Tense Agreement in the English of Upper Primary Learners of the Siathani Primary School in Machakos County, Kenya: a Frequency Analysis Approach.

Abstract

This study set out to investigate the application of the tense agreement rule in the English of upper primary learners of the Siathani Primary School in Machakos County. The study was undertaken to identify the extent to which the rule was applied correctly, incorrectly or avoided by the learners; to establish whether the number of clauses in a sentence was a determining factor in the application of the rule; to establish whether the type of reported verb determined the application of the rule; and to establish whether the learners’ level of instruction was a determining factor in the application of tense agreement. Data were collected from a sample of sixty learners, thirty-five from Standard Seven and twenty-five from Standard Eight. The learners wrote compositions on a given rubric. The teacher marked them and identified the variants of usage of tense agreement. A frequency analysis was carried out following the procedure suggested by Ellis and Barkhuizen (2005). The study established that the learners have mastered the tense agreement rule quite well, with 59% of their sentences being correct. The number of clauses in a sentence was a determining factor in the application of the rule, just as was the type of reported verb since main verbs were more correctly used than auxiliary verbs. Learners in Standard Eight found it easier to apply the rule correctly than their Standard Seven counterparts by virtue of their higher level of instruction.