TEACHING OF LANGUAGE AND PRE-PRIMARY SCHOOL CHILDREN’S READING READINESS IN HAMISI SUB-COUNTY, VIHIGA COUNTY, KENYA

Andahi Victor Serede, Teresa Mwoma

Abstract


One of the four skills of language development is reading. It is a form of communication that can be used in both official and informal situations. Reading entails the decoding of communicative symbols in order to get meaning from them. Children's early experiences with language lay a strong basis for future reading achievement. This article presents findings from a study that was carried out in Hamisi Sub-County in Vihiga County. The goal of the study was to look at language instruction and pre-primary school children's reading readiness. The research was guided by Vygotsky's sociocultural theory. The study utilized a descriptive survey research design. The study sample was 72 schools selected from a total of 238 to represent 30% of the school population. The schools were sampled using stratified random sampling to ensure that each division was represented by at least 18 out of the 72 schools sampled. Purposeful sampling technique was used to select two language teachers from each pre-primary school. One class was observed during a language session and five children were assessed in reading using the reading readiness assessment checklist in 30% of the sampled schools. On the study questions, headteachers and managers from the sampled schools were interviewed. Questionnaires, an interview schedule a reading readiness checklist and an observation schedule were used to collect data. Test re-test was used to establish whether the tools were reliable. The Alpha reliability coefficient of 0.9 from Cronbach’s convinced the researchers that the instruments were reliable. Data was analyzed both qualitatively and quantitatively. Findings revealed that the success rate of using the language teaching techniques was moderate, with only (47%) of students in the tested schools being well equipped in reading readiness. Findings further revealed that teaching strategy had little or no impact on learners' reading preparation. The most common teaching and learning resources, according to the study are those that are available locally (52.5 percent). The study also revealed that teaching the first language encourages the acquisition of a second language (85 percent). As a result, first language development must be nourished, nurtured, and improved in order to facilitate English learning, which has a significant impact on reading readiness. The study established that the learners' social environment, educational environment and family economic situation all had a significant impact on their language learning and eventual reading readiness (47 percent). The study concluded that the environment has the greatest impact on pre-primary school children's reading readiness. Parents are encouraged to enroll their children in pre-primary schools in order to get the benefits of the first level of education.

 

Article visualizations:

Hit counter


Keywords


reading readiness, teaching strategies, preschool, teaching resources

Full Text:

PDF

References


Abadzi, H. (2010). Efficient Learning for the Poor: Insights from the Frontier of Cognitive Neuroscience. Washington D.C: World Bank

Afandi, V. (2018). Strategies used in Teaching Oral Skills in the English Language and their Effect on Pupils’ Performance in Lower Primary Schools in Kakamega County. Unpublished Master’s Thesis, Kenyatta University. Nairobi: Kenya.

Agun, I. & Okunrotifa, P. (1977). Educational Technology in Nigerian Teacher Education, Lagos. NERDDC Press.

Akubuilo, F. (2015). Reading Readiness Deficiency in Children: Causes and Ways of Improvement. Research Gate, 16(24) 1-9.

Arnold, C., Bartlett, K., Gowani, S., & Merali, R. (2007). Is everybody ready? Readiness, transition and continuity: Reflections and moving forward. Working Paper 41. The Hague, Netherlands: Bernard van Leer Foundation.

Behrman, J., Ross D., & Sabot, R. (2008). Improving quality versus increasing the quantity of schooling: Estimates of rates of return from rural Pakistan. Journal of Development Economics (85) 94–104.

Bunyamin, C. (2019). A study on the Factors Affecting Reading and Reading Habits of Preschool Children, International Journal of English Linguistics 10(1)101-114.

Burkhard, G. and Jacquelynne, S. (2013). Home Environment, University of Salzburg, Research Gate.

Burns, S., Griffin, P. & Snow, C. (Eds.). (2009). Starting Out Right: A Guide to Promoting Children's Reading Success. Copyright by the National Academy of Sciences. Courtesy of the National Academy Press. Reprinted with permission.

