ABSTRACT
Teaching of reading skills of pre-primary school learners has been established to contribute immensely to their holistic development. However, such teaching of reading skills and learning has been confronted with numerous challenges in Yatta Sub-county and has been a concern to many education stakeholders. Thus, the study intended to evaluate effectiveness of teacher’s use of storytelling in teaching reading skills at pre-primary school level in Yatta Sub-county, Machakos County, Kenya. The objectives of the study included; establishing the nature of available stories, teachers’ preparedness for storytelling, teachers’ attitudes towards storytelling and teachers’ storytelling experience in relation to improving reading skills of pre-primary school learners. The study adopted the Storytelling Theory. The study adopted quantitative and qualitative methods. Descriptive survey research design was employed since it enabled the researcher to explore different aspects of a research study where the researcher does not manipulate variables. Target population comprised of 25 preprimary school teachers and 751 pre-primary school learners all totaling to 801. Based on The Central Limit Theorem, a sample of 5 pre-primary schools, that is, 20% of 25 preprimary schools and 200 respondents, that is, 24.97% of 801, were sampled. Stratified sampling was applied to create 5 strata based on the number of sub-zones in Yatta Subcounty. From each zone, one pre-primary school teacher was selected using purposive sampling considering schools which have had cases of dismal performance in reading skills amongst pre-primary school learners. Purposive sampling was appropriate due to the fact that the sampled respondents hold responsibilities as implementers of policies. Simple random sampling was applied to select 39 pre-primary school learners. The study applied questionnaires to collect information from pre-primary school teachers whereas observation checklist was used to collect data from learners. Piloting was conducted amongst 4 preprimary school teachers to establish validity. Reliability was determined using test re-test technique and reliability coefficient, r = 0.7, was obtained using Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation Method. Data analysis began by identifying common themes. Frequency counts of the responses were obtained. Qualitative data was analyzed based on themes based on the study objectives whereas the quantitative data was analyzed descriptively using frequencies and percentages with the help of Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS 23) and the findings were presented using tables. The study established that reading skills amongst preprimary school learners is below expectations and the nature of stories, teachers’ preparedness, attitudes and experience influence reading skills. The study thus recommends that pre-primary school teachers should use suitable different stories which suit different occasions in reading skills. Teachers ought to understand that stories play critical in early childhood pedagogy and thus should be incorporated in daily classwork preparations such as scheming and lesson planning. Teachers should be encouraged to develop positive attitude and perceptions towards storytelling as a strategy for improving reading skills amongst pre-primary school learners. Teachers should understand that they ought to acquire sufficient experience in storytelling as foundation for its use as a teaching technique for reading