INTERACTION OF BILINGUALISM ON THE EXPRESSION OF THOUGHT IN ESSAY WRITING AMONG IGBO LEARNERS OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE IN SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN ABIA STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract This study investigated the interaction of bilingualism on the expression of thought in essay writing among Igbo learners of L2 in senior secondary schools in Abia State, Nigeria. One research question and one null hypothesis were raised to guide the study. The descriptive survey research design was adopted for the research and the population of the study comprised all the SS3 students of the 17 local government areas in Abia State. The sample of the study consisted of 240 students selected through multistage t-test was used to test the null hypothesis at 0.05 level of significance. The findings of the study revealed that Engligbo had interaction on the expression of thought in essay writing among SS3 students in private and public schools in Abia State; and Engligbo had more interaction on the expression of thought in essay writing among SS3 students in private schools than public schools in Abia State. Based on the findings, it was recommended among others that Teacher of English should discourage SS3 students from using coinages in their essay writing. Instead, teachers should expose students on imaginative ways to embellish their writing using creative words to create and recreate vivid mental pictures of events in their essay expression.