Effects of neurological bimodal teaching approach on learner achievement, motivation and gender in written English language composition in county secondary schools in Roret Division, Kericho County

Abstract

English language plays a central role at both national and international stage for Kenyans and other world citizens who have to use it for diverse purposes. In Kenya, it is the language of instruction in educational institutions; it is one of the official languages as well as language used commonly in business. Moreover, English language is used in Kenya as a language of international relations and diplomacy. Despite its importance, the performance of students in the subject at the secondary school level has not been satisfactory. Instructional methods and approaches used in the teaching of any subject are critical for learner achievement and motivation. Apparently, the methods currently used in the teaching of the subject have not been effective in producing significantly higher achievement among learners in English language. Alternative methodologies that have shown promising results elsewhere need to be investigated. One such method is Neurological Bimodal Teaching Approach – a teaching approach which entails the use and adaptation of current knowledge about the functionality of the human brain to the teaching of a second language. This study investigated the effects on learner achievement and motivation when Neurological Bimodal Teaching approach (NBTA) is utilized in the teaching and learning of English language composition writing at the secondary school level. A quasi-experimental research design, the non-randomized Solomon 4-group, non-equivalent control group design was used. The target population for the study was 11085 secondary school learners from 12 schools in Roret Division of Bureti sub-county. The accessible population was 1215 form students from the Division. Purposive sampling was used to select the four coeducational schools for the study. This resulted into a sample size of 184 students. The four schools of the study were randomly assigned to the experimental and control groups. Two instruments were used in data collection: the English Language Writing Achievement Test (ELWAT) and the Students‟ Motivation Questionnaire (SMQ). Five experts of educational technology from Egerton University validated the research instruments. SMQ and ELWAT had reliability coefficients of 0.83 and 0.77 respectively. These were higher than 0.7, the threshold acceptable for social science research. The reliability of ELWAT was determined by inter-rater reliability method. The data was analysed using SPSS version 22.0 for Windows to provide both descriptive (means and standard deviations) and inferential statistics (ANOVA, t-test and ANCOVA) to test the hypotheses of the study. The level of significance for acceptance or rejection of the hypotheses was set at α = 0.05. The findings of the study indicated that NBTA promoted higher learner achievement, higher levels of motivation and leveled off gender differences in achievement in English language as compared to the conventional teaching approaches. The findings of the study may lead to well- informed decision making at all levels of educational planning and implementation of the curriculum, especially with regard to the design of instructional strategies for English language education. Secondly, they can be useful in making decisions on the training of teachers; and finally, instructors may utilize them when making choices for classroom teaching and learning activities and techniques.