This archive report was first published on 2 August 2019.
August 2, 2019
For years, I was convinced that teaching mother tongue to school children was counterproductive to national cohesion. I believed that vernacular languages would wither away if they weren't given prominence. However, my views were rooted in ignorance about the role of language in cognitive development and the need for a universal perspective.
It wasn't until a company retreat, where a young colleague advocated for speaking English exclusively, that I began to question my stance. He argued that nobody speaks vernacular at home, but his statement was met with silence. This incident, combined with my own doubts about allowing my children to converse in sheng, made me realize that I was mistaken.
Today, it's a sad reality that few young people can speak their mother tongues fluently. The millennials, born between 1980 and 2000, are particularly affected, with their English and sheng interfering with their ability to communicate in their native languages. If this trend continues, it's possible that some Kenyan languages may disappear in the next 100 years.
History is replete with examples of languages that have died out, often due to cultural assimilation or the annihilation of their speakers. The Suba language, once spoken by a distinct community, is now almost extinct. Similarly, the Elmolo and Ogiek languages are on the brink of disappearance.
Against this backdrop, a proposed motion by Nairobi County Assembly member Silvia Museiya to include mother tongue lessons in public nursery schools is a welcome initiative. While the idea may seem impractical, the premise is inspired – to save indigenous languages from extinction.
However, I disagree with Museiya's suggestion that learning an African language and culture will minimize Western cultural influence. In my view, the ascendancy of sheng is the real culprit, not Western cultural imperialism.
What's in a language, one might ask? If people can communicate effectively in any language, why bother with mother tongue at all? Wouldn't Kenya be a better place if everyone could communicate in one national language, Kiswahili, and one official language, English? Perhaps it's time to rethink our approach to language and culture.
