SONG AND STORYTELLING-ENHANCED STIMULATION AND PRE-PRIMARY SCHOOL CHILDREN’S MATHEMATICS COMMUNICATION SKILL AND KNOWLEDGE IN THE IBADAN METROPOLIS, NIGERIA

Abstract

Mathematical Communication Skill (MCS) and Mathematical Knowledge (MK), the traits that reflect the understanding of mathematics ideas and concepts, are crucial to further mathematics education of children. Extant literature has shown that many pre-primary school children are deficient in MCS and MK in the Ibadan metropolis. Past studies on learning outcomes in mathematics are mostly survey, while few interventions concentrated more on the use of activity-based instructional methods than on the use of Song-enhanced Stimulation (SoeS) and Storytelling-enhanced Stimulation (SeS). This study, therefore, was carried out to determine the effects of SoeS and SeS on the MCS and MK among pre-primary school children. It also examined the moderating effects of Language Acquisition (LA) and school type. The David Kolb’s Experiential Learning and Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences theories provided the framework, while the study adopted the mixed methods (Pretestposttest control group quasi-experimental with a 3X2X3 factorial matrix and phenomenological approach) design. The simple random sampling technique was used to select three Local Government Areas (LGAs) from the Ibadan metropolis, while six schools (three public and three private) that adopted Nigerian curriculum and had children who were five years old in the pre-primary section were purposively selected. The instruments used were Pre-primary School Children Mathematical Knowledge Test (α = 0.89), Pre-primary School Children Language Acquisition Rating Scale (r = 0.80), Mathematics Communication Skill Rubric for Pre-primary School Children (r = 0.78) and instructional guides. In-depth interviews were conducted with four teachers. Treatment lasted eight week. The quantitative data were analysed using descriptive and Analysis of covariance at 0.05 level of significance, while the qualitative data were content analysed. Majority of the children (51.8%) were from public schools and 71.9% had low language acquisition provide the threshold. There was a significant main effect of treatment on preprimary children’s MCS (F(2;97)= 45.36; partial ɳ2=0.48). Children exposed to SoeS had the highest MCS mean score (85.73), followed by those exposed to SeS (83.20) and conventional (40.08) methods. There was a significant main effect of treatment on pre-primary children’s MK (F(2;97)= 6.65; partial ɳ2=0.12). Children exposed to SeS had the highest MK mean score (52.62), as against those exposed to SoeS (50.83), and conventional (40.22) methods. There was a significant main effect of school type on pre-primary children’s MK (F(1;97)= 4.57; partial ɳ2=0.05). Private school children had a higher MK mean score (52.81) than their public (43.01) counterparts. There was a significant main effect of LA on pre-primary children’s MCS (F(2;97)= 3.39; partial ɳ2=0.07). Children with average LA had the highest MCS mean score (74.35), followed by those with low (70.47) and high (58.62) LA. Other two-way and three-way interaction effects were not significant. The two stimulations were fun-filled activities for the children. Song and storytelling-enhanced stimulations were effective in impacting mathematics communication skills and mathematics knowledge. Pre-primary school teachers should adopt these stimulations.