CHEMCHEMI International Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences Volume 10 Number 2, 2016 KENYATTA UNIVERSITY ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE OPEN ACCESS LANGUAGE AND CROSS-CULTURAL COMMUNICATION: LEXICAL VARIATION AMONG INITIATED AND UNINITIATED TUGEN SPEAKERS Philip Kiprop and Hilda Kebeya Abstract Different societies have different rules/norms governing communication. What works in one society may fail to work in another. This scenario raises a host of fundamental questions: What happens when individuals from different cultural groups interact? Is there is a possibility that miscommunication may occur in the course of communication? If so what is the nature of miscommunication and how does it affect social relations of individuals or groups? In what ways can miscommunication be minimized during intercultural communication? This paper explores cross cultural communication within an African context. Specifically the paper seeks to unearth the lexical variations that exist in the language of two cultural groups in Baringo County, Kenya. Two cohorts of Tugen speakers (the initiated and uninitiated) form the sample of this study. Tugen is a dialect of the Kalenjin language. In order to graduate into adulthood Tugens have to undergo a traditional form of circumcision. During circumcision, the initiates are taught a new register, which serves to distinguish them from the uninitiated members of the community. This paper therefore investigates the speech of initiated and uninitiated speakers of Tugen and unearths a number of lexical items that vary. After interviewing 80 purposively sampled subjects the paper established the existence of systematic variation in lexical items from two cultural groups in Tugen. It is apparent from the results presented here that a better understanding of a group’s culture enriches the understanding of cross cultural communication. Therefore, knowledge of existing variations in Tugen and other languages/dialects minimizes incidences of miscommunication. Since effects of miscommunication are often very costly, it is therefore important that more studies be conducted in this area. The world has become a global village and cross cultural communication is a now a daily engagement for many of us who live in the modern world. Key words: Intercultural communication, lexical variation, initiated, uninitiated, Tugen. Introduction Cross-cultural communication is defined as communication between people with differing cultural identities (Martin and Nakayama, 2010) and is usually conceptualised at three levels: cultural, socio- cultural and psycho-cultural (Gudykunst and Kim, 1995). The first level seeks information about the ‘other’ culture. It focuses on the dominant values and norms of one culture as opposed to the other. Those who take this approach delve into inter-cultural communication between ‘different’ societies/ communities. The second level is the socio-cultural one and it is pursued by those who are interested in intra-cultural communication. The analyst therefore, focuses on cultural aspects of ‘sub-groupings’ within ‘one’ large cultural group. Within this framework the term ‘sub-culture’ is often used in place of ‘culture.’ ISSN 1563-1028 Finally, we have the psycho-cultural level where the focus is on an individual’s cultural characteristics with a view to gaining an in-depth understanding of the process of social cognition at the individual level. It is assumed that taking such an approach allows interlocutors to improve communication with strangers because they are able to pay attention to the unique features of a ‘stranger’s’ culture (Gudykunst and Kim, 1995). This research operates at the second level of information, that is, the socio-cultural level. Our data is sourced from two sub-groupings (the initiated and uninitiated members) of one Kenyan community, the Tugen. Tugen is a dialect of the Kalenjin language which is mainly spoken in the Rift Valley region of Kenya. The other Kalenjin dialects are: Kipsigis, Nandi, Keiyo, Elgeyo Marakwet, Ogiek, Pokot, Terik and Sabaot (Towett, 1979). Tugens inhabit Baringo County. The County is made up of six sub- counties which are Koibatek, Mogotio, Marigat, Baringo Central, Baringo East and Baringo North. Its headquarters is Kabarnet, a town 220 kilometres West of Nairobi, the country’s capital city. According to Tuitoek (2010), the Tugen community has an organized structure. The community has three clans namely: Lembus, Somor and Arror. Like many communities of the world, the Tugen place a premium on their cultural and traditional values, customs and ceremonies. Among others, initiation of children into adulthood through circumcision is one of the most highly valued practices by the Tugen community. Initially, both boys and girls were initiated but lately the number of females undergoing the rites has drastically reduced due to intervention by various global, regional and national bodies fighting hard to eradicate this practice. However, many cultural groups in the country still consider the female cut which is also referred to as Female Genital Mutilation (hereafter FGM) an important rite of passage hence continue to practice it secretly. As already mentioned, traditional circumcision was revered and still is in many African communities. For Tugens, it marked the transition of the initiates from childhood to adulthood. It was a time when new skills were learnt. This included the learning of a new register. This register was characterized by the use of new