Effects of advance organizers on students’ achievement, perception and attitude towards the learning of narratives in literature in English in secondary schools in Kilifi District, Kenya

Abstract

Oral literature is poorly performed in Kenyan secondary schools. It is evident from research that this is due to the conventional methods of teaching commonly used by most teachers of literature. Oral literature therefore requires appropriate teaching methods so as to attain the intended instructional goals. Research on the use of advance organizers on various subjects supports its usefulness in improving students‘ achievement, perception of the classroom environment and attitude towards the subject of study. This study aimed to investigate the effects of advance organizers on students‘ achievement, perception and attitude towards narratives in literature in English among secondary schools in Kilifi district, Kenya. The study also examined whether gender of the students influenced their understanding of narratives. The research design used was the Solomon Four non- equivalent control group design. The target population comprised of all form two learners countrywide while the accessible population was all the form two learners in Kilifi. Simple random sampling was used to obtain the study sample of four provincial co-educational secondary schools. Data was collected using the Narrative Achievement Test (NAT), the Students‘ Attitude Questionnaire (SAQ) and the Student Perception Questionnaire (SPQ). The validity of the instruments was determined using experts from the department of curriculum, instruction and educational management and English Language teachers to vet on the items. The reliability of the instruments was determined using the Kuder-Richardson K-R 21 for the NAT which yielded a coefficient of 0.78, Cronbach‘s alpha for SAQ and SPQ yielding a coefficient of 0.81 and 0.74 respectively. The TIS and SIS reliabilities were determined using the interrater formula which yielded a coefficient of 0.72 and 0.75 respectively. The t-test, one-way ANOVA and ANCOVA statistical techniques were used to analyze the data. An analysis of the findings indicates that the use of advance organizers caused an improvement of students‘ mean scores. The use of advance organizers helped boost students‘ attitudes towards oral narratives. It also enhanced the students‘ perception of their classroom environment during oral narrative lessons. The advance organizer strategy was also found to provide a student-centred learning environment. The results of this study will be helpful in enhancing the teaching and learning of narratives. As such this method is recommended for teachers of English and Literature as a complement to regular teaching methods. The Kenya Institute of Education should organize seminars, workshops and refresher courses for English and Literature in English teachers based on the use of advance organizers.