CLASSROOM LINGUISTIC PRACTICES AND THE LANGUAGE OF INSTRUCTION QUESTION IN KENYA

Abstract

This study explores the linguistic practices used in Comprehensive Schools in Kenya and examines the extent to which the official English-medium policy reflects the linguistic realities of teachers and learners. The study adopted a qualitative ethnographic design that involved classroom observations of 72 lessons from six subject areas, focus group discussions with teachers and students and document analysis in rural, peri-urban and urban public Comprehensive Schools. The results reveal a discrepancy between policy and practice: official policy requires that English be the sole language of instruction, but only 15% of observed lessons used English exclusively. Most (79%) involved deliberate switching between English and Kiswahili, with 6% using mother tongue languages. Code-switching had varied pedagogical roles: clarifying complex ideas, bridging vocabulary gaps, reducing language anxiety, emphasizing critical information, catering to different proficiency levels, and assisting in classroom management. Teachers employed three types of code-switching – inter-sentential, intra-sentential and tag switching – strategically in different subjects and contexts. The study demonstrates that code-switching is sophisticated communicative competence and culturally responsive pedagogy, not a linguistic deficiency. The findings indicate that the education language policy in Kenya needs to be reviewed to allow strategic code-switching as pedagogical scaffolding that supports rather than undermines English language acquisition, given the multilingual realities in Kenya. The study contributes to the scholarly debate on translanguaging in postcolonial African contexts and has practical implications for policy reform, teacher education and curriculum development.