EFFECT OF INDIGENOUS AFRICAN LYRICISM ON THE WRITING PERFORMANCE OF GIFTED ESL LEARNERS WITH DECLINING ACHIEVEMENT
Keywords:
Academic Decline, Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy, Gifted ESL Writers, Indigenous African Lyricism, Multimodal WritingAbstract
High-achieving English as a Second Language (ESL) writers may experience academic decline characterised by disengagement, writing anxiety and perfectionistic avoidance. This study examined the effectiveness of indigenous African lyricism-integrated pedagogy in improving writing performance, reducing anxiety and enhancing engagement among 60 gifted ESL learners aged 15–18 years from four secondary schools in Sokoto Metropolis, Nigeria. An explanatory sequential mixed-methods design was employed, incorporating a 12-week quasi-experimental intervention. Participants were assigned to an experimental group (n = 30), exposed to an African lyricism-integrated curriculum, and a control group (n = 30), taught through conventional formalist approaches. Quantitative data were collected through pre- and post-intervention writing assessments, anxiety measures and engagement scales, while qualitative evidence was obtained from reflective journals, focus-group interviews and textual rhetorical analysis. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA), controlling for baseline scores, revealed significantly higher post-intervention writing performance among learners in the experimental group, F(1, 57) = 48.32, p < .001, partial η² = .459. The intervention also significantly reduced writing anxiety and enhanced learner engagement. Qualitative findings corroborated these outcomes, indicating improvements in rhetorical flexibility, dialectical reasoning, metaphorical expression and authorial voice. The findings demonstrate the pedagogical potential of culturally grounded, multimodal instruction in addressing academic decline among gifted ESL writers while strengthening linguistic competence, creative expression and sustained engagement in formal academic writing.
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