COMMUNICATION STYLES AS PREDICTORS OF ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OF SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN OBIO/AKPOR, RIVERS STATE

COMMUNICATION STYLES AS PREDICTORS OF ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OF SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN OBIO/AKPOR, RIVERS STATE

COMMUNICATION STYLES AS PREDICTORS OF ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OF SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN OBIO/AKPOR, RIVERS STATE

BY

NMECHA GIFT NKEY

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY, GUIDANCE AND COUNSELLING, FACULTY OF EDUCATION, UNIVERSITY OF PORT HARCOURT

AND

ABANGOWE TEMPLE

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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY, GUIDANCE AND COUNSELLING, FACULTY OF EDUCATION, UNIVERSITY OF PORT HARCOURT

 

ABSTRACT

This study investigated communication styles and academic achievement of secondary school students in Obio/Akpor, Rivers State. Correlational research design was adopted for the study. Five research questions and their corresponding hypotheses were used. The population of the study was 27,724 out of which a sample of three hundred senior secondary school two students was used. Simple random sampling technique as well as non-proportionate sampling method was used to draw the sample size. Two instruments “Communication Styles Questionnaire” and “English Achievement Test” was used for data collection. The validity of the instrument was conducted by the researcher’s supervisor and two experts in test construction. Cronbach Alpha was used to establish the instrument’s reliability. Reliability of the instruments yielded the coefficient of 0.95. Data was analyzed based on the responses of the respondents in the questionnaire. Data was analyzed using Simple linear regression and multiple regression. The R-value in Simple linear regression was used to answer research question 1-4 while research question 5 was answered using multiple regression. Hypotheses 1-4 were tested using simple regression associated with ANOVA while hypothesis 5 was tested using multiple regression associated with ANOVA. All hypotheses were tested at 0.05 alpha level of significance. The analysis was carried out through the use of a statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version 23. The findings revealed that assertive communication style significantly predict academic achievement while passive communication style, aggressive communication style and passive-aggressive communication style does not significantly predict academic achievement. The researcher therefore recommends among others that teachers should utilize communication styles that would improve students’ academic achievement.

Key Words: communication styles, assertive communication, passive communication, aggressive communication, passive-aggressive communication and academic achievement

Introduction

Education is fundamental in enhancing the economic, infrastructural, agricultural, social and financial development of the society. National development is based on the quality of education given to its citizens and one of the best legacies a nation can offer its citizen is education particularly for the younger generation as the foundation of any genuine societal development emanates with human resources. The school is an academic setting saddled with the responsibility of impacting knowledge, skills, attitude, and morals to students. Learners enrolled in academic institutions are expected to become academic prowess, perform above benchmark and do exploit in their academic quest, as this can be accessed through academic achievements in various subjects or their field of specialization.

Presently in our society, academic achievement is a major avenue to assess a person’s potentials and capabilities in the learning environment. This era of technology demands individuals who would proffer solutions to issues that hampers the development of the citizens, economy and the world at large as achievement in academic pursuit is the end product of educational quest of which the priority of institutions of learning is to ensure that learners achieve high academically (Putri & Elmiati, 2017)

Student’s performance in a particular subject or in an area of specialization during the period of academic programme indicates their level of achievement and also states the level to which the short or long-term goals of the school programmes are achieved. Schools, colleges or tertiary institutions measure student’s academic achievement with continuous assessments, examination (standardized or non-standardized) or their grade point average (GPA). It is imperative to point out that academic achievement of individuals stands as a basic criterion for selection, promotion or recognition in diverse walks of life (Arora, 2016). Presently, in the society a fundamental criterion to assess individual’s potentials and capabilities is through their achievements in academics, as a person’s success or failure is quantified with his/her academic achievement.

