ABSTRACT:

One of the reasons for secondary school students' inability to meet certain school standards is communication inadequacy as many of them are not able to understand nor express themselves effectivelv. However; in spite of the role visual arts play as agent of communication, most secondary schools do not yet avail themselves of the opportunities which artlearning call offer towards the development of communication skills. The purpose of the study is therefore to ascertain whether students involvement in art activities would enhance their communication skills in English language. The research employed a quasi experimental study of the pre-test non equivalent control group design where four groups of subjects drawn from senior secondary schools in Nsukka urban were randomly assigned into experimental and control groups. Two research questions and one hypothesis guided the study. Three sets of instrument were developed and administered in the experiment The data collected were analyzed using both the quantitative and qualitative methods of data analyses. This involved calculation of mean score and standard deviation: t-test, for testing the hypothesis at 0.05 level ofsignificance; and also the Pearson's product moment coefficient of correlation to determine the relationship between the variables. Thestudy revealed that there are skills that are employed in poster making which are also applicable in essay writing. The experimental group that was introduced to the relationships between visual and verbal communication arts showed an enhanced performance in essay writing more than the control group.