EFFECTS OF FANTASY AND ROLE-PLAY INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES ON PRIMARY TWO PUPILS’ ACQUISITION OF EXPRESSIVE AND SOCIAL SKILLS IN ONDO CITY

Abstract

Expressive and social skills are developed in primary school pupils to enable them communicate and interact effectively within and outside the school. However, literature has shown that many primary school pupils in Ondo city are deficient in expressive and social skills. Previous studies focused largely on factors influencing acquisition of expressive and social skills of pupils with less emphasis on intervention through the use of drama based instructional strategies that could foster interaction among pupils. Therefore, the study was carried out to determine the effects of fantasy and role-play instructional strategies on primary two pupils’ acquisition of expressive (speaking and writing) and social (friendship and acceptance) skills in Ondo city. The moderating effects of school type and parenting styles were also examined. Experiential Learning Theory was used as framework, while the pretest-posttest control group quasi experimental design with 3x4x2 factorial matrix was adopted. Purposive sampling technique was used to select three government approved private and three public primary schools with teachers who possessed the minimum Nigeria Certificate in Education in Ondo city. A total of 123 pupils from six intact classes were involved in the study (fantasy play - 44, role-play - 48 and conventional - 31 groups). Treatment lasted nine weeks. Instruments used were Speaking Skill Rating Scale (r=0.83), Writing Skill Rating Scale (r=0.81), Friendship Skill Observation Checklist (r=0.96), Acceptance Skills Observation Checklist (r=0.82), Questionnaire on Parenting Style (r=0.75) and instructional guides. Data were analysed using Analysis of covariance and Bonferroni post hoc test at 0.05 level of significance. The average age was 7.5 ±1.6 years. There was a significant main effect of treatment on expressive skills (F(2,98)=6.12; partial η 2 =0.11). Pupils in fantasy play group had the highest mean score (62.49), followed by role play (52.05) and conventional (46.61) groups. There was a significant main effect of treatment on social skills (F(2,98)=2.82; partial η 2 =0.11). Pupils in fantasy play group had the highest mean score (70.48), followed by role play (67.55) and conventional (66.46) groups. Parenting style had a significant main effect on expressive skills (F(3,98)=5.13, partial η 2 =0.14). Authoritarian parenting style had the highest mean score (66.19) followed by permissive (50.99), authoritative (50.53), and neglectful (48.50). There were significant main effects of school type on expressive skills (F(1.98)=41.26, partial η 2 =0.30) and social skills (F(1,98)=3.28, partial η 2 =0.03). Private schools had higher mean score (67.38; 69.55) than the public schools (40.72; 66.78) in expressive skills and social skills respectively. The two-way interaction effect of treatment and school type was significant on social skills (F(2,98)=3.48, partial η 2 =0.07) in favour of private school pupils in fantasy. Two-way and three-way interaction effects were not significant. Fantasy play and role-play instructional strategies enhanced acquisition of expressive and social skills of primary two pupils in Ondo city but fantasy play was more effective. Primary school teachers should adopt both strategies for improved acquisition of expressive and social skills among pupils, particularly pupils in public schools and with neglectful parents.