Exploring the use of instructional materials to support the teaching of composition writing in one secondary school in Uganda.

Abstract

The study was carried out to explore the use of instructional materials to support the teaching of composition writing in one secondary school in Uganda. This study was guided by the following objectives; to find out the different instructional materials used by teachers to support the teaching of composition writing, to find out how instructional materials are used by teachers while teaching composition writing and to examine the challenges faced by teachers while using instructional materials to teach composition writing. Data collection was done using interviews, Focus Group Discussions, observations and documentary analysis. Thematic analysis was used to identify themes that emerged from interviews and focus group discussions. A single case study design was conducted in School X relaying on a qualitative approach. Qualitative data was collected in search of answers to research questions. A total of twenty participants took part in the study, they comprised of four teachers of English where two were male and two were female as well as sixteen students of senior three. Results revealed that the different instructional materials used by teachers to teach composition writing included; textbooks, dictionaries, examination past papers, projectors and newspapers. It was also established that teachers used examples, assignments, free writing activities and a collection of new words. Finally, in regard to the challenges faced by teachers while using instructional materials to teach composition writing, it was established that these teachers faced a myriad of challenges which included being exposed to different copies of learners’ books by different authors some of which comprise of outdated formats of writing compositions, the existence of composition examples with heavy vocabulary that the learners cannot understand depending on their level and distractions among students while teaching composition writing. Basing on the experiences obtained during the study, the researcher recommended that Heads of English language department in secondary schools should source out for textbooks from renowned publishing houses and writers to avoid having textbooks with wrong formats of writing composition, they should also organize departmental workshops with personnel specialized in competence based teaching of language to provide teachers with more knowledge on how they can teach composition writing, head teachers should avail projectors and more computers to teachers so that they integrate technology as they teach composition writing to learners and Heads of Department of English and school administrators should source out for textbooks from other publishing houses and not focus on only textbooks published by one publishing house.