The Role of Group Discussion Method in Teaching Kiswahili Literature: A Case of Wareng District, Uasin-Gishu County- Kenya.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of group discussion as a method of teacning Kiswahili literature in secondary schools in Kenya. Over years, the mean score for Kiswahili literature has been discouraging. It was with this in mind that this study sought to find out how teachers of Kiswahili exploit group discussion in teaching Kiswahili literature. The study was based on Bruner's constructivist theory which states that learning is an active process in which learners construct new ideas or concepts based upon current or past knowledge. The researcher adopted a survey design. The study was conducted in selected schools in Wareng District, Uasin Gishu County in Kenya. The researcher used purposive, stratified and simple random sampling to get the study sample. Twelve secondary schools, five hundred and fifty form three students and all the fourteen form three teachers of Kiswahili literature in the selected schools were included in the study sample. Data was collected using questionnaire, observation and document analysis. Descriptive statistics was used to analyze data. A pilot study was conducted in preparation for the main data collection in the field. The study revealed that the use of group discussion enhances positive performance though its use in schools is limited by problems such as insufficient time. It was also revealed that teachers had a positive attitude towards the use of group discussion. However it was rarely used in teaching Kiswahili literature because of inadequate time, work load among other factors. Students also had a positive attitude towards the use of group discussion. However, the attitude was negatively influenced by factors such as lack of cooperation and lack of time among others. The degree of use of group discussion in teaching Kiswahili literature was low and other teaching methods commonly used in teaching Kiswahili literature included, question and answer and lecture. The study therefore recommends the frequent use of group discussion in teaching Kiswahili literature as it enhances performance. The study too recommends teachers ofKiswahili to be trained in Kiswahili language (lugha) and Kiswahili literature (Fasihi). Moreover it recommends more time to be allocated Kiswahili subject since time factor was a setback in the choice and use of group discussion. The researcher hopes that the findings of the study will add to existing body of knowledge that will be useful to both curriculum developers and implementers in policy formulation towards the choice of appropriate teaching methods in teaching Kiswahili literature in secondary schools.