Kumari in Arora, (2016) defined academic achievement as the sum total of information gained after completing a course or instruction (partially or fully) in a particular grade that has been obtained in an achievement test. The primary motive of enrolment into the academic environment by students should be to achieve excellent grades in various subjects or academic activities outlined in the academic institution and this is regarded as either short term or long-term goal of the students as well as the teachers and school management. In certain occurrence where underachievement in academics is experienced, it poses concern to the student, teacher, institution and the society at large. Academic achievement portrays the ability of the learner to attain the set goals and objectives outlined in the school curriculum as the essence of all academic and non-academic activities of the school is geared towards enhancing the achievement of students in various subjects. The knowledge and information derived from continuous assessment or examination aids classroom teachers to assess or evaluate their instructional method and improve their teaching skills as the need of high academic achievement puts pressure on instructors, institution and learners so much that the entire educational system seems to revolve around academic achievement of learners (Mohd & Tabassum, 2014). A learner who earns good grades or awards in a particular field of specialization will be encouraged to work hard, study efficiently, strive to improve his/her grades and prepare for future challenges in his/her studies. Several factors can affect the academic achievement of students of the same group; same potential ability and it can result to differences in their performance academically (Arora, 2016). An observation made by (Mohd & Tabassum, 2014) states that some students admitted in schools after passing the admission tests do not maintain their level of achievement compared to the result of their admission test, on the other hand some students that recorded poor previous performance academically may perform better compared to their admission test result as a result of their devotion to studying efficiently. A particular student’s academic achievement may vary from time to time, from one class to another and from a particular educational level to another (Arora, 2016).

Hawes in Mohd & Tabassum, (2014) defined academic achievement “as the successful accomplishment or performance in a particular subject area or course usually by reasons of skills, hard work, scores or descriptive commentary”. 

Communication is coined from the Latin word “communicare” which means “to share”. According to Nordquist, (2019) communication is the “process of sending and receiving messages through verbal or non-verbal means, including speech or oral communication; writing and graphical representations (such as infographics, maps and charts); and signs, signals and behaviours. The essence of communicating is to pass and get information from person to person as different forms are used to facilitate the process of communication.

According to Soulsalt, (2019) Communication styles include; Assertive communication style, Passive communication style, Aggressive communication style and Passive-Aggressive communication style. Soulsalt, (2019) sees assertive communication style as the most effective. Assertive style of communication gives people the opportunity to express themselves in an effective and healthy way. Individuals utilizing this style of communication express themselves, dialogue in an open and honest way, take into consideration other people’s needs and opinion, listen attentively and actively to others. Persons that fall into this category are confident in their convictions but make sure others are not belittled or steamrolled during their expression. Their ideas, thoughts and feelings are communicated politely as they speak in a calm tone/voice without making non-threatening eye contact (Olawolu & Madumere-obike, 2011). They communicate their emotions, basic, physical and psychological needs, work to achieve their goals without hurting people and take responsibility for their actions. Also, when their demands/requests are made, they accept possibility of being rejected as they have good eye contact, feel relaxed, have open posture and do not fidget.

Ogunyemi & Olagbaju, (2020) refer aggressive communication style as a style that is engulfed with hostility and threat. It entails expression of opinions, views without hesitation in a loud tone, controlling tone, and abusive manner that neglect and bridge people’s right. Individuals utilizing this communication style neglects listening to others as they issue commands, demands and also expect others to adhere to their opinion without questioning it.  Aggressive communicators want their opinion to stand at all cost and behave as if their contribution to the discussion is more important than other person’s ideas. Most times the content of their opinion or contribution is often lost as a result of their tone of expression. The goal of this communication style is to intimidate others and it defeats the essence of communication.

Passive communication style is seen as submissive communication style or people-pleaser type. Novak, (2019) states that Passive communicators find it difficult communicating their opinion, ideas, feeling etc as they wish to avoid confrontation and rather give in to people’s opinion. Their inability to express themselves often results to miscommunication and built-up anger or resentment. Persons in this category tend to keep their opinion to themselves or make it seem they are in support of every opinion in the conversation as it can indirectly lead to their good idea not being heard. Passive communication is ineffective as words may be spoken but the actual thought, feeling and idea of the communicator are not expressed thereby bridging information shared among individuals involved. There is inconsistency in expression of their true feeling as they may act pleased in your presence but poisonous behind you. Passive communicators usually reserve their comment and allow other that tend to be assertive or aggressive lead the way.

Passive-aggressive communication style combines aspects of both passive and aggressive communication styles (Soulsalt, 2019). Here passive aspect of communication exists on the surface, while aggressive aspect exists beneath. Outwardly, the communicator seems sweet and easy-going but they are operating from a place of anger and resentment. The communicator’s utterance or facial expression may not reconcile with their actions. They mutter words, feelings and thoughts to themselves rather than confront a person or issue. While in the midst of other individuals, words are said on a low voice as if they didn’t want others to hear it and they refuse confronting other persons about issues disturbing them. When people utilize this communication style they might give people silent treatment or talk about the issue with someone who is not part of it to avoid the situation.

