Designing Visual Materials for Teaching English Writing Skills in Kenyan Public Primary Schools: A Case of Kericho County

Abstract

Quality teaching is a prerequisite for achieving quality education worldwide. For this to be achieved, well-designed visual materials should be employed. Research has proven that visual materials have inherent advantages when well utilized. This article examines the relevance of visual materials designed for teaching English writing skills in primary schools and ascertains whether learners were involved in designing them. The study employed descriptive survey design where 21 public primary schools were involved. Purposive and multistage sampling techniques were used to obtain the study sample.  The sample comprised of 42 teachers and 84 class 7 learners. Data was collected using questionnaires, interview schedules and observation checklist. The results indicate that visual materials are relevant in the teaching of English writing skills with 25 out of 42 teachers confirming that visual materials arouse learners’ interest. The findings also revealed that learners are rarely involved in designing visual materials with the exception of charts, models, diagrams, pictures and photographs. The study concluded that visual materials are relevant in the teaching of English writing skills. This study recommends that the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development should relook into the Teachers’ Training in order to realign it with the technological advancement so as to equip teacher trainees with modern teaching approaches.

Keywords: Visual materials, writing skills, designing, relevance

DOI: 10.7176/JEP/14-32-02

Publication date: November 30^th 2023