Department of General Linguistics

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Browsing Department of General Linguistics by Author "Abiyo, Rehema Bona"

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    Literacy practices in and out of school in multilingual Kenya : an ethnographic study of Tana River County
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2022-03) Abiyo, Rehema Bona; Oostendorp, Marcelyn; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of General Linguistics.
    ENGLISH ABTRACT: This dissertation investigated the literacy practices in the multilingual context of Tana River County, Kenya. It aimed to understand the types of literacy practices children are exposed to, and engaged in, both in and out of school. The study was guided by the theoretical framework of ‘Critical Literacy’ (Freire, 1996). Within this broader framework of critical literacy, two specific theoretical concepts were used to understand the specific context, namely ‘Multiliteracies’ (The New London Group, 1996) and ‘Linguistic Citizenship’ (Stroud, 2001). The research was conducted in the Tana River County of Kenya, specifically within the Tsana village of the Pokomo language speakers’ community. The research used a qualitative design and the methodology used was linguistic ethnography. The participants in the study included teachers, grade 3 students and their parents. Data collection instruments for this included in-depth interviews, observations, documents analysis, children’s written narratives, and collection of literacy artifacts and linguistic landscapes. Data were collected over six months and analysed through thematic analysis. Findings from this study revealed that in this community the children are exposed to different literacy practices within the school and the community. The literacy resources in school are available in English which is the language of school. Within the community, the literacy practices are mostly articulated in the local languages. The literacy practices in this community are complex and presented themselves in a way that local languages can be appreciated. While the Pokomo language was missing in the school, it was used extensively for local practices such as village public announcements. In addition, Pokomo was present in the linguistic landscape of the village such as on murals, and traditional artifacts. This shows that the members of the Tsana village still value their local language and showcase it in unique places. The study also revealed that on one hand, teachers were not giving access to all available literacy materials (such as the tablets and mother tongue storybooks) for the learners in the classroom despite their availability in the school. The homes of the children were mostly literacy poor, and there was minimal parental involvement in the learning of the children. Through the children’s narrative writing activity, the study also revealed that children are very resourceful. Their relationship in meaning-making has an emotional link to their homes, to their out-of-school literacy experiences, and their relationship to writing is intimately linked to their experiences of schooling. By acknowledging the value of what learners bring from their informal learning from their homes to school, teachers can tap into the strengths of the learners and build them in the classroom as a way of multimodal learning that utilizes local resources.