The Multivoices of Kenyan Primary School Children Learning to Read and Write

This book provides a rich and nuanced examination of children learning to read and write a second language in primary schools in Kenya, taught by teachers who themselves have often learned English as a second or third language. The author uses two case studies, of an urban and a rural school, to explore how different socioeconomic and cultural contexts can affect the enactment of language policies and their effect on literacy. This book contributes a unique perspective to studies in language and literacy education due to its distinctive exploration of young children learning to read and write in the English language in Kenya, and it will be of particular interest to students and scholars of applied linguistics, language education, bilingualism and language policy.

Examines the interplay between official language policy and unofficial language activities enacted by teachers and students at a local level Uses two ethnographic case studies to compare and contrast diverse sociocultural and socioeconomic primary school sites in Kenya Discusses implications for pedagogy, policy and theory, including the question of access to social justice in early literacy education

Autorentext

Esther Mukewa Lisanza is Assistant Professor in the Department of African Studies at Howard University, USA. Her research and publications centre on language and literacy development, politics of language in education, African education, and women's empowerment in Africa.****

Inhalt
Chapter 1: Introduction.- Chapter 2: The Enactment of Official Language Policies in Mutituni and Nyika Primary Schools: Their Impact on Learning.- Chapter 3: The Enacted English Reading Curriculum.- Chapter 4: The Enacted Writing Curriculum.- Chapter 5: The Unofficial Practices: What Are the Children Telling Us?.- Chapter 6: Enacting Children's Multiple Voices: Implications for Theory, Policy and Pedagogy.