INFLUENCE OF LEARNER FACTORS ON PERFORMANCE IN INTEGRATED ENGLISH IN PUBLIC DAY SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN NANDI NORTH SUB COUNTY, KENYA.

Abstract

Learner factors are attributes associated to the student that may influence learning experience and ultimately academic performance. They can be psycho- social, personal or cognitive elements such as learner‟s age, gender, entry behavior and learner economic background. Dismal academic performance has persistently been registered in most public day secondary school in integrated English, in Nandi North Sub County despite the government and MOE investment in these schools. The purpose of the study was to explore the influence of learner factors on their performance in integrated English in Nandi North Sub County. The objectives of the study were to establish the relationship between learner entry behavior and performance, explore the relationship between gender of the learner and their performance, determine the extent to which learner age affects their performance and finally to establish the relationship between learner socio economic factors and performance in integrated English in PDSS in Nandi North Sub County Kenya. The study targeted 41 mixed day public secondary school and 1435 form three students in Nandi North Sub County. The research adopted descriptive design and ex post-facto research method. Simple random sampling of schools and form three students were used in the sampled schools. Purposive sampling was used to choose the 10 school principals and 10 class teachers in the sampled schools. The main instruments of collecting data were both structured and unstructured questionnaires, interview schedules and document analysis. Pilot study was conducted to ensure reliability and validity of the research instruments. The collected data was processed and analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Findings revealed that learners‟ entry behavior has a significant positive influence on performance in integrated English (β=-0.491, p < 0.05), learners‟ gender had a significant positive influence on academic performance (β=0.532, p < 0.05), learners‟ age had a significant positive influence on academic performance (β= 0.225, p < 0.05)) and learners‟ social-economic factors have a significant positive influence on academic performance (β=0.400, p < 0.05).The outcome of the study would be useful to the curriculum developers in improving the learner performance in integrated English. The conclusions were as follows; learners‟ entry behavior, learners‟ gender, learners‟ age and learner social-economic factors influence learners‟ academic performance. Recommendations were as follows; study recommended that valued added progress should continue being adopted in public day secondary schools as it contributes to improvement in students‟ performance in integrated English. Schools should consider the attitude and aspirations of the learners, if an improvement on performance of the subject is to be achieved. All students should be given the academic support needed if the schools have to record an improvement in academic performance