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Effects of AchievementMotivation and Study Habitson Nigerian SecondarySchool Students' AcademicPerformanceJoseph O. Jegede a , Ruth T. Jegede a & ChristianahA. Ugodulunwa ba Department of Educational Foundations , NationalUniversity of Lesothob Department of Educational Foundations ,University of Jos , NigeriaPublished online: 01 Apr 2010.

To cite this article: Joseph O. Jegede , Ruth T. Jegede & Christianah A. Ugodulunwa(1997) Effects of Achievement Motivation and Study Habits on Nigerian SecondarySchool Students' Academic Performance, The Journal of Psychology: Interdisciplinaryand Applied, 131:5, 523-529, DOI: 10.1080/00223989709603541

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00223989709603541

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The Journal of Psychology, 1997, 131(5), 523-529

Effects of Achievement Motivation and Study Habits on Nigerian Secondary School

Students’ Academic Performance

JOSEPH 0. JEGEDE RUTH T. JEGEDE

Department of Educational Foundations National University of Lesotho

CHRISTIANAH A. UGODULUNWA Department of Educational Foundations

University of Jos, Nigeria

ABSTRACT. An experimental analysis of the effects of achievement motivation and study habits on Nigerian secondary school students’ English language performance was carried out in 1990. The two hypotheses tested were that each of the treatment groups would per- form significantly better in English than the control group and that the students treated for the combination of improved study habits and higher achievement motivation would per- form better in English than any of the other groups (study habit, achievement motivation, and control). The sample consisted of 160 students in 10th grade, selected from 4 schools in Nigeria. Students’ entry and exit achievement motivation, study habits, and English lan- guage performance were examined. Analyses of covariance were used to test for the sig- nificance of the results, and both hypotheses were supported.

ENGLISH IS THE OFFICIAL LANGUAGE of Nigeria, as well as one of its major unifying factors. However, because Nigeria is a society with many ethnic groups and about 400 languages (Banjo, 1969), English is also a second language there. Any attempt to treat English with levity in the country’s educational sys- tem may have serious consequences for Nigerians because English is also the language used in commerce, in the judiciary, and in educational institutions. Consequently, any Nigerian child who is deficient in English could hardly be educated beyond the first two grades in elementary school.

The impact of low achievement in this all-important subject is great, espe- cially at the secondary and high school levels. Failure to learn English affects stu- dents’ performance at the tertiary level. Adesanoye (1976) and Aboderin (1985)

Address correspondence to Joseph 0. Jegede, Department of Educational Foundations, National University of Lesotho, €? 0. Roma 180, Lesotho, Southern Africa.

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reported that students who left secondary school and then gained admission into the tertiary levels of education in Nigeria continued to perform poorly and below average, especially because of their poor English language background.

Studies have been conducted to determine the causes of African students’ poor academic performance. Many of those studies have concentrated on the cognitive and environmental factors that affect academic performance (e.g.. Jegede, 1987; Marjoribanks, 1984; Opoku, 1967). In the present study, we focused on the effects of study habits and achievement motivation on Nigerian students’ English language performance.

Achievement motivation propels a person to desire success and to make a commensurate effort to achieve the same. Therefore, English can be learned and perfected if students are properly motivated. Studies on achievement motivation and academic performance have indicated that there is a positive relationship between those variables (Entwistle, 1968). Those studies made use of projective techniques. However, because achievement motivation can remain latent in an individual if it is not aroused, we adopted an experimental design in which achievement motivation was stimulated in the participants.

Positive, significant relationships between study habits and academic per- formance have been found (Akinboye, 1974; Bakare, 1975; Campella, Wagner, & Kusmierz, 1982; Levine, 1976). However, Danskin and Burnett (1952) and Maddox ( 1963) reported a negative relationship between academic performance and study habits. One possible reason for the variation in findings might be the types of samples used for the studies. For instance, Danskin and Burnett used over- and underachievers as participants, and those samples could have biased the results of the study.

Most of the studies have examined the effects of achievement motivation and study habits separately. We decided to combine related variables and observe how they affect students’ English language performance. We assumed that a person with high achievement motivation desires success and acts to achieve that goal, including using proper study habits. In this connection, Popham and Moore ( 1960). Webster (1977), and Salami (1987) found that study habits and achieve- ment motivation are positively related. Also, research has indicated that high moti- vation can help a person achieve high academic performance in school subjects, including English (Birkmaier, 1973; Gardner & Lambert, 1972). It then follows that if a person’s achievement motivation is adequately stimulated, his or her study habits are likely to improve and, consequently, academic performance should improve. If this proposition holds, then the following hypotheses, regarding dif- ferences in the mean scores of the experimental groups, should be supported:

I . Each of the three experimental groups (those counseled in higher achievement motivation, improved study habits, and the combination of improved study habits and higher achievement motivation) will perform better in English than the control group.

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2. Students counseled in the combination of improved study habits and high- er achievement motivation will perform better in English than any of the other groups (study habit, achievement motivation, and control group).

Method

The study was carried out in 1990. The experimental variables (study habit and achievement motivation) were manipulated, and their effects on the depen- dent variable (English language performance) were observed. There were four experimental groups for the study. All the groups were pre- and posttested on the measures of achievement motivation, study habits, and English language perfor- mance.

