Language Teaching Approaches in Kenyan Schools

The reason for conducting this research was to find out the strategies/ approaches which the teachers use in class to teach language.Thesestrategies are the ones that play a major role in influencing the learner’s performance. The main objectives of the study, in this case, were: To come up with the approaches used in the teaching of the English language, the difficulties the teachers face when using these strategies, and to find out the influence that the teaching strategies impact on the learners’ performance. Data collection was done and the target population was 300 whereby 280 were students and 20 were qualified language teachers. The criteria used to collect the data was the use of simple questionnaires, observation, and interviews among the students and the teachers. In this case of data collection, it wasrecorded using descriptive statistics such as pie charts and tables since they were the most efficient ways of collecting storing data for future reference, and easy retrieval when required. Data analysis was done using both quantitative and qualitative methods. The outcome was that all teachers(50%) preferred the method of discussion which ensures every learner gets involved thus ensuring the centrality of the learner.This was in contrast were (25%) preferred the lecture method and the others used the other methods in delivering the content as per the curriculum. This study advocates that the student-centered approach should be adhered to as it gives the learner time to participate in class, improves the ability to recall, and influences performance. It was noticed that some teachers faced some difficulties since the number of students was a little bit large thus leading to poor choice of methods of teaching to use.In conclusion, the education stakeholders should allocate more resources to equip knowledge to the students, discussion on the method that should be used, and adding more qualified language teachers to ease the pressure the teachers face on choosing the best teaching strategy.