Abstract

This study was carried out to investigate pedagogic illocutions in Physics and Chemistry classrooms in public senior secondary schools in Ondo State, Nigeria. The survey research design was adopted. The multi-stage sampling procedure was used. Five local government areas from the existing six were selected from Ondo South. The purposive sampling technique was used to select 10 public SSSs (two per local government that had science classes. Twenty intact SSII classes (two per school; one each for Physics and Chemistry) and 20 teachers (two per school; one each for Physics and Chemistry) were purposively selected. The instrument used was Pedagogic Illocution Checklist (r=0.82). Data were analysed using descriptive statistics. The pedagogic illocutionary acts performed in Physics and Chemistry in order of preponderance were: explaining (49.8%; 42.8%), questioning (26.0%; 22.5%), directing (14.5%; 16.2%), affirming (5.2%; 5.4%), denying (1.9%; 10.4%) and correcting (2.6%; 2.7%), respectively. The pedagogic illocutionary acts of explaining (69.8%; 54.4%), questioning (66.0%; 62.5%) directing (64.5%; 56.7%), affirming (57.3%; 55.2%), denying (61.5%; 59.7%) and correcting (68.6%; 71.2%) on Physics and Chemistry, respectively were teacher-dominated. The pedagogic system in Physics and Chemistry classrooms is teacher dominated, depriving students the level of participation that can enhance learning. Based on this finding, teachers should pay attention to pedagogic illocutions for improved students' understanding of concepts and classroom participation.