Influence of Teachers’ Academic Qualification on Oral Skills Instruction in Public Primary Schools in Nyamira South Sub-County, Kenya

The study investigated the influence of teachers' academic qualifications on oral skills instruction in public primary schools in Nyamira South Sub-County, Kenya. The main objective was to establish whether the different academic qualifications obtained by teachers when undertaking training played a role in teaching listening and speaking (oral skills). This was due to the fact that oral skills acquisition plays a key role in a learner's ability to acquire the reading skill. A cross-sectional design was used. The target population was all the teachers who teach English in public primary schools in Nyamira South Sub-County. Stratified simple random sampling techniques were employed to select the sample size. A lesson observation schedule was used to collect data. Validity was determined by consulting experts, and for reliability, a test-retest was used. Frequency and percentages were used to analyse data. ANOVA was used to test the hypothesis. To establish which of the academic qualifications contributed a greater significant mean score difference, the results of ANOVA were subjected to a post hoc test. The findings were that academic qualifications, which are a teacher's training, enabled the teacher to gain knowledge on the subject matter taught. 3 (20.0%) of the P1 teachers, 1 (20%) of the teachers with a bachelor's degree and 1 (100%) of the teachers who had a master's degree scored a poor grade regarding the mastery of the oral lesson that was observed. The finding showed that, despite the teacher's pre-service training acquired at different levels, the basic skills on how to deliver the oral lesson were lacking. The researchers concluded that the teachers who taught English possessed a negative attitude towards oral lessons. The study recommended that in-service training for teachers who teach English was necessary to enable them to keep abreast with teaching methodologies in the 21st century.