The quest for trilingualism: A case study of Kenyan communication forms

Contents

1.  Introduction  2

2.  Development of a multilingual Kenyan community  3

2.1.  Influences of the colonial era  4

2.2.  Language policy after independency  6

2.3.  The rise of Kiswahili as lingua franca  7

2.4.  World integration factors  8

3.  The Kenyan system of trilingualism  9

3.1.  English  10

3.2.  Kiswahili  12

3.3.  Ethnic languages  12

3.4.  Other means of communication  14

4.  The use of different communicative patterns  14

4.1.  Preferences  14

4.2.  Competence and Connotation  18

4.3.  Interaction: Sheng and Engsh  20

5.  Consequences  22

5.1.  The question of identity  23

5.2.  Individual language patterns  23

6.  Conclusion  24

7.  References  25

1. Introduction

When considering the linguistic situation in Kenya, it becomes quite obvious that it is anything but homogenous. Not only the large variety of different ethnic groups, but also British colonial influences have left their marks on this diverse region. With English as the official language and Kiswahili as the national language, it seems that the language situation in Kenya should be clear cut and well defined. Yet, the search for a national identity, feelings of inferiority towards the “colonial” language English and the strive for a better political and economic life in Kenya confront the population with many challenges and problems (cf. Agoya).

Kenyan society is shaped by 40 to 60 African ethnic languages (estimations vary here), such as Maasai or Dholuo. The main means of communication, i.e. lin- gua franca, among these different ethnic groups has become Kiswahili. But Kiswahili itself has seven dialects and several sub-dialects. In addition, several European languages were left behind by the colonial era and Arabic and Asian merchants have brought their languages with them too. Thus, the language situation in Kenya is extremely complex and considered to be a 3+ 1 language country. That means that most Kenyan citizens speak three languages (plus or minus one): the mother tongue (in most cases an African ethnic language), Kiswahili – the national language and most often also lingua franca, and English – the official language and therefore used for all educational and governmental purposes (cf. Obondo & Eastman).

But the competence and use of these communication systems varies largely. Like citizens of other imposed multilingual environment situations, Kenyans have developed their very own way to communicate with each other. But language is not only a pure means of communication – it carries different identities depending on social context. It serves to distinguish oneself from others as well as to express one’s membership to a certain group and thus influencing one’s understanding of culture.

However, my aim in this paper is to analyse the current trilingualism in Kenya and explain the different levels of competence. I will put the main emphasis on English and Kiswahili, as they receive official recognition by the Kenyan government. There has still been done little research on the historical and current linguistic environment in Kenya, thus making it hard to make any predictions about

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The range of diverse ethnic groups, however, clearly calls for a common means of communication. Herat, Kiswahili has become the dominant choice, i.e. lingua franca, not only in Kenya, but also on the African continent. I will explore the issue of Kiswahili as lingua franca a little later though.

2.1. Influences of the colonial era

As mentioned above, the colonial era had major influences on today’s language situation in Kenya. But when it became British protectorate in 1886, the British hardly engaged in its education system. School education was introduced by Christian missionaries at the end of the 19 th century and only indirectly controlled by the British Empire by funding schools. In 1920 Kenya became British colony and still the British officials did not seek to assimilate Kenyans into the British Empire. The ethnic languages dominated the life of Kenyan society. Kiswahili became a dominant force after 1935. But the use of one dominant language also meant a unifying force to the British. Thus they probably promoted the use of the vernaculars and the Kenyan society shifted back to the predominance of regional languages in the 50s (Agoya: 11-13). Yet, Kiswahili was still the communicative link between missionaries and British officials and the Kenyan population. This also included the branch of education.

It was only after the Word War II that the British actively engaged in Kenyan education politics. The school system was expanded from five years elementary education, to four years of primary, intermediate and secondary education each. The British planned to shape Kenyan society according to their own values and traditions, but this still did not include the introduction of the English language. Although the British realized that they needed to communicate effectively with the Kenyan citizens to achieve their goals, they only trained few translators and high local officials in the use of English. Government, Trade, Religion and Education prevailed to take place in the respective regional language environment. Not even tribe kings were allowed the privilege of learning English – although English was the official and administrative language at that time (Ibid ).

Even though, the introduction of a school system meant a huge advance for the Kenyan society, study material and education facilities were few and unevenly

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distributed. The large cities (cf. map 1), central and western provinces profited from the new policy, leaving gaps behind which are still visible today. Agoya criticizes:

“But, in view of the linguistic situation in Kenya, especially her high

level of linguistic diversity, the problem of developing appropriate instruction material in the various languages was all too blatant. The outcome was an ever-changing policy with considerable differences between the practice in the classroom and the language aspired to.” 2

Map 1: Kenya 3

Especially the rural areas still suffer from these inconstant shifts between ethnic, national and official language. Although the vernacular has long been and still is regarded as the most appropriate means of education at the school-entry- level, study material in the respective ethnic languages was hardly available, thus creating a promotion of more common African languages as Kiswahili and later English.

Furthermore, the British reluctance of integrating English into the Kenyan society has assigned English the status of elitism: Only few high government African officials who served as a link between the British empire and the Kenyan

people were allowed to learned it. This privilege also meant social and economic success – and still does.

Likewise, English carries the notion of “national shame”, always reminding the Kenyan citizens of the “superiority” of the British and their disdain for the inferior African culture. The younger Kenyan population though has almost forgotten chapter of national pride, mainly attributing English a positive connotation: success. (cf. Obondo: 47 & Muranga).

2.2. Language policy after independency

After 1963, Kenyan independence, a regular school system was introduced. But instead of developing an own system, the colonial policies were adopted. Only few Kenyan ethnic languages also exist in a written form, facilitating the decision for using English for educational purposes. Thus, in the 70s English became the sole medium of education in at least 60% of all schools (Agoya: 13).

The first three years of school are officially taught in the most common language in the region, i.e. the mother tongue of the students. In reality though, the most common languages used by teachers at that level are English and Kiswahili. One reason for this is the large number of different mother tongues. The heterogeneous linguistic environment makes the choice for one language over another necessary. But not all teachers speak the respective mother tongues. Furthermore, not all mother tongues are written languages or are used for school material and therefore limit the choice of the main medium of instruction. The main problem here is a financial one. The government cannot afford to print school material in all the different ethnic languages and the peasants who speak them can obviously not pay for it either. The few study material that exists in ethnic languages is often not up-to-date and not as detailed. English material is regularly updated and better prepared. Thus the most efficient language is chosen for instruction. In most cases schools have decided for either English or Kiswahili. And from the fourth school year onwards, the sole medium of instruction is English – nationwide. This resulted in a large rejection of regional languages as means of school instruction (Agoya).

A typical teaching situation in Kenya thus might look a little peculiar to a

European teacher: Kenyan teachers might speak in Kiswahili, but write on the board

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