Investigation of the influence of the use of first language on teaching and learning of english in selected primary schools in Kanyada sub-county Homabay county, Kenya

Abstract

This study sought to assess the influence of the use of the first language in teaching and learning of English in class seven in selected primary schools in Kanyada Sub-County Homa-bay county, Kenya. The purpose of this study is to give deeper insight in to why performance of English has been low compared to a subject like Kiswahili language people are using their first language in teaching of English. A speaker tends to choose language fairly, quickly and automatically without being aware of the determiners of language choice. There is a great impact on the use of the first language in teaching and learning of English and it is a common practice that most teachers of English use to convey a complete notion or an idea while teaching or communicating. This study will be guided by the following specific objectives: to determine the influence of school language policy on teaching and learning of English in primary schools in Homabay county, to examine implementation of the national language policy in primary schools in Kanyada Sub- County, Homabay county, Kenya to find out the effect of codeswitching involving first language on teaching and learning of English in primary schools in Homabay county. The findings of this study are significant because they help pupils develop confidence in their use of English language in communication. The study was conducted in the 10 sampled primary schools. Data is to be collected through the observation schedule, interview schedule and the questionnaire. The study was guided by Stephen Krashen’s Model of second language acquisition. This study adopted a descriptive design. validity of the research instruments will be tested by the use of experts in the area while reliability was tested through test retest. Data was analysed both qualitatively and quantitatively. The results revealed that Most school have language policy, however, there functionality is indeterminate. Formulation and implementation of school language policy is mainly undertaken by language teachers however, school administration plays key rule during its implementation. School language policy moderate influenced teaching and learning of English. In regards to the national language policy, teachers rarely remind pupils of the national language policy meaning they are not aware of language national policy. Majority of teachers ignored areas in the syllabus they did not feel confident enough teaching due to lack of professional development courses yet they are in line with the national language policy. Majority of the code-switching cases were intra-sentential as compared inter- sentential. The pattern of code switching was from English to Dholuo/Kiswahili. Code switching was found to have significant impact on the oral and written discourse of pupils. The school through English language department did not continuously assess switch coding at school. The study recommended that the school administration should come up flexible and functional school language policy where all teachers are tasked with its implementation. The ministry of education should consider upgrading seminars and workshops to continuous Teacher Development Programmes as they go a long way to address the challenges the teachers face during implementation of the national language policy. English department should come up with learning activities strategies to address code-switching. The strategy should not be limited to extra essay writing, extensive reading and language days but also dramas and debate