Abstract:
his paper highlights the results of a research con
ducted in Bungoma County of Kenya between 2008- 200
9.The
objective of the study was to investigate the attit
udes of teachers and students towards the impact of
availability
and use of daily newspapers on students’ speaking
competence in English language. The study was based
on the
Communicative Language Teaching Approach and the th
eory underlying this approach is Krashen’s Second
Language Acquisition, the monitor model. The study
used the mixed methods research approach adopting a
correlation research design. Stratified, purposive
and simple random sampling techniques were used to
get the
sample. The sample involved 16 teachers of English
language and 135 form three students. The questionn
aire,
students’ focused group discussions, and interview
guide were used to collect data from the students a
nd teachers
respectively. The data collected was analyzed using
both descriptive and inferential statistics. The h
ypotheses
were tested using non –parametric inferential stati
stics-Mann-Whitney U-test. From the analysis and
interpretation of data, it was deduced that student
s who used daily newspapers showed better speaking
competence in English language than those who did
not use them. Consequently, it is recommended that
the use
of the daily newspapers as an instructional resourc
e in teaching speaking skills in English language s
hould be
encouraged and improved in secondary schools in Ken
ya
