TEACHERS’ SOCIAL TRAITS TOWARDS STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC

PERFORMANCE IN SELECTED SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN Wakiso DISTRICT,

Uganda

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 CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION

1.1 Introduction
This chapter presents the background to the study, the statement of the problem, the purpose of
the study, the objectives and research questions, the scope of the study, significance of the study,
and operational definition of key terms.

1.1 Background to the Study

This section covers the historical perspective, theoretical perspective, conceptual perspective, and
contextual perspective.

1.1.1 Historical Perspective

According to Adedeji (1998), students’ performance is a major index by which the effectiveness and
success of any educational institution could be ascertained. A lot of scholars and researchers are of the
view that the poor academic performance at the secondary schools is a product of the teacher factor, school
factor, home factor, institutional factor and so on. There is a consensus among educationists and
researchers such as (Owoeye, 2000; Ajayi, 1998) about secondary school students’ poor performance in
public examination such as West African Examination council (WAEC) and National Examination
Council (NECO) in Nigeria. In line with the earlier statement, opinion leaders, commentators,
professionals and educationist are always in agreement as to the fact that indeed there is a decline in the
academic performance of secondary students in public examinations in Nigeria. Based on the statement
above, some blame the students for this apparent decline in the academic performance. Majority blame the
teachers for the problems in our schools. Teachers in turn blame parents and the children. They also blame
government for unattractive condition of service and poor physical facilities in some parts of the
educational system. However, it should be noted that the students’ academic performance is dependent on
a number of factors among which is the teachers’ professional attitudes. The professional attitudes of a
teacher go a long way in bringing about effective performance of students. The issue of teacher
professionalism has to do with teachers adhering to the code of conducts guiding the teaching profession.
Nabukenya (2007) opined that teacher professionalism affects the role of the teacher and his or her
pedagogy, which in turn affects the students’ ability to learn effectively. In the opinion of Odunusi (1999),
teachers with right professional attitudes are the hubs of any educational system because it is them the

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quality and effectiveness of all educational arrangement rests. Teachers are seen as essential pillars of
education. No matter how grandiose a school system and its curricula may be, the implementation of its
programmes will be fruitless unless competent and effective teachers handle them. According to Fehintola
(2014), in a typical classroom setting, a professional teacher must demonstrate excellence attitudes in his
teaching. It shows that teachers must put forth an attitude that will help to transform the learners' positively
in the three domains of learning i.e cognitive, affective and psychomotor areas. A professional teacher
must demonstrate sound attitudes such as intelligence, neatness and desirable traits. Teacher professional
development has influence on a lot of variables such as student motivation, teaching methodologies,
communication skills, organization of content and planning of lessons, students’ participation during
lessons, teacher confidence and knowledge of subject matter (Maende, 2012). Attitude is the way people
reason or acts and most of the times can either make or mar an individual performance while carrying out
their tasks and responsibilities. It is often said that attitude may be positive or negative. Negative attitudes
displayed in the school by teachers may result in negative performance while positive attitudes put forth by
teachers in the school may result into a positive performance. The attitude of a teacher, consciously or
unconsciously, directly or indirectly affects students’ academic performance. It had been established by
scholars such as Shittu and Oanite (2015) that teachers’ attitudes highly influence students' interest in
learning. Teachers’ professional attitude in the areas of communication, classroom management and
pedagogy may be a strong factor that could influence students’ academic performance in schools.

Positive professional attitudes of teachers with 3 http://nau.edu/COE/eJournal/ respects to their teaching

job will go a long way in bringing about positive performance of the students while negative attitudes
demonstrated by teachers in the discharge of their responsibilities may mar students’ academic
performance. Context and Review of Literature In a study carried out by Adu and Olatundun (2007), it
was discovered that teachers’ characteristics influences students’ performance in secondary schools.
Grieser found out that successful classroom management enhances students questioning and exploration
when the learning environment is conducive and suitable for learning. Teachers’ professional classroom
management is the methods and strategies used by teachers to bring about healthy environments for
teaching and learning. Adesoji and Olatunbosun (2008) asserted in their study that student attitude was
related to teacher characteristics. In the work of Wirth and Perkins (2013), it was revealed that teacher’s
attitude contributed significantly to student attention in classrooms. Mucella, Melis and Ahu (2011)
investigated the effects of teachers’ attitudes on students’ personality and performance in Instanbul

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Turkey. The finding from their study showed that teachers’ positive attitudes have positively influence
students’ personality as well as their life performances. A study on the effects of teacher characteristics
and attitudes on student achievement in Kcse economics examination was conducted by Kurgat and
Gordon (2014). The findings of their study revealed that teachers have a positive attitude towards the
subject thus poor performance could be attributed to other factors than teacher attitudes. This therefore
meant that teacher’s attitude directly affected students’ attitude. A study on the relationship that exists
between teachers’ characteristics as correlates of students’ academic performance among secondary school
students in Saki-west local government area of Oyo State was carried out by Fehintola (2014). The
findings of the study showed a significant relative contribution between teachers’ characteristics to
academic performance of the participants. Ojo (2017) carried out a study on teachers’ instructional
communication abilities as correlates of students’ academic performance in secondary schools in Egbeda
Local Government Area of Oyo State. The findings of the study showed that there was a significant
relationship between teachers’ instructional communication abilities and students’ academic performance
in secondary schools. The gap identified by the researcher is that earlier studies did not focus altogether on
the two variables of this study. Another noticeable gap that warranted this study is that the locale or area of
study of this present study differs considerably from the earlier studies. It is on the basis of this
background that this study was conducted to investigate the relationship that exist between teachers’
professional attitudes and students’ academic performance in secondary schools in Wakiso District.

1.1.2 Theoretical Perspective

The study utilized the socio-cultural perspective on learning theory propounded by Anderson
(2001). It is a theoretical conceptualization used to understand how learning takes place and how
teachers and learners cope with content learning in the Ugandan English medium classes. A
socio-cultural perspective on learning addresses the critical importance of social and cultural
contexts in human learning practices, and highlights how those contexts influence what is learnt.
The discussion of this theory focuses on language tools and interaction to mediate learning in a
collaborative environment. The educational taxonomies are used to understand the assessment
processes used in the classroom, particularly assessment for learning in the context of teaching
through English as a foreign language in Uganda.

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1.1.3 Conceptual Perspective

Social Traits is defined by Köse (2017) as a psychological tendency to view a particular object
or behaviour with a degree of favour or disfavour. According to Cunningham (2010), Social
Traits refers to the mental readiness for any act in the perspective of social psychology. “It states
the observable Social Traits s and believes of human beings. It tells what the thinking of each
human being is, how they respond and what they do” (Cunningham, 2010, p.48). According to
Perkins (2012), Social Traits is a set of responses which is related with the mental state. Social
Traits is the state of mind which determines how an individual interacts with the world around
him (Egalite & Kisida, 2018). Social Traits is a psychological construct, a mental and emotional
entity that inheres in, or characterizes a person (Ajzen, 2005). Jung's definition of Social Traits
is a "readiness of the psyche to act or react in a certain way (Main, 2004).

Teacher Social Traits s towards English language as a medium of instruction, for the purpose of
the present study, was defined as how accepting teachers are of learners from culturally and
linguistically diverse backgrounds and how willing they are to accommodate these learners’
instructional needs. Teacher Social Traits towards English language as a medium of instruction
was operationalized as the ability to support the learners, their expertise in their social-cultural
Social Traits towards the same.

Students’ academic performance is defined by Ogecha (2011) as the ability to study and
remember facts, being able to study effectively and see how facts fit together and form larger
patterns of knowledge, and being able to think for yourself in relation to facts and being able to
communicate your knowledge verbally or write down on paper. According to Mason (2017),
student academic performance refers to students’ reporting of past semester cumulative grade
point average (CGPA/GPA) and their expected GPA for the current semester. The grade point
average or GPA is now used by most of the tertiary institutions as a convenient summary
measure of the academic performance of their students. The GPA is a better measurement
because it provides a greater insight into the relative level of performance of individuals and
different group of students. According to Afzal, et al., (2018), students’ academic performance
refers to how learners deal with their studies and how they cope with or accomplish different
learning tasks given to them by teachers. In this study, students’ academic performance was
operationalized as performance in the English Language in National Examinations.

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1.1.4 Contextual Perspective
After the 1994 Tutsi genocide which led to the destruction of education system, Ugandans who
had been living abroad as refugees for many years came back home (Tabaro, 2015). Most of
these refugees had been living in neighboring English speaking countries like Uganda, Tanzania,
and Kenya, while taking their education with English as a medium of instruction. On the other
hand, in Ugandan education system, only French and KinyaUganda were used as languages of
instruction. Hence, when schools reopened doors in 1995, Uganda had two groups of students to
cater for as language of instruction was concerned: French/KinyaUganda language and English
education background Ugandans. The education system needed to be revisited so that all
Ugandan children could benefit from it. Taking into account those who had been learning in
English and those whose education was provided in French and KinyaUganda, the government of
Uganda declared English as an official language, alongside KinyaUganda and French. Then
French-English parallel learning schools were introduced in Ugandan education system (Tabaro,
2015).

According to the Ministry of education (MINEDUC, 2003), this was said to be justified by
economic, social and political factors. Apart from the mother tongue of KinyaUganda, French
and English have been introduced in all schools as curriculum subjects and as the languages of
instruction from primary grade 4. However, the system did not bear positive fruits since learners
failed to develop communicative competence either in English or in French. This was attributed
to the fact that Ugandan community is purely monolingual where KinyaUganda keeps the lead in
daily activities of the people. It also can be justified by the fact that when the system was
introduced, Uganda had no experts in both English and French linguistics, a challenge that the
country is still facing despite its move to declare English as a language of instruction in its
schools.

As Habyarimana (2015) states, from 1996 to 2008 the language policy required the first three
years of schooling to be taught in KinyaUganda, after which the students chose English or
French as the primary language of instruction. University students were expected to perform
equally well regardless of their linguistic choice. For the first 16 years after the genocide, French
was more widely used among both groups in Uganda, including returnees from Francophone
countries. However, the linguistic reforms of 2008 advocated the shift from French into English

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as the language of instruction at all levels of education. However, one can confirm that Ugandan
teachers and learners, who gained no relevant prior-transition as the shift was concerned, were
not equipped and ready to get engaged in a successful teaching and learning process in English
(United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), 2016).

