RP-Confucius Institute

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Browsing RP-Confucius Institute by Author "Furaha, Emmanuel"

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    Surveying Multicultural Literacy Levels in Kenya: Comparison of Primary, Secondary and University
    (2014-06-12) Njoroge, Martin C.; Mwangi, Phyllis W.; Furaha, Emmanuel
    Kenyans belong to diverse cultures but how literate are they in understanding one another’s cultures? What is the role of teaching in the acquisition of multicultural literacy? To what extent are the primary, secondary and university students literate in, for example, Turkana, Maasai and Nubian cultural issues? What is the correlation between gender, education level and multicultural literacy? Using a quantitative research design, and using a pretest-posttest paradigm, data were collected from sampled primary, secondary and university students to determine levels of multicultural literacies. A pretest comprising 30 items was given to all the 25 sampled students at each education level. The test was marked and score recorded. The students were then taught about the Maasai, Turkana and Nubian cultures. A posttest having the same questions as in the pretest was later given, marked and scores recorded. Data were then analyzed using computer based SPSS. To test the correlation, Levene’s test for equality of variances was used to establish whether the observed differences among gender and education variables were purely random or whether there were real differences between the means. The findings show that exposing students to information on the three cultures influenced performance in the posttest. Learners became more literate in multicultural issues after the teaching. We argue that incorporating multicultural content in the curriculum will expand students’ multicultural awareness and decrease negative stereotyping of individuals from other Kenyan cultures. Ultimately, the achievement of Kenya’s national goals of education will be enhanced.
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    Utilizing Resources in Linguistic Minority Communities to Enhance Acquisition of Literacy Skills among Learners: Evidence from Maasai, Turkana and Nubian Language Groups in Kenya
    (2014-06-17) Njoroge, Martin C.; Mwangi, Phyllis W.; Furaha, Emmanuel
    The Language in Education Policy in Kenya supports the education of children in their mother tongue (MT) for the first three years of primary. However, this policy has not been implemented amongst the minority language groups in Kenya, mainly because most of the languages involved have not been developed. Consequently, some minority communities are forced to use MT materials written in the neighboring majority languages. Minority languages, just as the dominant languages, carry with them a wealth of knowledge about the local ecosystem and act as a repository of a speech community’s history, traditions, arts and ideas (Kamwangamalu, 2008). Thus when a language is lost, much more is lost than just its basic function as a tool of expression. There is, therefore, need for documentation of the available unwritten resources in minority languages because every one of the world’s languages is unique and invaluable. The issue of literacy among linguistic minorities forms the gist of the proposed colloquium. The colloquium will be based on a research done on oral literature genres in three minority languages in Kenya: Maasai, Turkana and Nubian, which were randomly sampled. Using oral literature samples from these minority languages, we shall illustrate the wealth of resources and knowledge that can be harvested, which, in turn, can be used in enhancing acquisition of literacy skills among learners. We argue that if these oral literature materials are selected carefully, they will form useful resources in the achievement of literacy for all and in instilling social values because most oral literature genres contain useful lessons where good is rewarded and evil punished.