An Investigation of Teachers’ Use of Language Immersion for Instruction in the English Language in Sub-County Secondary Schools in Bungoma County, Kenya

Abstract

This paper reports on a study that was undertaken in 2025 that sought to establish the teachers’ use of the Language Immersion model for instruction in English language against translanguaging for teaching English as a second language. The study was undertaken in Sub-County Secondary Schools in Bungoma County in Kenya and was guided by Swain Merrill’s Output Hypothesis (1985) theory. The study employed the quantitative research design and approach using quantitative techniques. The study population comprised 16 teachers of English and 96 students taking English subject in purposively selected sub-county secondary schools. Questionnaires were used in quantitative data collection. The findings revealed that less than 25% of the teachers of English were using Language Immersion as a teaching strategy in English instruction as 37.5% teachers frequently used other strategies. The research also established that only 12.5% of the teachers felt that Language Immersion enhances Second Language achievement to a considerable extent. Only 18.75% of students indicated that their teachers do not use another language, meaning these are the teachers that fully embrace language immersion in the instruction of English. The study concluded that the teachers of the English language in sub-county secondary schools in Bungoma County in Kenya do not significantly use Language Immersion as a teaching strategy despite the current policy guidelines that demand exclusive use of English as the medium of instruction apart from when teaching Kiswahili language. This study therefore recommends that the Ministry of Education in Kenya should consider revising the policy on the medium of instruction as a paradigm shift in the teaching of language to include other novel strategies for enhanced learner achievement in English as a second language.