THE EFFECT OF CONSTRUCTIVIST INSTRUCTIONAL APPROACH ON ENGLISH LANGUAGE WRITING SKILLS IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN KENYA

Abstrakt

The ability to communicate in writing, as indicated in the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education, has consistently been low. This implies that the learning outcomes have not been realized. The pedagogical approach contributes to improving pupils' writing skills. There are several instructional approaches to teaching writing, including communicative language teaching, inquiry-based learning, constructivist approaches, and product-based approaches. However, there have been few investigations to establish the effect of the constructivist approach on learners’ writing skills. This study, therefore, sought to examine the effect of the constructivist approach on enhancing the pupils’ writing abilities in selected primary schools, guided by the hypothesis that there is no significant difference in pupils’ performance in a writing test before and after instruction using the constructive approach. The research employed Vygotsky's social-cultural development theory, which asserts that learners actively generate knowledge and meaning through their personal and societal interactions. The investigation was executed in four counties of Kenya, namely Elgeyo Marakwet, Uasin Gishu, Nandi, and Trans Nzoia. The target population included fourth-grade pupils and their teachers of English. Purposive sampling was used to select four English teachers and 226 fourth-grade pupils from the chosen schools. Simple random sampling was used to pick grade four pupils who participated in the writing achievement test and were thereafter randomly assigned to one of the four groups. The study used a quantitative approach, employing a quasi-experimental design with Solomon's four-group design, anchored on the post-positivist philosophical paradigm. Data were collected via a writing achievement test, which was then analysed using descriptive statistics: frequencies and percentages. In addition, inferential statistics, specifically t-test and ANOVA, were employed to evaluate the hypothesis with a significance level (α) set at 0.05. The findings were communicated through narration, tables, and figures. The post-test group, which was exposed to the constructivist approach, had higher performance compared to the pretest groups. The study concluded that using a constructive approach in teaching writing skills is beneficial to fourth-grade learners. It is recommended that curriculum designers and teachers bolster the incorporation of the constructive approach into writing skills. This study aims to improve the existing literature on writing skills instruction by identifying a more efficient teaching approach for developing writing abilities in fourth-grade pupils in primary schools.

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