COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF LITERATURE AND NON- LITERATURE STUDENTS' PERFORMANCE IN ESSAYWRITING IN MAKURDI LOCALGOVERNMENT AREA, BENUE STATE

This study investigated differences in essay writing performance between Literature-in-English and Non-Literature-in-English students in senior secondary schools in Makurdi Local Government Area, Benue State, Nigeria. Two research questions and two hypotheses guided the research. Across-sectional design was adopted. The population comprised 9,758 Senior Secondary Two (SS II) students (4,132 males and 5,626 females) in 135 public schools during the 2024/2025 academic session. Asample of 150 SS II students (75 Literature-in-English and 75 Non-Literature-in-English) was selected from six schools using purposive sampling. Data were collected using. Students’Expository Essay Writing Test (SEEWT), adapted from WAEC past questions and validated by three experts. Mean and standard deviation were used to answer the research questions, while independent samples t-test and two-way ANOVA tested the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. Findings revealed a statistically significant difference in essay writing performance, with Literature-in-English students outperforming Non-Literature-in-English students (t(148) = 5.12, p < 0.05, d = 0.77). Gender, however, did not significantly influence essay writing performance across groups f(1,46=2.07, P>0.05). The study concluded that exposure to Literature-in-English positively impacts students’ essay writing skills and recommended, among other things, the integration of literature-based strategies into English language instruction for all students.