Abstract
This article proposes multilingualism in education, where indigenous languages are used alongside English as the media of instruction in schools to eventually promote their use in Kenya. It begins by stating Kenya’s language policy in education. It then states the responses given by some primary and secondary school teachers who were interviewed on the implementation of the language policy in schools and their attitude towards the possibility of using the mother tongues in teaching some subjects in primary schools and beyond. The differing situation from school to school shows inconsistency in the language policy implementation. Some teachers’ views show that indigenous languages should not be forgotten. The article suggests that the indigenous languages should be used more in education and should have an economic value. Finally, plurality is viewed as an African reality and the need to develop a language policy that will strengthen the position of indigenous languages is recognized.
Highlights
This article first identifies the language policy in education as documented in reports of various commissions
Kenya has a limited number of teaching and learning materials written in the mother tongue. This poses a great challenge because those willing to teach in mother tongue may not get the necessary materials they require. It emerges that what is stated about the mother tongue in the language policy is not implemented as it should
It has spelt out the language policy in education in Kenya and shown that what is stated about the mother tongue in the language policy in
Summary
This article first identifies the language policy in education as documented in reports of various commissions. The foregoing reports show that in the education policy in Kenya, English enjoys a supreme position as the sole language of instruction from class 4 (grade 4) to the university in the whole country and as the only language of instruction in most urban schools; followed by Kiswahili as a compulsory subject in primary and secondary schools, and as a medium of instruction from classes 1 to 3 in some urban areas; and the mother tongue as a medium of instruction from class 1 to 3 in rural schools. They were asked to respond to several questions, aimed at assessing the extent to which language policy described in Literature on the language policy in education in Kenya above is implemented in both primary and secondary schools and the attitude of the teachers towards the possibility of using the mother tongues in teaching some of the subjects in primary school and beyond. The responses were subjected to a qualitative analysis as seen in the discussions below
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