ABSTRACT
The study dealt with the effect of multisensory approaches on pupils’ achievement in initial reading in the mother tongue (Igbo) in Imo state. The primary school pupils’ performance in the mother tongue (Igbo) was poor and thus led the researcher into researching on the topic. Five research questions were posed and five null hypotheses formulated which guided the study. The design of the study was the non equivalent pretest post test control group quasi-experimental research design. Purposive sampling technique was used to select the schools used for the study, two from the rural and two from urban. The sample for the study was 128 primary 2 pupils. Simple random technique was used to select two education zones (Owerre and Okigwe) out of the three education zones in Imo state. The experimental groups were taught using the multisensory approaches while the control groups were taught using the traditional approach. The instrument which was validated by experts and used for data collection was Igbo Language Initial Reading Achievement Test (ILIRAT). Mean, Standard Deviation and Univariate Analysis of Variance (UNIANOVA) were used to analyze the data collected. The major findings of the study were as follows: pupils taught initial reading in the mother tongue (Igbo) using the multisensory approaches recorded significantly greater achievement than those taught with the traditional approach. Urban pupils did better than the rural pupils in initial reading. Gender had significant influence on pupils’ achievement. Female pupils performed better than their male counterparts. There was significant interaction effect of approaches and gender. Multisensory approach had higher interaction effect on females than the males. There was also significant interaction effect of approaches and location. Multisensory approaches had higher interaction effect on the urban pupils than the rural counterparts. Based on these findings, it was concluded that the study provided an empirical evidence of the efficacy of the multisensory approaches in enhancing pupils’ achievement in initial reading in the mother tongue (Igbo). Based on the findings of this study, the researcher made recommendations and suggestions, some of which include: Teachers should adopt the multisensory approaches for teaching and learning in the classrooms, it would improve pupils achievement in initial reading in the mother tongue (Igbo). That curriculum planners should include reading as a subject in the primary school time table. That seminars/workshops should be organized for teachers and the multisensory approaches be used as resource materials.
