship between reading and academic achievement.
Besides, the challenges of modern global economy demands that an individual needs to brace up
with effective reading skills so that the person can participate and contribute meaningfully to the
development of the society. Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body. It is an intellectual and
mental activity, opening the imagination, simultaneously soothing and stimulating the mind (Reeves,
2004). Reading, however, is simply much more than just being able to translate the letters on the printed
page into words, it is about understanding the thoughts and ideas of another person, about entering
different imaginary and real worlds created by the author.
Indeed, reading and comprehension are inseparable. Meaningful reading, therefore, cannot be
said to have taken place without comprehension of the reading material. Comprehension is therefore, an
important ingredient of effective reading (Udu, 2004). Thus, comprehension is only possible when
readers find meaning in whatever material they appear to be reading. Reading is an important school
subject and deserves to be given proper attention in the school curriculum. This is necessary in order to
achieve one of the goals of secondary education which stresses the importance of preparing an individual
for useful living within the society and for further education (Federal Government of Nigeria, 2004).
It is therefore, an issue of concern among reading researchers and teachers that an average
Nigerian secondary school student cannot sufficiently extract meaning from a text, and therefore, has
reading problems (William, 2004). Reeves (2004) observes that most students are not explicitly taught
and so do not understand that learning what a texts says is not all there is to learning; the text does not
have all the meaning, the reader’s contribution to the reading process is also very important. Most
teachers perceive reading instruction as a time to test students’ ability to read a given text and answer a
few recall questions. In Nigeria, reading is identified as problematic to students as many of them fail to
learn to read and are unable to read to learn (Oyetunde & Muodumogu, 1999).
Reading comprehension is one of the most important aspects of learning. Even though
comprehension is essential to understanding, it can be extremely difficult if comprehension skills have not

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been explicitly taught and practiced over time. The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)
has shown that students’ reading comprehension scores since 1992 have indeed risen, but students have
made minimal gains, especially in the upper elementary and middle school grades (Murphy, Wilkinson,
Soter, Hennessey, & Alexander, 2009, p. 740; Vaughn et al., 2011, p. 939).
A literature circle is a reading group consisting of 4 or 5 people in which students who have
different academic success levels and reading abilities voluntarily come together to read literary texts
such as a novel or a story or expository texts such as essays, articles, or textbooks they like and to share
their reading experiences with each other (Daniels, 2002; Karatay, 2015). The reason why these reading
activities are called literature circle activities is that the order of seating is designed either as a full or half
circle which allows all group members to see each other’s faces when they come together. If the
conversation concerning the text is carried out only by group members, then the order of seating is a full
circle (Daniels, 2002). If students other than the group members are asked to participate as audience in the
reading activity, the order of seating is arranged as a semi-circle (Karatay, 2015).
In literature circles, all members in the group read the same text, participate in the discussion
about the text, and each has a different reading task for the presentation to be made at the end of the
discussion. Four of these reading tasks are basic (compulsory) and four of them are optional. The
prominent tasks to be performed as compulsory are Questioner, Connector, Literary luminary/Passage
master, and Illustrator. When the number of group members is over four, the reading tasks such as
Summarizer, Researcher, Vocabulary enricher/word wizard and Travel tracer/scene setter are assigned to
group members upon their wishes (Daniels, 2002).
After the students create literature circle reading groups, they choose a book or a text determined
either by the teacher or by themselves. Each member reads the book or the text in order to do the
individual reading task he has been assigned and starts preparation to discuss the task with the members
of the group. Each student does this reading activity individually. Independent reading work is performed
at school or at home, depending on the volume of the book/text. After the students complete their
independent reading work and do their reading tasks, they participate in the discussion about the book and
share their experiences with the other students. After the discussion, all students present the work they
have prepared which is based on their reading task.
Literature circle reading activities which are done in one class hour for about 40-50 minutes are
more effective than traditional reading activities used in the acquisition of skills such as text analysis,
making a guess, drawing a conclusion, critical thinking, speaking, writing, enhancing vocabulary, and
improving independent reading desire (Briggs, 2010; Daniels & Steineke, 2004; McElvain, 2010;
Wilfong, 2009) because these activities offer students not only a collaborative learning atmosphere for
socializing, but assigning a different reading task to each student helps them improve their individual
reading skills and learning strategies as well. In this respect, compared with the traditional reading
education activities, literature circle reading activities provide students with an indirect learning
atmosphere for both socializing and cognitively learning reading comprehension strategies (Briggs, 2010;
Burner, 2007; Williams, 2009).
The purpose of processes of the discussion of the book/text and sharing thoughts about it is to
increase the students’ comprehension skills about the theme, main idea, supporting ideas, plot and
subordinate plots, and the writer’s style of treating the topic and events. These processes improve the
students’ skills of comprehension and analysis of complex texts they will encounter throughout their lives
and increase their critical and reflective thinking abilities (Briggs, 2010; Burner, 2007; Burns, 1998). In
addition, the processes of preparation and individual reading help students acquire self-control skills for

