Enforcement of school language policy and its influence on the use of Kiswahili in secondary Schools in Bungoma County, Kenya

Abstract

Kiswahili is a very important language in Kenya. It is both a national and official language in the republic of Kenya. However, there are concerns that the poor performance in Kiswahili in national examinations is partially attributed to the laxity in the enforcement of the school language policy. Recent research has shown that Kiswahili is faced with lack of full implementation of language policy at various levels yet scholars have argued that language policy performs a substantial role in the enhancement of performance as well as the comprehension of the language. It is based on this thrust that this study investigated how the enforcement of school language policy influenced the use of Kiswahili in secondary schools in Bungoma County, Kenya. The study objectives were; to find out the language policy in secondary schools, establish the drive or motive for the development of the school language policy in each school, asses how the motivation in enforcement of the school language policy impacts on the use of Kiswahili within the school setting, examine the influence of punishment on the enforcement of the school language policy and explore the challenges associated with the enforcement of the school language policy in secondary schools. The social constructivism theory by Vygotsky, the input hypothesis and the affective filter hypothesis that complemented each other guided the study. The social construction theory concentrated on the relations between social cultural context and people in which they act and intermingle in mutual experiences while the later demonstrated how children acquire language unconsciously without much effort. The study was conducted in 30 out of 300 public secondary schools found in Bungoma County. The respondents were 360 form three students, 90 teachers of Kiswahili and 30 principals. Cluster, stratified, purposive and simple random sampling techniques were used to sample the target groups. The questionnaire, FGD guide and document analysis guide were used to collect data. The quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive statistics which included the use of frequenciesand percentages while the qualitative data was analyzed using the content analysis. The study established that the sampled schools had language policy in place although it varied. Some schools had structured language policy while others had unstructured language policy. It was found out that motivation and punishment had an impact on the enforcement of school language policy. Challenges associated with the enforcement of school language policy were dependent on the type of school. It was further discovered that the way different schools enforced their school language policy impacted on the use of Kiswahili. In view of the above findings, it was recommended all teachers regardless of the subject they teach should participate in the enforcement of the school language policy. The school administrators should ensure that their respective language policies should be fully enforced in order to meet its intended purpose and the school language policies should be well structured. It is hoped the finding of this study would help MOEST, principals of schools and teachers in formulating school language policy that aim at enhancing students’ achievements in languages offered in the curriculum.