KISWAHILI AS A LANGUAGE OF INSTRUCTION IN KENYA
Kiswahili has been a national language sinse independence
and recently an official language. In Kenya it is used in teaching Kiswahili
grammar and literature.it is also use d in informal forms of education like
seminars for farmers. It is used greatly
in teaching in Tanzania. Kiswahili is the second language to many in Kenya but
it’s the most common to all. East africsan presidents had agreed to make
Kiswahili a linguafranca but it didid not work as the various countries used
different ideologies. For example mwalimu nyerere wentfor ujammsaa while Kenya
took the capitalist path.can Kiswahili be the language of instruction in Kenya/
Firstly, Kiswahili is seen as a neutral African language.
For most Kenyans born and brought up in
cosmopolitan urban areasin Kenya such as Nairobi and nakuru; Kiswahili stands
as the first language. For this reason kiswaahili fits in for use aatleast in
teaching ecd schools as well as lower primary.laurinda luffman (2014) says
It is now widely accepted that nursery school child ren do
best when taught in their mother tongue.
She goes on to say that chewa an indigenous language in
Zambia is being used in teaching that children
grasp what is taught much quicker. Another issue is that children joining scool experience a
language shock when they find a new language being used to teach. This derails
laearning and understanding. Kiswahili as a language is also gaining popularity
and is the most spoken African language. Prominenent people like the east
African presidents are using it to address public functions. Asian counties
aare also supporting Kiswahili and it is being taught in universities in japan
and china. What might ruleout Kiswahili as a language of instruction in Kenya
is that it has little written literature
and hjas few books in disciplines like law engineering and medicine.
Furthermore Kenyans have not embraced Kiswahili fully. Even in universities
course titles and lesson plans of Kiswahili are still written in English.
VERNACULAR AS
LANGUAGE OF INSTRUCTION IN KENYA
To eradicate poverty in Africa we need to take knowledge and
modern science to the masses in their own languages.(kwesi k p(2000)
Vernacular was used in Kenya in teaching since independence
to the onset of the 21st century when this system collapsed. A
decade later the ministry odf education led by cabinet secretary Jacob kaimenyi
is advocating for its returnin teaching ecd and lower primary schools.
Personally having been taught in vernacular in my earlier years of schooling ,
I can still speak fluently in my mother tongue though mostly I am speaking in
English or kiswahii. Teaching in vernacular will go a long way in fulfilling
Kenyan educational goal of of preservation of culture. Vernacular is seen as a
way of decolonizing Africa completely by doing away with foreign languages.
Recently dholuo alphabet was developed by kefa ombewa he sees it as a way of
delatinising dholuo. This is a good initiative and more writings in vernacular
should be encouraged for Africa to realize its dream of using its oowm in
teaching.other native African scripts include Ge~ez used to teach in Ethiopia
and eritria and Cameroons bamum (c. nduta2014)use of vernacular might be
difficult to achievebecause there is shortage of learning material it is also
facing opposition from stake holders such as teachers
‘How do they expect us to teach in vernacular and expect
good results in English and Kiswahili?’ a principal remarked. Moreover, it will be
difficult taching vernacular in urban areas
since they are cosmopolitan consisting of learners from different
communities. To some extent it might work in rural areas where a large
population speaks a common vernacular.. in urban areas though it could be made
selective so that learners learn a vernacular language of their choice
CHINESE AS A LANGUAGE OF INSTRUCTION IN KENYA
CHINA IS THE NEWEST PARTNER TO KENYAS. THERe has been a
proposal to start teaching Chinese I kenan schools. Apart from being the most
spoken language in the world, it is considered beneficial to kenyanns because
there are many business transactions taking place between the two countries.
Pragmatists will truly go with this and more so our leaders and politicians who
are known to use what works at the moment. China is also emerging to be one of
the superpowers.the language of a superpower is always favuored and is
considred mature and usable in official functions. However, Chinese education
might pose problemsto Kenyan learners because it has a unique alphabet
consisting of many complex characters. Also there are few teachers who and if
it was to be started it would require them to be trained on the language
first.however it might appear Chinese is being introduced to fight English a language
of the west and therefore the language might not be of such significance to
Kenya. I believe the Chinese would invest in empowering Swahili –not even
Chinese- just to overdo English What we cannot escape from is the fact that
Chinese language is just a beginning and
in the future Chinese curriculum and subject mater might findits way
into Kenyan education. I think it would
be good for Kenya because Chinese education more or less reflects African socialism. Brooks(2013)
explains the following on a lady who divorted her research in trying to find
asian and western views of education;
The simplest way to summarise her findings is that westerners tend to define learning
cognitively while Asians tend to define it morally.
He further explainsthe following on Chinese university
mottos;
Chinese universities usually take Confucian sayings that
emphasize personal elevtion. Tsinghuas’ motto is “strengthen self ceaselessly
and cultivate virtue to nurture the world”. Najings motto is”be sincere and
hold high aspirations, learn deligently and practice earnestly.
This is so connected to African socialism that saw education
as a way of creating morally upright people to serve the society. Many school
mottos today still depict self actualizationand do not take into consideration
the society. Examples include “striving for excellence” and “ jjishinde
ushinde”.
CONCLUSION
If we are to achieve
goals set for Kenyan education, we must consider the language used in schools.
It revolves around all goals whether it is cultural preservation or national
unity or developing talent in Kenyan learners. We are only as good as what we
use to teach in schools. Kenya having been endowed with so many languages, it
is a shame that the onlyone native language use to teach teaches on subject-kswahiliit
is a surprise that the government is putting measures to reduce imports yet we
are importing languages from nations with one or few languages. These languages hsave not
added value to oyr system as a matter of
fact they have brought disparities and conflictbecause they are used as a
qualification requirement for a job. Actually most Kenyans adore foreign
languages because of he benefits that come with them not because they are
exiting. In doing so we benefit foreigners. (philipson,2001)says that English
fo business is business for English trying to show how we create markets for publications done in
English since we use English for
instruction. It is a surprise there is harsh criticism for Julius nyerere and
his policies of ujamaa one of the systems that embraced African socialism. He
championed Kiswahili to be used in teaching even up to tertiary teacher
training colleges. To date, Tanzanians despite ragging behind in development
still maintains the ‘undugu’culture and is one of the most cohesive nations.
Kenyans who are among his critisizers are still torn in tribalism and
ethnicity. The language debate will still continue if we stop looking at how we will benefit from
foreign ones and see what is ailing us as a country. language.
tafsiri za kiswahili zinaweza kufanywa kwenye mtandao kupitia google translate na programu nyinginezo za kutafsiri
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