lexical items known only to those who had undergone this rite of passage. The general Tugen name for circumcision is ‘tuum’ (circumcision) since it involves both boys and girls. However, when referring to male circumcision specifically the term ‘kamuratan’ is used. Male circumcision and FGM are usually conducted by experts. These are often experienced older Tugen women and men. To qualify for initiation into adulthood, boys and girls had to be between 17 and 22 years of age. After circumcision the initiates are taken to a special hut and they become ‘torusiek’ (meaning a fresh initiate). The past initiates (Motirens) keep watch over the fresh initiates (Torusiek) day and night. They are their caregivers for the next three or four weeks. The ‘torusiek’ are forbidden to sit by fire and they are fed lavishly in order to heal quickly. When the wounds are healed, the education part of the initiation begins. They are taught the rules and customs of the community. In addition to learning the culture of the community, the ‘torusiek’ are also taught a secret language (an argot). Each common object/activity is given a ‘new’ name and it is known only to those who have undergone the initiation. Knowledge of this is tested regularly and in case of forgetfulness, suitable punishment is meted to the culprit. Those who fail the test may be caned or required to fetch firewood, food or beer for ‘motirens.’ It is therefore against this backdrop that the present study sought to investigate lexical variation in Tugen. By focusing on two groups of speakers (namely; the initiated and the uninitiated) the study sought to identify and present the nouns and verbs used by the initiated members of the Tugen community and to show that they differ from those used by uninitiated persons. Studies on Language Variation and Change (LVC) Language variation and change (LVC) studies had their effective beginnings in the 1960s thereafter more studies seeking to establish the relationship between various languages/varieties and social factors have been conducted in different societies (Trudgill, 1974; Milroy, 1980; Muthwii, 1994; Foulkes and Docherty, 2014). These studies seem to be in agreement that language is an emblem of an individual’s class, sex, age, ethnicity, social networks, ambitions or some other social attribute. Studies on LVC seek to establish the variation that is found within languages, especially variation that is geographically or socially conditioned. To achieve this, linguistic variants are correlated with social factors (such as social class, gender, age and ethnicity) and stylistic parameters (such as formal/informal) and focus may be on any of the following linguistic levels: phonological, grammatical, lexical, discourse and so on (Chambers and Schilling, 2013). Studies may take synchronic or diachronic approaches. More current areas of focus in LVC include Sociophonetics and Syntactic variation and change. In addition, innovative research techniques and theoretical frameworks are being developed to allow insights into the relationships between fine grained phonetic production and social categories we use to negotiate and define our positions as social beings. Labov’s 1966 classical study of three departmental stores in New York, for example investigated the interplay between phonological and social variables. It focused on post-vocalic and final /r/ in words such as ‘fourth’ ‘bark’ or ‘bar’ and ‘floor’ and correlated it to social status of speakers. Labov hypothesized that the speech of salespersons at the departmental stores would reflect, to a large extent the norms of their customers. Thus, salespersons from high ranked stores would have the highest scores of r-full realizations, those in middle ranked stores would have intermediate scores and those in low ranked stores would have the least /r/. Labov then purposively sampled three large departmental stores. Saks Fifth Avenue –a high status store near the centre of the high fashion district, Macy’s- a store regarded as mid-middle- class and middle priced, and Klein’s- a store selling cheaper items and catering for poorer customers. Labov was able to gather responses from 264 subjects. It was evident that the pronunciation of ‘r’ depended on the social status of the speaker. Thus speakers with the highest social status had the highest scores of r-full pronunciations. LVC studies have also underscored the influence of speakers’ gender and age on language behaviour (Milroy, 1980; Chambers and Schilling, 2013). Women and men, are generally, socialized not only separately but differently in many societies. Societal roles are to a large extent defined according to the gender of individual members, with each group having prescribed roles. The end result is that women speakers often exhibit different linguistic patterns from men in specific communities. For example, female respondents in Trudgill’s (1974) study were found to over-report their standard usage of English while the men over-reported their non-standard usage. This implies that women wished to sound more standard and men wished to sound more non-standard. Thus women are more susceptible to overt prestige than men. A study in Ballymacarett area of Belfast by Milroy (1980) also made similar conclusions. Milroy investigated the correlation between the integration of individuals in the community and the way those individuals speak. In addition the study also tried to determine the effect of social networks, sex and social class on language use. In the Ballymacarett area the study was