Effectiveness of teaching methods on students' acquisition of Kiswahili language skills in public secondary in Manga Division, Kenya

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to investigate the 'Effectiveness of Teaching Methods on Students 'Acquisition of Kiswahili Language Skills in Public Secondary schools in Manga Division, Kenya. The objectives of the study were; to analyse teachers' initial training and professional qualifications, to examine the role of teaching and learning resources, to examine the selection of teaching methods and to analyse the linkage of students' acquisition of Kiswahili language skills and the teaching methods used. The independent variable was teaching methods while the dependent variable was students' acquisition of Kiswahili language skills.

The research design used was descriptive survey design. The target population was 14 teachers of Kiswahili working in 9 public secondary schools in Manga division. The sampling procedures used were stratified random sampling and the sample size was 10 teachers. The significance of the study may help the ministry of education to utilize the findings to eliminate the factors that are contributing to low students' acquisition of Kiswahili language skills, educational planners can formulate ratios in terms of students' number for improvement of performance, teachers and students may also use the findings on the different teaching methods and also to enable school administrators to know whether there is an impact on the teaching load on the students.

The study targeted 6 principals of the schools in Manga division. The data collection tools were questionnaires, interview schedule and observation schedule. Data were analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively. The study revealed that teachers' demographic variables affected the use of methods of teaching in public secondary schools. Male respondents were found to use teacher-centered methods of teaching like lecture method than female respondents. This shows that gender influence the methods of teaching.

Teachers' training and professional qualification, teaching learning resources are not constant in affecting students' acquisition in Kiswahili language skills. Many teachers had not embraced childcentered methods of teaching because they do not attend workshops and seminars due to late disbursement of free secondary schools funds and lack of effective communication to teachers of Kiswahili in case of refresher courses.

The researcher recommends that the DQASO in conjunction with the principals should organize workshops for Kiswahili at the district or provincial levels. All teachers of Kiswahili should use teaching methods which entail activities and promote discoveries. Schools should strive to provide sufficient and varying teaching and learning resources like charts, audio-visual materials, real objects and others to make students be engaged in the classrooms and be interested in the lessons all the time. On the side of teaching and learning materials, principals of public secondary schools should buy enough teaching and learning resources like text books to be to a ratio of student to text-book be 1 :2.