ASSESSING THE INFLUENCE OF MOTHER TONGUE INTERFERENCE ON ENGLISH WRITING PROFICIENCY IN PUBLIC DAY SECONDARY SCHOOLS, NYAMIRA NORTH SUB-COUNTY, NYAMIRA COUNTY, KENYA

Abstract

Mother tongue interference makes it difficult for learners to develop English writing abilities, particularly when the home language has a grammar structure that is very different from English. Many pupils whose first language is not English tend to write with frequent faults in grammar. The purpose of this study was to evaluate how students' mother tongues affected their English writing skills at public day secondary schools in Kenya's Nyamira North Sub County. The specific goals were to determine the main ways that mother tongue interferes with writing abilities, examine the ways in which mother tongue influences different types of writing errors, assess the difficulties that arise when teaching writing skills, and recommend methods for raising students' writing proficiency in English. The study was based on Krashen's (1981) Second Language Acquisition Theory, which emphasizes cognitive and contextual elements that influence language competency when focusing on how people learn a second language. The study employed a convergent mixed methods research technique, integrating the collection of qualitative and quantitative data. 1,381 Form III students from 32 public day secondary schools, 32 administrators, and 72 English teachers made up the target group. Using stratified and basic random sampling techniques, a sample of 59 English teachers, 18 principals, and 302 pupils was chosen, with the inclusion of school principals automatically. Principal interview guides and teacher and student surveys were among the tools used to collect data. Before being used, the instruments underwent reliability testing and validation. Both qualitative and quantitative methods were used in the data analysis process. While thematic content analysis was used to assess qualitative data from interviews, quantitative data was analyzed using SPSS to produce descriptive and inferential statistics. The results showed that pupils' writing abilities in English are considerably impacted by mother tongue interference. The tendency of pupils to translate directly from their home tongues, the use of Sheng or Kiswahili, and the blending of native vocabulary in writing are common problems. The study suggested using immersionbased English learning techniques, such as more speaking, listening, and exposure to interesting English reading materials, to solve these problems. The study's final conclusion was that complete language competency laws that minimize mother tongue interference will help pupils write better, perform better academically, and communicate more effectively in English.