Clarke, B. (2014). Rurality and reading readiness: The mediating role of parent engagement (R2Ed Working Paper No. 2014-1). Retrieved from the National Center for Research on Rural Education: r2ed.unl.edu

Cohen, R. and Swerdlik, M. (2004). Psychological Testing and Assessment: An Introduction to Tests and Measurement (7th ed.) New York: NY McGrew Hill.

Cooley, M. (2014). The Effect of the Lack of Resources in Spanish for Students in Dual Language Bilingual Education Programs. Education and Human Development Master's Theses. 383.

Creswell, J. (2013). Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative and Mixed Methods Approach (3rd). London: SAGE Publications.

Creswell, J. (2012). Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design: Choosing Among Five Approaches (4th ed.) London: SAGE Publications.

Dawkins, L. (2017). Factors Influencing Student Achievement in Reading. Walden University: Walden University Scholar Works.

Deng, C., Silinskas, G., Wei, W., & Georgiou, G. (2015). Cross-lagged relationships between home learning environment and academic achievement in Chinese, Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 33(3) 12-20.

Dilnot, J., Hamilton, L., Maughan, B. and Snowling J. (2017). Child and Environment Risk Factors Predicting Readiness for Learning in Children at High Risk of Dyslexia: London, Cambridge University Press.

DQASO (2019). Summary Data Report. Hamisi: Hamisi Sub County Education office.

Du Plessis, S. & Naudé, E. (2008). The Needs of Teachers in Preschool Centres with Regard to Multilingual Learners. South African Journal of Education, 23(122).

Duplessis, S. (2016). Factors Affecting Reading Readiness of Grade R Learners in Selected Preschool in Gauteng Province. Unpublished Master’s Thesis, University of South Africa.

Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 28(4)692-703.

Education Policy Review Commission Report (EPRC, 2002). Priority Domains: Achievement and Challenges. Kuala Lumpur: Government of Malaysia

European Commission (2015). Language teaching and learning in Multilingual Classrooms. Luxembourg: European Union Brussels.

Garcia, E. Jensen, B. & Cuellar, D. (2010). Early academic achievement of Hispanics in the United States: Implications for teacher preparation. The New Educator, 2,(123). Accessed 27 December 2006 on the World Wide Web at www.ecehispanic.org/work/TheNewEducator.pdf

Gauther, R., Lawson, A. (2004). Teaching and learning mathematics: The report of the expert of the panel on mathematics in Grade 4 to 6 in Ontario. www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/document/report.

Gibson Cooper Research (2018). Use and Perceptions of Curriculum Support Resources in Schools, Government Social Research, Department of Education.

Gonzalez, C., Pina, R., Nieto, C., Roldan W. (2018) How Latino Children in the US Engage in Collaborative Online Information Problem Solving with Their Families, Proceedings of the ACM on Human Computer Interaction,2(CSCW)1-26.

Gonzalez, M., Jenny, X. (2017). Language Strategies in Second Language Acquisition, David Publishing -US-China Foreign Language, 15(8) 479-492

Government of Kenya (2017). Midline Performance Evaluation of Tusome Activity in Kenya. Washington D.C: USAID.

Gumede, T. (2018). Factors influencing learners’ Reading Ability in English at Bulawayo Central District High Schools in Zimbabwe. Unpublished Master’s Thesis, University of Pretoria: South Africa.

Hoff, E. (2003). The specificity of environmental influence: Socioeconomic status affects early vocabulary development via maternal speech. Child Development, 74(5)1368-1378.

KNBS (2019). 2019 Kenya Population and Housing Census Volume 1: Population by County and Sub County, Nairobi, Kenya National Bureau of Statistics.

Kumar, S. (2017). Teaching Materials and Teaching Aids, Research Gate, (12) May 2017:1-14.

Leipzig, D. (2015). Portraits of Struggling Readers. Retrieved June 22, 2016, from http://www.readingrocket,org/org/article/portraits.struggling-reader.

Levy, B., Gong, Z., Hessels, S., Evans, M., & Jared, D. (2006). Understanding print: Early reading development and the contributions of home literacy experiences. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 93(1), 63-93.

