An Error Analysis of problems of learning English as a Second Language (ESL) among pastoralist learners in the Maasai community of Kajiado West Kenya

Abstract

Pastoralist education in Kenya is riddled with a myriad of problems, key among them being the harsh climatic conditions that deter students from attending school regularly. Learners of English as a Second Language (ESL) in Kenya are immersed into learning English alongside the first language and Kiswahili at primary school level. However, despite the long exposure of approximately ten years on average, secondary school students do not learn to accurately use English as a mode of communication. This study focused on establishing the difficulties secondary school Maasai pastoralist learners in Kajiado County, Kenya face while learning English as a second language. It focused on identifying learners’ errors, the frequency of occurrence and the sources of errors. The study adopted a descriptive research approach. The target population consisted of secondary school students aged between 13-20 years within the pastoralist Maasai community who often move in search of pasture and water for their livestock and whose school attendance is quite unpredictable. A sample of 100 students was purposively selected from forms 1, 2, 3 and 4. They were then asked to write compositions on selected topics. Content analysis and interviews were used to determine the errors and their sources in the written compositions. Findings indicate that learners make errors which are prevalent in all levels of linguistic analysis though the highest number of errors occur at the syntactic level. Findings further indicate that learners make interlingual errors because of transfer from mother tongue and intralingual due to overgeneralization, incomplete application of rules, ignorance of rule restrictions and false concepts. Keywords: Error Analysis, English as a Second Language, Pastoralist Learners.