Communication styles have not been extensively investigated by researchers in relation to academic achievement to the best knowledge of the researcher. It is against this background that the researcher was motivated to investigate if communication styles predict academic achievement of secondary school students in Obio/Akpor local government area, Rivers State.

Statement of the Problem

The distressing phenomenon underachievement and failure in academics have caused serious concern to educationalists, guidance counsellors and educational planners for several decades of which it has necessitated serious probe into the causes and factors. Academic underachievement is a reoccurring menace among students in the society as indigenes and residents of Obio/Akpor local government area in Rivers State are not excluded. Students are expected to do exploit in their academic quest but the rate of poor performance observed is alarming as most students tend to drop out of school or engage in examination malpractice. Students who are under achievers in academics are likely to engage in juvenile delinquency, drug trafficking, drug addiction, dropout of school, hawking, armed robbery, prostitution and various anti-social vices that would have negative effect in the society. It is imperative to state that academic underachievement do not blow good wind towards the student, his/her parents and the society at large.  Poor academic achievement has adverse negative effect on students as they face mental health problems, engage in anti-social vices and experience challenge in social and interpersonal interaction among their age mates, friends and even family members.

            The communication style of the teacher can make or mar achievement in school work. Most educators in institution of learning utilize ineffective communication style during the teaching-learning process and it hampers the performance of students academically. As a result of unhealthy pattern of communication by instructor, some students may drop out of school, absent themselves from school, and indulge in examination malpractice due to inability to understand concept taught by the teacher (Njemanze, et al. 2019).

            Academic underachievement can cause physical, social, infrastructural and economic underdevelopment in the society. If factors that contribute to academic underachievement are not adequately identified and addressed, then the present and future of our society are fraught with social decay. The problem of the study is to find out whether communication styles predict academic achievement of secondary school students in Obio/Akpor local government area of Rivers State.

Aim and Objectives

The aim of the study was to investigate whether communication styles predicts academic achievement of secondary school students in Obio/Akpor local government area of Rivers State.

In specific terms the study intends to:

1. Investigate the extent to which assertive communication style predict academic achievement of secondary school students in Obio/Akpor local government area of Rivers State.
2. Investigate the extent to which passive communication style predict academic achievement of secondary school students in Obio/Akpor local government area of Rivers State.
3. Find out the extent to which aggressive communication style predict academic achievement of secondary school students in Obio/Akpor local government area of Rivers State.
4. Investigate the extent to which passive-aggressive communication style predict academic achievement of secondary school students in Obio/Akpor local government area of Rivers State.
5. Examine the extent to which assertive, passive, aggressive and passive-aggressive communication styles jointly predict academic achievement of secondary school students in Obio/Akpor local government area of Rivers State.

1.4 Research Questions

The following research questions were answered in this study.

1. To what extent does assertive communication style predict academic achievement of secondary school students in Obio/Akpor local government area of Rivers State?
2. To what extent does passive communication style predict academic achievement of secondary school students in Obio/Akpor local government area of Rivers State?
3. To what extent does aggressive communication style predict academic achievement of secondary school students in Obio/Akpor local government area of Rivers State?
4. To what extent does passive-aggressive communication style predict academic achievement of secondary school students in Obio/Akpor local government area of Rivers State?
5. To what extent do assertive, passive, aggressive and passive-aggressive communication styles jointly predict academic achievement of secondary school students in Obio/Akpor local government area of Rivers State?

1.5 Hypotheses

The following null hypotheses were formulated for this study and tested at 0.05 level of significance.

1. Assertive communication style does not significantly predict academic achievement of secondary school students in Obio/Akpor local government area of Rivers State.
2. Passive communication style does not significantly predict academic achievement of secondary school students in Obio/Akpor local government area of Rivers State.
3. Aggressive communication style does not significantly predict academic achievement of secondary school students in Obio/Akpor local government area of Rivers State.
4. Passive-aggressive communication style does not significantly predict academic achievement of secondary school students in Obio/Akpor local government area of Rivers State.
5. Assertive, passive, aggressive and passive-aggressive communication styles jointly do not significantly predict academic achievement of secondary school students in Obio/Akpor local government area of Rivers State.

