dc.description.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 |
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