Students’ academic performance has been stable in Uganda before the introduction of English
language as a medium of instruction, however, after 2008, the performance deteriorated due to
the lack of familiarity with the new language by both the teachers and the students thus affecting
performance negatively. It is upon this premise that this study investigated the Social Traits of
teachers towards English language as a medium of instruction and its impact on the academic
performance of the students in selected secondary schools in Wakiso District, Uganda.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

Statement of the Problem The issues of poor students’ performance in public examinations
in secondary schools have been carried out by a lot of researchers in Nigeria but the results
are 4 http://nau.edu/COE/eJournal/ inconclusive. The low academic performance of
students in Nigeria could be attributed to low quality of teachers employed in schools
(Oluremi, 2013). A lot of factors have been adjudged as the causes of poor students’
academic performance which are related to teachers’ professional attitudes, chief among
which are: teachers’ poor communication attitudes, poor classroom management attitudes,
poor pedagogical attitudes and poor mastery of subject matter by teachers. It is on the
basis of these problems that this study was carried out.

1.3 Purpose of the Study

To examine the effect of teachers’ Social Traits towards English language as a medium of
instruction and students’ academic performance in selected secondary schools in Wakiso district,
Uganda

1.4 Research Objectives

i. To establish the Social Traits of teachers towards English language as a medium of
instruction in selected secondary schools Wakiso district.
ii. To assess students’ academic performance before the adoption of English language as a
medium of instruction and after its adoption in selected secondary schools in Wakiso
district.

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 iii.To establish the relationship between teachers’ Social Traits towards English language as
the
Medium of Instruction and students’ academic performance in selected secondary schools
in Wakiso District.

1.5 Research Questions

i. What is teachers’ Social Traits towards English language as a medium of instruction in
selected secondary schools Wakiso district?
ii. What is the students’ academic performance before the adoption of English language as a
medium of instruction and after its adoption in selected secondary schools in Wakiso
district?
iii.Is there a relationship between teachers’ Social Traits towards English language as the
Medium of
Instruction and students’ academic performance in selected secondary schools in Wakiso
District?

1.6 Hypothesis

Ho1: There is no significant relationship between teachers’ Social Traits towards English
language as the Medium of Instruction and students’ academic performance in selected
secondary schools in Wakiso District.

1.7 Scope of the Study

1.7.1 Geographical Scope

This study was conducted in Wakiso district which is located in northwest Uganda. The district
has over 133 secondary schools. However, this study selected only 15 secondary schools due to
academic nature of the study attributed to time and financial constraint. The 15 secondary
schools were selected because they have only up to Ordinary Level (O’level) where English is
done at National Examination.

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1.7.2 Time Scope
This study covered a period of 1 year, that is, from March 2018 to March, 2019. This period was
used instrumental in completing the research process such as: proposal writing, data collection,
data analysis and thesis writing.

1.7.2 Geographical Scope

This study was carried out in Wakiso District of Northern province of Uganda. Wakiso District
has 15 selected secondary schools. Wakiso District is bordered to West by Nyabihu District of
the western Province, South by Gakenke District, East by Burera District and North by The
Virunga National Park.

1.7.3 Content Scope

The study put much attention on teachers’ Social Traits s to English as medium of Instruction in
Uganda and students’ academic performance and assessed the relationship between the two
variables. Teachers’ perception to English language as the Medium of Instruction in terms of
Support, expertise and Socio-cultural Social Traits , as well as students’ results were talked about
in this work. This work examined whether there is the relationship between students’
performance and their teachers’ Social Traits to English as Medium of Instruction which was
adopted in 2009 in Uganda.

1. 8 Significance of the Study

It is believed that the findings of this study will be instrumental to the following entities:

The findings of this study will help the Ministry of Education by bringing an insight into
students’ academic performance before and after English was adopted as the main medium of
instruction in Uganda’s secondary schools. This will help the ministry to come up with measures
that ensure that the use of English language as a medium of instruction promotes and improves
students’ academic performance.

Furthermore, it is hoped that the results of this study will be important to policy makers, ministry
of Education, and the Government of Uganda to come up with better policies that address the
limited use of English language as a medium of instruction in secondary schools and to provide
adequate teaching materials, increase public libraries to promote a better culture of reading,

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sensitization of all Ugandans about the value of the English language as the medium of
instruction, and organize more training about and in English.

Similarly, it is hoped that the results of this study will provide an insight to the teachers,
examiners and students to improve their English language vocabulary by writing, listening and
reading English and other specific books written in English of different areas of study.

In addition, the findings of this study will help teachers to change their negative Social Traits
towards the use of English language as a medium of instruction and totally embrace it since
Uganda has already joined the East African Community whose countries use only English as a
medium of instruction in all their schools except in lower junior level.

Last but not least, future researchers will find the results of this study useful as a reference source
when carrying out a related study.

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 CHAPTER TWO
RELATED LITERATURE
2.0 Introduction
This chapter presents theories that inform this study and provides an overview of literature on
Social Traits s towards English as a language of teaching and learning in the context of second
and foreign language use, and Social Traits s towards language policy practices in post-colonial
African classrooms. The reviewed literature also focuses on the use of English, and challenges
and strategies used in the classroom to overcome language problems.

2.1 Theoretical Framework

This study hinges on Socio-cultural perspective on learning theory. It is a theoretical
conceptualization used to understand how learning takes place and how teachers and learners
cope with content learning in the Ugandan English medium classes. A sociocultural perspective
on learning addresses the critical importance of social and cultural contexts in human learning
practices, and highlights how those contexts influence what is learnt. The sociocultural theory of
learning draws on the work of Vygotsky (Wang, 2007). According to Vygotsky (1978), learning
and cognitive development are embedded within social events and occur when learners interact
with other people, objects, and events in a collaborative environment.

Vygotsky believes that society, culture, peers, and adults influence the child’s cognitive
development (Vygotsky, 1986; Wertsch, 1991; Tharp & Gallimore, 1998) through interaction.
Interpreting Vygotsky, Kozulin, Gindis, Ageyev, and Miller (2003) assert that human cognition
and learning are the end products of social and cultural phenomena rather than the result of
individual phenomena. This has also been emphasized by Lantolf and Thorne (2006) who
demonstrate that culture is the prime determinant of individual development, that is, what
children learn is the product of their cultural milieu. As Vygotsky (1978, p. 57) states, ‘Every
function in the child’s cultural development appears twice: first, on the social level, and later, on
the individual level; first, between people (interpsychological), and then inside the child
(intrapsychological). This applies equally to voluntary attention, to logical memory, and to the
formation of concepts. All the higher functions originate as actual relationships between
individuals’.

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In harmony with the significance of society and culture as shown above, this study draws on the
learners’ social and cultural contexts in place, i.e., the teachers, school location, and historical
context in order to understand the learning processes and knowledge development of the
secondary school pupils learning in English as a foreign language in Uganda.

The sociocultural perspective on learning serves as a lens to see how the teacher sets the
classroom activities, and which processes s/he goes through in order to promote the learners’
cognitive development. For this purpose, teachers need ‘an organizing framework that increases
precision and, most importantly, promotes understanding.
2.2 Conceptual Framework
Independent Variable Dependent Variable

Students’ academic performance

Teachers’ attitude toward English
language
 Students’ final examination
results (Rwanda Education
 Support Board examination)
 Expertise
 Social -cultural attitude

Intervening Variable

 Government policy
 Rural/Urban location
 Parental level of education
 Students’ Attitude

Source: Nakafeero (2015), Mansoor (2012)

Figure 2.1: Showing the conceptual framework of the relationship between teachers’ Social
Traits towards English language as a medium of instruction and students’ academic
performance.

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The independent variable of this study is teachers’ Social Traits towards is measured using
support, expertise, and social-cultural Social Traits . On the other hand, the dependent variable is
students’ academic performance and is measured using students’ final examination results
(Uganda Education Board examination). The relationship between the independent and
dependent variable is that when teachers are supported by giving them translated text books, they
will also support the students by encouraging them to speak, and write using English language
thus causing improvement in academic performance. In addition, if the teachers are trained using
English language, they will become experts in the language and therefore will be able to teach
what they know to the students which will then culminate into improvement in academic
performance. Furthermore, when teachers begin to differentiate the importance of culture
alongside English language, they will then appreciate that English language has not come to
substitute their culture rather has come to enhance it through education and make it more
interesting to practice. This will make teachers to encourage the use of English language even
during cultural and social gathering hence promoting students embracement of the language in
their classroom setting.

2.3 Related Studies

2.3.1 Teacher Social Traits towards English Language as A Medium Of Instruction

Social Traits s are generally understood to be formed through a process of individual subjective
evaluation (involving a rational assessment of costs and benefits), but also influenced by
affective and emotional responses and related beliefs (Karim, Ayub, Khurshid & Akram, 2017).
Social Traits s are defined as being specific to an object or behaviour while beliefs are more
generic, relating to a wider worldview, and tend to be more stable (Karim, et al., 2017). Social
Traits s have generally been defined as something that is closely linked to a person’s values and
beliefs, and promotes or discourages the choices made in all realms of activity, whether academic
or informal (Koskela, 2017). Most contemporary perspectives on Social Traits s also permit that
people can also be conflicted or ambivalent toward an object by simultaneously holding both
positive and negative Social Traits s toward the same object. This has led to some discussion of
whether individual can hold multiple Social Traits s toward the same object (Adu & Galloway,
2015).

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Harrison (2016) argues that an Social Traits can be as a positive or negative evaluation of
people, objects, events, activities, and ideas. It could be concrete, abstract or just about anything
in your environment, but there is a debate about precise definitions. On the other hand, Vogel,
Bohner and Wanke (2014) explain that Social Traits may influence the attention to Social Traits
objects, the use of categories for encoding information and the interpretation, judgement and
recall of Social Traits relevant information. These influences tend to be more powerful for strong
Social Traits s which are accessible and based on elaborate supportive knowledge structure.
Celik (2013) points out that the durability and impactfulness of influence depend upon the
strength formed from consistency of heuristics. To Celik, Social Traits s can guide encoding
information, attention and behaviors, even if the individual is pursuing unrelated goals.

However, Dixon, Mckeever, Holton, Clarke and Eosco (2015) assert that the Social Traits of a
person is determined by psychological factors like ideas, values, beliefs, perception, etc. All
these have a complex role in determining a person's Social Traits . Values are ideals, guiding
principles in one’s life, or overarching goals that people strive to obtain while beliefs are
cognitions about the world—subjective probabilities that an object has a particular attribute or
that an action will lead to a particular outcome (Fishbein & Ajzen, 1975).

On a similar note, the classic, tripartite view offered by Cottam, Mastors, Preston and Dietz
(2010) is that an Social Traits contains cognitive, affective, and behavioral components.
Empirical research, however, fails to support clear distinctions between thoughts, emotions, and
behavioral intentions associated with a particular Social Traits (Pratkanis, Breckler &
Greenwald, 2014). A criticism of the tripartite view of Social Traits s is that it requires cognitive,
affective, and behavioral associations of an Social Traits to be consistent, but this may be
implausible. Thus some views of Social Traits structure see the cognitive and behavioral
components as derivative of affect or affect and behavior as derivative of underlying beliefs
(Whitley, 2010). Despite debate about the particular structure of Social Traits s, there is
considerable evidence that Social Traits s reflect more than evaluations of a particular object that
vary from positive to negative (Van Bavel, Xiao & Cunningham, 2012).

