DOI: 10.36347/sjahss.2016.v04i07.012

Pages: 828-835

Stuttering is a speech disorder characterized by repetitions, prolongations, interjections, hesitations and blocks. The prevalence rate of persons who stutter in the World is 1%. Kenya has an estimated 440, 000 persons who stutter, out of which 16,606 live in Kakamega county. Results from a baseline survey carried out in counties in Wesstern Kenya Region between 2010 and 2013 to find out the distribution of Learners Who Stutter (LWS) indicated that; Kakamega had 138, Vihiga 84, Bungoma 33, and Busia 10. In Kakamega county these learners were enrolled in 20 schools. The same survey showed that LWS are getting less than 250 marks out of possible 500 marks. Research has shown that this low performance is due to stuttering effects such as anxiety, stigma, fear, frustrations and embarrassment to the LWS while speaking. However, the influence of these stuttering effects on social interaction among learners are unknown. The purpose of study was to determine the influence of stuttering effects on social interactions among LWS. Objective of study were to; establish the status of social interactions among LWS and determine influence of stuttering effects on social interactions among LWS. The study employed descriptive survey and correlation research designs. The target population consisted of 84 LWS, 2301 regular learners in class six, seven and eight; 120 teachers and 20 head teachers. Stratified random sampling was used to select 329 regular learners, while saturated sampling was used to select 76 LWS, 108 teachers and 18 head teachers.