Factors Influencing Perfomance Of English Language Among Deaf Learners In Special Primary Schools In Homabay County, Kenya

Education has a pivotal role in the social, political and economic development of an individual. Regarding this, the government of Kenya is committed through the free primary education to increase educational opportunities by making schools accessible to all children. Over the years, the language of instruction in Kenyan school has been English. Thus, pupils’ proficiency in English goes to an extent of determining their academic achievement in the overall. Pupils’ failure to understand English language becomes a challenge in academic achievement. This study sought to investigate the factors influencing performance of English among the pupils with hearing impairment in special primary schools in Homabay County. This study was guided by the following specific objectives: To examine the extent to which the nature of Kenya Sign Language influences performance of English language in special schools for Hearing Impaired learners in Homabay County, Kenya; to establish the influence of training of English teachers on the performance in English language by hearing impaired learners in special primary schools; to determine whether severity of hearing impairment influences the performance of English language in special schools; and to assess the influence of schoolbased socio economic factors on performance in English  language by Hearing impaired learners. This study was modeled on Skinners Theory of Motivational Learning and a Conceptual Framework. The study adopted both descriptive research design and correlation research design. The target population was 440pupils, 8 teachers, 3 head teachers and 1 CQUASO. The study employed purposive and stratified random sampling techniques to come up with a sample size of 117 students, 8 teachers of English, 3 head teachers and 1 CQUASO. Data was gathered by use of questionnaires and interview guides. Reliability coefficient was obtained by subjecting the instruments to Pearson correlation coefficient formula. The coefficient reliability was 0.79 which indicated that the instruments were reliable. Content validity of the data collection tools was also conducted. Qualitative data was analyzed based on the themes and sub themes whereas Quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics.