LearningEnglishLanguagebyRadioinPrimarySchoolsin.docx
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LearningEnglishLanguagebyRadioinPrimarySchoolsin
LearningEnglishLanguagebyRadioinPrimarySchoolsinKenya
By
FlorenceY.Odera(PhD)
P.O.Box2303,Kisumu,Kenya
E-mail:
Introductionandbackgroundinformation
OneoftheobjectivesofteachingEnglishinprimaryschoolsinKenyaistoenablethelearnerstocommunicatefluently,independentlyandaccuratelyinEnglishLanguageineverydaylife.(KenyaInstituteofEducationPrimarysyllabusvol,2002).ThismeansthatattheendofPrimaryEducationcourse,allpupilsareexpectedtohaveacquiredasufficientcommandofEnglishinspokenandwrittenformstoenablethemtocommunicatefluently,followsubjectcoursesandtextbook,andreadforpleasureandforinformation.Beinganintegralsubjectinthecurriculum,adecliningstandardofperformanceinEnglishatprimarylevelshouldworrymanyteachersandstakeholdersineducationsector,becausewhenprimarychildrenjoinsecondaryschoolswithpoorEnglishlanguagetheywillcontinuewithpoorknowledgeofthelanguage.Eventhoughsomeresearchersandlinguistics(Ngonga2002,andBett2008)havededicatedaconsiderableamountoftimetounravelthecauseofpoorperformanceinEnglishlanguage,thereisanurgentneedforustoreflectonthecausesandpossibleremediestoavertthissituation.Theynotedthatsomeofthefactorsasattitudes,lackofadequateresources,thegrowthof”sheng”aswellasuseofmothertongue.ShengwasoriginallyaslanglanguagethatblendedKiswahiliandEnglish,createdbythechildrenofNairobiCitylivinginEastlandarea.GraduallythislanguageincorporatedotherethnicKenyanlanguages.Theinterferenceof“Sheng”astreetslangcontinuestohavocontheEnglishlanguageacquisitioninprimaryandsecondaryschoolsandthechildrenfacealotofproblemwithspokenEnglish.Atthebeginning,“sheng”wasconfinedtourbancentresbutitslowlyinfiltratedruralareas.
Theprocessoflanguageacquisitionentailslearnerstopracticeallthefourskillsinallcontextssoastograsphowtomanipulateit.SpokenEnglishhasbeenoverriddenby“sheng”asmostlearnersarecomfortableusingitthanEnglish.Theuseofshengmustbediscouragedatallcosts.Forthesereasons,theKenyaGovernmentintroducedschoolsradiolessonstoenhancetheteachingandlearningofEnglishlanguagebyreinforcingtheteacherswork,andtohelpthemdevelopefficientcommunicationskillsinEnglishlanguage.ItwasalsohopedthattheuseofradiolessonswouldhelptoimprovestudentsspokenandwrittenEnglishandalsotosetupauniformstandardofEnglishinallschoolsinKenya.Therefore,allprimaryschoolswereexpectedtoincorporateradiolessonsinteachingandlearningEnglishlanguage.
However,despiteallthegovernmentefforttoimproveEnglishlanguageproficiencyinprimaryschoolsthroughapolicyofschoolradioBroadcasttoschoolspupilsgraduatingfromprimaryschoolscannotcommunicateeffectivelyinEnglishlanguage.Itwasthereforenecessarytofindouttheextentofimplementationofschoolradioprogramgovernmentpolicyinprimaryschools.
BenefitsofusingRadiobroadcastEnglishlessons.
Odera(2006)writingontheuseofschoolradioprograminschools,notedthatradiotechnologyisviewedbyteachersasausefultoolforteachingandlearninglanguageslikeEnglish,French,German,andKiswahiliatalllevelsofeducation.Languageprogrammesonradiohelpstoincreasethestudentsmasteryofvocabularyandpronunciationasstudentslearntoimitatetheradiopresenters.Shefurthernotedthatifthislearningresourceiscarefullyselectedandused,thenlearningbecomesmoreinterestingeffectiveandmeaningful.
Theuseofradiolessonsmotivatesthelearnersiftheyareusedinsuchawayastostimulatelearning(Bates1984).Radioalsohelpsthelearnersandtheteachertoavoidfallingbacktomothertongue.Broadcastlessonshelpstosimplifylanguageteachingprocessandmakesitperfect.Odera(2008)addsthatbroadcasthelpstoprovideopportunitytoprovidestimulatingandrehearsingcommunicativesituationtobeencounteredoutsidethelanguageclassroom.
Languageisanintegralpartofhumanbehaviour.Itisaskilledbehaviourwhichisonlyeffectivewhentwoormorepeopleareinvolvedandmoresoinusingaudioorfacetofacecommunication,Sincetheintroductionofschoolradiobroadcast,theemphasishasbeenonroleplayedbytheclassroomteacherwhoisexpectedtobeafacilitatordoingonlywhatisdirectedbytheradioteacher.TherationaleisthatlearnersbenefitfromlisteningtothewellresearchedEnglishlessonsandlearnthelanguagetaughtbypreparedradiopresenters.
