Influence of english language teachers’ instructional practices on students’ achievement in english grammar in selected public secondary schools in Kenya

Abstract

Performance of English in most Kenyan secondary schools has been wanting over the years (2015-2019) as depicted by poor Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education examination results. Education stakeholders are worried about this deplorable situation. Effective teachers’ instructional practices is one strategy that should be employed to achieve the desired results. However, its impact on students’ achievement in grammar has not been extensively investigated in Kenya. Therefore, this study investigated the influence of English language teachers’ instructional practices on students’ achievement in grammar in secondary schools in Kenya. The objectives were to: examine the influence of planning for instruction, instructional approaches, instructional resources, learning activities and assessment methods on students’ achievement in grammar. This study was guided by Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory. It was anchored on pragmatic philosophical paradigm adopting exploratory sequential mixed methods utilizing quasi-experimental design of nonrandomized control group. Target population consisted of 84 teachers of English and 3399 Form 2 students from 31 public secondary schools in Teso North Sub-County. Sample size comprised 10 teachers and 509 students. Stratified and simple random sampling were used to select 10 schools. Simple random sampling was used to select 509 students while 10 teachers were selected through purposive sampling. Data was generated using English Grammar Achievement Tests, questionnaire, interview schedule, document analysis and observation schedule. Validity was determined by expert judgment and piloting. Reliability was established through test re-test method. A coefficient of 0.85 was obtained for the questionnaire while the pre-test and posttest yielded a coefficient of 0.94 and 0.76 respectively. The findings revealed that most teachers rarely planned for instruction. Grammar was mostly taught through deductive approach; students taught through grammar in context approach performed better (M=16.02; SD=3.51) than students taught through deductive approach (M=14.12; SD=3.33). Course book was the main instructional resource, students learning grammar through passages performed better (M=12.88) than those not using them (M=12.17). Individual work was the main learning activity, students learning grammar through language games and group work performed better (M=12.37) than those not using them (M=12.29). Assessment was mostly done through gap filling, teachers rarely conducted grammar assessment, assessment records were poorly maintained, assessing grammar through cloze tests and compositions yielded better results (M=12.57) than where these methods were not used (M=12.25). There existed statistically significant positive relationship between approaches (r = .123, n =509, p = .005), resources (r = .350, n =509, p = .001), activities (r = .723, n =509, p = .001), assessment (r = .643, n =509, p = .006) and students’ achievement in grammar. The study concluded that teachers’ instructional practices influenced students’ achievement in grammar. This study recommends that grammar should be taught in context using passages, language games, group work, cloze tests, compositions and plan for instruction. This study should be able to contribute substantial knowledge in English grammar instruction and add to existing body of knowledge.