Ligembe, N. (2014). Factors Affecting the Acquisition of Reading Skills in Kiswahili in Primary Schools: The Case of Musoma Municipal and Misungwi District Councils. Unpublished PHD Thesis, University of Tanzania.

Lin, A. (2017). Code-Switching in the Classroom: Research Paradigm and Approaches, Research Gate, 10(1007)1-16.

Liebeskind, K., Piotrowski, J., Lapierre, M. & Linebarger, L. (2014). The home literacy environment: Exploring how media and parent-child interactions are associated with children’s language production. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy 14, 482-509.

Machira, W. (2017). Determinants of Pre-Primary Children’s Reading Readiness in Mathira, Nyeri County, Unpublished Master’s Thesis, Kenyatta University. Nairobi: Kenya.

Majzub, R. and Kurnia, R. (2010). Reading Readiness among Preschool Children in Pekanbaru Riau, Elsevier (9)589-594

Maluke, J. (2019). Using Code-Switching as an Empowerment Strategy in Teaching Mathematics to Learners with Limited Proficiency in English in South African Schools. South African Journal of Education 39(3)1-9.

Manjula, R. (2018). Strategies for Effective Teaching of English for Undergraduate Students. International Standard Serial 6(12)1587-1596.

Manolitsis, G., Georgiou, K., & Parrila, R. (2011). Revisiting the home literacy model of reading development in an orthographically consistent language. Learning & Instruction, 21(4), 496-505.

Manolitsis, G., Georgiou, K., & Tziraki, N. (2014). Examining the effects of home literacy and numeracy environment on early reading and mathematics acquisition. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 28(1)692-703.

Marina, E. (2014). A Survey of Approaches used in Teaching of Reading in Early Childhood Grades in Dagoretti and Westlands Divisions, Nairobi County. Unpublished Master’s Thesis, Kenyatta University. Nairobi: Kenya.

Matthews, H. & Ewen, D. (2010). Reaching all children? Understanding early care and education participation among immigrant families. Washington, D.C.: Center for Law.

Mbaabu, I. (2008). Language Policy in East Africa. Nairobi: Educational Research and Publications.

Moon, C., Lagercrantz, H., & Kuhl, P. (2013). Language experienced in utero affect vowel perception after birth: A two-country study. Acta Paediatrica, 120, 156-160.

Morara, G. (2014).Aetiology of Instructional Practices for Reading in English in Rural Primary Schools in Kisii Central District, Kisii County. Unpublished Master’s Thesis, Kenyatta University. Nairobi: Kenya.

Mubichakani, M. and Koros, C. (2014). The Availability, Adequacy and Improvisation and the Use of Instructional Resources for Teaching Mathematics in Secondary Schools in West Pokot District, Kenya Journal of Education and Practice,5(20)

Mudzielwana, P. (2014). The Role of Parents in Developing Reading Skills of their Children in the Foundation Phase, Kamla-Raj (41)2:253-264.

Mugenda, O. & Mugenda, A. (2003). Research methods: quantitative and qualitative approaches. Nairobi: Acts Press.

Mugenda, O. and Mugenda, A. (2013). Research Methods Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches. Nairobi, African Centre for Technology Studies.

Mwoma, T. (2017). Children's reading ability in early primary schooling: Challenges for a Kenyan rural community. Issues in Educational Research, 27(2)347-364.

Mwoma, T. (2019). Preschool Attendance and Children’s Reading Ability: A case of Narok County, Kenya. International Journal: Comparative Perspective 17(4) 83-96.

NAEP (2016). The Academic Achievement of Limited English Proficient Youth in New and Established Immigrants States; Lessons from the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP), Edu policy Anal Arch .2016 Oct (3)24-99((10).

National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (2012). Literacy in Early Childhood and Primary Education (3-8 years) 24, Merrion Square, Dublin.

Newcastle University (2018). Parent-Child Reading to Improve Language Development and School Readiness, Nuffield Foundation: 1-90.

