ABSTRACT This investigation sought to determine the relationship between teaching methods that teachers employed in teaching English language and the academic performance of secondary schools students of Winam The researcher was prompted to carry out this study after an outcry that the integration approach in the teaching of English was not yielding optimal academic results, in the 8-4-4 system of education in Kenya. Thus an empirical examination of the effects of teaching methods and academic performance was carried out. The focus was Kisumu District, Winam Division. Research questions were formulated in order to guide the study. Qualitative research method based on district methodological traditions of enquiring that explore a social or human problem was used. Systematic sampling was used to get 6 schools out of the 15 in Winam Division. Stratified sampling was then used to get the sample size of 60 students. Selfadministered interviews as well as face- to -face interview were used to obtain data required to meet the specific objectives of the study. Face to face interviews with teachers provided the research within. The findings revealed that performance levels are higher where learner centered methods are used frequently, however, this may vary with the age of the learners. The study established that teaching methods have a degree of impact on the performance outcome in English. There may be no difference in performance in English between boys and girls. The indicator of performance in this case is their score in English achievement tests.
