Instructional influence on learners’ achievement in post-basic school English curriculum in Burundi

Abstract

In the realm of education, instructional influences are key in shaping learners’ academic achievement. In Burundi, learners’ academic achievement in the English language is wanting at post-basic education level. Against this backdrop, this study aimed at investigating the instructional influences of the post-basic school English curriculum on learners’ achievement in Burundi. The objectives of this study were to find out how the classroom learning environment, teachers’ knowledge and skills, teaching methods, instructional materials, and assessment methods affected learners' achievement in post-basic school English curriculum in Burundi. The Communicative Language Teaching for the 21st Century and the Social Learning Theory served as the foundation for this study. The study adopted a mixed-methods approach, a convergent parallel research design, and a pragmatic paradigm. Drawing on Kothari and Garge, a sample of 16 out of 32 post-basic schools was randomly selected, representing 50% of the post-basic schools in Bujumbura municipality in the languages section. From the sixteen chosen schools, sixteen teachers of English language were randomly selected, one from each school. Using Slovin’s formula and stratified sampling techniques, a sample of 330 students was selected from a population of 1860 post-basic school learners in the second and third years, languages section, in the Bujumbura Municipality. Data collection instruments entailed the questionnaire, interviews, and classroom observations. Their validity was verified using expert judgement validity, and their reliability was confirmed using Cronbach's alpha statistics. Data analysis combined both thematic analysis procedures for qualitative data and descriptive statistics for quantitative data where the means, standard deviations, and frequencies were calculated. To measure how far the instructional factors influenced learners’ academic achievement, the mean limits of the five-point Likert scale was employed and was interpreted as the following: 1.00-1.79: very low; 1.80-2.59: low; 2.60- 3.39 moderate; 3.40-4.19 high; 4.20-5.00 very high. The study findings established that teachers provided a welcoming learning atmosphere in their respective classrooms and promoted peer assistance. The study also established that the classroom learning context had a high influence on learners' achievement (Mean = 3.405, SD =.5030). Additionally, it was revealed that teachers needed additional training to advance their knowledge and skills. The employment of eclectic instructional techniques was observed, with discussion, role-playing, and cooperative methods being the most frequently used. However, an alarming lack of teaching resources ranging from learners’ books to audio and audio-visual aids was further unveiled. It was indicated that instructional materials had a moderate influence on learners’ academic success (Mean = 3.257, SD =.690). The study found that the assessments used were communicatively ineffective as they were based on memorisation and that the feedback was not given in a timely way. Furthermore, the findings demonstrated that the assessment methods used had a moderate influence on students' academic achievements (Mean = 3.309, SD =.5762). The academic performance of learners was moderately influenced by instructional factors (overall Mean = 3.395, SD =.313). The study concluded that the classroom environment was the most influential factor and that lack of sufficient instructional materials was a shared issue in most of the investigated schools. This study recommended that English post-basic school teachers be re-tooled with knowledge and skills to achieve full competency in English language teaching, the availability of teaching resources be prioritised, and school benchmarking be organised. It was, furthermore, recommended that teachers set up communicative assessments tasks to help learners exploit their potential.