Methodology

The research design adopted for this study is correlational research design. The population of the study comprised all the 27,724 senior secondary students (SS2) from 27 public secondary schools in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area Rivers State. The sample size comprised of 300 senior secondary school students drawn through simple random sampling technique as well as the non-proportionate sampling technique. Two researcher made instruments were used for the study. The instruments are Communication Styles Questionnaire (CSQ) and English Achievement Test; the instruments were validated by three experts in Educational Psychology, Measurement and Evaluation.  Cronbach alpha method was used to determine the reliability of the instruments. Data was analyzed based on the responses of the respondents in the questionnaire. Data was analyzed using Simple linear regression and multiple regression. The R-value in Simple linear regression was used to answer research question 1-4 while research question 5 was answered using multiple regression. Hypotheses 1-4 were tested using simple regression associated with ANOVA while hypothesis 5 was tested using multiple regression associated with ANOVA. All hypotheses were tested at 0.05 alpha level of significance. The analysis was carried out through the use of a statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version 23.

PRESENTATION OF RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Research question 1:  To what extent does assertive communication style predict academic achievement of secondary school students in Obio/Akpor Local Government area of Rivers State?

In order to answer this research question, the scores of the students in assertive communication style was used as simple independent variables to predict their academic achievement by subjecting them to simple regressions. The result obtained is as presented, in table 1.

Table 1: Summary of simple regression of Prediction of Assertive communication style on academic achievement.

R	R2	Adj.R2	Std error of the estimate
.217	.047	.044	3.62800

In table 1, it is shown that the effect of assertive communication style on student’s academic achievement yielded a coefficient value R of 0.217. It also yielded a coefficient of determination (R²) of 0.047 and an adjusted coefficient of determination (adj.R²) of 0.044. This based on the adjusted coefficient of determination (adj R²) value, it is deduced that 0.47% changes in student’s academic achievement are dependent on the effect of assertive communication style on the other hand the remaining 99.53% changes in their academic achievement are attributed to variations in other factors beyond assertive communication style.

Hypothesis 2: Assertive communication style does not significantly predict academic achievement of secondary school students in Obio/Akpor local government area of Rivers State.

To verify if the extent assertive communication style predict academic achievement among students was significant. To execute this, scores of the students on Assertive communication style was subjected to analysis of variance associated with simple regression. The results obtained are displayed in table 2.

Table 2: Summary of analysis of variance associated with simple regression on the prediction of academic achievement using Assertive communication style.

Source of variance	Sum of Squares	Df	Mean square	F	P. Value
Regression	192.448	1	192.448
Residual	3909.237	297	13.162	14.621	.000
Total	4101.686	298

 

Table 2 shows that the calculated F-value of 14.621 was obtained at df of 1 and 297 at 0.000 level of significance.  Thus since the obtained level  of probability (P < 0.000) is  less than the chosen level of probability of 0.05, it becomes that assertive communication style predicted academic achievement of Secondary School Students in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State.

Research Question 2:  To what extent does passive communication style predict academic achievement of secondary school students in Obio/Akpor local government area of Rivers State?

In order to answer this research question, the scores of the students in assertive communication style was used as simple independent variables to predict their academic achievement by subjecting them to simple regressions. The result obtained is as presented, in table 2.

 

Table 3: Summary of simple regression of Prediction of Passive communication style on academic achievement.

R	R2	Adj.R2	Std error of the estimate
.064	.004	.001	3.70859

 

In table 3, it is shown that the effect of passive communication style on students’ academic achievement yielded a coefficient value R of 0.064. It also yielded a coefficient of determination (R²) of 0.004 and an adjusted coefficient of determination (adj.R²) of 0.001. This based on the adjusted coefficient of determination (adj R²) value, it is deduced that 0.001% changes in students’ academic achievement are dependent on the effect of passive communication style on the other hand the remaining 99.99% changes in their academic achievement are attributed to variations in other factors beyond passive communication style.

Hypothesis 2: Passive communication style does not significantly predict academic achievement of secondary school students in Obio/Akpor local government area of Rivers State.

To verify if the extent passive communication style predict academic achievement among students was significant. To execute this, scores of the students on Passive communication style was subjected to analysis of variance associated with simple regression. The results obtained are displayed in table 4.

Table 4: Summary of analysis of variance associated with simple regression on the prediction of academic achievement using Passive communication style.

