INFLUENCE OF TEACHERS’ ATTITUDE ON IMPLEMENTATION OF LANGUAGE OF INSTRUCTION POLICY.

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to investigate on implementation of the language of instruction policy
in pre-unit and lower primary classes in Kasarani, Nairobi County, Kenya. The need to carry out
the study arose from the growing concern by various researchers that using the language of the
catchment area (LOCA) or mother tongue (MT) as a medium of instruction in lower primary
classes had been displaced by English. This is in spite of the research findings that language of the
catchment area is crucial to the learning process. Specifically the purpose of the study was to
determine the teachers’ attitude on the implementation of language of instruction policy in preunit
and lower classes and suggest interventions to enhance its implementation. The researcher
adopted a descriptive research design, using the survey method. All the l50 lower primary schools
within the division, their head teachers/directors, 600 class teachers and 900 parents formed the
target population of the study. The research was carried out on a sample of 45 (30%) primary
schools which were randomly selected according to strata, their head teachers, 90 teachers and a
similar number of parents. Data was collected using questionnaires and interview schedules. Prior
to the study, piloting was conducted in five schools (two public and three private). Both
quantitative and qualitative research methods were used to analyze data. Specifically, quantitative
data was analyzed using descriptive analysis and data exploration. Preliminary reports and
conclusions were based on descriptive statistics mainly frequencies and percentages and presented
using charts, figures and text. Qualitative data were organized in themes and reported according
to the research questions. Language of instruction determines the quality of education and
therefore should be a language which is understandable to both learners and teachers. The study
revealed that although majority of teachers were aware of the language policy and supported the
use of language of catchment area for instruction, they were not using it because they found itchallenging to use to teach all subjects. Some of the suggestions made for intervention included:
stepping up awareness of this policy to parents and teachers, training of teachers and in-servicing