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planning and doing independent reading in their reading and learning processes. In terms of cognitive
competence, these processes are the stages of the reading comprehension skill that students need in their
academic lives.
Literature circles attract students’ reading interests more than the traditional reading of literary
works and summarizing activities and arouse their reading desire for literary works because the students
in literature circles find a collaborative and cooperative social learning atmosphere. In addition to helping
students improve their ability to understand the deep structure of texts, this environment contributes to the
improvement of students’ ability to talk about a literary text, self-confidence, and self-acceptance which
even adults even experience difficulty in (Allan, Ellis & Pearson, 2005).
This especially increases the reading desire of male students who are reluctant to do reading
because when the students themselves determine the amount of reading they will do, this makes them
bolder and more eager in the reading process.
For students who participate in literature circles discussions, not only does their reading desire
increase, but their vocabulary also improves; reading and analyzing expository and narrative texts the
students chose by themselves in literature circles are more effective in improving their vocabulary
compared with traditional reading activities (Wilfong, 2009). Besides, it is known that in the reading
process, literature circles make students more focused and critical cognitively and help students acquire
the responsibility for self-learning and increase their self-confidence (Briggs, 2010; Burner, 2007; Burns,
1998; Daniels, 2002).

1.2 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM

Achievement in reading, according WAEC Chief Examiners’ Reports for May/June (2010), is
very poor in secondary schools. It is, therefore, an issue of concern among reading researchers,
teachers, parents and students that an average Nigeria secondary school student cannot
efficiently extract meaning or information from a text, and therefore, has reading problems. The
direct consequence of these poor reading skills is that massive failure is recorded in public
examinations conducted by the West Africa Examination Council (WAEC) and National
Examination Council (NECO). This problem of poor performance in reading has been attributed
to the methodology and strategies teachers utilize in classroom instructional procedure
(Muodumogu, 2005 & Aliyu, 2010).
Students in Atiba, and students generally find it difficult to read and comprehend.
Considering the importance of reading in education and human development, it becomes
imperative to seek an effective method of teaching reading in order to improve students’
performance in reading proficiency and comprehension in secondary schools. The problem of the
study therefore is: will literature circles affect students’ achievement in reading proficiency in
secondary schools?
1.3 PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
The purpose of the following study is to monitor the effects that literature circles have on
proficiency, comprehension and motivation to read of secondary school students in Atiba. The
following research questions were studied: Does the use of literature circles increase the reading
proficiency of secondary school students while reading fictional novels? Does the use of
literature circles increase student motivation to read?

