An evaluation on the implementation of the language activity curriculum in pre-primary schools in Busia County, Kenya

Abstract

In pre-primary, the goal of the language activity area is to develop oral, reading, and writing readiness skills in order to lay the groundwork for language acquisition. Because children use language to interact with their immediate environment, it is an important tool for facilitating learning. It provides learners with the abilities they need for listening and speaking, as well as developing literacy skills, as a medium of communication and a crucial component of socializing. The Competency Based Curriculum advocates for a multilingual approach to language learning focusing on mother-tongue, Kiswahili and English in Early Year Education. However, the implementation of the language curriculum in Pre-primary is still faced with a myriad of challenges in terms of operationalization. Generally, there are myriad challenges experienced in the implementation of language activities, including but not limited to lack of relevant teacher Competency Based Curriculum competencies and knowledge and inadequate instructional materials Against this backdrop, the study sought to evaluate the Early Year Education language curriculum implementation in pre-primary. In particular, the objectives focused on teachers’ level of preparedness for language activity implementation, examination of resources used during instruction, determination of the evaluation procedures used in the implementation process, examination of learning activities that learners are engaged and establishment of challenges that teachers face during language activity curriculum implementation. The study adopted Tyler’s Curriculum Theory, Krashen and Terrel input Hypothesis and Swain’s Output Hypothesis theory of language acquisition that focus on process of curriculum implementation and language learning requirements respectively. The mixed method research approach using the convergent design, grounded upon pragmatism philosophy were utilized in examining the study variables. Thirty- five (35) Early Childhood Development centers were randomly selected using simple random sampling out of a total of 353 in Busia County. Purposive sampling was used to select key informants as follows: The County Director of Education, Education Standards and Quality Assurance officer, 35 head teachers and 7 District Centre Early Childhood Education Coordinators. Data collection instruments were the questionnaire, observation, interview and document analysis schedules. Validity of the instruments was assessed by involving experts and professionals. Constructs were operationalized. Reliability was established through a pilot study. Data analysis combined both descriptive statistics and content analysis procedures. The study findings show limited teacher preparedness levels because they have received one Competency Based Curriculum training, however they indicated that they required frequent capacity building to acquire competence to teach language activities learning area on Competency Based Curriculum. Additionally, there were inadequate instructional resources and plenty of teacher talk engaged during lessons, and widespread use of summative evaluation, rather than formative modes. The study in objective one concluded that teachers lack sufficient support to enable them adequately implement the language activities learning area in Competency Based Curriculum. The study recommends: contextualized teacher in-service training and professional development, alongside provision of adequate instructional resources for appropriate implementation of language activities learning area. The findings will aid Competency Based Curriculum developers in making informed adjustments with regard to teacher preparation requirements, resources mobilization, instructional activities and adaption of productive formative evaluation procedures