{"title":"超越英语:肯尼亚的多语言和教育","authors":"D. Orwenjo","doi":"10.1080/18146627.2022.2147559","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Abstract While there are many factors involved in delivering quality basic education, language is clearly the key to communication and understanding in the classroom. It is also a linguistic and societal reality that many developing countries are characterised by individual as well as societal multilingualism, yet a majority of multilingual societies in Africa continue to experience and even propagate a paradoxical situation in which a single foreign language is allowed to dominate in the education sector. For most African countries and other previously colonised countries all over the world, this has always been blamed on the colonial legacy. Ridiculously, because some of these countries detached themselves from their colonial masters more than half a century ago, yet have done little to correct the situation. In Kenya, for instance, the newly independent nation asserted the hegemony of English over local languages in its first post-independence education commission (Republic of Kenya 1964, 24). This paper argues the case for a paradigm shift in Kenya’s language in education policy through the introduction of multi/bilingual instruction in the school system. By deconstructing and interrogating the current policy that places English at the hegemonic pedagogical pedestal, the paper concludes that such a policy has been hinged on the perceived future benefits of English medium of instruction. Grounding its arguments on the notions of linguistic human rights and linguistic pluralism, the paper advocates for a radical shift in Kenya’s current language in education policy to an inclusion of other Kenyan languages including Sheng as one of the languages of instruction and communication within Kenyan school classrooms.","PeriodicalId":44749,"journal":{"name":"Africa Education Review","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.2000,"publicationDate":"2021-07-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":"{\"title\":\"Beyond English: Multilingualism and Education in Kenya\",\"authors\":\"D. Orwenjo\",\"doi\":\"10.1080/18146627.2022.2147559\",\"DOIUrl\":null,\"url\":null,\"abstract\":\"Abstract While there are many factors involved in delivering quality basic education, language is clearly the key to communication and understanding in the classroom. It is also a linguistic and societal reality that many developing countries are characterised by individual as well as societal multilingualism, yet a majority of multilingual societies in Africa continue to experience and even propagate a paradoxical situation in which a single foreign language is allowed to dominate in the education sector. For most African countries and other previously colonised countries all over the world, this has always been blamed on the colonial legacy. Ridiculously, because some of these countries detached themselves from their colonial masters more than half a century ago, yet have done little to correct the situation. In Kenya, for instance, the newly independent nation asserted the hegemony of English over local languages in its first post-independence education commission (Republic of Kenya 1964, 24). This paper argues the case for a paradigm shift in Kenya’s language in education policy through the introduction of multi/bilingual instruction in the school system. By deconstructing and interrogating the current policy that places English at the hegemonic pedagogical pedestal, the paper concludes that such a policy has been hinged on the perceived future benefits of English medium of instruction. Grounding its arguments on the notions of linguistic human rights and linguistic pluralism, the paper advocates for a radical shift in Kenya’s current language in education policy to an inclusion of other Kenyan languages including Sheng as one of the languages of instruction and communication within Kenyan school classrooms.\",\"PeriodicalId\":44749,\"journal\":{\"name\":\"Africa Education Review\",\"volume\":null,\"pages\":null},\"PeriodicalIF\":0.2000,\"publicationDate\":\"2021-07-04\",\"publicationTypes\":\"Journal Article\",\"fieldsOfStudy\":null,\"isOpenAccess\":false,\"openAccessPdf\":\"\",\"citationCount\":\"0\",\"resultStr\":null,\"platform\":\"Semanticscholar\",\"paperid\":null,\"PeriodicalName\":\"Africa Education Review\",\"FirstCategoryId\":\"1085\",\"ListUrlMain\":\"https://doi.org/10.1080/18146627.2022.2147559\",\"RegionNum\":0,\"RegionCategory\":null,\"ArticlePicture\":[],\"TitleCN\":null,\"AbstractTextCN\":null,\"PMCID\":null,\"EPubDate\":\"\",\"PubModel\":\"\",\"JCR\":\"Q4\",\"JCRName\":\"EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH\",\"Score\":null,\"Total\":0}","platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Africa Education Review","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1080/18146627.2022.2147559","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q4","JCRName":"EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH","Score":null,"Total":0}
Beyond English: Multilingualism and Education in Kenya
Abstract While there are many factors involved in delivering quality basic education, language is clearly the key to communication and understanding in the classroom. It is also a linguistic and societal reality that many developing countries are characterised by individual as well as societal multilingualism, yet a majority of multilingual societies in Africa continue to experience and even propagate a paradoxical situation in which a single foreign language is allowed to dominate in the education sector. For most African countries and other previously colonised countries all over the world, this has always been blamed on the colonial legacy. Ridiculously, because some of these countries detached themselves from their colonial masters more than half a century ago, yet have done little to correct the situation. In Kenya, for instance, the newly independent nation asserted the hegemony of English over local languages in its first post-independence education commission (Republic of Kenya 1964, 24). This paper argues the case for a paradigm shift in Kenya’s language in education policy through the introduction of multi/bilingual instruction in the school system. By deconstructing and interrogating the current policy that places English at the hegemonic pedagogical pedestal, the paper concludes that such a policy has been hinged on the perceived future benefits of English medium of instruction. Grounding its arguments on the notions of linguistic human rights and linguistic pluralism, the paper advocates for a radical shift in Kenya’s current language in education policy to an inclusion of other Kenyan languages including Sheng as one of the languages of instruction and communication within Kenyan school classrooms.
期刊介绍:
Africa Education Review is a scholarly, peer-reviewed journal that seeks the submission of unpublished articles on current educational issues. It encourages debate on theory, policy and practice on a wide range of topics that represent a variety of disciplines, interdisciplinary, cross-disciplinary and transdisciplinary interests on international and global scale. The journal therefore welcomes contributions from associated disciplines including sociology, psychology and economics. Africa Education Review is interested in stimulating scholarly and intellectual debate on education in general, and higher education in particular on a global arena. What is of particular interest to the journal are manuscripts that seek to contribute to the challenges and issues facing primary and secondary in general, and higher education on the African continent and in the global contexts in particular. The journal welcomes contributions based on sound theoretical framework relating to policy issues and practice on the various aspects of higher education.