Adopting English Language as a medium of instruction and trends in students academic performance in English Language: A case study of Mount Kenya University - Rwanda Campus.

Abstract

ABSTRACT

The study established the adoption of English language as a medium of instruction and the trends of students’ academic performance in English language in MKUR so as to make recommendations for improvement. The study achieved the following objectives: It examined the changes caused by adoption of English language as a medium of instruction in the teaching and learning of English language in MKUR, It established the trends of students’ academic performance in English language in MKURfrom the years; 2016 to 2017 and the study also established the relationship between English language adoption and the academic performance of students in English language in Mount Kenya University-Rwanda Campus.The research used case study research design. The study was conducted in Mt Kenya University Rwanda campus (MKUR) Kicukiro district in Kigali city. The lecturers and students were the targeted respondents for the study. A sample size of 70 respondents consisting of 50 students, 8 lecturers and 12 administrators was used. Simple random and purposive sampling were used for selecting the participants in the study. Interview guides and questionnaires were used as a major instruments for data collection. The data collected through questionnaires was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The data from open ended questionnaires and interview responses was analyzed by listing all the respondents’ views under each question category. Results show that there is a significant relationship between English language adoption as a medium of instruction and the academic performance of students in English language. The study concluded that adopting English language as a medium of instruction influences the trends in the academic performance of students in English language in MKUR. The study recommended that the use of English as a medium of instruction should be promoted starting from the lower levels of education so as to improve students speaking, writing and reading skills and promote academicperformance in English at all levels.