Recent research efforts in teacher education in Nigeria have largely focused on innovative instructional delivery with little attention to learner-related variables such as language anxiety and prior knowledge that can influence learning outcomes in English composition in ESL classrooms. Notwithstanding these interventions, the problems of mass failure and poor quality of essays still persist in Nigerian schools. Studies have confirmed that language-related anxiety and prior knowledge in ESL classroom can influence students’ achievement irrespective of the quality of instruction received by learners in a second/foreign language classroom. Therefore, this study examined the relationship between language anxiety and prior knowledge on achievement in expository essay. Three null hypotheses were tested at a 0.05 level of significance, and 350 participants were randomly selected from four senior secondary schools. Data were collected using two research instruments and the results showed that there was no significant relationship between the independent variables and students’ achievement in expository essay. Also, there were no composite and relative contributions of language anxiety and prior knowledge on students’ achievement in expository essay. The study was concluded by making recommendations to ESL teachers and students on how to improve achievement in expository writing.

中文翻译：

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尼日利亚伊巴丹北LGA语言焦虑和先验知识对ESL学生说明性论文成绩的影响

最近尼日利亚教师教育的研究工作主要集中在创新的教学方式上，很少关注与学习者相关的变量，如语言焦虑和先验知识，这些变量会影响 ESL 课堂英语作文的学习成果。尽管采取了这些干预措施，但大量失败和论文质量差的问题仍然存在于尼日利亚的学校中。研究证实，无论学习者在第二语言/外语课堂接受的教学质量如何，ESL 课堂中与语言相关的焦虑和先验知识都会影响学生的成绩。因此，本研究考察了语言焦虑与说明性论文成绩的先验知识之间的关系。在 0.05 的显着性水平上测试了三个零假设，350 名参与者是从四所高中中随机抽取的。使用两种研究工具收集数据，结果表明自变量与学生在说明性论文中的成绩之间没有显着关系。此外，语言焦虑和先验知识对学生在说明性论文中的成绩没有复合和相对贡献。该研究的结论是向 ESL 教师和学生提出了如何提高说明文写作成绩的建议。语言焦虑和先验知识对学生在说明性论文中的成绩没有复合和相对贡献。该研究的结论是向 ESL 教师和学生提出了如何提高说明文写作成绩的建议。语言焦虑和先验知识对学生在说明性论文中的成绩没有复合和相对贡献。该研究的结论是向 ESL 教师和学生提出了如何提高说明文写作成绩的建议。