In the education context, teacher Social Traits affects the performance of students either
negatively or positively. For example, given the history of the use of languages in Uganda, some
teachers have a negative Social Traits toward the English language (Uwambayinema, 2013). The
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fact that the English language was introduced fairly recently to a population that had considered
French the only language of academia and that the people were required to replace French with
English immediately did not endear the new language to many Ugandans (Samuelson &
Freedman, 2010). Teachers in particular worried that being forced to carry out their job tasks in
English was likely to cause them to lose those jobs, and this fear created great resistance to the
language policy change. According to Samuelson and Freedman (2010), some Ugandans think of
English as a language of the invaders, the victors, because it was an official language of Uganda,
a country where the rebellion to liberate Uganda (Ugandan Patriotic Front) originated.

In this study, teacher Social Traits towards adoption of English as a medium of instruction was
measured using support, expertise and socio-cultural Social Traits .

2.3.1.1 Support
According to the European commission (2015), it was suggested that students of different
language backgrounds are to be supported accordingly to reach the required needs by education
system. It was manifested that a support to students with diverse backgrounds is expected from
facilitators, head teachers as long as the children to be supported are those from the second
generation who were likely to be early school leavers and unable to progress to the higher level
of education. European commission (2015) stated the plan of supporting native language learning
and teaching. It was shown by researches that members of the state influence the learning of the
mother tongue and that this is not part of the language curriculum. Schools in different countries
took many considerations to the teaching of the language of instruction as the key to the
successfulness of educational standards for the sake of the migrant students’ proficiency in the
language of instruction.

According to Keuk and Tith (2013), the support to English language as the medium of instruction
should focus much on accessing the curriculum four ways: support in the classroom, support
outside the classroom, adapted teaching methods by classroom teachers and parental
involvement. Marie (2013) further expounds that as each and every curriculum has materials
such as textbooks which show how well the content is to be delivered to the learners, the new
students to English language as the medium of instruction get the basic knowledge that equip
them and prepare them to be familiar with and ready to practically use the language of instruction

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even outside of the school. Practitioners believe that class is a key to the development of the
skills and ability of accessing the curriculum through the support of facilitators, qualified and
trained specialists using the curriculum allocated materials (Villegas & Lucas, 2013).

Lucas and Villegas (2010) add that for English language to be deeply and comprehensively
learned outside the classroom setting, there is need for support outside the classroom. This is
because both formal and informal learning lead to the acquisition of knowledge. Parents, staff
and community volunteers in the school environment can influence the learners’ acquisition of
knowledge if the learners also desire to be highly supported. This is successfully done through
various activities that require learners’ participation such as homework clubs among others
(European commission, 2015).

Osman (2013) further explains that English language can be easily learnt when a proper teaching
method is employed. According to Osman, the teaching methods embraced by the teacher pushes
the learners without good background in English language to understand and comprehend it
easily. For example, Khabiri and Jazebi (2010) explained that the simple language which is
normally used in tests for the students who are not competent in the language of instruction is
beneficial. The authors believed that teaching methods must be adapted and that teachers are
expected to be aware of it so as to take measures and materials to use. It is argued that teachers
are expected to show positive Social Traits towards learners who are not used to the language of
instruction so as to avoid language barrier. Furthermore, Simonds (2012) opined that parental
involvement in students learning sharpens their learning of English language as a medium of
instruction. This is to say, families were parents use English language as a medium of
communication at home provides a good platform for a child to improve on their proficiency.
This creates children’s positive Social Traits s towards learning and it emotionally constructs the
parents’ support for their children and the relationship between them and the school.

2.3.1.2 Expertise
An expert is someone who has a prolonged or intense experience through practice and education
in a particular field (Macnamara, Campitelli & Hambrick, 2017). Informally, an expert is
someone widely recognized as a reliable source of technique or skill whose faculty for judging or
deciding rightly, justly, or wisely is accorded authority and status by peers or the public in a

15
specific well-distinguished domain (Burgman, 2012). An expert, more generally, is a person with
extensive knowledge or ability based on research, experience, or occupation and in a particular
area of study.

According Wai (2014) teacher’s expertise is comprised of a group of general adequate teaching
methods for a wide range of different learners. For any teacher to be able to support children
without the language of instruction, there is need of trainings and qualifications that equip the
teacher with the ability to tackle the problems encountered by the children of poor backgrounds
about the language of instruction. In so doing, teachers become aware of cultural diversities so as
to deal with any child’s problem in the language of instruction in terms of upgrading their
knowledge (European commission, 2015).

Directly assessing teachers’ knowledge, Durgunoğlu and Hughes (2010) found that teachers with
strong knowledge about concepts and techniques in teaching English Language Learners (ELLs)
reported more favorable Social Traits s toward ELL students than those with weaker knowledge.
In addition, demographic characteristics such as gender, age and ethnicity influenced Social
Traits s, with younger, female or Latino teachers generally having more positive Social Traits s
toward ELLs than older, male or non-Latino teachers.

2.3.1.3 Sociocultural Social Traits

Culture is an integral part of every human’s life. Each individual is born in a special cultural
context which results in acquiring its different aspects in life. In general terms, culture may be
defined as a set of social beliefs, values, religions, credence and ideologies accepted by most
members in a social community (Bacala, 2018). During the process of language learning some
crucial cultural factors may be notified, seriously hindering the effective learning process, and
commonly known as cultural barriers. Pushpa (2018) posits that effective language learning
among different cultures is especially challenging, due to the different ways of thinking, seeing,
hearing, and interpreting the world provided by cultures. Cultural barriers are considered as those
traditions which become hurdles in path of understanding or teaching/learning different
languages, among which body language, religious beliefs, etiquette and social habits are
noteworthy (Pushpa, 2018).

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According to Siwi (2017), the recognition that language and culture are two faces of the same
coin, and that the objective of learning one language cannot be realized if the cultural context is
excluded raises important questions like: Can the acquisition of the skills of translation be
improved by identifying the cultural patterns involved? The answer of this questions starts by
investigating the nature of culture and the particular nature of its relation to language and the
acquisition of its skills. In his book Culture and Second Language Acquisition, Christopher
Spackman, in this respect, states that: “Culture is to humans what water is to fish-that which
surrounds us and that we are only aware of when it is gone. Culture as a process undermines the
idea that culture can be learned through superficial aspects like food, costume holidays. It is
experienced through language, because language is inseparable from culture. Learning a new
language while living in the culture involves coming to terms with the new ocean you are
swimming in. This is acculturation which can have two meanings. The general meaning is just
the process or act of adjusting to a new culture” (Spackman, 2008, pp.3-4).

Kramsch (1991) posits that culture and language are intertwined. The second learner is exposed
to a new culture through its food, beliefs, ways of life, and societal norms. The learner
unconsciously becomes a part of it, and enters a stage of acculturation. Kramsch refers to the
inseparable nature of culture and language as, "a single universe or domain of experience" (p.
227). Moreover, Kramsch (1991) adamantly states that cultural awareness while learning the
target second language aids in the attainment of L2 proficiency. In her view, second and foreign
language learners necessarily become learners of the second culture because language cannot be
learned without understanding the cultural context in which it is used (p. 227).

Anyanwu (2016) also affirms that English learning and culture are inseparable because language
and culture are closely related. Culture is simply the way of life of a people or society. Therefore
the relationship between language and culture is important in a consideration of effective English
communication especially in the Ugandan context. The reason is that the use of English in
Uganda cuts across ethnic boundaries as each of the ethnic groups has distinct traditional
languages and ethnic traditions. Language is not only used as a means of communication, but
also as a marker or indicator to the speaker's cultural identity. The identity is communicated
through a particular language use during interaction (discourse markers). Certain types of

17
expressions are used to express belonging to a group, but likewise they are sometimes used to
exclude, separate or discriminate (Anyawu, 2016).

According to Gudykunst and Kim (2003), it is argued that: “Our cultures influence our behavior
directly through the norms and rules we use to guide our behavior when we interact with others.
Our cultures also indirectly affect our communication through individual characteristics. We
learn when we are socialized into our cultures” (16). This implies that language either in its
spoken or written form is the medium through which culture is expressed, transmitted from one
generation to the other, or reserved for present and future generations. According to Gözpınar
(2018), the dressing patterns, habits, different types of food and their modes of preparation,
expressing joy or sorrow, hatred or anger, among others, are transmitted through the language of
the group. We have to point out that the richer the culture, the richer the language that expresses
that culture. Again, language is man's most prized possession. It is his major vehicle for
selfexpression and a mark of his personal and group identity. Language is an integral component
and at the same time a product of culture, like culture itself, it is learned behaviour which can be
facilitated or enhanced through direct or indirect context and acculturation (Belli, 2018).

According Pushpa (2016), language learning is a social and cultural activity and the learners are
the active participants in the construction of language learning. As Vygotsky (1962) rightly
observed language comes out from cultural and social activity. Language learning is not the
learning of grammar and lexicon but also how language is transferred and communicated, and
how ideas and thoughts are understood and addressed. Learner is expected to make use of all his
skills to master the language in order to maintain interactions in the social activity. It is quite
evident that social and cultural factors influence language learning. Al Rafai (2010) found
evidence in several research studies for internal and external factors affecting language teaching
and learning. The socio cultural factors were synthesized by Boonkongsaen (2012) after
analyzing more than 45 research studies carried out in various countries. The social factors
comprise in the home domain the social class, cultural level, home language, environment
language, ethnic and religious context, customs, beliefs, traditions, hopes and aspirations of the
community, encouragement from siblings, Social Traits s of the community towards education;
at the institutional level, linguistic environment, teachers’ involvement in the process of teaching
and learning, the field of study, class level, motivation and aptitude of the learners, learning style,

18
peer support and the vision and mission of the institutions being studied; and Social Traits s
towards learning English as the second language (ESL).

Razmjoo and Movahed (2009) argued that the effect of socio cultural factors usually exert their
influence within a family structure. Examples of social factors are belief, value system, Social
Traits s, acculturation levels, socialization goals and practices and home language on language
instruction. Walker, Pressick-Kilborn, Sainsbury and MacCallum (2010) had reiterated on the
cumulative effect of socio cultural context of home, community and the school is linked to the
academic achievement levels in language minority children. Duff and Li (2009) had investigated
the role of indigenous, minority and heritage language in language education in Canada and
found that the learners who came from home where the ancestral language has a great deal of
vitality and support and enjoys a high status and visibility and have regular exposure to
significant numbers of proficient users of the language have a high level of motivation to learn
the second language (L2) in the educational system.