Ngure, W., Mwoma, T.and Buna, Y. (2019). Examining The Teachers’ Use of Instructional Resources in Teaching and Learning Reading with Grade Three Pupils in Nairobi County, Kenya, European Journal of Education Studies:6(1)2019

Nicolau, C.and Gomes, A. (2015). Assessment of Skills that Predict Reading Success in 1st and 2nd Grade Children of Elementary School. Brasil: Sao Paulo Research Foundation.

Nielsen, D. (2005). Primary education and poverty reduction: Will reaching the Millennium Development Goals be enough? In Proceedings of the IEG Conference on the Effectiveness of Assistance for Human and Social Development. Washington, D.C.: World Bank

Niklas, F., Cohrssen, C. and Tayler, C. (2016). The Sooner, the Better: Early Reading to Children, SAGE Open, 6(4):1-11.

Niklas, F.and Schneider, W. (2013). Home literacy environment and the beginning of reading and writing. Contemporary Educational Psychology, (38)40-50.

Noble, K., Farah, M. and McCandliss, B. (2006). Socioeconomic background modulates cognition achievement relationships in reading. Cognitive Development, 21(3)349-368.

Noble, K., McCandliss, B. and Farah, M. (2007). Socioeconomic gradients predict individual differences in neurocognitive abilities. Developmental Science, 10(4) 464-480.

OECD (2009). The Funding of School Education: Connecting Resources and Learning. Paris: OECD Publishing.

Okongo, R., Ngao, G., Rop, K., and Nyongesa, J. (2015). Effect of Availability of Teaching and Learning Resources on the Implementation of Inclusive Education in Preschool Centres in Nyamira North Sub County, Nyamira County, Kenya, Journal of Education and Practices 6(35)132-141.

Orodho, A. (2017). Techniques of Writing Research Proposals and Reports in Education and Social Sciences: An Illustrative Guide to Scholarly Excellence (4th ed.).Nairobi: Kanezja Publishers.

Papadimitriou, A. and Filippos, V. (2015). Effect of age and gender on children’s reading performance: The possible neural underpinnings, Cogent Psychology, 2(1)1045224, DOI: 10.1080/23311908, 1045224.

Partanen, E., Kujaja, T., Naatanen R., Liitola A., Sambeth A., & Huotilainen M. (2013). Learning Induced Neural Plasticity of Speech Processing Before Birth. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, (110)15145-15150.

Poplack, S. (2019). Code switching in Linguistic. International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2nd Edition, (2015) 918-925.

Pratham (2010). ASER 2009—Annual status of education report. New Delhi: UNICEF

Raikes, H., Pan, B. Gayle, L., Tamis-LeMonda C., Brooks, J., Constantine J., Rodriguez E. (2006). Mother-Child Reading in Low Income families: Correlates and Outcomes During the First Three Years of Life. Child Development, (77) 924-953.

Reyes, I. (2004). Functions of Code Switching in Children’s Conversations. Psychology of Bilingual Research Journal, 28(1)77-98.

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (2017). Parent Engagement Practices Improves Outcomes for Preschool Children. Penn state, Pennsylvania University.

Rowe, L. and Goldin-Meadow, S. (2009). Differences in Early Gesture Explain Social Economic Status disparities in Child Vocabulary Size at School Entry. Science, 323(5916)951-953.

Schäfer, M and Chikiwa, C. (2016). Teacher Code Switching Consistency and Precision in a Multilingual Mathematics Classroom. African Journal of Research in Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 20(3)244-255.

Schwartz, W. (2006). Hispanic preschool education: An important opportunity. ERIC/CUE Digest, Number 113. [ED405398] Accessed 27 December 2006 on the World Wide. Web at http://www.ericdigests.org/1997-4/hispanic.htm

Selinker l. (1972). Interlanguage. International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching, 10(3)209

SelleÂs, P., Vila, V., MartõÂnez, T. & Yasla, L. (2018). The skills related to the early reading acquisition in Spain and Peru. PLoS ONE 13(3)193450.

Senechal, M. (2006). Testing the home literacy Model: Parent involvement in kindergarten is differentially related to grade 4 reading comprehension, fluency, spelling, and reading for pleasure. Scientific Studies of Reading, 10(1), 59-87.

