A Multimodal Pedagogical Skills of Kenyan English Secondary School Teachers

Abstract

Abstract

 This study investigated the multimodal pedagogical skills of Kenyan secondary school English teachers, examining how these teachers integrate verbal, visual, gestural, spatial, and digital modes in classroom instruction. In this 21st-century learning classroom, the core traditional language skills such as listening and speaking, reading, and writing are no longer adequate. A learner should be guided to design, view, and critique multimodal content. Grounded in the Multimedia Learning Theory, this study examined how teachers use multimodal interactive digital tools to enhance language learning and teaching effectiveness. A descriptive mixed-method design was employed by adopting semi-structured interviews and questionnaires with 30 purposively selected teachers. The teachers were purposively sampled from six schools within Maragua Sub-County in Murang’a County. The findings reveal a moderate multimodal competence, with approximately 86% of instructional practices being lecture-based while only about 35% involved interactive digital tools. The limited engagement of visual and digital modes was attributed to inadequate infrastructure, insufficient professional training, and weak policy support for multimedia resources. Informants interviewed revealed that multimodal practices are often treated as optional rather than integral to English instruction. This is a situation reinforced by curriculum structures that do not explicitly scaffold multimodal teaching competencies. The study recommends targeted professional development in digital multimodal pedagogy as well as curriculum revision to embed digital multimodal practices. This can promote inclusive, contextually responsive English language learning. 

Keywords: Teachers of English, Secondary school, Multimodality, and Pedagogical competency.