Overview
- 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
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Table of contents (6 chapters)
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Front Matter
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Back Matter
Keywords
About this book
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.
Reviews
"Multivoices of Kenyan Children Learning to Read and Write provides a welcome and vivid account of an area that has remained largely unexplored: African children learning to read and write during official (teacher-controlled) times and unofficial (child-controlled) times. The book is engaging, stimulating and a pioneering introduction to the role of translanguaging as a resource which empowers multilingual learners." --Martha Michieka, East Tennessee State University, USA
"Amidst a tendency to rush children from one activity to another in the classroom in order to meet global standards of literacy, Esther Lisanza’s book is a breath of fresh air. By concentrating on the details of children’s interactions as they talk and write inside and outside of the classroom, she demonstrates the rich cultural resources they have to offer from their own experiences. This book offers a new perspective on childhood multilingualism, connecting global concerns relatedto child literacy and the potential of children across cultures." --Sofie Dewayani, Litara Foundation, Indonesia
"Esther Lisanza’s research is an accurate exploration of language-learning experiences of Kenyan multilingual learners against the backdrop of a dynamic socio-cultural-economic environment. It is definitely a great reference to theory, policy and pedagogical development in language studies within multicultural contexts." --Margaret W. Njeru, Riara University, Kenya
Authors and Affiliations
About the author
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.
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: The Multivoices of Kenyan Primary School Children Learning to Read and Write
Authors: Esther Mukewa Lisanza
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-38110-3
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham
eBook Packages: Literature, Cultural and Media Studies, Literature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2020
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-030-38109-7Published: 19 March 2020
eBook ISBN: 978-3-030-38110-3Published: 18 March 2020
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XI, 166
Number of Illustrations: 16 b/w illustrations
Topics: Language Policy and Planning, African Culture, Language Education, Linguistics, general, Literacy, Multilingualism