Shabani, K. (2010). Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development: Instructional Implications and Teachers, Professional Development, PHD Thesis, University of Tehran, Iran.

Shu, H., Li, W., Anderson, R.., Ku, Y. and Xuan, Y. (2002). The role of home-literacy environment in learning to read Chinese. New York: Springer, Science Media.

Social Policy Report (2013). Multilingual Children, Beyond Myths and Towards Best Practices, Society for Research in Child Development 27(4)1075-7031.

Sonawat, R. and Bhise C. (2016). Factors Influencing School Readiness of Children, Women University of Mumbai, India, Research Journal of Recent Sciences,5(5) 53-58.

Su, M., Hugo, P., Shuang, S., McBride, C., Tardif, T., Li, H., Zhang, Y., Liang, W., Zhang Z. and Ramus F. (2016). The influence of Early Linguistic Skills and Family Factors on Literacy Acquisition in Chinese Children: Follow up from 3 to age 11. Elsevier, Language and Instruction (49)54-63.

Taherdoost, H. (2016). Sampling Methods in Research Methodology, How to choose a sampling Technique for Research. International Journal of Academic Research in Management (IJARM) 5(2)18-27.

Talley, A. (2017). Best Teaching Strategies to Help Struggling Readers, Carson-Newman University.

Thakur, K., Sudhanthar, S., Sigal, Y., Mattarella, N. (2016). Improving Early Childhood Literacy and School Readiness through Reach Out and Read (ROR) program, BMJ Quality Improvement Reports,137(1136)1-4.

Twoli, N., Maundu, J., Muindi, D., Kiio, M. and Kithinji, C. (2007). Instructional methods in education: A course book for general teaching methods. Nairobi: Kenya Institute of Education.

Uganda Ministry of Education and Sports (2012). Progress in achieving EFA goals, MDGs and Cross-cutting issues. Education and Sports Sector Annual Performance Report.

UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2011). Latin America and the Caribbean Regional Report. Paris/Montreal, UNESCO-Institute of Statistics.

UNICEF (2012). School Readiness and Transition, A companion to Child Friendly Schools Manual. New York: United Nations Children’s Fund.

UNICEF (2016). The Impact of Language Policy and Practice on Children’s learning: Evidence from Eastern and Southern Africa. Nairobi: UNICEF.

USAID (2018). Getting Early Grade Reading Right: A Case for Investing in Quality Early Childhood Education Programs, University Research CO, LLC.

Uwezo (2014). Are our children learning? Literacy and Numeracy in Kenya 2014. Nairobi: Twaweza East Africa.

Viljoen, C. and Molefe, R. (2008). Language Related Problems of Limited English Proficiency Learners in Grade 1. South African Journal of Education, 21(121).

Wambiri, G. (2014). Caregivers Role Definition and Practices in the Stimulation of Children’s Emergent Reading Development in Ruiru, Kenya. Journal of Education and Practice, 5(2)23-31.

Wambiri, G. and Ndani, M. (2015). Relative Contributions of Caregivers’ Level of Education, Role Definition and Average Household Income to Caregiver Involvement in Children’s Emergent Reading, Journal of Education and Practice,6(24)108-116.

Wanjohi, G. (2014). A situational Analysis of Language of Instruction in Lower Primary School in Nyeri County, Kenya. PHD Thesis, Kenyatta University.




DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.46827/ejse.v8i2.4279

Copyright © 2015 - 2023. European Journal of Special Education Research (ISSN 2501 - 2428) is a registered trademark of Open Access Publishing Group. All rights reserved.

This journal is a serial publication uniquely identified by an International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) serial number certificate issued by Romanian National Library (Biblioteca Nationala a Romaniei). All the research works are uniquely identified by a CrossRef DOI digital object identifier supplied by indexing and repository platforms.

All the research works published on this journal are meeting the Open Access Publishing requirements and can be freely accessed, shared, modified, distributed and used in educational, commercial and non-commercial purposes under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).