Languagethereforefunctionsasameansofcommunicationbetweentwoormorepeople.Thesenderistheteacherandthereceiver(whoarethepupils).Thesenderofthemessage(theteacher)mayintendtoinstructordirectlearners.Forexample,whenanEnglishteacherteacherstheprepositionon-apencilonthetableandunderthetablethelearnerwillbeshownandasked‘’isthepencilonthetable?
Theclassroomteacheralsorespondstotheradioteachers’’instruction.Therefore,beforeateacherstartteachinglanguagetoanychilditisimportanttoknowwhatstageoflanguagelearningthechildisandtobeawareofwhatleveloflanguagelearningtheclasshasreached.ThisimportantbecausechildrenwhoaretaughtinEnglishforthefirsttimeexperienceproblemstounderstandthewords,sentencesstructures,phrasesandpronunciationofwords.SchoolradiolessonsareveryusefulandareusedtoimprovethequalityoflearningnewEnglishwordsandtosetupstandardforthespokenandwrittenEnglish(Thompson1982).
Furthermore,schoolradiobroadcastEnglishprogramaimstoassistteachersandpupilstodevelopfurtherthenecessarylanguageskillswhichenablethemtoimproveontheirspokenandwrittenEnglish.Italsoaimstoimprovetheircommandofthevarioussentencesstructure,vocabulary,variousgrammaticalerrors,structuresencounteredinprimaryEnglishlanguageandwideningtheirhorizonandscopeinallsubjects(Bates1984).
ExpertsinLinguisticshavedemonstratedthatcommunicativecompetenceinanylanguagerequiresmorethansimplyknowingpronunciationofwordformationandvocabulary(KIE2002).Thelearnerneedstounderstandhowtoorganisespeechbeyondthelevelofsinglesentences,abouthowthelanguageisusedindifferentsituations(Odera1996).ScholarsHeininchRussell,MolendaandSmaldino(2002),notedthevalueofradiotechnologyandrecommendeditsusetoincreaseandimprovelearnersimaginationandlisteningskills.Theyrecognisedtheimportanceofradioasamediumthatreliesonasinglesense(hearing)andwithwhichlisteningistheonlymethodoflearn
ImprovestudentsconfidenceinspokenEnglish
TheuseofradiohasbeenwidelyarguedtobecapableofmotivatinglearnerstodevelopconfidencetolearnandcommunicateeffectivelyinEnglishLanguage.Thisincludeslisteningtoradiopresentsastheytalkandpronouncedifferentwordscorrectly.Thishelpslistenerstosetuppatternofspeech,phrase,andsentencepatternthroughdistancelearning(Odera2006)
EnglishlanguageisthebaseonwhichthewholeschoolcurriculumstandsinKenya.Itisimportanttonotethatachild’spersonaldevelopmentstemsfromhis/herabilitytospeak,toread,andtowrite.Learningtospeakreliesheavilyonlistening,andthatallthelinguisticskillscanbestbefosteredwhenthechildhasexperiencesdirectlygainedfromlisteningandseeing..Therefore,lackofsetstandardleadstoconfusionamongteachersandpupilswhentheyareteachingandlearningEnglishlanguage.ThishasalsobeenconfirmedbyareportintheEastAfricanStandardNewspaperof19THJune2010whichindicatedthatteachersofEnglishareconfusedbecauseprimaryschoolsbookslackuniformityandstandardformatEnglishbooksfromdifferentpublishersgivevaryingordersofadjectives.Forexample,inLongmanpublisherstandardeightEnglishbookstheorderislistedasopinion,size,shape,age,colour,nationalityandmaterials.ButtheprogressiveEnglishforstandardeightliststheorderassize,generaldescriptions,age,shape,colour,materialandnoun.Thesameseriesforstandardfivegivestheorderassize,colour,materialandnouninEnglish.Itiscommontousemorethanoneadjectivebeforeanounthatisareputintherightorderaccordingtotype.
TheuseofschoolsbroadcasthelpssuchpupilstolearntheconceptsandprovidesauniformstandardinteachingandlearningEnglishandremovesanyformofconfusioninteachingandlearningEnglish.TheprogramsupportstheteachersworkbecausethebroadcastmaterialsarewellresearchedandproducedbyEnglishexperts(Odera2008),wouldremovealltheseconfusionandprovideauniformstandardof.
Theoreticalframework
Thisstudyisguidedbytheworkof(Bates1984)whoidentifieddifferentaimsandobjectivesoftheuseofEducationalradiobroadcastinteachingandlearningwhichincludes:
toimprovethequalityoflearningandeducation,extendeducationalopportunitiesthroughdistancelearning,improvingthequalityofclassroominstruction,teachingcommunicationskillsandsupportingteachersworkaswellupgradetheirqualification.
Researchquestions
Thisstudywasguidedbythefollowingquestions
Doschoolshavefunctionalradiosets?
AreteachersusingradiolessonsinteachingandlearningEnglishlanguage?
Whatsupportmaterialsareavailableforteacherstouseduringbroadcasttoschools?
Howdoteacherspreparetheirlearnerstolistentobroadcastlesson
Aretherefactorsaffectingtheuseofradiointeachingandlearning?
Methodology
Theresearchdesignusedwast