Teacher Classroom Practices and English Language Reading Readiness of Children in Grade One at Kericho Rehabilitation School, Kenya
Abstract
English Language Reading Readiness (ELRR) is a preparation of children by giving them the
chance to improve their ability to listen, speak, read and write effectively, to apply the desired
vocabulary, and develop the appropriate academic readiness skills. English Language Reading
Readiness is of great importance in improving equity in access to learning language and education
results, particularly for juvenile delinquency. Children in rehabilitation schools have a vital social
issue that every nation tries to contain its control amongst the clear evidence, with the correct
nurturing such that if psychotherapeutic interventions are not provided to the young offenders, they
may eventually graduate to hardcore criminals. The purpose of this study was to establish the effect
of teacher classroom practices on English language reading readiness of children in Grade One at
Kericho Rehabilitation School, Kenya. The study objectives were: to establish the effect of teaching
methodology on English Language Reading Readiness of children in Grade one at Kericho
Rehabilitation School, explore the effect of instructional resources on English Language Reading
Readiness of children in Grade one at Kericho Rehabilitation School, determine the effect of
modeling discipline management mechanisms on English Language Reading Readiness of children
in Grade one at Kericho Rehabilitation School and to determine the effect of the checklist
assessment tool on English Language Reading Readiness of children in Grade one at Kericho
Rehabilitation School. The study reviewed the relevant literature related to the objectives. The
study was guided by Noam Chomsky’s Language Acquisition Theory of 1998 which demonstrated
and illustrated the standard structural theories of language acquisition. The significance of the study
was to help the Ministry of Education (MOE) to formulate and implement classroom policies for
children in the rehabilitation schools. The study adopted a case study research design. Purposive
sampling was used to include all the 14 children in Grade one and 4 teachers at Kericho
Rehabilitation School. The respondents of the study were; all the children in Grade One, one Head
teacher and four regular teachers in the school. Data was collected using pre-test and post-test,
questionnaire for Head teacher and other teachers, observation schedule of live lessons, and
documentary analysis. The teachers were trained on how to apply the new classroom intervention
strategies namely; the phonics method, the use of resources, the modeling classroom discipline
management mechanisms and the checklist assessment tool. The pre-test and the post-test were
administered to the children and results computed. Data was analyzed qualitatively and
quantitatively using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) to compute t-test for
establishing any statistically significant differences between the overall pre-test mean score and
post-test mean scores of the uni-group. The study findings indicated that, the children’s pre-test
mean score was low and there was no statistically significant difference within the group. The low
pre-test performance was because the children had not acquired sufficient English language reading
readiness skills due to the influence of teacher pedagogical competencies as indicated in
inappropriate teaching methods, insufficient learning resources, use of inappropriate classroom
discipline management mechanisms, and inappropriate classroom assessment techniques. The
children’s post-test mean score for the group improved, after applying the interventions. There was,
therefore, a statistically significant difference between the pre-test and post-test overall mean scores
within the group due to the group having been taught using the phonics method, effective and
adequate resources, the modeling discipline management mechanism and the checklist assessment
method. The study concluded that; children’s English language reading readiness may have been
influenced by teacher classroom practices. Children’s performance could be improved by teachers
who not only applied better classroom practices, but also the skills, attitudes and motivation to use
the pedagogical competencies holistically in rehabilitation schools. The study recommendations
were that: The Ministry of Education needs to consider in–servicing teachers in rehabilitation
schools to re-orient their classroom practices and also to consider establishing Early Childhood
Development Centers within rehabilitation schools as a strategy of laying foundation to reading in
Grade one. The school administrators need to support the teachers with facilities and time and also
ensure that they applied better English language reading readiness skills in all their teaching. For
further research, this study recommended that; research could be carried out on the influence of
teacher pedagogical competencies on children’s performance in other language skills or in other
subjects at any level of reading.
Publisher
University of Nairobi
Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United StatesUsage Rights
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/Collections
- Faculty of Education (FEd) [6020]
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