Exploring teachers’ use of English language textbooks in teaching grammar at lower secondary school in Wakiso District

Abstract

Lack of clarity about how teachers use textbooks, coupled with assumed restrictive bottlenecks like textbook design and distribution and teacher attitudes compromise the acquisition of grammar skills by learners. This study was guided by three objectives namely: to establish how teachers use the available textbooks in English language to teach grammar in the selected school in Wakiso District; to establish the challenges English language teachers face when using the available English language textbooks to teach grammar in the selected school in Wakiso District and to develop guidelines to support teachers of English language to use available English language textbooks to teach grammar effectively in the selected school in Wakiso District. This was a qualitative case study whose purpose was to explore how teachers use English language text books to teach grammar at lower secondary school in Uganda. The case was a one government aided secondary school in Wakiso district. Focus Group Discussions, Interviews, Document Analysis and Participant Observation methods were employed. Conventional Content Analysis Technique (CCAT) was employed for data analysis whereby codes were derived directly from the available data. The study revealed that there is compliance to the implementation of the new lower secondary school curriculum policy with regard to using textbooks as key reference materials although few copies of the recommended textbooks were seen. Key challenges included complication in getting textbooks from the library, lack of clarity regarding how teachers use textbooks in teaching grammar apart from the basic ones like giving instructions and activities, lack of appropriate grammar books, new vocabulary in textbooks, lack of enough reading space, lack of internet, time management, inadequate computers for online surfing and assessment challenges. Suggested remedies included having CPDs for teachers in grammar and increasing quantities of grammar textbooks in the school, among others. The school administration and the government in general should invest more resources in retooling teachers in the proper implementation of the new curriculum. Recommendations include reviewing the content in the books published by various accredited companies to ensure more inclusion of grammar activities, and simplification of vocabulary with ample pictorial and graphic illustrations to enhance acquisition of grammar skills at lower secondary.