Anyawu (2016) explored the socio-cultural factors affecting the English language use in Nigerian
tertiary institutions. Socio-cultural factors have come to bear heavily on effective English use of
most Nigerian undergraduates. Consequently, challenges abound in the teaching and learning of
English in Nigeria. The author drew attention to such influences and elements affecting the
communication process. The researcher emphasized the interconnectedness of language and
culture and their impact on communication especially in the present era of digitization. Some of
the issues highlighted in the study were: The interconnectedness of language & culture, use of
English in tertiary institutions in contemporary Nigeria, the influence of socio-cultural factors on
communication in English and strategies for improvement.

2.3 Students’ Academic Performance

Academic performance or academic achievement is what is gotten from educational efforts, the
level to which a student, facilitator or school have achieved their intended goals (Chirchir, 2013).
He continues saying that academic performance is normally tested through writing exams or
continuous assessment and that there is no overall agreement on the exact way it is best
measured. On the other hand Mason (2017) says that learners’ academic performance is assessed
through National exam which is done to mark a completion of educational cycle. Afzal, et al.,

19
(2018) mentioned that assessment of learners’ academic performance is so crucial because it
insures their achievements and determines their level of knowledge. It helps in identifying the
faced and experienced challenges by particular learners in the learning process and leads to the
creation of remedial measures (Chirchir, 2013).

In educational organizations worldwide, the measurement of academic performance of the way

of achieving academic standards by any student are influenced by local government and the
organization itself (Mpagaza, 2013). Academic performance in educational institution is shown
in several ways. For normal grading, learners show what they acquired by sitting for both written
and oral tests, presentations, discussions and getting involved in class scheduled activities.
Facilitators or teachers assess learners using alphabetic symbol or figure grades and writes a
remark to demonstrate whether a learner has scored poorly or accordingly. Nationally, learners
are assessed through tests according to the expectations that a particular student is supposed to
reach after undergoing any form of educational level (Melissa, 2012).

As career competition grows ever more fierce in the working world, the importance of students
doing well in school has caught the attention of parents, legislators and government education
departments alike (Melissa, 2012). Although education is not the only road to success in the
working world, much effort is made to identify, evaluate, track and encourage the progress of
students in schools. Parents care about their child’s academic performance because they believe
good academic results will provide more career choices and job security. Schools, though
invested in fostering good academic habits for the same reason, are also often influenced by
concerns about the school’s reputation and the possibility of the monetary aid from government
institutions, which can hinge on the overall academic performance of the school (Akale,O &
Basil, 2009).

The tracking of academic performance fulfills a number of purposes. Areas of achievement and
failure in a student’s career need to be evaluated in order to foster improvement and make full
use of the learning process. Results provide a framework for talking about how students fare in
school, and a constant standard to which all students are held. Performance results also allow
students to be ranked and sorted on a scale that is numerically obvious, minimizing complaints

20
by holding teachers and schools accountable for the components of each and every grade (Akale,
2007).

A study by Kieti, Myathia and Mulwa (2017) sought to establish the influence of administrative
practices on students’ academic performance in secondary schools in Matungulu Sub-county,
Kenya. The study employed descriptive survey research design. Simple random sampling
technique was used to select the 230 participating students and 40 teachers in 10 public
secondary schools in Matungulu sub-county. All the Principals (10) from all the 10 participating
schools were purposively sampled. Three sets of instruments were used to collect data. These
included the Students’ Questionnaire (SQ); the Teachers’ Questionnaire (TQ) and the Principals’
Questionnaire (PQ). Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20 was used in data
analysis. The findings of the study revealed that the influence of administrative practices on
academic performance was strongly positive and significant (r = .844, P≤ 0.5). The study
recommends among others that school principals should intensify the routine checking of
professional records by teachers to ensure adherence to the dictates of the professional records.

Maganga (2016) conducted a study to relate how English capacity among the students affects the
student academic performance. The study employed qualitative research design. Interview,
focused group discussion and documentary were employed in data collection. The findings
revealed that many learners could not master the English as the language of instruction and they
had very poor knowledge of vocabularies used in various subjects, they had weak English
capacity to the extent of failing to make good and logical sentence in English. Altogether poor
capability in English limited their ability to understand concepts in various discipline like
Geography, Physics and Chemistry.

2.3.3 Empirical Studies

2.3.3.1 The Relationship Between Teacher Social Traits Towards English Language As A
Medium Of Instruction And Students’ Academic Performance
Mansoor (2012) in his study investigated the perceptions of teachers towards English Language
as medium of instructions (ELMI) in one university at Pakistan. The participants of this study
were the Science teachers teaching Science subjects including Physics, Chemistry, Computer
science and Mathematics at undergraduate level using English language as the medium of
instructions in teaching and learning process. The data was collected through class observations
21
and semi structured interviews. In classroom observations, teachers’ perceptions and satisfactions
on using ELMI were recorded in the field-notes and questions related to their Social Traits s in
using language based on teaching and learning techniques, understanding communicative
English and class room environment that help develop their perceptions were inquired of through
interview. The study found out that more than half of the participants regarded English language
as medium of instructions that determined their success in future in order to meet their global and
future needs. However, less than half of the participants showed dissatisfying factor that related
to the use of ELMI in teaching and learning process in the classroom by encouraging local
language.

Nakafeero (2015) conducted a study on English Language as the Medium of Instruction in the
teaching and learning in secondary schools in Kicukiro District in Uganda. Questionnaires,
interviews and classroom observations were used for data collection. The findings showed that
the use of English language as the medium of instruction plays a great role in enabling the
teaching and learning in schools in Uganda. However, the poor use of English by the teachers has
made this realization very difficult, thus poor mastery of content subjects by the students. The
research also highlighted a number of challenges facing the implementation of using English
language like lack of adequate materials, shortage of English books for specific purposes, lack of
adequate background knowledge in English language on the side of the learners and lack of
adequate qualified teachers. The implications were teachers struggle to teach in English and as a
result students fail to conceptualize in the imported language and also the fear of banning
KinyaUganda in favour of English causes negative Social Traits and low motivation when using
English language both by the students, teachers and examiners.

Marie (2013) examined the strategies that multilingual university students in Uganda use in order
to successfully deal with complex academic material offered through the medium of English, a
foreign language. The reported strategies emerged from group work discussions and interviews
with students in the faculty of Economics and Management at a University in Uganda. The data
were analyzed thematically. Findings reveal that students have multiple coping strategies that
enable them to complete academic tasks given through the medium of English. One of the
prominent strategies and practices is the successful use of other languages at their disposal to
mediate cognitively demanding academic tasks. Although other spoken languages are not

22
officially recognized as media of instruction in higher education, they play a mediating role in
content learning through responsible code switching and translanguaging.

Tabaro and Nyirandegeya (2017) conducted a study on language of instruction as a barrier to

learners’ performance in Science Elementary Technology (SET) in Nyarugenge District. It
attempted to highlight the role of the language of instruction on learners’ poor performance in
SET, clarify the importance of use of up-to-date teaching and learning aids in teaching SET
programs and its impact on learners’ performance and understanding when the language of
instruction lacks ground in the learners’ daily life environment. To gather information and get a
clear picture of the situation, triangulation was used. Hence, apart from the questionnaires,
personal interviews and classroom observation, two SET tests: a pre-test and a post-test were
also administered. Findings revealed that students are not successful in learning of SET; the main
problems being related to the fact that both teachers and learners have gaps in using English-the
language of instruction; misusage of few available teaching materials and failure to manipulate
them clearly as SET content is concerned.

2.4 Gaps of the Literature

Mansoor (2012) in his study investigated the perceptions of teachers towards English Language
as medium of instructions (ELMI) in one university at Pakistan. However, the study did not look
at secondary schools hence presenting a contextual gap this study intended to close.

Nakafeero (2015) conducted a study on English Language as the Medium of Instruction in the
teaching and learning in secondary schools in Kicukiro District in Uganda. However, the study
did not did not look at English language as a medium of instruction in correlation to students’
academic performance, hence presenting a content gap that this study intended to close.

Marie (2013) examined the strategies that multilingual university students in Uganda use in order
to successfully deal with complex academic material offered through the medium of English, a
foreign language. However, the current study is not dealing with strategies rather it is dealing
with effect of teachers’ Social Traits towards students’ academic performance.

23
 CHAPTER THREE

METHODOLOGY

3.0 Introduction
This chapter shows the research design, target population, sample size, sampling techniques,
research instruments, validity and reliability of the instruments, data collection procedures, data
analysis, ethical considerations and limitations of the study.

3.1 Research design

The study adopted a descriptive and cross-sectional design. The descriptive survey design
method was useful in exploring how teacher Social Traits towards English language as a
medium of instruction affects students’ academic performance. It is an efficient approach of
collecting data regarding characteristic of sample of a population, current practices, conditions or
needs (Chandran, 2004). This design was preferred because it provides tools for describing
collections of statistical observations and reducing information to an understandable form
(Sekaran, 2003). Furthermore, the study relied more on quantitative approach. Quantitative
approach was predominantly used as a synonym for data collection technique (such as a
questionnaire) or data analysis procedure, such as: graphs or statistics that generates or uses
numerical data (Creswell, 2011).

3.2 Study Population

The total population of secondary school teachers in Wakiso District is 827 and it is comprised of
15 sectors and 133 secondary schools (MINEDUC, 2016). However, the study targeted 30
schools using stratified sampling and 300 teachers using simple random sampling.

3.3 Sampling Size

The sample size was determined using (Krejcie & Morgan, 1970) table. According to the Morgan
Table, if the population size is 300, the sample size will be 169 participants. Table 3.1 provides
the quantitative summary of the distribution of the sample size.

Table 3.1: Target Population and Sample Size Distribution for Quantitative Data
Sector Target Population Sample Size

24
 1. Busogo 23 13
2. Cyuve 20 11
3. Gacaca 17 10
4. Gashaki 21 12
5. Gataraga 19 11
6. Kimonyi 22 12
7. Kinigi 19 11
8. Muhoza 22 12
9. Muko 24 13
10. Wakiso 20 11
11. Nkotsi 18 10
12. Nyange 17 10
13. Remera 20 11
14. Rwaza 16 9
15. Shingiro 22 12
Total 300 169
Source: MINEDUC (2016)

3.4 Sampling Technique

Sampling technique describes how the researcher will select, with reasons, the units and subjects
that will make up his/her study sample population (Amin, 2005). According to Mugenda and
Mugenda (2003), sampling technique is very necessary in any social study because it helps in
answering questions pertaining to what type of respondents will be called upon to give answers
to the research question, whether the selected group of respondents is adequately representative
of the population, how wide a coverage would be acceptable and other questions that would help
the researcher in the selection of his sampling design. In this study, the researcher used simple
random sampling to select the teachers from each of the selected secondary schools in Musanza
district. This sampling technique was preferred because it gives equal opportunity for each
participant to be included in the study without bias. This was achieved by the researcher writing
the names of the teachers got from human resource department in different pieces of papers and
placing them in one large bowels. The papers were then shaken to randomize them. The

25
researcher then randomly selected the names of the respondents from the pieces of papers until
he was satisfied with the numbers of respondents that he needed.

