The question of the standard English model in the achievement of universal primary education in Kenya

Abstract

English language is not only one of the official languages in Kenya but also a medium of instruction in Kenyan schools. The assumption is that at all school levels, the teachers, who are also the main linguistic models to the learners are excellent in their command of the language. There is need to investigate the reality of the English classroom in Kenya since this assumption may not necessarily be a representation of the actual reality. With variation in the Kenyan classrooms mainly because of other international languages spoken in Kenya and the fact that the ethnicity variable impacts on the spoken English used by the teachers within their classrooms, it is a requirement to determine an exact model that learners can be presented with when their teachers are speaking the language in classroom. The second millennium development goal targets the achievement of universal primary education by 2015. In order to achieve this, better education is crucial since it enhances economic and social development of a country as one of the ways of ending poverty. Kenya's ministry of education has implemented the Kenya Education Sector Support program as a road map to universal primary education, yet other issues such as language in education are yet to be addressed. For instance, the English syllabus used in Kenyan schools states clearly that the model language to be used in schools should be the commonwealth variety derived from British standard English.