Source of variance	Sum of Squares	Df	Mean square	F	P. Value
Regression	16.847	1	16.847
Residual	4084.838	297	13.754	1.225	.269
Total	4101.686	298

 

Table 4 shows that the calculated F-value of 1.225 was obtained at df of 1 and 297 at 0.269 level of significance.  Thus since the obtained level  of probability (P < 0.269) is  higher than the chosen level of probability of 0.05, it becomes that passive communication style does not predict academic achievement of Secondary School Students in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State.

Research question 3:  To what extent does aggressive communication style predict academic achievement of secondary school students in Obio/Akpor local government area of Rivers State?

In order to answer this research question, the scores of the students in aggressive communication style was used as simple independent variables to predict their academic achievement by subjecting them to simple regressions. The result obtained is as presented, in table 4.

Table 5: Summary of simple regression of Prediction of aggressive communication style on academic achievement.

R	R2	Adj.R2	Std error of the estimate
.062	.004	.000	3.70910

 

In table 5, it is shown that the effect of aggressive communication style on students, academic achievement yielded a coefficient value R of 0.062. It also yielded a coefficient of determination (R²) of 0.004 and an adjusted coefficient of determination (adj.R²) of 0.000. This based on the adjusted coefficient of determination (adj R²) value, it is deduced that 0.004% changes in students’ academic achievement are dependent on the effect of aggressive communication style on the other hand the remaining 99.96% changes in their academic achievement are attributed to variations in other factors beyond aggressive communication style.

Hypothesis 3: Aggressive communication style does not significantly predict academic achievement of secondary school students in Obio/Akpor local government area of Rivers State.

To verify if the extent aggressive communication style predict academic achievement among students was significant. To execute this, scores of the students on Aggressive communication style was subjected to analysis of variance associated with simple regression. The results obtained are displayed in table 6.

Table 6: Summary of analysis of variance associated with simple regression on the prediction of academic achievement using Aggressive communication style.

Source of variance	Sum of Squares	Df	Mean square	F	P. Value
Regression	15.740	1	15.740	1.144	.286
Residual	4085.946	297	13.757
Total	4101.686	298

 

Table 6 shows that the calculated F-value of 1.144 was obtained at df of 1 and 297 at 0.286 level of significance.  Thus since the obtained level  of probability (P < 0.286) is  higher than the chosen level of probability of 0.05, it becomes that aggressive communication style does not predict academic achievement of Secondary School Students in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State.

Research Question 4:  To what extent does passive-aggressive communication style predict academic achievement of secondary school students in Obio/Akpor local government area of Rivers State?

In order to answer this research question, the scores of the students in passive-aggressive communication style was used as simple independent variables to predict their academic achievement by subjecting them to simple regressions. The result obtained is as presented, in table 7.

Table 7: Summary of simple regression of Prediction of passive-aggressive communication style on academic achievement.

R	R2	Adj.R2	Std error of the estimate
.081	.006	.003	3.70417

 

In table 7, it is shown that the effect of passive-aggressive communication style on students, academic achievement yielded a coefficient value R of 0.081. It also yielded a coefficient of determination (R²) of 0.006 and an adjusted coefficient of determination (adj.R²) of 0.003. This is based on the adjusted coefficient of determination (adj R²) value, it is deduced that 0.006% changes in students’ academic achievement are dependent on the effect of the passive-aggressive communication style on the other hand the remaining 99.94% changes in their academic achievement are attributed to variations in other factors beyond passive-aggressive communication style.

Hypothesis 4: Passive-aggressive communication style does not significantly predict academic achievement of secondary school students in Obio/Akpor local government area of Rivers State.

To verify if the extent passive-aggressive communication style predict academic achievement among students was significant. To execute this, scores of the students on Passive-aggressive communication style was subjected to analysis of variance associated with simple regression. The results obtained are displayed in table 4.

Table 8: Summary of analysis of variance associated with simple regression on the prediction of academic achievement using Passive-aggressive communication style.

Source of variance	Sum of Squares	Df	Mean square	F	P. Value
Regression	26.596	1	26.596	1.938	.165
Residual	4075.089	297	13.721
Total	4101.686	298

 

Table 8 shows that the calculated F-value of 1.938 was obtained at df of 1 and 297 at 0.165 level of significance.  Thus since the obtained level  of probability (P < 0.165) is  higher than the chosen level of probability of 0.05, it becomes that passive-aggressive communication style does not predict academic achievement of Secondary School Students in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State.

