Author(s): Marie Yvonne Ingabire, Assoc. Prof. Gabriel Nizeyimana, Dr. Delphine Mukingambeho, Dr. Michael Tusiime

Abstract: The study intended to analyze the influence of strategies employed in teacher-learners’ classroom interactions through English on learners’ learning performance in the lower primary of Musanze District. It followed a sequential exploratory research design. Six primary schools were purposively selected for qualitative data gathering, and ninety-one schools were sampled for quantitative data collection. Qualitative data were collected by semi-structured interviews conducted with 12 teachers and 6 school head teachers, while quantitative data were obtained from the written questionnaire administered to 84 teachers in lower primary. The thematic analysis was employed to analyze qualitative information while quantitative data were treated using inferential statistical analysis by T-test and ANOVA. Findings from the study revealed that some strategies employed in teacher-learners’ classroom interactions do not provide room of improving English language used as Medium of Instruction. Therefore, barriers in Medium of Instruction lead to misunderstanding or wrong interpretation of questions or other required tasks during school exercises, tests or examinations, that provoke low learners’ learning performance mostly in public and government-aided schools compared to their fellows in private schools, with satisfactory proficiency in English. Then, a statistically significant difference was detected between learners’ learning performance of learners in private versus their counterparts in public and government-aided schools. The study concluded that the language barrier handicaps effective teacher- learners’ classroom interactions and learners’ learning performance. Then, it recommended teachers and learners to adopt measures that improve their English proficiency as well as their interactions, to refine learners’ understanding of subjects taught in English to boost learners’ learning performance.

Keywords: Classroom interactions; Learning performance; Endoglossic country, Rwanda.

Article Info: Received: 08 May 2024; Received in revised form: 09 Jun 2024; Accepted: 17 Jun 2024; Available online: 24 Jun, 2024

DOI: 10.22161/ijels.93.55