Constructivist and product approaches of instruction In writing skills: Comparison of learner achievement in selected primary schools in Kenya

Abstract

The performance of writing skills in the English language at the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education has been dismal over the years. This situation implies that the set learning outcomes are not attained. Teachers' instructional approaches have a significant effect on enhancing pupils' writing abilities. There are several instructional approaches to writing in use, such as communicative language teaching, inquiry-based learning, constructivist and product among others. However, few studies have been undertaken to compare the effect of constructivist and product approaches to instruction on writing skills. This study, therefore, sought to compare the effect of constructivist and product approaches in improving the writing skills of learners in selected primary schools. The study objectives were to: assess the extent to which teachers use constructivist and product approaches in teaching writing; determine pupils' academic performance in a writing test before and after instruction using the constructivist approach to writing skills; analyse the effect of the constructivist approach to instruction on writing skills among the selected schools, determine the academic performance of pupils in writing tasks before and after instruction using the product approach to writing skills, analyse the effect of product approach in writing skills and compare the effects of constructivist and product approaches of instruction in writing skills on pupils' academic performance in a writing test. The study adopted Vygotsky's social-cultural development theory, which contends that learners actively produce knowledge and meaning via their personal and social experiences. The study was conducted in four counties of Kenya namely Elgeyo Marakwet, Uasin Gishu, Nandi and Trans Nzoia, all of which have had low performance for a long time. The target population consisted of grade four pupils and teachers of English from the four counties. Purposive sampling was used to choose the eight teachers of English and grade four pupils from the selected schools. Simple random sampling was used to select grade four pupils who participated in the writing achievement test and were randomly assigned to one of the four groups. The study used quantitative approach with quasi experimental and Solomon four-group design based on the post-positivist philosophical paradigm. Data were collected through writing achievement test, teacher questionnaire and lesson observation and analysed using descriptive statistics, with which frequencies and percentages were used. Besides this, inferential statistics (t-test and ANOVA) were used with hypotheses tested at alpha (α) 0.05. The findings were presented by means of narration, tables and figures were used to present the findings. It was established that teachers utilised role-play, story-telling, question-and-answer sessions and group discussions when using a constructivist approach. Guided writing and adherence to sample texts based on offered samples were common in the product approach. The post-test groups for both the constructivist and product approaches performed better than their respective pretest groups. Furthermore, the t-test results showed that the product approach (M=2.10, SD=1.76) outperformed the constructivist approach (M=1.90, SD=1.27). The difference is statistically significant, indicating that pupils exposed to the product approach performed better than those exposed to the constructivist approach in the writing test. The study thus concluded that the product approach of instruction in writing skills is beneficial for grade four pupils due to their early age, for they still require plenty of guidance and hence recommended that curriculum designers should consider bolstering the adoption of the product approach in writing skill designs. This study contributes to the investigation into the teaching of the English language by determining a more effective instructional approach for writing skills among grade four learners in primary schools