EFFECT OF TWO INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES ON SPELLING PERFORMANCE OF PUPILS WITH LEARNING DISABILITIES IN IBADAN, NIGERIA

Abstract

Spelling is a crucial skill for academic success however many pupils with learning disabilities lag behind in academic tasks because of poor spelling skills and its accompanying negative effects. Past studies on pupils with learning disabilities focused more on reading than on spelling skills. Thus, the objective of the study was to examine the core effects of visual imagery and cloze spelling instructional strategies on pupils with learning disabilities’ performance in spelling. The pretest-posttest control group quasi-experimental design of 3 x 2 factorial matrix was adopted. Sixty pupils with learning disabilities (Male = 38, Female = 22, Mean age = 9.35) from three government-run primary schools were chosen using purposive sampling. Three instruments used were Pupil Rating Scale (Revised) (r = .76), Right Word Recognition (r = .91) and Pupils’ Note Books on Dictated Words. Data were analysed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. The results showed that the core effect of treatment on the performance in spelling of pupils who experience disabilities in learning was significant F¬(3,56) = 2.085. p