Factors influencing performance of English language among deaf learners in special primary schools in Hombay county, kenya

Abstract

Education has a pivotal role in the social, political and economic development of an individual. Regarding this, the government of Kenya is committed through the free primary education to increase educational opportunities by making schools accessible to all children. Over the years, the language of instruction in Kenyan school has been English. Thus, pupils’ proficiency in English goes to an extent of determining their academic achievement in the overall. Pupils’ failure to understand English language becomes a challenge in academic achievement. This study sought to investigate the factors influencing performance of English among the pupils with hearing impairment in special primary schools in Homabay County. This study was guided by the following specific objectives: To examine the extent to which the nature of Kenya Sign Language influences performance of English language in special schools for Hearing Impaired learners in Homabay County, Kenya; to establish the influence of training of English teachers on the performance in English language by hearing impaired learners in special primary schools; to determine whether severity of hearing impairment influences the performance of English language in special schools; and to assess the influence of school based socio economic factors on performance in English language by Hearing impaired learners. This study was modeled on Skinners Theory of Motivational Learning and a Conceptual Framework. The study adopted both descriptive research design and correlation research design. The target population was 440pupils, 8 teachers, 3 head teachers and 1 CQUASO. The study employed purposive and stratified random sampling techniques to come up with a sample size of 117 students, 8 teachers of English, 3 head teachers and 1 CQUASO. Data was gathered by use of questionnaires and interview guides. Reliability coefficient was obtained by subjecting the instruments to Pearson correlation coefficient formula. The coefficient reliability was 0.79 which indicated that the instruments were reliable. Content validity of the data collection tools was also conducted. Qualitative data was analyzed based on the themes and sub themes whereas Quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The findings of the study was follows: KSL, the level of hearing impairment, in-service training of teachers and school socio-economic factors such as facilities, awards, teacher’s student ratio, management style, teachers and students attitude, significantly contributes to the performance of English. The study concluded that the strong value of R (0.763) meant there was a strong positive correlation between the predicted and observed values of the Deaf learner’s performance in English language in the special primary schools in Homabay County. The study recommended that there is need for the government to revise books for all subjects with hearing impaired learners and adapt them to the Kenya sign language sentence structure so as to improve the understanding of the syllabus content among the learners with hearing impairments.