This book is an attempt of a survey of language attitudes in urban kenya and has mainly focused on nairobi, kisumu and mombasa. In kenya, the official language of instruction policy states that children have a right to be taught in the language of the catchment area in classes grades kenya institute of education, kie, 1992, in schools in the rural areas, during which english is taught as a subject in the curriculum. Poster presented at theoretical issues in sign language research 9 meeting. This paper examines language policy in kenya from colonialism to date, with a particular focus on education. Documents such as the national constitution merely allude to language policy, but stop short of fully declaring a position. The first chapter introduces the concept of language planning and policy. Language planning and policy in kenya a case study of kenyan cities. Effects of language policy in the school on the learning.
The colonial language policy in kenya is important putting into consideration that it impacted greatly on postcolonial language policy. Language policy does in fact go further than this, for it includes not just the regular patterns of choice, but also beliefs about choices and the values of varieties and of variants, and also, most saliently, the efforts made by some to change the choices and beliefs of others. Pdf language policy and practices in education in kenya and. In post colonial kenya, the newly formed kanu1 regime, through. All our expanded pdfs are included with a standard plan. Kenya s ethnic languages are spoken mostly in rural settings and in homes where all members belong to the same ethnic group. Languageineducation policy in kenya nordic journal of african. National, official and other languages kenya law reform.
To diffuse a grammatical knowledge of the english language as the ost m. Teaching english as a second language in kenya and the united. In kenya, there are clearly discernible patterns of creative writing which may be linked to language policies. The perspectives and case studies presented here cover the whole of the continent, from morocco to south africa, from cote divoire to kenya. Typically, language policy involves decisions about language use in social contexts, usually concerned with. It is known in kenya that specific language communities live in specific parts of. The colonial period is appraised with regard to pre. In the specific case of language policies in kenya and ethiopia, the aim of a swot analysis is to help those concerned with them to. Public policy role of inclusive education on the curriculum reform and educational agenda for kenya policies in place for non formal education to reach those who are not able to attend formal schools adaptation of curriculum for special needs education. Language policy in kenya journal of pan african studies. Consequently, kenya has had several education commissions in both colonial and postcolonial periods, which, together with the constitution of kenya have had a bearing on the language policy. Official educational policy states that the first three years of schooling class one to three, should be in the mother tongue, or the indigenous language spoken in the respective. The focus on education is, of course, manifest in the cliched emphasis on the role of language in education.
These countries have a similar history given that they are neighbors and were colonized by the same colonial powerthe british, although the germans colonized tanzania for a short time. Language policy is an interdisciplinary academic field. Current language policy national language policy mandates use of the language of the catchment area as the medium of instruction in grades 1 to 3 nyatuka, 2014. Kenyas national character and education system were inherited from britain. Language policy for education and development in tanzania.
The present paper analyses the language policy and practice in kenya so as to determine the extent to which language rights are observed. I go on to explore the failings of educational language policy as it now stands, focusing on the jarring transition from swahilimedium primary school to englishmedium secondary school. Many tensions and paradoxes that arise from bilingual education policies in multiethnic. Examples are india, sri lanka, malaysia, belgium, finland.
A policy framework for education charles and rita field. A case of uganda mwenda mukuthuria egerton university, kenya abstract kiswahili is an indigenous african language whose origin is the coast of kenya. An engagement with literature is, indeed, a continuing process of improving our capacity to use language and refining our sensibility to good language use. People are subjected to extortion, false arrest, abuse, and even murder. The post emancipation language policy introduced in 1847 by the colonial office was. Language perceptions and identity among kenyan speakers. Kenya has a kind of trifocal language policy that recognises the role of the vernaculars. Therefore, even without a written foreign policy, kenya was able to conduct her foreign relations with some level of predictability. Kenya s national character and education system were inherited from britain. If so, we invite you to join our contributor program. The european nations defined the continents boundaries.
Nabea 2009 states that, the colonial language policy in kenya is important, putting into consideration the fact that it impacted greatly on postcolonial language policy. In kenya, language policy in the education system recognizes english as the main medium of instruction in the urban areas at all levels of education. Kenya is an ethnically diverse country and is made up of about 40 main ethnic groups. The kenyan government presents the national broadband strategy nbs for kenya. The deaf of kenya the sign language community of kenya. The government and others do not consider all parties in the education of kenya s citizens. On the other hand, other scholars such as bernard spolsky, robert b. The language education policy in kenya requires that instruction of the first three years of formal learning in grades one, two and three, happen in mother tongue or the language of the catchment. Klrc has an additional mandate of preparing new legislation to give effect to the constitution. This article discusses the language situation in kenya, beginning with an insightful history on language policies from the period when the country was still under british colonial rule. Aug 25, 2017 in the multilingual nation of kenya, english and swahili serve as the official languages of the country. You may want to read the whole guide, or you may want to jump to the section that is most relevant for you. Throughout the 1950s colonial era, learners in kenyan primary schools.