3.5 Data Sources

3.5.1 Primary Data

The study used primary data source to collect data using questionnaires from the teaching staff
regarding the study’s main constructs.

3.5.2 Secondary Data

The study used document review from records of National Examinations to establish students’
academic performance within the period of 2003 to 2007, and 2013 to 2017.

3.6 Data Collection Methods

The study employed survey as its main data collection method. The survey method was used to
collect data from the classroom teachers of other subjects except English language.

3.7 Data Collection Instrument

This study used two types of data collection instruments, namely: questionnaires and document
review.

3.7.1 Questionnaires
This study used closed ended questionnaires to collect data from the teachers of other subjects
except English language but use English language as a medium of instruction. The importance of
using closed questionnaires in a study is explained by Kothari (2009) as ensures reaching of a
large sample population, wide geographical coverage within a short time, and collection of only
variables within interest. The study employed a 5-likert scale, where 1=strongly disagree and
5=strongly agree. The study’s preference of the Likert scale questionnaire is because it is the
greatest worldwide technique for survey collection and the responses are easily computable.
Kothari (2009) further explains that closed questions on a five point Likert scale produces
reliable and consistent data to allow quantitative analysis thought suitable to answer the study
questions.

26
3.7.2 Document Review
The study used document review to assess students’ academic performance before the period
when English language was used as a medium of instruction and the period after it was
implemented as a medium of instruction in all secondary schools in Uganda. This was intended
to support and complement the information got from interviews.

3.8 Validity and Reliability

3.8.1 Validity
Validity is the extent to which a test measures what it is supposed to measure (Rolf, 2006). This
study employed content validity to ensure the validity of the questionnaires. The need for content
validity is pertinent to enable the study to ascertain if the entire content of the constructs is
represented in the test task. The validity of the instrument was gauged using the Content Validity
Index (CVI). According to Amin (2005), CVI evaluates the applicability of the constructs being
studied. The CVI formula:

According to Amin (2005), the CVI should be ≥ 0.70 for the instrument to be valid for data
collection. Therefore, the CVI of this study was 0.87 implying that the instrument is valid.

3.8.2 Reliability
Reliability is the tendency toward consistency found in repeated measurements (Sekaran, 2010).
The reliability of the questionnaire was ascertained using the internal consistency method. After
validating the questionnaire, a pilot testing was conducted on the questionnaire using ten
teaching staff from G.S. Gakoro secondary school but was not included in the actual study. The
pilot study was intended for the purpose of seeing: how the participants would respond to the
questionnaire; if the questions were clear and easily comprehensible; if there was need to include
more questions in some constructs; or if there were some questions to which the respondents
might not want to respond. From the pilot test, the researcher was able to understand the
uncertainty of some items and did the needed modification.

27
Furthermore, Cronbach’s alpha was used to determine the reliability of the instruments.
Cronbach’s alpha measures the internal consistency that is, how closely related a set of items are
as a group. The higher the α-value, the more reliable the instruments will be considered.
According to Amin (2005), if α ≥ 0.70, the items will be considered as reliable. Hence the results
of this study indicated higher internal consistency, signifying that the Cronbach’s results were
reliable. In other words, the respondents were knowledgeable of the questions, understood them
very well and answered them to the best of their knowledge. Table 3.2 gives the summary of the
Cronbach’s alpha findings.

Table 3.2: Cronbach’s Alpha Results

Variables Tested Number of Items Cronbach’s alpha
Teachers’ Social Traits towards English language 15 0.851
as a medium of instruction

Source: primary data, 2018

3.9 Data Collection Procedure

An introduction letter was obtained from the College of Education, Open, Distance and
ELearning to solicit approval to conduct the study from the selected secondary schools in Wakiso
District. During the administration of the research instruments, the respondents were properly
and adequately oriented on the study and why it was being carried out. The respondents were
requested to sign the informed consent form. They were also guided on how to fill the
questionnaires, and the importance of answering every item of the questionnaire without leaving
any part unanswered. The respondents were requested to kindly respond to the questionnaire on
time. The researcher retrieved the filled questionnaires within five working days. After retrieving
them back, he thoroughly checked to ensure that all items were adequately answered by the
respondents.

3.10 Data Analysis

After retrieving back the questionnaire and collecting the required data, it was then be prepared
for analysis by using Statistical Package for Social Scientists (IBM SPSS, version 22.0) software.
In this process, the data underwent these processes, that is, data editing which involved checking
the filled questionnaires for any omissions or mistakes; then data coding which involved giving

28
each item of the questionnaire or variable a code to be used when imputing the data into the
computer, and lastly data entry into the computer for analysis.

Before analyzing data, the researcher checked it for errors by looking for values that fall outside
the range of possible values. This was achieved by scanning through the data critically column
by column and running frequencies for each of the variables to detect anomalies.

After processing (i.e. editing, coding, entry into the computer, and checking) the collected data,
the researcher analyzed it. The analysis was conducted in the following manner: frequency
counts and percentage distributions were used to analyze data on the demographic characteristics
of the respondents.

Mean and standard deviations were used to determine the central tendency and measure of
variations of teacher Social Traits and students’ academic performance.

Pearson linear correlation coefficient was used to determine the relationship between teacher’s
Social Traits and students’ academic performance. Linear regression analysis was used to
determine the effect of teacher Social Traits towards English language as a medium of
instruction and students’ academic performance.

Multiple regression analysis was employed to determine the effect of support, expertise and
social-cultural Social Traits on students’ academic performance. This was preferred because
multiple linear regression is the most common form of linear regression analysis. As a predictive
analysis, the multiple linear regression is used to explain the relationship between one continuous
dependent variable and two or more independent variables.

The null hypothesis was tested using the level of significance (p≤ 0.05); the decision rule was
that: if the p-value was p≤ 0.05, it would be considered significant; otherwise, the null hypothesis
would be rejected.

3.10 Ethical Considerations

This study observed the following ethical considerations:

29
The researcher ensured quality and integrity by reporting only what he found in the field and
following a scientific and generalized report writing for academic research.

The researcher provided informed consent to the respondents. This was done by requesting the
respondents to sign the informed consent form before participating in the study.

The researcher respected the confidentiality and anonymity of the research respondents by
involving them in the study in their own terms and place of convenience and coding their names
in the final report of the study.

The researcher ensured that participating in the study was voluntary. No one was coerced, forced
or bribed in order to be part of the study. The researcher also ensured voluntary withdrawal from
the study in case of change of mind by the respondent.

The researcher ensured that there was no harm to the participants in anyway. The study was done
in secure and well furnished rooms.

Last but not least, the researcher ensured that the final reporting was impartial and independent of
his personal opinion, rather it was the opinion of the respondents that was used in the final
analysis of the research.

3.11 Limitations of research

 Uncooperative behavior of some informants, un-approachable informants and those who
were reluctant to give information limited the researcher in this study. However the
researcher convinced the informants that the work was for academic purposes only.

 The researcher was also limited by extraneous variables such as honesty, especially from
classroom teachers who were not willing to give true account for fear of implications.
However, this was mitigated by asking the classroom teachers who teach English
language as a subject using probing questions so as to eliminate any lies that were made
by some informants.

 Instrumentation: Questions in the questionnaires were not standard but were

researcherdeveloped. It is likely that the validity of the results could have been affected
on the ground of none standardization of the instruments. The researcher mitigated this

30
by employing reliability test using pilot study to substantiate the applicability of the
questionnaires in other study settings.

31
 CHAPTER FOUR

DATA PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

4.0 Introduction
This chapter presents the analysis of the data gathered and interpretation thereof. It gives the
demographic characteristics of the respondents and variables used.

4.1 Response Rate

The researcher had 169 respondents in total, however only 142 respondents participated
successfully; hence a participation rate of 84%. Amin (2004) believes that if the response rate is
more than 70%, it signifies that the turn up of participants was good hence the data can be used
in the final analysis of the study and is generalizable.

4.2 Demographic Characteristics of the Respondents

This section determines the demographic characteristics of the respondents. To achieve it,
questionnaires were distributed to capture these responses. Frequencies and percentage
distribution table was employed to summarize the demographic characteristics of the respondents
in terms of gender, age, education level, and work experience. Table 4.1 gives the summary of
the findings.

Table 4.1: Demographic Characteristics of the Respondents

(n=142)
Category of Respondents Frequency Percentage (%)
Gender
Male 109 76.1
Female 33 23.9
Total 142 100
Age
20-29 28 19.7
30-39 35 24.6
40-49 69 48.6
50 and above 10 7.0

32
Total 142 100
Education Level
Certificate 11 7.7
Diploma 37 26.1
Bachelor Degree 89 62.7
Master’s Degree 05 3.5
Total 142 100
Work Experience
Less than 1 year 03 2.1
1-5 years 10 7.0
6-10 years 51 35.9
More than 10 years 78 55.0
Total 142 100
Source: Primary Data, 2018

The results indicated in table 4.1 revealed that majority, 76.1% of the respondents were male
while the female were represented by 23.9%.

Furthermore, the study revealed that majority, 48.6% of the respondents were within the age
group of 40-49 years, followed by 24.6% who were within the age group of 30-39 years, while
those within the age group of 20-29 years and more than 50 years were represented by 19.7% and
7% respectively. The dominance of the respondents within the age group of 40-49 years implies
that most of the teachers are mature and therefore have the expertise in the subjects they teach.

Similarly, the results as indicated in table 4.1 revealed that majority, 62.7% of the respondents
had Bachelor Degree educational Qualification, followed by 26.1% who had Diploma, while
those within Certificates and Master’s Degree were represented by 7.7% and 3.5% respectively.
The dominance of the respondents with Bachelor Qualifications implies that most secondary
schools recruit and employ academically sound teachers who have vast knowledge of the
subjects they teach.

Last but not least, the results in table 4.1 revealed that majority, 55% of the respondents had
work experience of more than 10 years, followed by 35.9% who had work experience of 6-10
33
years, while those with work experience of less than 1 year and 1-5 years were represented by
2.1% and 7% respectively. The dominance of the respondents with working experience of more
than 10 years implies that most of the secondary schools employ experienced teachers so as to
provide excellent teaching using the most profound teaching methods.

