EFFECTS OF PICTURE BOOKS INTERVENTION ON WRITING SKILLS BY PUPILS WITH LEARNING DISABILITIES IN JOS, PLATEAU STATE

Children with learning disabilities have problem learning language skills due to poor listening, speaking, reading and writing skills. These problems are found among both boys and girls in schools. Many teachers teach pupils language skills using conventional oral method ignoring the use of picture books. Many more do not teach language skills with pictures at all. This makes it difficult for pupils whose second language is not the same with second language is not the same with their mother tongue. It is based on the difficulties teachers face that made specialists in language to devise various methods to help the teacher address the problem of language skills of pupils with learning disabilities. The purpose of this study was to find out the effects of picture books on language learning skills of pupils with learning disabilities in Jos Plateau State. Specifically, the objectives of the study were to find out the extent to which picture books can enhance the listening, speaking, reading and writing skills of pupils with learning disabilities. Both documentary and empirical relevant literatures were reviewed on the major themes of the study. All gaps and tendencies, clusters and trends were noticed which helped the researcher in shaping this research work. Quasi experimental research design was adopted for the study; specifically, the non equivalent pretest-posttest control group design was used. The population of the study comprised of seventy eight (78) primary two pupils with learning disabilities in Jos North Local Government Area. Stratified sampling technique was used to choose forty (40) pupils as sample for the study. An adapted Functional Diagnostic Test of Language Assessment Instrument (FDTLA) and Assessment of Language Ability (ALA) score sheet were used to collect data to which helped to answer the research questions and test the eleven hypotheses raised. Data for the research was collected through the administration of pretest on the experimental and control groups before intervention. After the pretest, the experimental group was exposed to treatment using picture books, while the control group was taught using the conventional method in their regular classroom. After the intervention, the two groups were subjected to posttest using the Functional Diagnostic Test of Language Assessment Instrument and Assessment of Language Ability score sheet. All the research questions were answered using mean scores. Ten of the hypotheses were tested using t-test for independent samples at 0.05 level of significance. The result showed that picture books improved the language skills of the pupils significantly as shown in the performance of the experimental group who were subjected to a treatment using picture books as against pupils (control group) who were taught using the conventional method. This indicated that picture books have significant effect on the pupils’ language skills. The results showed that there was no significant difference between the pretest mean scores of the experimental and control groups except hypothesis one which indicated that there is a significant difference between the two groups. The result indicated that pupils taught language skills using picture books performed better than those not taught with picture books. It was therefore, recommended that pupils should be taught the skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing using picture books in the lower primary classes. By this, pupils will learn the four skills of language with less difficulty.