Factors Leading to Kiswahili Poor Speaking Skills in Kicukiro Secondary Schools, Rwanda

Pascal Sebazungu – Department of Humanities Languages University of Rwanda-College of Education.
Martin Hubert Ikuramutse – Department of Languages- Groupe Scolaire CAMP Kigali
Email: psebazungu@gmail.com/ikuramabert@gmail.com

Abstract: This study aims at investigating factors that lead to Kiswahili poor Speaking Skills in Kicukiro Secondary Schools, Rwanda. The study was guided by constructivism theory by Jean Piaget (1896-1980). Different methods were used to collect data, including interview, classroom observation and document analysis. As a result, this research used three Kiswahili teachers from three different secondary schools and twelve students from those schools. Data from the research were analyzed qualitatively. The target population was selected purposively. Findings showed that students do not speak Kiswahili effectively owing to different reasons, namely: shyness of students while speaking Kiswahili, lack of motivation, fear of speaking Kiswahili in public, lack of Kiswahili spoken vocabulary as well as lack of confidence in speaking Kiswahili language. Therefore, this study recommends various educational institutions, including the ministry of education and its stakeholders to provide enough teaching resources in schools, cooperation of learners with parents’ involvements in learning development of their children, teachers must be well equipped in strategies that help students acquire Kiswahili speaking skills.