4.3 Teachers’ Social Traits towards English Language as a Medium of Instruction in

Selected Secondary Schools in Wakiso District
The first objective of this study was to determine teachers’ Social Traits towards English
language as a medium of instruction in selected secondary schools in Wakiso district. Table 4.2
gives the summary of the findings. The following scale was used to interpret the results in table
4.2.

yScale Mean Range Response Interpretation

5 4.21-5.00 Strongly agree Very satisfactory
4 3.41-4.20 Agree Satisfactory
3 2.61-3.40 Not sure Fairly satisfactory
2 1.81-2.60 Disagree Unsatisfactory
1 1.00-1.80 Strongly disagree Very satisfactory
Table 4.3: Teachers’ Social Traits towards English Language as a Medium of Instruction
in Selected Secondary Schools Wakiso District n=142
Teacher Social Traits towards English language as a Interpretation
medium of instruction Mean Std. Deviation
Support
I often read English language textbooks. 3.30 1.511 Fairly Satisfactory
I encourage my students to use English language all the Fairly Satisfactory
2.67 1.177
time.
I use English language at all times. 2.06 1.150 Unsatisfactory

I prefer English language to French. 2.04 1.003 Unsatisfactory

I support the use of English as a medium of instruction. 1.82 .970 Unsatisfactory

Average mean 2.38 1.162 Fairly Satisfactory
Expertise
I am trained to successfully use English language in Satisfactory
3.92 .668
classroom.
I can read English language perfectly. 3.39 1.057 Fairly Satisfactory
I can speak English language fluently. 3.37 1.168 Fairly Satisfactory
I can teach my subjects very well using English language. 3.34 1.036 Fairly Satisfactory
I can write excellently in English language. 3.27 1.917 Fairly Satisfactory

34
Average mean 3.46 1.169 Fairly Satisfactory
Socio-cultural Social Traits
I am involved in teaching the culture of Uganda to students Satisfactory
3.96 .959
using English.
I believe English should also be taught during games or Fairly Satisfactory
3.55 1.442
sports.
I am involved in social activities in my school that Fairly Satisfactory
3.52 1.335
promotes learning of English language.
I believe social functions such as birth day, marriage or Fairly Satisfactory
graduation celebration should be supported with English 3.37 1.442
alongside vernacular.
I encourage students to keep using English even at home. 3.25 1.126 Fairly Satisfactory
Average mean 3.54 1.261 Fairly Satisfactory
Overage average mean 3.13 1.197 Fairly Satisfactory
Source: primary data, 2018

The results presented in table 4.3 revealed that teachers’ Social Traits towards supporting
English language as a medium of instruction was assessed by the respondents as fairly
satisfactory (Average mean=2.38, Std=1.162). This was attributed to the fact that majority of the
respondents were not sure of whether they often read English language textbooks (Mean=3.30,
Std=1.511) or encouraged their students to use English language all the time (Mean=2.67,
Std=1.77). However, respondents disagreed that they use English language at all times
(Mean=2.06, Std=1.150), prefer English language to French (Mean=2.04, Std=1.003), and
support the use of English as a medium of instruction (Mean=1.82, Std=0.970).

The above responses indicated that teachers still do not have full support for using English as a
medium of instruction. It has been demonstrated by lack of emphasis on the side of the teachers
to encourage students to use English in all respect of their academic endeavors. This English is
still a new concept in the minds of many teachers and the way the government introduced it was
drastic rather than gradually. Most teachers had acquaintances in French and KinyaUganda hence
caught off guard when English was later brought up as the only medium of instruction in all
secondary schools. Indeed most of them even after attending several training programs set by the
government which was intended to sharpen and polish their competence is English language still
cannot dispense it successfully when delivering a subject matter in class.

35
The results presented in table 4.3 revealed that teacher expertise in English language was
assessed by the respondents as fairly satisfactory (average mean=3.46, Std=1.169). This was
attributed to the fact that majority of the respondents agreed that they had been trained to
successfully use English language in classroom (mean=3.92, Std=0.668). However, they were
not in full agreement that they could read English language perfectly (mean=3.39, Std=1.057), or
speak English language fluently (mean=3.37, Std=1.168). Furthermore, the respondents were not
in full agreement that they could teach their subjects very well using English language
(mean=3.34, Std=1.036) neither could they write excellently in English language (mean=3.27,
Std=1.917).

The responses imply that English language has not yet been fully comprehended by the majority
of the teaching staff of Wakiso district. Most of them still experience difficulty in the reading,
writing, speaking and teaching using English language as a medium of instruction. While it is
true that the teachers underwent training to increase and improve their competence and expertise
in using English language as a medium of instruction, the timing and the period was poorly
planned. It was not possible that a new language could be learnt and later successfully used in a
very short time period. No wonder most teachers do not find it fun to use English while teaching.
This is because they fear to speak broken English before students of whom some are already well
acquainted with the language, given the fact that they have their backgrounds from English
speaking countries when they sought refuge there during the genocide.

Similarly, the results presented in table 4.3 revealed that sociocultural Social Traits of the
teachers towards the use of English language as a medium of instruction was assessed by the
respondents as fairly satisfactory (average mean=3.54, Std=1.261). This was attributed to the fact
that majority of the respondents agreed that they were involved in teaching the culture of Uganda
to students using English (mean=3.96, Std=0.959). However, some respondents were not in full
agreement that they believed English ought to be taught during games or sports (mean=3.55,
Std=1.442). In addition, respondents were not in full agreement that they were involved in social
activities in their school that promoted learning of English language (mean=3.52, Std=1.335).
What's more, is that respondents were not in full agreement that they believed social functions
such as birth day, marriage or graduation celebration should be supported with English alongside

36
vernacular (mean=3.37, Std=1.442). Moreover, respondents were not in full agreement that they
encouraged students to keep using English even at home (mean=3.25, Std=1.261).

The above responses imply that the teachers of Wakiso are protective of their sociocultural
lifestyle and language and therefore would not want it to be downgraded by a foreign language.
They believe that students must use KinyaUganda when at home or during any home or social
gathering celebrations. This therefore implies that, given the fact that English language was
implemented into Uganda’s educational system for both economic and political reasons by the
government as a result of joining East African Community, whose members are all English
speaking countries, the locals and particularly in the context of this study, the Wakiso district
teachers, must yet appreciate the infiltration of this foreign language even their culture and social
fabrics.

Lastly, overall assessment of teacher Social Traits towards the use of English language as a
medium of instruction has been indicated as fairly satisfactory (overall average mean=3.13,
Std=1.197). It is fairly satisfactory because teachers lack the much needed support and expertise
in the use of English language as a medium of instruction. In addition, the successful use of
English language as a medium of instruction has been blockaded by the cultural mindset of the
teachers to preserve and protect KinyaUganda for fear that the future regeneration might not
know their language and culture when English is fully branded as the language of
communication both in schools, in offices and the business community.

4.4 Students’ Academic Performance before the Adoption of English Language as a

Medium of Instruction and After Its Adoption in Selected Secondary Schools in Wakiso
District
The second objective was to establish students’ academic performance before the adoption of
English language as a medium of instruction and after its adoption in selected secondary schools
in Wakiso district. Table 4.4 and 4.5 gives the summary of the findings.

Table 4.3: Interpretation of Mean Results

Mean Range Interpretation
4.21-5.00 Excellent
3.41-4.20 Good

37
2.61-3.40 Moderate
1.81-2.60 Fair
1.00-1.80 Poor

Table 4.4: Students Academic Performance Before English was Implemented as a Medium
of Instruction
Year Mean Standard Deviation Interpretation of performance
2003 3.35 1.533 Moderate
2004 3.38 1.543 Moderate
2005 3.41 1.552 Good
2006 3.89 1.700 Good
2007 3.85 1.688 Good
Average Mean 3.58 1.603 Good
Source: National Examination Board (2004-2008)
The results presented in table 4.4 revealed that before the adoption of English language as a
medium of instruction, students’ academic performance in various subjects was moderate and
then gradually kept improving over the years until it slightly fluctuated in 2007. The gradual
performance was attributed to the emphasis put by the government on education since it is the
major source of human resource for the country. As a goal to recovery from the 1995 genocide
which left several educational facilities and materials vandalized and destroyed, the government
moved to build and renovate several schools, provide sanitary facilities for the girl-child and
train more teachers to be equipped with the much needed expertise to teach.

Table 4.5: Students Academic Performance after English Language was Implemented as a
Medium of Instruction
Year Mean Standard deviation Interpretation of performance
2013 2.58 1.257 Fair
2014 2.80 1.342 Moderate
2015 2.83 1.353 Moderate
2016 2.89 1.375 Moderate
2017 3.17 1.473 Moderate
Average Mean 2.85 1.360 Moderate

38
Source: National Examination Board (2013-2017)
The results presented in table 4.5 revealed that students’ academic performance from the year
English language was adopted as a medium of instruction has been all time poor, though slowly
in the following years it started to gradually improve. This is because, much as the change was
drastic and negatively affected students’ performance for lack of readiness both on the side of the
teachers and the students, the government laid much efforts in ensuring that most text books were
availed in English language, teachers from neighboring countries such as Uganda and Kenya
were recruited to help in the teaching of students using English as a medium of instruction, while
the Ugandan teachers underwent training in the same.

4.5 The relationship between Teachers’ Social Traits towards English Language as the
Medium of Instruction and Students’ Academic Performance in Selected Secondary
Schools in Wakiso District
The third objective of this study was to establish the relationship between teachers’ Social Traits
towards English language as the Medium of Instruction on students’ academic performance in
selected secondary schools in Wakiso District. Table 4.6 gives the summary of the findings.

Table 4.6: The Relationship between Teachers’ Social Traits towards English Language as
the Medium of Instruction and Students’ Academic Performance in Selected Secondary
Schools in Wakiso District
Variables tested Pearson correlation Significance Decision on null
hypothesis

Teachers’ Social Traits Vs Students 0.460* 0.019 Rejected

academic performance

*level of significance at 0.05

The results presented in table 4.6 revealed that teachers’ Social Traits is positively and
significantly related to students’ academic performance (r=0.460*, p=0.019). This rejects the null
hypothesis that there is no significant relationship between teachers’ Social Traits and students’
academic performance and upholds the alternative hypothesis.

39
 CHAPTER FIVE

DISCUSSIONS, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

5.0 Introduction
This chapter presents the discussion of the study guided by the study objectives. The discussion
of this study findings were done by reviewing related literature, and comparing and contrasting
with other previous studies. The study was later concluded and appropriate recommendations
accruing from the findings were made.

5.1 Discussion of the Findings

5.1.1 Teachers’ Social Traits towards English Language as a Medium of Instruction in

Selected
Secondary Schools in Wakiso District
The first objective of this study was to determine teachers’ Social Traits towards English
language as a medium of instruction in selected secondary schools in Wakiso district. The results
revealed that teacher Social Traits towards the use of English language as a medium of
instruction in selected secondary in Wakiso district, was fairly satisfactory (overall average
mean=3.13, Std=1.197). This was attributed to the fact that teacher support, teacher expertise and
teacher sociocultural Social Traits towards the use of English language as a medium of
instruction were all assessed as fairly satisfactory. This implies that teachers still do not have a
totally positive Social Traits towards the use of English language as a medium of instruction in
secondary schools due to several impediments.

