Analysis of the Spoken English Used by Teachers in Kenyan Primary School Classrooms: Phonological and Grammatical Variations

Martin C Njoroge

doi:10.12691/education-5-10-10

Abstract

The research reported in this paper identifies and describes phonological and grammatical variations in the English spoken by teachers at Kenyan primary school level, correlates the variations observed with the teachers’ amount of education completed in the English language and discusses pedagogical implications of the emergent patterns. First, the results indicate that the teacher’s spoken English varies from the British standard variety - the model of correctness at all the education tiers in Kenya - and second, that the amount of education a speaker has completed in the English language significantly influences language variability. The findings imply that if more primary school teachers were to receive further exposure to English grammar and phonology through the continuing education programs available in Kenyan universities, their spoken English would then vary less from the standard English and international mutual intelligibility would be improved.

Highlights

In the recent past, a number of teachers in primary schools in Kenya have been able to advance their education to bachelor’s level and beyond and many of these teachers have already graduated from what is referred to as ‘Continuing education’
I have been curious to find out whether the knowledge the teachers acquire through the English courses offered at the university significantly influences language variability; the interest in establishing the relationship between language variations observed in this study with the social variable of the amount of education completed in English
The English spoken by teachers in Kenyan primary schools exhibit features that appear to have been nativized, perhaps due to the sociolinguistic situation in which English finds itself in Kenya

Summary

Introduction

A number of teachers in primary schools in Kenya have been able to advance their education to bachelor’s level and beyond and many of these teachers have already graduated from what is referred to as ‘Continuing education’. Some examiners argue that the examining body should continue using the British standard variety as stipulated in the syllabus, while others feel that the native speaker model as used in Britain is not what the learners are exposed to, and should not be the ideal model. They argue that learners in Kenya are exposed to an educated Kenyan variety of English that their teachers use in the classroom. The latter group is reminded that what they refer to as Kenyan

Methods

Results

Conclusion