Research Question 5: To what extent do assertive, passive, aggressive and passive-aggressive communication styles jointly predict academic achievement of secondary school students in Obio/Akpor local government area of Rivers State?

In order for the researcher to determine the joint prediction of  communication styles on academic achievement, the scores of the students in the various dimensions of communication styles were subjected to multiple regression analysis  as the predictor variables (independent variables) while that of academic achievement was subjected as dependent variable (criterion variable). The results obtained are displayed in table 9.

Table 9 Summary of joint prediction of academic achievement of students on combined effect of communication styles.

R	R2	Adj.R2	Std error of the Estimate
.304	.092	.070	3.57719

Table 9:  Shown that the joint prediction of communication styles on academic achievement of students yielded a multiple correlation, coefficient (R) of 0.304. This is alongside with the coefficient of determination (R²) of 0.092, and an adjusted coefficient of determination of 0.070.  Considering the adjusted coefficient of determination (adjR²), it is deduced that 0.92% of the changes in academic achievement of students are dependent on the joint prediction of communication styles. On the other hand the remaining 99.08% of the changes in students’ academic achievement level are not dependent on the joint prediction of communication styles dimensions but on other factors beyond them.

Hypothesis 5: Assertive, passive, aggressive and passive-aggressive communication styles do not jointly predict academic achievement of secondary school students in Obio/Akpor local government area of Rivers State

This hypothesis was tested using analysis of variance associated with multiple regression. The results obtained are presented in table 10.

Table 5: Summary of analysis of variance associated with multiple regression in the prediction of academic achievement using communication styles.

Sources of varies	Sum of squares	Df	Mean squares	F	p. value
Regression	377.975	7	53.996	4.220	.000
Residual	3723.711	291	12.796
Total	4101.686	298

Table 10 revealed that the calculated F- value of 4.220 was obtained at df of 7 and 291 at 0.000 level of significance (P<0.000). This significance is less than the chosen alpha of 0.05. This means that communication styles dimension jointly predicted academic achievement significantly among students.

Discussion of Findings

From the analysis of research question one and the corresponding null hypothesis in table 2, it was revealed that assertive communication style predicted academic achievement of Secondary School Students in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State. The prediction is statistically significant at 0.5 level of significance. This result implies that students who scored highly on the section of assertive communication style are prone to score moderately low in their academic achievement. However, the reported moderate prediction indicates that all those who their teacher uses assertive communication style also scored low in their academic achievement. This result is similar to that gotten by Ogunyemi and Olagbaju, (2020) who examined the effects of assertive and aggressive communication styles on students’ self-esteem and achievement in English language. The findings of the study reveals that there was a significant difference in the self-esteem scores of students taught by assertive and aggressive teachers in favour of the assertive group, there was a significant difference in the English language achievement of students taught by assertive and aggressive teachers in favour of the assertive groups, there was also a significant difference in the English language achievement of students with high and low self-esteem. However in his study, the sample was secondary school students also in the present study the sample constituted secondary school students. Also the statistical technique used was different while the present study used simple regression statistic, this study used factorial multivariate analysis of variance.

From the analysis of research question two and the corresponding null hypothesis in table 4, it was revealed that passive communication style does not predict academic achievement of Secondary School Students in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State. The prediction is statistically significant at 0.5 level of significance. It was deduced that 0.001% changes in students’ academic achievement are dependent on the effect of passive communication style on the other hand the remaining 99.99% changes in their academic achievement are attributed to variations in other factors beyond passive communication style. The meaning of this result is that students whose teachers used passive communication style will find it difficult performing better in their academics. On the basis of the instrument administered, students who reported high values on the section of passive communication style are most likely to score low on their academic achievement. Conversely those who score low on the section of passive communication style are most likely to score high in their academic achievement. This result is not surprising to this researcher, because passive communication is a style in which individuals have developed a pattern of avoidance in expressing their opinions or feelings. As a result, passive individuals do not respond overtly to hurtful or anger-inducing situations. And when a student is not been allowed to express his or her own opinion during teaching and learning, he/she may find it difficult excelling academically. This could be the possible explanation to this finding.

