Use of Effective Brainstorming Technique on Standard Seven Learners’ Achievement in English Composition Writing In Public Primary Schools In Kisumu County, Kenya (Published)
Adaptation of brain storming technique to teach standard seven learners in English composition writing offers the learners an opportunity to work well together with behaviour, collaboration and communication well natured .The objective was to determine the influence of whole class technique on learners’ achievement in composition writing skills in public primary schools in Kisumu County. The piagets theory 1967 was used to determine brain storming, technique on standard seven learners achievement in English composition writing skills. Non-equivalent control group with pre and post –test groups research design was adopted. The sample size of 292 was drawn from 6 teachers of English, 6 head teachers and standard seven pupils in public schools. Data was collected via questionnaire, observation schedules and check lists. Analysis was done using descriptive statistics.The findings indicated that brain writing strategy is moderately used (m= 3.40 SD of 1.269), pie storm teaching technique is highly used (m= 3.733 and SD of 1.796), and brain wave and brain writing strategy relatively contribute to learners’ composition writing skills The computed z values for brainstorming technique elements revealed a z-statistic value higher than the z- Critical value and P-value less than 0.05. Thus, the study rejected the entire five Null hypotheses as there was a statistically significant relationship between: individual group technique, whole class technique, small group technique, round robin technique and relay technique; and learners’ achievement in composition writing skills in public primary schools in Kisumu County. For policy makers and implementers, ministry of Education and Kenya National Examination Council, should address the use of inquiring-based learning in order to provoke critical-thinking in learners as the new (CBC) gets rooted to curb the negative attitude of embracing change of teaching for life and not for exams .For theory similar studies should be carried out using inferential statistics, especially multiple regression analysis to assess how the individual strategies of brainstorming teaching technique contribute to overall learners’ learning achievements. Other researches can use the Humanist child development theory to cater for the concerns of a paradigm shift to the thinking about holistic development of the learners. .
Keywords: Learners’ achievements, composition writing, individual group strategy, relay group strategy., round robin group strategy, small group strategy, whole group strategy, writing
Examining reading and writing approaches used in the teaching of reading and writing abilities in South Africa (Published)
The education-specific policy on language in South Africa lays emphasis on teaching, use and promotion of all official languages, through what is described as additive multilingualism. Mother tongue is universally acknowledged as the most effective way to function both cognitively and socially. The focus of the paper is on the methods used to teach reading and writing in Grade One. The study was conducted at four different Primary Schools where Sepedi is the Language of Teaching and Learning (LOLT). Observations, interviews and document analysis were used for data collection. The findings was that teachers resort to two to three methods i.e. whole class reading, paired reading and reading aloud of which does not yield good results. There are also challenges which contribute to the abovementioned issue: lack of resources, lack of parental involvement and overcrowded classes to name a few. The aim of this study was to establish how reading and writing in Sepedi as the home language was taught in Grade One in Mpumalanga Province primary schools in rural areas. A qualitative approach utilising an interpretive design was used. The findings indicated that teachers resorted to few and same strategies for teaching reading. In addition, findings support the notion that there are challenges in teaching reading in Grade One.
Keywords: Reading, Sepedi as home language, Teaching, language of learning, writing
THE EFFECT OF DIARY WRITING ON EFL STUDENTS’ WRITING AND LANGUAGE ABILITIES (Published)
In the field of teaching EFL students the process of writing an essay, this study was conducted to investigate the influence of diary writing on the students’ writing and language abilities. 52 student participants enrolled in two Advanced Writing classes wrote a daily diary for 14 weeks. During this period, they were given essay writing lessons, and were asked to write four essays throughout the semester. At the end of the semester, the students were given an open-ended questionnaire requesting information about the students’ method of diary writing and its benefits. The analysis of the data obtained showed that the students’ language abilities significantly improved especially the grammar and vocabulary. The students also reported their satisfaction in the free-writing method which allowed them to learn more on self-expression and organization of ideas. The researchers believe that a skilful writing teacher would be able to provide maximum benefit from this experience. This study is believed to be extremely beneficial to language teachers, and more specifically, EFL writing teachers.
Keywords: EFL, Higher Education, diary writing, journaling, writing