Sample

The target population for the study was the Junior Secondary Three (Grade 10) students in coeducational schools in Ilorin, Nigeria. Four schools from that area were randomly selected. These four schools were, in turn, randomly assigned to treatment groups (three experimental and one control group). Forty students were selected in each school for the study (N = 160). Because schools in that locality are located far apart and admission into them is on the basis of proximity to student’s place of residence, we assumed that communication among the groups would be minimal, if not altogether impossible.

Instruments

Bakare’s (1970) Study Habit Inventory (SHI) was used as the measure of the students’ study habits. The instrument consists of 45 standardized questions about their behavior; the respondents answer on a 5-point scale.

Bakare’s (1 976) Academic Need Achievement Motivation Scale was used to tap students’ achievement motivation. There are 36 standardized statements, to which the student responds on a 5-point scale according to how true each state- ment is of him or her.

Two equivalent measures of English language knowledge were constructed and standardized by the researchers. Because all the schools had the same cur- riculum, we visited the selected schools to ascertain the area of coverage in Eng- lish language. We constructed two equivalent tests based on common areas of coverage in the selected schools, and we verified their validity and reliability.

Procedure

Grade 10 students from each selected school constituted each experimental group. Before the treatment was administered, all the participating students were pretested on measures of study habits, achievement motivation, and English lan-

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guage performance. The experimental treatment was personally administered by the researchers in all the selected schools over a period of 6 weeks. The follow- ing topics were taught to the study habits group:

1. Preparing a schedule and tackling homework 2. Applying SQ3R (scan, question, read, recall, and review) study tech-

3. Reading faster and concentrating more efficiently 4. Preparing for and taking English language examinations

niques to English

The following topics were taught to the achievement motivation group:

1. Getting to know students and teachers 2. Understanding the purposes of English language instruction 3. Diagnosing and treating students’ difficulties 4. Using practical activities to aid studying

For the combination group, all topics under study habits and achievement motivation were taught. Not all the students completed all the experimental ses- sions. As a result, 40 students were randomly selected in each group from among those who completed all the sessions of the experiment in each of the selected schools for participation in the data analysis. At the end of the experiment, all the experimental groups and the control group were administered measures of study habits, achievement motivation, and a posttest measure of English language per- formance.

Results

We performed analyses of covariance (ANCOVA) to test for the significance of the data. The analyses yielded an F ratio of 35.59 for the treatments and 472.61 (dfi = 156) for the pretest, p c .01. Thus,. there were significant differ- ences among the experimental groups’ performances in English. We used Dun- can’s multiple range test to explore the nature of the differences. The analyses revealed that the groups’ performances in English were significantly different at the .01 level: The treatment groups performed better than the control group. Con- sequently, the null hypothesis was rejected.

The Duncan multiple range test also indicated that (a) the combination group performed better than the other groups; (b) the group counseled in higher achievement motivation performed second, after the combination group; (c) the group treated for improved study habits scored third; and (d) the control group scored last. These findings lend further support to the research hypothesis that students who were administered the combination of improved study habits and higher achievement motivation would perform better in English than any of the other groups (study habit, achievement motivation, and control).

To find out whether the treatment accounted for the differences, we used the

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Jegede, Jegede, & Ugodulunwa 527

Duncan multiple range test to further investigate the mean scores of the groups on postexperiment study habits and on the achievement motivation scale. The achievement motivation scores of the combination group and those of the achievement motivation group were not significantly different at the .05 level, and the scores of the study habits and control groups were not significantly dif- ferent. However, the mean scores of both the combination group and the achievement motivation group were significantly different from those of the study habits and control groups at the .05 level.

Moreover, the study habits scores of the combination and study habits groups were significantly different at the .05 level, and those of the study habits group were significantly different from those of the control group. The mean score on study habits for the achievement motivation group was, however, not significantly different from that of the study habits group (p c .05).

Discussion

The analysis revealed that the four groups differed with respect to academic performance in English: The combination group performed better than the achievement motivation group, which in turn performed much better than the study habits group, and the study habits group performed better than the control group. Regarding the level of achievement motivation, the combination group and the achievement motivation group did not differ significantly; also, the study habits group and the control group did not differ significantly (p < .05). Howev- er, the results indicate that the Combination group and the achievement motiva- tion group differed significantly from the study habits group and the control group at the .05 level.

Regarding the effect of performance on study habits, the groups’ mean scores were in the following order: the mean score of the combination group was higher than that of the study habits group; and the mean score of the study habits group was higher than those of the control group and the achievement motivation group. The results also showed that the control group did not differ significantly from the achievement motivation group at the .05 level, though their mean scores differed. Thus, the study habits treatment alone did not contribute significantly to the students’ performance in English.

Therefore, achievement motivation seems to account for the greater propor- tion of the observed differences in the English language performance: The two groups counseled in higher achievement motivation performed significantly dif- ferently from the study habits and the control groups, which did not receive the achievement motivation treatment. Thus, it seems reasonable to conclude that improving study habits without including higher achievement motivation does not affect English language performance significantly.

The findings lend further strength to the suggestion that achievement moti- vation affects academic performance positively, as was previously found by

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McClelland (1961) and Entwistle and Entwistle (1970). The present research might help explain why many students who think about success in English lan- guage performance without trying to work hard for what they desire do not suc- ceed academically. This is because such behavior is contrary to the theory of achievement motivation, which states that achievement motivation involves the awareness of and willingness to undertake the steps necessary for achievement (McClelland, 1961 ).

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