Influence of home environment on academic performance of primary school pupils in English language in Alego-Usonga sub-county, Siaya county, Kenya

Abstract

The influence of home environment on academic performance of primary school Pupils in English language in Kenya have been in the Public domain for some time and it is of concern to education policy makers. This initiative aimed at improving performance in English and providing quality Education. The purpose of the research project therefore was to investigate the influence of home environment on English language performance in K.C.P.E in selected public primary schools in Alego– Usonga Sub-County, Siaya County. The specific objectives of the study were to: establish the influence of economic status of parents on performance in English language, determine the influence of the education level of parents on pupils‟ performance in English language and establish the influence of family size on performance in English language. The available related literature reviewed has revealed that there is influence of home environment on academic performance of primary school pupils in English language in Alego-Usongo Sub-County, Siaya County, Kenya. The conceptual framework adapted to guide the study showed that there are several conditions which need to be put in place to curb the situation. Descriptive survey research designed was used to investigate the influence of home environment on English language performance in selected public primary schools in Alego Usonga Sub-County Siaya County Kenya. The study population involved was one hundred and fifty pupils in class eight and forty English teachers. The study used stratified sampling technique to determine performing and non performing schools. The study further used lottery method of simple random sampling technique to select 10 schools, fifteen class eight pupils per school and four English teachers from each school. Questionnaires were used to collect data from the respondents. The instruments were validated by three independent experts in the school of Education at Nairobi University and their adviced were used to construct the final instruments. The reliability was determined through a delayed testretest technique where the researcher piloted the instrument to the respondents in the selected two schools that did not appear in the final study list of the sampled schools. The results of the first scores and the second scores were computed separately. Finally, the first scores were correlated with the second scores using the Pearson product moment of correlation coefficient. Questionnaires were Questionnaires were issued to the respondents by the researcher. Data collected were analyzed through SPSS. Data was presented inform of tables, pie-charts and verbatim reporting. The study findings might help in formulating policies geared towards involving government, curriculum developers and examination bodies in planning of educational strategies to reconsider the influence of home environment on academic performance for Kenyan Pupils, where further research on home environment was to be recommended by this study.