Influence Of Institutional Factors On Learners’ Academic Performance In French At The Kenya Certificate Of Secondary Education In Nairobi County, Kenya

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the institutional factors that influence learners’ academic performance of French at the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education in Nairobi County. Specifically, the study was set to establish the influence of experience of teachers of French, availability of French teaching and learning resources, peer groups and attitude toward French on learner’s academic performance in French at the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education in Nairobi County. This research was based on the Systems theory. The research design employed was Expost facto where the target population consisted of 16 schools, 16 principals, 16 teachers of French and 480 learners of French. The study embraced the use of stratified random sampling method for selection of respondents. The researcher used questionnaires and interview schedules to gather information from the respondents. The study used test-re-test technique to determine instrument reliability. The findings of the study were; teachers’ teaching experience influenced learners’ academic performance as more experienced teachers produced better results that less experienced teachers. Teachers who attended in-service trainings were very effective in their teaching and content delivery. Availability of teaching and learning resources positively affected the academic performance of learners in French. The lessons allocated for teaching French were not enough and this negatively affected syllabus coverage. Peer group had little influence on the learners’ subject selection and academic performance. Both the teachers and learners enjoyed French lessons. Based on the findings of the study, it was concluded that; Teachers’ teaching experience influenced learners’ academic performance as more experienced teachers produced better results. Although many schools lacked enough teaching and learning resources for French, the resources were purchased once every year by the government and this made teaching and learning more authentic. Finally, teachers and learners had positive attitude toward French and this significantly affected the academic performance of the learners. From the research, several recommendations are made; Teachers of French should attend in-service trainings regularly to boost their teaching experience and to better subject content delivery. The government should support schools offering French with more funds to buy enough teaching and learning resources. The number of French lessons should be increased from four to at least six per week. Learners taking French should form their own peer group for them to discuss and communicate in French all the time.