Availability and Utilization of Selected Instructional Resources for English Imaginative Composition Writing In Public Secondary Schools in Busia County, Kenya
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Date
2024-11
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Kenyatta University
Abstract
Instructional resources are essential in the composition instruction process. They
enhance students’ creativity, contribute to better learning outcomes and cater for
diverse individual students’ needs. The availability and utilization of variety
instructional resources are essential for effective composition writing instruction.
These resources, which include textbooks, visual aids and writing prompts, play a
crucial role in enhancing students’ writing abilities. Investigating the availability and
use of selected teaching resources for English imaginative composition writing in
public secondary schools in Busia County, Kenya, was the aim of this study. The
objectives of the study sought to; assess the available instructional resources in the
teaching and learning of composition writing; to determine the criteria considered by
teachers when selecting instructional materials for composition writing skills; to find
out how the available instructional resources were utilized in the teaching and
learning of composition writing by teachers and students and to investigate the
challenges that teachers and students faced during the utilization of instructional
resources in composition writing. Richard Mayer’s Cognitive Theory of Multimedia
Learning (1999) provided the framework for this study. The study design used was a
descriptive survey. 300 students, 18 teachers and 7 HODs participated in the study. To
choose schools for the study, County and Sub-county, simple random sampling was
employed. Purposive sampling was used to choose Extra-county schools and Heads of
Language department. Teachers of English and students were randomly sampled. The
study employed a mixed-method research methodology. Data was gathered using
teacher and student questionnaires, interview and classroom observation schedules.
Piloting was done in two schools and was employed to find out the validity and
reliability of the instruments, identify potential challenges like the time frame required
to fill questionnaires and locate where research protocols may or may not be followed.
Students and teachers were asked to complete questionnaires to provide information
about the kind of educational resource they used. Data was analyzed using the
Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software version 21.0 which included
responses from the questionnaires, interview schedule and classroom observation
schedule. The data revealed that traditional resources such as textbooks, dictionary,
writing prompts and charts largely dominated classrooms and had more popularity in
terms of use as opposed to the audio-visual resources which were negligible and the
few available, were under-utilized. Audio-visual resources were largely unavailable.
On utilization, the study found that a major setback was inadequate resources and
heavy reliance on traditional materials such as the course books. The study revealed
that some teachers were limited in knowledge of IT skills and therefore found it
cumbersome to use IT based resources. The study recommended that teachers ought
to be trained and be encouraged to explore innovative approaches that incorporate
visual aids that go beyond the use of traditional course books. Efforts should be made
to address the challenge of inadequate resources by providing teachers with additional
materials and tools for composition writing instruction that embrace both utilization
of audio-visual resources and IT based resources.
Description
A Research Thesis Submitted In Partial Fulfilment for the Award of the Degree of Master of Education (Language Education) in the School of Education and Lifelong Learning, Kenyatta University, November, 2024
Supervisors:
1. Adelheid Marie Bwire
3. Hamisi O. Babusa