DRAMA-BASED INSTRUCTIONAL APPROACH AND KISWAHILI LANGUAGE TEACHING AND LEARNING AMONG PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN CHEPTAIS SUB-COUNTY, BUNGOMA COUNTY, KENYA

Abstract

Effective teaching and learning process is reliant on suitable approaches used during instructional process of a given subject area. Teachers’ effectiveness in content delivery has a definite influence on student concept learning and retention. Language learning is a critical facet that determines the communication aspect between the instructor and the learner. Teaching and learning approaches used in language learning should thus be chosen appropriately to realize educational goals in every curriculum. Learners’ academic achievement in Kiswahili language among KCSE students in Cheptais Sub County schools has been recording below average performance for more than five consecutive years as compared to other subjects. Poor performance has been related partly to inappropriate pedagogies used in Kiswahili language learning. Drama in Kiswahili language classroom offers lenses for learners to use their imagination, encourages adaptability, fluency and communicative competence. This study was designed to establish the use of drama-based instructional approach in teaching and learning of Kiswahili language among public secondary schools in Cheptais sub county, Kenya. The research design used in this study is descriptive survey involving Kiswahili language teachers and their students. Purposive sampling was used to select public secondary schools with form three class while stratified sampling was used to select strata schools; boys, girls and mixed categories. Simple random sampling was then used to select form three Kiswahili students and Kiswahili teachers as participants in the study. 342 form three students and 72 teachers were selected and responded to the questionnaire which was a sample from 24 secondary schools with 2346 students. Data was collected by use of questionnaires for students and teachers. The reliability of instruments was evaluated using Cronbach alpha whereby the value of 0.89 was attained and research items adopted for further analysis. Collected data was analyzed using SPSS version 25.0 in terms of descriptive statistics such as percentages and mean and inferential statistics such as chi-square to test the hypothesis at ∝=0.05 level of significance. Frequency distribution tables was used to present the data. The findings of this study showed that drama-based instructional approach is used and that it is mainly used in teaching grammar and literature and that its use significantly influences the teaching and learning of Kiswahili language. The study also established that a number of factors exist that seems to impede use of drama-based instructional approach in teaching and learning of Kiswahili language such as minimal time allocated to Kiswahili language lessons, lack of resources to instruct Kiswahili drama technique and its comprehensiveness in preparing learners to take part in drama-set activities. It is therefore recommended that Kiswahili teachers should enhance the use of learner centered approaches such as drama-based approaches in teaching and learning to foster learner conceptualization and to improve performance in the subject. Specific focus be given to other areas of the subject including comprehension and composition which though are challenging to learners have not been given adequate focus by teachers in use of the drama-based instructional approach and that teachers be facilitated to enable them overcome the challenges they face in teaching and learning while using drama based instructional approach.