Effect of cognitive development on second-language acquisition and academic performance among secondary school students in Rwanda: A case study of Groupe Scolaire Kivumu, Muhanga District

Abstract

Rwanda's shift to English-medium instruction in 2009 placed heavy cognitive and linguistic demands on students whose home language is Kinyarwanda. How well students cope with those demands depends partly on how their minds have developed. This study looked at that question directly: does cognitive development affect how secondary school students at G.S. Kivumu in Muhanga District learn and perform in English? Three things were examined: how cognitively developed students are, what their English acquisition looks like in practice, and whether those two sets of findings are connected. The study used a mixed-methods descriptive survey design guided by Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development. From a population of 400 (394 students in S1 to S3, four English teachers, and two administrators), 86 participants were selected through stratified random and purposive sampling. Structured questionnaires and interview guides were the main instruments, and data were analysed using descriptive statistics and thematic analysis. The results showed that three-quarters of students considered their memory skills good or excellent. Attention during general tasks was short, with 56% sustaining focus for only 10 to 20 minutes, but this picture changed notably when students were working on English specifically: 60% then maintained concentration for more than 20 minutes. Sixty percent of students regularly used memory-based vocabulary strategies, and 66% applied problem-solving strategies when learning English. In terms of language performance, 60% achieved a good grade in English, 81% were confident writers in English, and 83% understood written English well or very well. Career ambition was the driving motivation for 60% of students. Taken together, the findings suggest that cognitive development does shape how students acquire and perform in English, and that teachers who build cognitive skills deliberately into their lessons are likely to see better language outcomes. Policymakers should consider making metacognitive training an explicit part of Rwanda's ordinary-level English curriculum.