Causes of school challenges in the performance of productive skills (speaking and writing) in English language: investigation of students in 12 years basic education in Karongi District.

Abstract

There are school challenges in the performance of productive skills (speaking and writing) in English language. The purpose of this study was to investigate causes of school challenges in productive skills in English in 12 years basic education in Karongi District. A survey research design was used in this study. The data were collected using quantitative and qualitative approaches. They were analyzed using the descriptive analysis of qualitative findings, which was dominant, and descriptive statistics of the quantitative findings. The instruments were questionnaire, interview and classroom observation. The target population was 1,114 learners and teachers from three secondary schools. The sample size was 100 subjects selected from the population by using purposive sampling technique. The main findings revealed that a teacher and his/her teaching style like teacher centered method, teaching without preparation or without using teaching aids can hinder learners’ development in speaking skills. The nature of handwriting difficulty was mainly characterized with poor spellings, poor spacing, combination of upper and lower cases in words, while expressive writing difficulty was characterized by difficulties in formulation of coherent ideas, poor paragraphing and punctuation marks, lack of accuracy and fluency. The study revealed that learners taught by teachers who do not give effective feedback face challenges in writing skills like lack of sufficient vocabulary and grammar to boost their speaking skills. The study has highlighted the following strategies: Teachers must encourage their students to speak in English by speaking themselves in English. Storybook reading strategy including listening to stories can help learners to gain new vocabularies from reading and listening. School leaders were recommended to organize competition in productive skills for both teachers and learners and provide rewards to the best performers. Furthermore, the researcher recommends the government and stakeholders in education to increase continuous training for teachers in English language. In general, the study found that there are different causes of challenges in the performance of productive skills like the teacher and his/her teaching style, teacher centered method, handwriting difficulties like poor spelling, lack of accuracy and fluency. Teachers are recommended to use English while teaching English. Government and stakeholders in education are recommend to increase continuous training for English teachers.