Attitudes towards the Influence of Runyankore-Rukiga on Performance in English in Western Uganda Secondary Schools
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Date
2021
Authors
John, Kintu
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Kenyatta University
Abstract
This study was carried out to establish the attitudes, views and experiences of key education stakeholders towards the interface of (RR) and English with respect to performance in English at UCE, the final examination at the lower secondary school level. It was carried out in Kabale District, western Uganda. The key stakeholders in this study included: education officers, head teachers, classroom teachers and the students. The study adopted a mixed approach of qualitative and quantitative design. It had the following objectives: to establish the attitudes of education officers on the influence of RR on learners performance in English at UCE, to investigate the views of the teachers on their experience regarding the influence of RR on learners performance in English at UCE, to explore the thoughts of learners regarding the influence of RR on performance in English at UCE as well as to evaluate he learners performance in English at UCE in view of the interface between RR and English. The study was also guided by the Cross-linguistic Theory by Mitchel and Myles (2004) which emphasises the concept of transfer in language learning as well as Cummins‟ (1984) Hypothesis which emphasises language interdependence. Five major forms of data collection were used: interviews for education officers and head teachers, questionnaires for classroom teachers, FGDs for students, document analysis for UCE results as well as getting RR and non-RR students to do an English test for comparison of performance. The findings from the respondents, from the UCE records and those from the test have been presented and discussed in chapters four and five. In general terms, the study established that majority of the respondents: the education officers, the head teachers, the classroom teachers and the students held a positive attitude towards the influence of RR on performance English at UCE. This view was supported by the finding that students studying RR performed better in the English test administered in this study as well as in the UCE results for the three successive years: 2015, 2016 and 2017. It is, therefore, recommended that RR in particular and LLs in general should continue being taught in Ugandan secondary schools.
Description
A Research Thesis Submitted to the School of Humanities and Social Sciences in Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Award of Doctor of Philosophy in Applied Linguistics of Kenyatta University. April, 2021
Keywords
Attitudes, Runyankore-Rukiga, Performance, English, Western Uganda, Secondary Schools