However, in spite of many impediments, English language usage in Ugandan schools has greatly
improved since its inception as the language of instruction in 2008, though it would be too
modest to say that its proficiency is any close to perfect. While many factors have contributed to
the slow rate of its acquisition and growth, we must markedly emphasize the teachers’ hand in
this. In Uganda, English language acts as the basic communication channel for knowledge
transfer and learning from the educator to the learner at least from upper primary to university.
We must acknowledge that if the knowledge communication channel is obscured and hindered
by limited English proficiency - both on the side of the learner and of the teacher - knowledge
transfer cannot be effective.

40
One would therefore presuppose that because of this, teachers would industriously work towards
achieving both linguistic and communicative competence in the language; but apparently, the
opposite is true. Some teachers gravely undermine the use of English language both in their
Social Traits and activities. To begin with, the idea that fore fronting English undermines
KinyaUganda is farfetched and ethnocentric. Some teachers (many by the way) teach their
subjects in KinyaUganda not because they are not fluent in English or that the students are not
proficient but because they are just stubborn.

As a matter of fact, most teachers actually use KinyaUganda or French for instruction in most
secondary schools in Uganda. If you happen to teach English in a school, you will probably be
the only one using the language. Beside, teachers are responsible for inadequate language input
due to their own limited English proficiency. The essential ingredient for English acquisition is
comprehensible input through teacher talk.

The teacher should talk on a learner’s level of comprehension, that is, the learner should be able
to understand what the teacher is saying. Where teachers’ own English knowledge is not on an
acceptable standard for the use of English as the language of instruction, their poor usage and
knowledge of the language are transferred to the learners. Transference or code switching from
KinyaUganda to English is a hold back to the use of English. However, this is only a smaller
problem compared to the fact that they do not want to learn it anyway. Worse still, if the teachers
trained to teach it are miserably lacking in competency, how do we expect a blind man to lead
the blind? Obviously, poor English language proficiency among the teachers trained to teach it
and language error transfer from teacher to learner, have seriously undermined the growth of
English language.

Although the majority of these teachers claim that they are proficient in English; that they have
adequate knowledge of ESL issues and that they do not require ESL teacher training, they still
lack the confidence to teach in English. Though some teachers may perceive their teaching of
English to be successful because they support learners through differentiated instructions,
collaborative teaching, code switching, immediate and correct feedback to their learners and
allow learners to share their everyday experiences through the medium of English, they soon

41
discover that learners do not understand instructions in English, that they have a limited English
vocabulary, are unfamiliar with phonics and their spelling is simply despicable.

The fact is that availability and access to good English input and instruction would produce the
best outcomes in English and even ensure native-like proficiency. In addition, modeling would
be very effective; for example, using strategies to access meaning when reading. The teacher
should model the strategies for which the learners eventually need to take responsibility. Through
modeling, the learner is provided with a step-by-step demonstration of what is required. But
again, how can this work if the teacher is not competent in the language. Considering the
language barriers experienced by the teachers, the language policy of Uganda should be strictly
adhered to by academic and administrative staff.

This calls for an analysis of the needs of the teachers by using a language assessment instrument
which measures their language proficiency in their English at entry level as well as their
language knowledge and linguistic skills (academic language proficiency) needed to cope with
their learning tasks. It will also help to design course materials that will facilitate the transition to
English.

As regard teacher support towards English language as a medium of instruction, the results
indicated a fairly satisfactory Social Traits (Average mean=2.38, Std=1.162). This was
attributed to the fact that several teachers could not comprehensively read text books written in
English language. This made several of them to prefer English to French given their French
background. Most of them were found to be none supportive in encouraging the use of English
language by students during school hours. In confirmation, the study by Keuk and Tith (2013)
found that the support to English language as the medium of instruction should focus much on
support in the classroom, support outside the classroom, adapted teaching methods by classroom
teachers and parental involvement. In line with the findings of Keuk and Tith (2013), Marie
(2013) found that every curriculum must have materials such as textbooks which show how well
the content is to be delivered to the learners. This implies that the new students to English
language as the medium of instruction get the basic knowledge that equip them and prepare them
to be familiar with and ready to practically use the language of instruction even outside of the
school.

42
In the same vein, Villegas and Lucas (2013) found that that classroom is a key to the
development of the skills and ability of accessing the curriculum through the support of
facilitators, qualified and trained specialists using the curriculum allocated materials. In
congruence with the above mentioned authors, Osman (2013) in his study found that English
language can be easily learnt when a proper teaching method is employed. According to Osman,
the teaching methods embraced by the teacher pushes the learners without good background in
English language to understand and comprehend it easily.

In addition, the results revealed a fairly satisfactory level of teacher expertise in English language
as a medium of instruction (average mean=3.46, Std=1.169). This was attributed to the fact that
most teachers could not read English language perfectly, speak it fluently, write it excellently or
successfully use it for teaching their subjects. This already clearly demonstrates that teachers do
not have a deep and wide level of expertise in dispensing English language. This implies that for
any teacher to be able to support children without the language of instruction there is need of
trainings and qualifications that equip the teacher with the ability to tackle the problems
encountered by the children of poor backgrounds about the language of instruction. In so doing,
teachers become aware of cultural diversities so as to deal with any child’s problem in the
language of instruction in terms of upgrading their knowledge. The study firms the findings of
Durgunoğlu and Hughes (2010) who found that teachers with strong expertise about concepts
and techniques in teaching English Language Learners reported more favorable Social Traits s
toward English language than those with weaker knowledge.

Similarly, a survey conducted by the British Council in 2009 (as cited in Lynd, 2010) showed
that most Ugandan teachers did not have even intermediate levels of proficiency in English. The
survey found that 85% of primary teachers and 66% of secondary teachers had only beginner,
elementary, or pre-intermediate levels of English proficiency based on the Common European
Framework for Languages. This means that in secondary schools, which are the focus of this
study, 34% of the teachers had little or no grasp of English and yet are expected to teach all their
classes in that language. The in-service training in English that the government envisages cannot
help these teachers because they do not have a basic knowledge in the language upon which the
training builds.

43
In 2009, the Ministry of Education (Republic of Uganda, MINEDUC) surveyed secondary school
teachers to ascertain their backgrounds in the their teaching experience. The researchers found
that only 35% of the teachers had studied English formally during their secondary school
education. The remaining 65% had acquired some knowledge of English informally, either
through evening classes or by simply picking up some of the language through various means.
These statistics are disturbing given the fact that these teachers are now required to transmit
knowledge to students using a language they did not study in an adequate way (English).
Commenting on the challenges of the implementation of the EMI policy, Ssenyonga (as cited in
Republic of Uganda, MINEDUC, 2009) cautioned that transforming the more than 90% of
French-speaking teachers into competent users, let alone English instructors, was too
overwhelming a task to complete in a short period of time. He believed that the language shift
was a good idea but teachers and students should be given sufficient time to assimilate the new
language before starting to use it as a medium of instruction. Several other researchers were of
the same view (Lynd, 2010; Niyibizi, 2010; Norudin, Badarudin, & Mat, 2011; Nzitabakuze,

2011; Othman & Saat, 2009; Samuelson & Freedman, 2010).

Similarly, the results revealed that sociocultural Social Traits of the teachers towards the use of
English language as a medium of instruction was fairly satisfactory (average mean=3.54,
Std=1.261). This is because teachers do not like the use of English language outside the
classroom setting. They prefer it should not be used in social functions or at home since it stands
the opportunity to downgrade the relevance of KinyaUganda as well as dilute the culture of the
Rwandese. Furthermore, teachers have problem in this language since most of them did their
education in French and KinyaUganda many years ago when English language was given no
much importance in Uganda.

Contrary to the findings of this study, Anyanwu (2016) found that the relationship between
language and culture was important in a consideration of effective English communication. The
reason is that the use of English in Uganda cuts across ethnic boundaries as each of the ethnic
groups has distinct traditional languages and ethnic traditions. However, in agreement to this
study, Boonkongsaen (2012) found that socio cultural factors that affected teacher Social Traits
towards English language included home language, environment language, ethnic and religious

44
context, customs, beliefs, traditions, hopes and aspirations of the community, and encouragement
from siblings.

In Uganda, English is the only medium of instruction from Grade 4 onwards and has been
portrayed as the only medium of instruction in the country. English also links Uganda to the East
African countries with which it does most of its trade and the Ugandan Government encourages
its public servants to learn it. However, it is surprising to find that all research that has been
conducted on the use of English in Uganda in different spheres of life (Sibomana, 2010;
Laviolette, 2012; Pearson, 2014) has one common finding: the proficiency in English and the use
of this language in daily communication by many Ugandans (including the educated ones) are
very limited. For instance, a study conducted by Sibomana (2010) at Kigali Institute of Education
on the sociolinguistic status of English found that the use of this language was confined to
classroom settings and to academic senate meetings while KinyaUganda dominated all other
settings, including Board meetings

In another study by Pearson (2014), none of the Ugandan teachers (from both rural and urban
schools) reported to have sufficient skills to teach in English. Nzitabakuze (2012) and
Uwambayinema (2013), who explored teachers’ experiences with the use of English, also came
up with the same findings while Laviolette (2012) noted inability to communicate in English by
some public servants. This situation suggests that people who are studying English in Uganda are
exposed to a very limited input and, therefore, their output may also be very limited.

5.1.2 Students’ Academic Performance before the Adoption of English Language as a

Medium of Instruction and After Its Adoption in Selected Secondary Schools in Wakiso
District
The second objective was to establish students’ academic performance before the adoption of
English language as a medium of instruction and after its adoption in selected secondary schools
in Wakiso district. The study revealed that before implementing English language as a medium
of instruction, students’ academic performance was Good (average mean=3.58, Std=1.603),
however after implementing English language as a medium of instruction, students’ academic
performance became moderate (average mean=2.85, Std=1.360). The sharp change in students’
academic performance was attributed to the fact that in October 2008, the Ugandan government
made an unprecedented announcement declaring that French, the lingua franca and medium of

45
instruction (MOI) for over 60 years, would be dropped from national policy, and English would
take its place as the primary form of official communication. A Cabinet meeting report from
October 8, 2008 requested for “the Minister of Education to implement an urgent program to
teach in English in all primary schools, secondary schools and in all public institutions of higher
learning and those supported by the Government”.

Prior to this announcement, English was one of the three national languages identified by the
government (along with French and KinyaUganda, the native language of Uganda), however was
only spoken by a small minority. The implementation of this policy was swift, and without
warning. The effects of the policy shift encompassed the entire country, and for the Education
sector, these effects were readily apparent. Students were suddenly navigating a language with
which they may have never had any prior experience. Teachers were required to not only learn
this foreign language, but also how to effectively teach subject-specific content within that
language, with minimal training and resources. The benefits of adopting English as the MOI
were heralded widely across the country, and seemingly comprehended by the population,
however the reality of the situation was one of extreme difficulty and effort, with teachers
carrying a large part of the inflicted burden.

