Effects of Assertive and Aggressive Communication Styles on Students’ Self-Esteem and Achievement in English Language

Abstract

The study investigated the effects of assertive and aggressive communication styles on students’ self-esteem and achievement in English language. Studies have often shown that the way a student evaluates himself/herself (self-esteem) sometimes determines their level of academic achievement. Students’ level of self-esteem could be enhanced or hindered by a number of factors which may include the communication style adopted by the teacher during classroom interaction. Hence, there is the need to conduct this study. The study adopted an expost-facto type of descriptive research design. 126 students from four purposively selected schools, and four English languages teachers participated in the study. A self-esteem questionnaire (r=0.79) and the examination scores of students were used for data collection while t-test was used for data analysis. The results indicated 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 group, there was also a significant difference in the English language achievement of students with high and low self-esteem. Based on these findings, it was recommended that teachers should adopt communication styles that promote positive teacher-student relationship.