iarjelIARJELIARJEL2708-5120https://doi.org/10.47310/iajel.2021.v02i01.006Enhancing Retention in Upper Basic II Students in English Studies using Guided Discovery Teaching MethodVeraIdaresitAkpanDepartment of Adult and Continuing Education, Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, Abia State, NigeriaThe purpose of the study was to examine the effect of guided discovery teaching method on retention of Upper Basic II students in English Studies in South Nigeria. The design of the study was a quasi- experimental research. The study was guided by two research questions and two null hypotheses which were tested at 0.05 level of significance. The population of the study was 693,631 Upper Basic Students (346,040 males and 347,591 females) in the zone. Two intact classes were randomly selected to constitute a sample size of 100 students to get a control and experimental group. The experimental group was taught units of lessons in English Studies using guided discovery method while control group was taught the same lessons but using lecture method for four weeks. Four weeks after the administration of post-test 1, the same test was rearranged and administered as post-test II to test the effect of the treatment on retention. Students’ scores in ESAT were used as data which were analyzed using Mean to answer research questions and analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) to test hypotheses. The study revealed that guided discovery teaching method had a significant enhancing effect on Upper Basic II male and female students’ retention ability in English studies although the female students retained significantly higher than their male counterpart. Some recommendations were that teachers should adopt the use of guided discovery teaching method, instructional materials used during lesson presentation should be such that generate interactions among students to aid retention amongst others.