Indeed due to the lack of competence in teaching using English language as a medium of
instruction, students and teachers alike were unable to comprehend the subject matter using the
new language hence causing undesirable performance. This confirms a study by Maganga (2016)
who found that many learners could not master the English as the language of instruction and
they had very poor knowledge of vocabularies used in various subjects, they had weak English
capacity to the extent of failing to make good and logical sentence in English. Altogether poor
capability in English limited their ability to understand concepts in various discipline like
Geography, Physics and Chemist hence causing poor performance.

Furthermore, even if teachers had been ready and eager to implement the new language policy,
Ugandan students were not. The problem of students’ readiness for the new language policy has
not attracted many researchers. Some researchers have even tried to convince the general public
that the readiness of students should not constitute a big challenge because students can always
learn (Republic of Uganda, MINEDUC, 2009). Perhaps they are somewhat correct, especially

46
regarding younger learners, because most children can learn in any language if they have no
challenges other than language. However, language can be a major challenge for secondary
school students, especially if their earlier education was done in a language other than what they
must use in secondary school, as is the case with the subjects of this study. One reason older
students have difficulty learning in a second language is that teachers at the secondary level rely
heavily on spoken instruction.

5.1.3 The Relationship between Teachers’ Social Traits towards English Language as the
Medium of Instruction and Students’ Academic Performance in Selected Secondary
Schools in Wakiso District
The third objective of this study was to establish the relationship between teachers’ Social Traits
towards English language as the Medium of Instruction and students’ academic performance in
selected secondary schools in Wakiso District. The study revealed that teacher’s Social Traits
towards the use of English language as a medium of instruction is positively and significantly
correlated to students’ academic performance (r=0.460*, p=0.019). Given the history of the use
of languages in Uganda, some teachers have a negative Social Traits toward the English
language. The facts that the English language was introduced fairly recently to a population that
had considered French the only language of academia and that the people were required to
replace French with English immediately did not endear the new language to many Ugandans.
Teachers in particular worried that being forced to carry out their job tasks in English was likely
to cause them to lose those jobs, and this fear created great resistance to the language policy

change subsequent poor students’ academic performance.

This study confirms the findings from the study of Mansoor (2012) who investigated the
perceptions of teachers towards English Language as medium of instructions (ELMI) in one
university in Pakistan and found less than half of the participants showed dissatisfying factor that
related to the use of ELMI in teaching and learning process in the classroom by encouraging
local language. Similarly Nakafeero (2015) his study on English Language as the Medium of
Instruction in the teaching and learning in secondary schools in Kicukiro District in Uganda
found that the use of English language as the medium of instruction plays a great role in enabling
the teaching and learning in schools in Uganda. However, the poor use of English by the teachers

47
had made this realization very difficult, thus poor mastery of content subjects by the students and
subsequent poor performance in national examinations.

5.2 Conclusion
Objective one: Teachers’ Social Traits towards English language as a medium of instruction in
selected secondary schools Wakiso district. The results revealed that teacher Social Traits
towards the use of English language as a medium of instruction in selected secondary in Wakiso
district, was fairly satisfactory. Teacher Social Traits in terms of support, expertise and cultural
Social Traits were all found to be fairly satisfactory. This implied that teachers hardly support
the use of English language as a medium of instruction because they do not have educational
foundations in it. Rather what they have is limited training programs aimed at equipping them
but it is not adequate, given the limited time. Furthermore, teachers do not possess the much
needed expertise since all the while, their foundation was laid in French and KinyaUganda, and
the change to embrace English language as a medium of instruction was rather drastic than
gradual. In addition, the sociocultural pressure biases English language as an intruder language
that is infringing on KinyaUganda and the cultural setting of the Rwandese people hence making
it unwelcome to a country that speaks only one language as its traditional language. All in all, the
future of English language in the education sector is yet to be realized given the fact that most of
the gradual and preparatory stages that should have been followed were exempted and now the
pinch is being felt by the government and the policy makers. Therefore its success has hardly
been registered across the country.

Objective two: To assess students’ academic performance before the adoption of English
language as a medium of instruction and after its adoption in selected secondary schools in
Wakiso district. The study revealed that before implementing English language as a medium of
instruction, students’ academic performance was Good, however after implementing English
language as a medium of instruction, students’ academic performance became Moderate. The
sharp drop in students’ academic performance was attributed to the fact that the change to
English language from French and KinyaUganda caught both the teachers and the students
offguard. Both parties were unprepared. At the same time, the government was also to a greater
extent unprepared, since there were not enough books translated to English from French and
KinyaUganda. At the same time, there were not enough teachers that were qualified and had the

48
capacity to teach in English language. The government depended on teachers imported from
Uganda and Kenya hence making learning difficult for the students since they did not know
English and yet they were supposed to learn and write exam in it. In short, students’ academic
performance was poor because students, teachers and government were unprepared to use
English as a medium of instruction.

Objective three: To establish the relationship between teachers’ Social Traits towards English
language as the Medium of Instruction and students’ academic performance in selected
secondary schools in Wakiso District. The study revealed a positive and significant relationship
between teacher’s Social Traits towards the use of English language as a medium of instruction
and students’ academic performance. This was attributed to the fact that teachers Social Traits
towards the use of English language as a medium of instruction was not good. In fact some
teachers did not have the capacity to teach in English, others kept on teaching in KinyaUganda
and French and yet students were supposed to write the final exam in English. This greatly
affected the performance of the students. In addition due to lack of text books written in English,
most students could not translate the books written in French and KinyaUganda back to English
hence making the efforts of reading very frustrating, this also was a big cause of students’ drop in

academic performance.

5.3 Contribution to New Knowledge

This study was anchored on the socio-cultural perspective on learning theory. The theory posits
that the sociocultural perspective on learning is important in addressing human learning
practices, and how what is learnt influence the social and cultural setting of a given society. In
this context, using English language as a medium of instruction infringes the already
wellestablished social and cultural placement of French and KinyaUganda in the learning arena.
This theory therefore was found appropriate in underpinning how learning takes place and how
teachers and learners cope with content learning using English language as a medium of
instruction. The new knowledge added by this study is that using socio-cultural perspective on
learning theory; learning can only be possible in a situation where both the teachers and the
learners are conversant with the language of instruction. This is because without the competence
of the teacher and the comprehension of the students on the medium of instruction, learning can
be very difficult hence consequently affecting the performance of the students academically.

49
5.4 Recommendations
Objective one: Teachers’ Social Traits towards English language as a medium of instruction in
selected secondary schools Wakiso district.

Ministry of Education: They should ensure that teacher training is done right from the
foundation set-up using English language as a medium of instruction. Teachers should be
graduated only when they have demonstrated competence by passing English subject in their
final exams. This attempt will ensure that teachers who are knowledgeable are passed out to
teach using English language which they are conversant with.

Policy makers: They should draft up policies that allows gradual use of English language from
primary four up to the university level. This is because the drastic method currently being
employed is not yielding the expected fruit.

Objective two: To assess students’ academic performance before the adoption of English
language as a medium of instruction and after its adoption in selected secondary schools in
Wakiso district.

Ministry of Education: The ministry should ensure that all the text books of different subjects
are translated and supplied to different schools to ensure that both the students and the teachers
can continue with the learning process successfully.

Teachers: They should be supportive and help learners that find English language challenging
by encouraging routine participation in class using English language, provide special coaching,
encourage use of English language outside the classroom, e.g. in the dormitory, sports hours,
meal time, open debates, and competitions in easy writing, and reading of school news bulletins.

Objective three: To establish the relationship between teachers’ Social Traits towards English
language as the Medium of Instruction and students’ academic performance in selected
secondary schools in Wakiso District.

Ministry of Education: they should keep encouraging teachers to attend symposiums, seminars,
trainings and presentations that promote the use of English language as a medium of instruction.
They should provide competition campaigns that reward the best teacher in using English

50
language every term and every year. This will encourage teachers to use English language with a
positive Social Traits .

The media: The media should use educative campaigns that explain clearly to the cultural
leaders, religious leaders, local masses and other stakeholders of the reasons and the relevance of
changing from French to English. This will help reduce the level of opposition towards the use of
English language as a medium of instruction and make their Social Traits towards the same
positive.

Parents: They should encourage their children to speak English even when they are at home, as
well as facilitate special classes for their students outside normal school arrangement. This
method will provide faster comprehension of promote improvement in students’ academic
performance.

5.5 Area for Further Studies

This study covered only Wakiso district hence its findings may not serve for generalization of
data given the limited geographical coverage. Future study should cover the whole of Uganda so
as to provide comprehensive coverage that allows the findings to be generalizable.

Similarly, the study looked at teacher Social Traits towards the use of English language as a
medium of instruction, however, future studies should look at students’ Social Traits towards the
use of English language as a medium of instruction, vis-à-vis students’ academic performance.

In addition, future studies should assess the readiness of the government of Uganda to implement
the use of English language in its educational sector.

51
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 APPENDIX I: QUESTIONNAIRE

Part I: Demographic Characteristics of the Respondents

Instruction: please tick [√] the option that best describes who you are 1.

Gender

a) Male b) Female

2. Age

a) 20-29 years b) 30-39 years

c) 40-49 years d) 50 years and above

3. Education Level

a) Certificate b) Diploma

c) Bachelor Degree d) Master’s Degree

4. Work Experience

a) Less than 1 b) 1-5 years

year

c) 6-10 years d) More than 10 years

Part II:
Teachers’ Social Traits towards English Language as a Medium of
Instruction
This section looks at teachers’ Social Traits towards English language as a medium of
instruction by assessing their level of support for the language, their expertise in the language
and their sociocultural Social Traits towards the language. Use the statements in the table below
to agree or disagree with the concept. Use the following scale to rate your opinion regarding the
subject under discussion. 1=strongly agree, 2=disagree, 3=Not sure, 4=disagree, and 5=strongly
agree.
# Teacher Social Traits towards English language as a medium of 1 2 3 4 5
instruction

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A Support
1 I prefer English language to French.
2 I use English language at all times.
3 I encourage my students to use English language all the time.
4 I often read English language textbooks.
5 I support the use of English as a medium of instruction.
B Expertise
1 I am trained to successful use English language in classroom.
2 I can speak English language fluently.
3 I can write excellently in English language.
4 I can read English language perfectly.
5 I can teach my subjects very well using English language.
C Socio-cultural Social Traits
1 I encourage students to keep using English even at home.
2 I believe social functions such as birth day, marriage or graduation
celebration should be supported with English alongside vernacular.

3 I am involved in social activities in my school that promotes learning

of English language.

4 I believe English should also be taught during games or sports.

5 I am involved in teaching the culture of Uganda to students using
English.

APPENDIX II: STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE

63
APPENDIX III: INTRODUCTION LETTER

64
65