The vision of this broadband strategy is to transform kenya to a knowledgebased society driven by a high capacity nationwide broadband network. The british colonial policy was based on the principle of decentralization. Major language policy changes through commission reports during the colonial period continued even after kenyan independence mbaabu. Kiswahili and its expanding roles of development in east african cooperation. Two main modern pronouncements on language policy in nigeria merit our attention, to wit the national policy on education 1977, revised in 1981, and the 1979 constitution, which is more cited than its 1989 reincarnation. Its language ineducation policy for early primary education was enacted in 1976. The kenyan government must consider making changes in regulating who receives education. Language planning and policy in kenya a case study of.
Kenya was not like some other multilingual countries where language has been absolutely central to constitutional debates. Language policy in kenya has kept on changing in our educational institutions from the period before independence and up to the period after independence. Kiswahili and english in the national education system. Although the language of instruction policy appears to be clear, practical. The chapters in this volume examine the phenomenon of multilingualism in africa as it affects individuals, communities, ethnic groups, nations, and the larger interconnected world. National language policy framework 2003 diversity and to the challenges of constitutional multilingualism, hence the introduction of this national language policy framework. There is also a need for a video to be produced of bible stories as well as the whole bible in kenya sign language.
Pluralism, language and the constitution jill cottrell ghai. Including secondlanguage speakers, there are more speakers of swahili than english in kenya. This broadband strategy is critical to the achievement of vision 2030 that seeks to provide kenyan citizens with a. Pdf kenya is a multilingual country with over forty different indigenous languages. Check out deaf bible, the best way to see, read and share the bible like never before. The perspectives and case studies presented here cover the whole of the continent, from morocco to south africa, from. Education policy and practice the mismatch between promother tongue education policy and prointernational language classroom practice, so common across africa, is particularly well documented in kenya. This recognition came decades after ngugi wa thiongos heated campaign for kenyans and other africans to exploit to the fullest the language and cultural. The colonial period is appraised with regard to pre and post second world war, while the independence era is analysed as pertains the. The failure of language policy in tanzanian schools. Reexamining the fluctuations in language ineducation.
Jul 12, 2016 the abuse these men faced at the hands of police occurs on a daily basis around the world, and especially in kenya. The modern government went on to release the language policy in the country which states swahili and english to be the official language for the country and its citizens. Contrary to the long held postulation that it was the objective of the colonial government to promote english language in the colony, the colonial. I will begin with kenya, fol lowed by tanzania, and then uganda. Hence there is a close relationship between national character and national system of education. National policy on education 1977, revised in 1981, and the 1979 constitution. More people, more output and less erosion, 19301990 the district machakos district is inhabited by the akamba people. Language policy and science instruction in kenyan primary schools. Language policy in kenya cannot be addressed without taking a historical perspective. Pdf language policy and practices in education in kenya. This is because the basis of the kenya s current language policy is the countrys colonial language policy that was adopted following the european scramble for power in africa that occurred towards the end of the 19 th century.
Kenya, tanzania, and uganda in the context of globalization. In post colonial kenya, the newly formed kanu1 regime, through the ministry of education, occasionally changed the countrys language policy over the years in. With the policy paper of 1999, kenya officially recognised the indigenous languages and provided a framework for incorporating them into the formal education system njoroge, p. Language planning and policy in kenya a case study of kenyan. Teaching english as a second language in kenya and the. At the time, the government designated kiswahili as the national language and english as the official language of government. The most dominant of the indigenous languages are kikuyu, dholuo and luhya kikuyu is the language of the kikuyu people, kenya s largest ethnic group. Exploring the language contact situation between deaf and hearing in kenya. The impact of language policy and practice on childrens learning. Such policies testify to the attention supposedly devoted to education, unity and independence. Intention, interpretation, implementation peter nyakundi mose rhodes university, south africa abstract kenya is a multilingual country with over forty different indigenous languages. Languageineducation policy in kenya 217 common underlying proficiency cummins, 1984 implying that languages share basic features at the deeper level.
