Language Proficiency and Method of Instruction as Determinant of Grade 9 Students' Academic Performance in Algebra

This study sought to investigate language proficiency and method of teaching as determinant of grade 9 students' academic performance in East London. A 2X2 pre-test, post-test quasi-experimental factorial design was adopted in the study. Respondents numbering 109 represent the sample for the study. The instruments adopted for the study were Language of Instruction Questionnaire (LIQ); Method of Instruction Questionnaire (MIQ) Problem Based Learning Strategies in two parts (PBLSa) and (PBLSb), Conventional Teaching Guide (C.T.G). The data were analysed using ANCOVA. The findings showed that students exposed to the PBLS achieved higher than their counterparts exposed to the Conventional method. Multiple Comparison Analysis and Tukey post-hoc were employed to detect the source of variation and the direction of significance. Hence, it is recommended that teachers need to keep abreast of current teaching methods and problem solving skills that can help to savage the downward trend in students' performance in mathematics.