STUDENTS' ACHIEVEMENT MOTIVATION AS A CORRELATE OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE PERFORMANCE AMONG FORM THREE STUDENTS IN EMBU COUNTY, KENYA

Abstract: English language is an essential subject in the Kenya school syllabus as it is the standard language of instruction in most subjects in the school curriculum. This study was driven by the issue of insignificant performances among students. Its aim was to investigate students' success motivation as correlates of English language performance. The focus was specifically on form three students in Embu County, Kenya. The objective was to find out the relationship between students’ achievement motivation and English language performance. This research was anchored in the achievement motivation theory by McClelland and Atkinson (1958) and a correlational research design was used. The study targeted form three students who were to sit for their KCSE examination in 2021, from a total of 50,675 students in 189 public schools within the county. In the first stage, the study employed simple random and stratified sampling to select 17 schools out of the 189 public secondary schools in Embu County and the study used Sadven’s SP Profile (1975) in data collection. A preliminary pilot study was conducted on 26 students, a sample similar to the study's sample to determine the viability and reliability of the study instruments. The study found that students with high achievement motivation studied regularly and had good language skills, resulting in good performance in English. The findings also showed that male and female students differed significantly in achievement motivation. The main recommendation was that students with high achievement motivation should study regularly and productively, taking every opportunity to perfect their language skills to enhance good performance in English. Keywords: Students’ Achievement Motivation, English language, Performance. Title: STUDENTS’ ACHIEVEMENT MOTIVATION AS A CORRELATE OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE PERFORMANCE AMONG FORM THREE STUDENTS IN EMBU COUNTY, KENYA Author: Mary Calmen Mugane, Dr. Tabitha Wang’eri, Dr. Samuel Mutweleli International Journal of Social Science and Humanities Research ISSN 2348-3156 (Print), ISSN 2348-3164 (online) Vol. 13, Issue 2, April 2025 - June 2025 Page No: 17-24 Research Publish Journals Website: www.researchpublish.com Published Date: 05-April-2025 DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15153067 Paper Download Link (Source) https://www.researchpublish.com/papers/students-achievement-motivation-as-a-correlate-of-english-language-performance-among-form-three-students-in-embu-county-kenya