Influence of selected factors on use of instructional approaches in creative writing in public primary schools in Maara sub-county, Tharaka Nithi county, Kenya

Abstract

Approaches to creative writing instruction are a vital part in the overall English language acquisition. Compared to other language skills such as listening, speaking, and reading, writing is a relatively challenging skill to master. Creativity does not only involve writing, but also creatively composing different literary works like poetry, songs, narratives and the like. The writer is expected employ creativity and imagination in their literary work. Instruction of creative writing involves adoption of one or a combination of the product, process or genre approaches. However, there are several factors that are known to influence the use of instructional approaches in creative writing instruction. This study sought to establish the influence of selected factors on use of instructional approaches in creative writing in public primary schools in Maara Sub-County, Tharaka Nithi County, Kenya. The study was guided by four objectives; to determine the influence of teacher preparedness on use of instructional approaches in creative writing, to establish the influence of availability of resources on use of instructional approaches in creative writing, to establish the influence of social cultural factors on use of instructional approaches in creative writing, and to determine the influence of student-teacher ratio on use of instructional approaches in creative writing. The study was based on the ecological systems theory by Urie Bronfenbrenner and the Krashen’s Monitor Theory of Second Language Acquisition. The study adopted a descriptive survey design and was carried out in Maara Sub-County. The target population was 1539 respondents. The sample population comprised 252 grade six pupils, 22 heads of English department and 44 teachers of English making up a sample size of 318 respondents. The sample was determined using Yamane’s (1967) formula. Stratified simple random sampling was used to draw the pupils and the teachers of English. Purposive sampling was used to sample the heads of English department. Data was collected using questionnaires for the pupils and their teachers of English and interview schedules for the heads of department. Face and content Validity measures were used to assess validity of the research instruments. To determine reliability of the instruments, a pilot study was conducted in one school with shared characteristics as the study samples from which a reliability threshold of 0.70 and above was considered sufficient for the study. Data was cleaned, coded and analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Descriptive statistics including frequencies and percentages was used to analyze quantitative data and to describe the relationship between the variables; while Chi Square was used to test the influence of variables based on the objectives of the study. Qualitative data from the interviews was analyzed thematically. Findings illustrated significant influence of teacher preparedness, social cultural factors and student-teacher ratio on selection of instructional approaches in creative writing in public primary schools in Maara sub-county, Tharaka Nithi County, Kenya. The influence of availability of resources was however insignificant. It is therefore recommended that school administration in collaboration with other stakeholders continually sustain staff professional development in order to boost creative writing by equipping the teachers with the relevant up to date knowledge for instruction of creative writing, and provide adequate teaching/learning resources and ensure teachers integrate them in their instruction to facilitate implementation of instructional approaches while the Teachers Service Commission should ensure there is a healthy student-teacher ratio to ensure balance in class to enable optimum implementation of instructional approaches in creative writing.