Abstract:
English is the official language as well as the medium of instruction in Kenyan secondary schools, colleges and universities. lt is also the pre-eminent language of intemational communication. Consequently, those who master English achieve academic, social and professional benefits. However. in secondary schools in Kenya, the English subject is poorly performed. The poor performance could be attributed to gender and students’ attitudes towards the subject. Therefore this study sought to investigate the influence of students gender and attitudes towards English on academic performance in English. Ex posrfacto causal-comparative and correlational research designs was used to establish whether students’ gender and attitudes towards English influence their academic performance in the subject. Secondary schools in Kericho Distict, Kenya were used in the study. The target population was l5,944 students, whereas the accessible population was 7,398 fomi four and form three students in selected secondary schools within the district. Out of this population, a sample size of 218 students were drawn using stratified and random sampling methods. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected. Questionnaires were used to collect the required data fi'om students and English teachers. Both descriptive (percentages, mean and frequencies) and inferential statistics (t-Test and Pearson correlation co-efficient) were used to analyze the data. The researcher used the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) Version ll.5 for windows in data analysis. The study findings indicated that the students’ attitudes towards English language affects the academic performance in the subject. The majority of students’ had a moderate attitude towards the subject Significant differences however existed between male and female students in their academic performance in English. The research findings are expected to be useful to the Ministry of Education, curriculum planners, teachers, school counselors and other stakeholders in improving the perfomiance of English in secondary schools in the country. The findings are important as a basis for future research. Based on the research findings some of the recommendations included sensitizing all stakeholders on the effects on negative attitude towards English and its effects on Perfomiance of the subject in secondary schools.
