A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF EARLY LANGUAGE COMPETENCIES BETWEEN BOYS AND GIRLS IN PRE-PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN BUSIA COUNTY, KENYA

Consolata Nabwire Onyango, Nyakwara Begi, Juliet W. Mugo

Abstract


This study aimed to find out the difference in early language competencies between boys and girls in pre-primary schools. This study used Joyce Epstein's parental involvement model to inform the study, while correlation design was used to guide the study. The target population was pre-primary school children plus their teachers and parents in 67 public schools and 40 private schools. Out of these schools, 7 public schools and 4 private schools were sampled. Early language skills checklist, questionnaire, and interview schedules were used for data collection. A pilot study was conducted in two primary schools. Content validity was used to determine the research tools' validity, whereas the reliability of the instruments was established using the test-retest method. When analyzing qualitative data, thematic analysis was used, while quantitative data was analyzed using inferential statistics, where frequencies, percentages, and means were generated. A t-test and correlation were used to test null hypotheses. Results revealed that female pupils were better in early language competencies, with a mean score of 2.35, as compared to boys, who had a mean score of 2.28 with a mean difference of 0.07. This outcome implies that the mean performance for female children was a bit higher than that of boys. The average language competency of both boys and girls was 2.32. The results were not significant at 0.05 level of significance and, therefore, were rejected, meaning that there was no significant difference in early language competency between boys and girls. Therefore, these results imply that gender did not influence children's early language competencies. The differences in language acquisition competencies between boys (M = 2.30; SD = .843) and children in private school (M = 2.34; SD = 1.060); t (252) = -.639, p = .523, two-tailed) was considered not significant, indicating no significant difference in children’s early language competencies between boys and girls. The study concluded that female learners acquired higher early language competencies than male learners. Female learners had an advantage over males in the acquisition of early language competencies. The study recommended that Public school administrators and managers should encourage parents to offer voluntary services that enhance the acquisition of language competencies, encourage parents to make frequent calls to the school to inquire about their children's acquisition of language skills and attend organized language functions. The Ministry of Education needs to begin programs in schools where parents are encouraged to be actively involved in the acquisition of their children's language competencies.

 

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early language competencies, gender, learning activities, pre-primary school

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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.46827/ejse.v10i4.5486

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