| dc.description.abstract | The importance of English both as a language and a subject studied in Kenyan schools cannot be over emphasized. Apart from being the official language it is also the language of instructions in schools. A minimum level of competence is a prerequisite to proper communication and a key ingredient to good performance in other subjects in national examinations. This study was prompted by the observed poor performance in English by secondary school students in Mbitini Division of Makueni District. In the last five years secondary schools in this division have managed a paltry 4.08 mean score at the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education, out of a possible maximum of 12 points. This translates to a grade "D", which is just one grade above the absolute minimum score. Among the possible explanations for this was the hunch that students in the division did not adequately read books of fiction. T..he study therefore set out to investigate if there was any correlation between the reading of fiction and performance of English. Towards these 250 out of 483 Form Four students were randomly selected from each of the ten secondary schools in the division. A questionnaire was administered, with questions on, for example, how many novels they read per term, the number of hours they devoted to the reading of fiction per week and also what their opinions were regarding the reading of fiction. The students' responses were compared to their performance in the year 2002 Makueni District Mock examination. This examination was administered to all Form Four students in the division, on the same day and under fairly similar conditions. In addition interviews were carried out. One teacher of English in each school was interviewed. The interview covered the teachers' own observations concerning their students' reading of fiction and their opinions about the importance of fiction in the teaching of English. The study found out that the reading of fiction was quite low in Mbitini Division. The research established that there was a significant relationship between the number of novels student read and performance in English. The Pearson Product Moment (r) was significant at 0.64. It is important to note that the correlation observed, far from being spurious, indicated 'that the dearth of the reading of fiction in the division held substantial explanation to the poor performance of English not just in examinations but also in the actual functional usage of the language. However, in spite of the lack of adequate books of fiction the students had very positive attitudes towards the reading of fiction and to the subject. Almost all of them seemed to appreciate the importance the reading of fiction has in helping one acquire proficiency or masterly of English. Both teachers and students were agreed that the greatest challenge they faced in the pursuit of reading fiction was lack of adequate materials to read. The study established that students in the division did not have access to adequate, varied and suitable reading materials, Teachers interviewed were positive that there was much benefit to be gained by the students if they read more books of fiction than they currently do. Just like the students the teachers had valuable suggestions on ways of improving the reading of fiction and performance of English in their schools and also in the division. The study came up with several recommendations, Among them was the recommendation that more books of fiction should be bought and be provided to the students. The novels to be bought need not be the very expensive ones. It was also generally felt that allocation of more time to the subject would give teachers a chance to help students in their reading, especially of fiction. However providing the students with adequate books of fiction would be an excellent starting point. The study also identified areas in which further research should be conducted Research should be conducted on the levels of job satisfaction of teachers of English in the division and also on the effects of the integration of English and Literature in English. | en |
