Influence of Videos on Students' Achievement in English Grammar: A Case of Secondary Schools in Starehe Sub-County, Nairobi County, Kenya

Abstract

In the Kenyan Secondary School Curriculum, English is the language of instruction, and also one of the compulsory examinable subjects. English grammar, specifically, covers a wide area in the English syllabus, as it is present in all the four basic language skills of listening, speaking, reading, writing and vocabulary. The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of videos on students' achievement in English grammar. To achieve this, the study examined whether video based instruction that was developed using David Jonassen's constructivist principles could have any impact on students'achievement. This study utilized a mixed method design, specifically the Convergent / parallel approach. Videos were integrated in the teaching of grammar in the treatment group whereas students in the control group learnt the same topics using conventional methods. Quantitative data were analyzed using t-tests. The statistical significance of the results was
examined at the confidence level of 95%. Qualitative data analysis considered the findings from observation and inferences from the opinions of the respondents in the interviews. Findings revealed that videos utilized on the basis of Jonassen'characteristics of meaningful learning had a positive influence on the performance in grammar. In addition, the study found out that teaching and learning grammar with videos was interesting, engaging, interactive and rewarding.