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1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
The following questions guided the study:
1. What would be the difference in the mean reading proficiency and comprehension scores of
students taught reading using literature circles and those taught using the conventional method?`
2. What is the difference between the mean achievement scores of male and female students
taught reading using literature circles?
3. What is the difference between the mean achievement scores of students in the urban and rural
areas taught reading using literature circles?
1.5 SCOPE OF THE STUDY
The scope of this project is on the impact of literary circle on reading proficiency among
students in senior secondary school in Atiba local government. It will assess the extent literary
circle affects students reading proficiency. This research is limited to selected schools in Atiba.
1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
This Study is important because its results can go a long way in finding out the impact of
literary circle on reading proficiency among students in senior secondary school in atiba local
government.
The study will enable students discover various ways and methods through which they
can develop and improve their reading proficiency and ability to comprehend when reading.
This study will also benefit the teachers in that it will assist them to realize various means
by which they can improve the reading skills of students.
This work will in no doubt contribute to one’s knowledge and it will highlight some
issues in reading and comprehension.
1.7 DEFINITION OF TERMS:

LITERARY CIRCLE : A literature circle is a reading group consisting of 4 or 5 people

in which students who have different academic success levels and reading abilities voluntarily
come together to read literary texts.
READING: Process of interpreting written language
PROFICIENCY: ability, skills and competence of students to read and interpete written
language

CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
This section would carry out a review on various literatures ranging from sub points as:
 Social Constructivism
 Student Motivation and Learning
 Engagement Strategies
 Independent Reading and Its Impact on Student Motivation and Reading
Comprehension
 Literature Circles and Their Impact on Student Motivation and Reading
Comprehension

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  Motivation to Read

CHAPTER THREE

3.0 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This chapter presents the method and procedures used in carrying out the study. It is primarily
aimed to investigate the impact of literary circle on reading proficiency among students in senior
secondary school in Atiba local government. This chapter consist of headings which include research
design, population of the study, sample and sampling techniques, instruments, reliability of instrument,
method of data collected and method of data analysis.
3.1 Research Design
This study is a descriptive research. It is designed to survey the impact of literary circle on
reading proficiency among students in senior secondary school in Atiba local government. Ihemere
(2006) refers to descriptive research as the best method which includes the use of questionnaire or
interviews in the collection of data. The research used questionnaires to obtain information needed for
this study. To identify the strength of the responses to various questions, percentage would be calculated
and all the data obtained would be analyzed.
3.2 Population of the study
The population of the study is made up of secondary school students which are in Atiba Local
Government . The populations used in the study are fifty in number. The population for the study is
randomly selected from secondary schools in Atiba local government area of Oyo state.
3.3 Sample and sampling technique
The population sample comprise of fifty students and staff alike. Simple random sampling
technique was used to select respondents for the study.
3.4 Instrument for data collection
The major research to be adopted in this study will be survey based on the research questions
drawn by the researcher. In the process of data collection, the researcher will use structured questions in
form of a questionnaire whereby respondent will tick on the available options that will be provided. The
questionnaire contain two sections; section A and B. Section A of the instrument is all about bio-data of
each of the respondents and Section B consist of fourteen (14) items which students intend to answer. The
questionnaires will be designed in such a way that items of information required from respondent will be
minimal to enable the respondents to promptly fill and return them.
3.5 Validity of the instrument
The questionnaire for this study was developed by the researcher. The instrument faces content
validation by the supervisor and other researcher. After undergoing series of correction by the supervisor
by adding relevant information to the questionnaire, it was perfectly good to be administered on the
respondents in order to obtain standard information for the study.
3.6 Reliability of instrument
According to Galadima (2009), the reliability of any test is said to be concerned with the
consistency of the measurement”. The instrument adopted for this research was found reliable as it was
cross checked by an expert and confirmed to be worthy enough to seek for information.
3.7 Method of data collection

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 The instrument used in the study was the questionnaire. It was personally administered by the
researcher to the respondents selected from the study. The administration of the questionnaire will take at
most three weeks. At the end of each visitation, the researcher would collect the answered questionnaire
and analyze and interprete the data collected.
3.8 Method of data analysis
The method to be adopted in this research is based on statistical table by distributing the
respondent according to their answers from the surveyed for the purpose of data analysis. Simple
statistical tools will be used in most cases, frequency in tabular form and percentage would be used. This
is necessary because the data obtained are qualitative and fixed.

CHAPTER FOUR
4.0 DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS

CHAPTER FIVE

5.0 SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

REFERENCES

APPENDIX