Investigating the factors that contribute to the students’ poor performance in Sesotho praise poems junior certificate examination in three secondary schools within Maseru central

Abstract

This study investigated the factors that contribute to the students’ poor performance in Junior Certificate Examinations in Sesotho praise poems. In three secondary schools in Maseru Central, when trying to answer the problem, the researcher investigated factors contributing to students’ poor performance in Sesotho praise poems. Teachers’ and students’ attitudes towards Sesotho praise poems and strategies that can be employed to enhance the teaching and learning of Sesotho praise poems were also investigated. Therefore, the results of the study will help teachers and students to improve the teaching and learning of Sesotho praise poems and perform well in Examinations. Collection of data in the three schools in Maseru Central was done through the use of questionnaires and interviews. Six teachers and fifteen students from the three schools were interviewed and given questionnaires to answer concerning the teaching and learning of Sesotho praise poems. This was done to check the reliability of data collected from the teachers. In the reviewed literature, different strategies that can be employed to teach Sesotho praise poems were discussed but most of the teachers did not apply those strategies even though they knew and understood their importance in teaching Sesotho praise poems. Nonetheless, teachers did not apply all the strategies stated in the reviewed literature. The place where the students come from seemed to be one of the factors that contributed to the students’ poor performance in Sesotho praise poems because they lived in towns where they hardly see praise poems being performed.