A comparison of the theoretical and fieldwork methods on the teaching and learning of oral literature in secondary schools in Lugari Sub-County, Kakamega County, Kenya

Abstract

Teaching and learning of oral literature plays an important role in students’ lives. It instills in learners’ values, knowledge and critical thinking. However, the teaching of oral literature has faced a myriad of challenges. Teachers have had to grapple with the numerous methods of instruction trying to figure out the best method to meet their lesson objectives. The purpose of this study was to make a comparison of the theoretical methods with respect to fieldwork methods on the teaching and learning of oral literature in secondary schools in Kenya. The objectives of this study included: to bring out the difference between fieldwork methods and theoretical methods in the teaching and learning oral literature, to analyze the activities carried out when fieldwork methods are used as compared to when theoretical methods are used in teaching and learning oral literature, to determine materials used during the use of fieldwork methods as compared to those used during the use of theoretical methods in the teaching and learning of oral literature and lastly to examine the opportunities and challenges of fieldwork and theoretical methods in the teaching and learning of oral literature. The study was guided by Robert Gagne’s Hierarchy of learning theory. The study adopted the convergent parallel research design. The total population was 636. It comprised of form three students and teachers of English language from four schools in Lugari Sub County, Kakamega county. From the target population, the researcher used a sample size of 246. Purposive sampling was used to sample the schools and the teachers (12 out of 36). The researcher used Krejcie and Morgan table to give the sample size for students (234 out of 600) and then used simple random sampling to select the students. Qualitative data was collected using interviews and observation schedules while quantitative data was collected using tests. The data was analyzed descriptively and then triangulated. The findings indicated; that students who were taught using fieldwork methods scored highly in the post-tests, attaining a positive deviation of +11.55 as compared to those who were taught using theoretical methods who attained a positive deviation of +5.76, that the theoretical methods created a passive class where teachers had to blend a variety methods to teach different aspects of oral literature while fieldwork methods directly involved learners in the learning process, that fieldwork had readily available teaching aids while teachers had to improvise most of the teaching aids during the use of the theoretical methods and lastly that fieldwork had challenges of implementation while the theoretical methods were easy to implement. The study concluded that there is a difference in effectiveness when the two methods are used in the teaching of oral literature. Learners perform highly when fieldwork method is used in the teaching of oral literature than when theoretical method. The study recommended that schools should encourage teachers to use a variety of teaching methods in oral literature, teachers embrace change in their teaching methods and schools should equip their libraries with oral literature materials.