Peer Group Influence and Academic Performance of Secondary School Students in English Language

Abstract

The study was on the influence peer group on the academic performance secondary school students in English language in Calabar Municipality of Cross River State, Nigeria. To carry out the purpose of the research, a null hypothesis was formulated to guide the study. The descriptive research design was utilised for the research. A sample size of two hundred (200) respondents was selected randomly for the study through the simple random sampling technique. A questionnaire and an English Language achievement test were the instruments used in the collection data. The instruments were subjected to face and content validation by experts in measurement and evaluation. The reliability estimates of the instruments were established through test-retest reliability method. Pearson moment product correlation analysis was the statistical tool adopted to test the hypothesis at 0.05 level of significance. The result of the finding revealed that peer group significantly influences the academic performance secondary school students in English Language. Based on the finding, it was recommended that students should be on the type of friends they keep so as not to fall into the company of bad friends (peer) who may influence them negatively.

Keywords: English, influence, peer group, performance