Gender Differences in the Outcomes of Computer-Assisted Language Instructional Strategies in Essay Writing: Case of Senior Secondary Classes in Ilorin City, Nigeria

Abstract

The study was conducted to determine what contribution gender could
make to Nigerian students’ disposition to and performance in essay writing
when exposed to computer-assisted language instructional strategies. Three
senior secondary classes were selected in Ilorin, Kwara State. The pretestposttest
control group quasi-experimental design was employed. Each
class was assigned to an instructional strategy (collaborative computerassisted
language instruction, autonomous computer-assisted language
instruction, and conventional instruction respectively). The treatment
to the groups lasted eight weeks. Computations of means and standard
deviation as well as analysis of covariance were used in analyzing the data
obtained. The findings showed that gender had significant effect on the
students’ disposition to and significant effect on the students’ achievement
in computer-assisted essay writing.
Keywords: gender, gender achievement, language instruction strategies