EFFECTS OF TRANSACTIONAL ANALYSIS METHOD ON SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS’ ABILITY TO INTERPRET THEIR EMOTIONS AND EXPRESS THEIR OPINIONS ABOUT A POEM IN JOS NORTH, PLATEAU STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

This study investigated the effects of transactional analysis method on senior secondary school students’ ability to appreciate poetry in Jos North, Plateau State. The research was motivated by the poor performance of secondary students in poetry in both the internal and external examinations. The transactional analysis method for teaching literary appreciation was used as interventions. Two research questions and two hypotheses guided the study. The pure experimental design that employed the pre-test, post-test control group design was utilized for the study. The population was made up of 1,157 literature students spread over the 21 government schools in Jos North. The sample of 120 students was randomly chosen and assigned to the experimental and the control groups. The Poetry Appreciation Test (PAT) was used to collect the data for the study. The experimental group was exposed to the treatment while the control group was taught brainstorming. The data collected were analyzed using the mean, standard deviation and t-test statistics. The results indicated that the experimental group that was taught poetic devices using transactional literature discussion (TLD) performed better in interpreting their feelings and expressing their opinions about any given poem. The hypotheses also revealed that there was a significant difference in the experimental groups’ ability to interpret their feelings and express their opinion of a poem, after treatment. Based on the findings, it was recommended that transactional analysis method should be employed by literature teachers in poetry classroom to teach poetic devices and poetry appreciation.