This paper summarises the results, and then discusses how far the experience of the district could be replicated elsewhere. English remains the dominant language in kenyan politics and commerce. The lessons afforded by the eight african case studies, along with a broader perspective assessment of educational policy implementation, are presented in the papers by george psacharopoulos the overall manager of the set of studies and john craig. According to nyatiramahobo 2004, botswanas language education policy is not written. In order to make this change, policy governing education must be amended. Background information after several decades as a british colony, kenya gained its independence in 1963. Language in education policy in ghana has been in a flux since british colonial rule but particularly so after independence. Kaplan and joseph lo bianco argue that language policy is a branch of applied linguistics. Kenya indeed adopted a system of devolution, but not to protect languages. Effects of language policy in the school on the learning of. Given the language policy in kenya in general and language in education policy in particular, what attitudes do kenyans have towards the languages within their.
The impact of language policy and practice on childrens learning argues that improved evidence, networking, southtosouth learning and advocacy are going to be crucial to create a focus on mothertongue education environments. Fishman and ofelia garcia consider it as part of sociolinguistics. Moi university, kenya abstract studies on linguistic human rights in various parts of the globe are now in vogue. This examination, taken in english at the end of standard 8, not only determines which. This chapter examines education language policy debates in three east african countries. It has it basis in the colonial language policy following the scramble for africa by european powers, which took place towards the end of the 19th century. Language policy and science instruction in kenyan primary.
This diverse ethnic composition makes the country a multilingual country with many different languages. For ethiopia, a major strength of its current language policy is the promotion of many indigenous languages through education, since some of them are learnt as school subjects. Kiswahili and its expanding roles of development in east. But language policy exists even where it has not been made explicit or established by authority. Youll receive credits toward complimentary access to ethnologue for every contribution that is vetted and accepted by. Official educational policy states that the first three years of schooling class one to three, should be in the mother tongue, or the indigenous language spoken in. The impact of language policy and practice on childrens. For travelers to kenya, the implementation of the language policy has brought in moderate relief. Unlock this profile with an essentials plan see the details on every language spoken in kenya, plus. Media policy objective to promote the existence of free and pluralistic media which reflect a diversity of ideas and opinions to sustain an atmosphere free from censorship and arbitrary controls on the flow of information to ensure that means of communication are used for the benefit of all people of kenya. In the process of exploring language, we also engage in the study of literature. The analyses focus on language use both in private and. Introduction purpose of the guide this guide is intended to support first nations communities, governments, schools and language authorities across british columbia in the implementation of language policies and programs that lead to.
Multilingualism, language policy and creative writing in kenya. It is closely related to the embu, mbeere, and meru languages spoken by neighboring communities in the mount kenya region. Public policy role of inclusive education on the curriculum reform and educational agenda for kenya policies in place for non formal education to reach those who are not able to attend formal schools adaptation of curriculum for special needs education development of curricula for special needs education. Its languageineducation policy for early primary education was enacted in 1976.
A close examination of post independence language in education policies shows these fluctuating policies have moved from one form of bilingual education policy to another. Its northern edge lies some 60km from the kenyan capital, nairobi. However, this pronouncement made by the former president jomo kenyatta, neither went far enough to say how this policy. Nor is kenya a country in which there has been an effort to force on or even persuasively to advocate to the people the use of the language of a dominant local group. English speaking travelers from europe, america and asia do not face severe problems when communicating with the local population as most understand and are able to communicate in english with relative ease. Considering that in most cases lay kenyans use language in ways that are incongruent to the official policy, the paper raises the argument that. Languageineducation policies in primary level education in africa are the. In addition to the influence that language policy has on classroom language use, the endofprimary examination referred to earlier the kenya certificate of primary education, or kcpe has an important effect on instruction that requires some elaboration. The language education policy provides direction for the treatment of language issues in the jamaican educational context, in order to improve language and literacy competencies. Two other less cited documents exist, to wit the 1989 constitution and the 1987 political bureau report. Kenya kenya, which has more than 40 indigenous languages termed mother tongues, has two official languages, english and kiswahili. The problem that this book seeks to address is the place of attitudes in the process of language policy formulation and language planning in kenya and particularly in relation to the development of education, communication and overall national development. Language in education in kenyan schools springerlink.
Kaplan and joseph lo bianco argue that language policy is a branch of applied linguistics as a field, language policy used to be known as language planning and is related. Kenya is a multilingual country with over forty different indigenous languages. The report provides a critical evidence base for responding to the changing development context. Analysis of the language policy in kenya, including consideration of language in education, language of the press, and the politics of language, suggests that language policies cannot be successfully formulated without analysis of and extensive debate among those groups and complex social processes whose interests are reflected in specific language policies.
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