From the analysis of research question three and the corresponding null hypothesis in table 6, it was revealed that aggressive communication style does not predict academic achievement of Secondary School Students in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State. The prediction is statistically significant at 0.5 level of significance. The prediction of aggressive communication style on academic achievement of secondary school students means that as score on aggressive communication style increases, there is corresponding increase in academic achievement scores. The meaning of this result is that students whose teachers are aggressive communicators will find it difficult adjusting properly in school and excelling academically. On the basis of the instrument administered, students who reported high values on the section of aggressive communication styles are most likely to score high on their academic achievement. Conversely those who score low on the section of aggressive communication style are most likely to score low in their academic achievement. This result is not surprising to this researcher, because aggressive communication is a style in which individuals express their feelings and opinions and advocate for their needs in a way that violates the rights of others. Thus, aggressive communicators are verbally and/or physically abusive.

The findings of this result are a further confirmation of that obtained by Amadi and Paul, (2017) who investigated the influence of student-teacher communication on students’ academic achievement for effective teaching and learning. The result of the research work showed that  students have a strong positive relationship between their level of communication and their academic achievement in schools, a very strong positive relationship between student-teacher communication and their academic achievement in the department. However, this study differs in the instrument used as the present study used an adapted instrument, while their study used adopted instrument.

From the analysis of research question four and the corresponding null hypothesis in table 8, it was revealed that passive-aggressive communication style does not predict academic achievement of Secondary School Students in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State. The prediction is statistically significant at 0.5 level of significance. The focus in this sub-section was to ascertain whether or not academic achievement could be predicted by passive-aggressive communication style. The result here was that passive-aggressive communication style does not predict academic achievement of students. Meaning that as the score of students on passive-aggressive communication style is going up their scores on academic achievement will as well decrease tremendously. This result is not surprising to the researcher because passive-aggressive communication is a style in which individuals appear passive on the surface but are really acting out anger in a subtle, indirect, or behind-the-scenes way. Instead, they express their anger by subtly undermining the individual.

This result is similar to that gotten by Ogunyemi and Olagbaju, (2020) who examined the effects of assertive and aggressive communication styles on students’ self-esteem and achievement in English language. The findings of the study reveals that there was a significant difference in the self-esteem scores of students taught by assertive and aggressive teachers in favour of the assertive group, there was a significant difference in the English language achievement of students taught by assertive and aggressive teachers in favour of the assertive groups, there was also a significant difference in the English language achievement of students with high and low self-esteem.

From the analysis of research question five and the corresponding null hypothesis in table 10, it was revealed that assertive, passive, aggressive and passive-aggressive communication styles had a significantly joint prediction on academic achievement among secondary school students in Obio/Akpor local government area of Rivers State.

This result is similar to that obtained by Khalid (2013) who found out that communication styles of students collectively shape their academic achievement positively. Despite the similarity in results, the sample from both study differed to a reasonable extent.

Conclusion

            This study has shown that communication styles have different effect on academic achievement of secondary school students. This study have empirically shown that assertive communication style significantly predicted academic achievement of Secondary School Students in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State, while passive communication style, aggressive communication style and passive-aggressive communication style does not significantly predict academic achievement of secondary school students in Obio/Akpor local government area of Rivers State.

Recommendations

1. Adequate orientation should be given on prediction of teacher style of communication on academic achievement not only in Obio/Akpor local government area but the entire country by school counsellor, educational bodies and government.

2. Seminars, training and other educational programmes should be organized for teachers by government or school authority to develop/educate them of the necessary skills and effective ways of communicating to students.

3. Teachers in institution of learning are expected to portray friendly, social and accommodating personalities during teaching-learning process as this will boost the achievement of students.

4. Government should provide the needed facilities in academic environment to enhance teaching-learning process as education is vital in infrastructural, economic and agricultural development of the nation.

Contributions to Knowledge

            Despite these study contributing to existing literature. Communication styles may be the first study carried out to investigate how they predict academic achievement of secondary school students in Obio/Akpor local government of Rivers State or in this part of the country.

            The study also contributed to knowledge by exposing empirically that passive communication style, aggressive communication style and passive-aggressive communication style does not predict academic achievement of secondary school students in Obio/Akpor local government area of Rivers State. Also from the study, it was revealed that assertive communication style predicted academic achievement of Secondary School Students in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State. While assertive, passive, aggressive and passive-aggressive communication styles have joint prediction on academic achievement among secondary school students in Obio/Akpor local government area of Rivers State which to the best of the researcher’s knowledge has not been carried out by other researchers extensively.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

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