able to pick out a significant positive correlation between network structure and the use of non-standard forms of speech. In addition, Ballymacarett males did use more vernacular speech forms than their female counterparts. This is so because their networks were dense and multiplex than those of the women in the community. In that area of the city, there was relatively low unemployment and men spent more time together than the women did. Therefore Milroy’s study established that female speakers use more standard forms than male speakers. Sex is a salient variable in the Tugen community. We established that it had some effect on lexical variation in the Tugen community. However due to constraints of time we shall neither present nor discuss the results in this article. Age is revered among the Tugen peoples and there is great pressure to respect those older than one-self and to develop close relationships with those of one’s peer group. In many sociolinguistic studies older speakers have been found to be more conservative in their use of language unlike the younger speakers who tend to be very innovative. Milroy and Milroy (1978) report the case of the young women of Clonard who introduce the backing of (a) variable into the community. Similarly, Cheshire (1982) observes that adolescents in reading use more vernacular forms than older speakers. In this study we focus on younger speakers who are adolescents. It is this age group that is ideally candidates of initiation in the Tugen community. We study the group to find out the forms of lexical variation present in their language. . Finally, LVC studies have demonstrated that ethnicity is a salient feature in many communities of the world. A majority of ethnic groups in the world stress languages as the main carrier of their culture and expression of their identity (Hammers and Blanc, 2000). Language use has been suggested to create and substantiate ethnicity (Noels, 2014). It is not only an instrument of communicating messages but also a tool with which a group distinguishes itself from other similar groups (Hamers and Blanc, 2000). Group feelings are emphasized by using the group’s own language (usually a shared first language/ethnic language), and members of the out-group are excluded from its internal transactions (Giles et al., 1980). In the case of Kenya, the two main identities are ethnic-group identities (also referred to as in-group identities) and extra-group ones. Consequently, individuals who have shifted from ethnic-group identities to extra-group ones tend to have less ethnic features in their speech than those who have not (Muthwii, 1994). The three subfields in psychology covering ethnicity and ethnic identity are socio-psychology, developmental and counselling psychology and cross-cultural psychology (Noels, 2014). Whereas social psychology is widely adopted by many sociolinguistic studies, the other two subfields have been neglected. There exist scanty sociolinguistic studies in the other two sub fields of Psychology. Communication accommodation (previously referred to as speech accommodation) and ethno linguistic vitality by Howard Giles are some of the concepts that many Sociolinguistic studies have borrowed from Social psychology. Most of these studies have analysed data from contexts of intercultural communication (Gallois, Ogay and Giles, 2006). The general view in communication accommodation theory is that “individuals subtly and indirectly communicate approval or disapproval of one another by altering their speech to be more similar to or different from the other” (Giles et al., 1980. P. 185). Thus research in this area has tended to focus on how and why speakers converge to or diverge from their addressees during intergroup interaction. It is argued that speakers weigh the ‘costs’ and ‘rewards’ of an interaction before making their choices. Developmental and counselling psychologists have been interested in ethnic identity particularly as it relates to ethnic minority group members’ wellbeing (Noels, 2014). They maintain that identity issues become highly salient during adolescence. There is a general consensus that adolescence is a period when the degree of self-awareness is highest in an individual. Therefore, many adolescents will try to find out more about their ethnic identity/identities and many have reported a strong commitment/attachment to their ethnic groups (Yip, 2013). In spite of there being fewer Sociolinguistic studies investigating ethnicity from this perspective, a majority of them seem to hold the view that “different facets of identity described by social identity and psychosocial developmental theorists may have different implications for language use and linguistic variation.” (Noels, 2014. P. 9). The present study falls in this realm. It tries to establish the lexical variations in the speech of Tugen adolescents in Baringo County, Kenya. Finally, we have the third subfield of psychology namely cross-cultural psychology which focuses on acculturation. Berry (2005) outlines four broad modes of acculturation. These are: Assimilation (rejecting the former ethnicity and embracing the latter), Separation (rejecting the latter ethnicity and embracing the former), Integration (engaging both ethnicities) and Marginalization/Individualism (refusal to identify with both ethnicities). Different modes of ethnic identity have been found to relate in different ways to language behaviour. Information on how these modes are exhibited in the speech of many local Kenyan communities is lacking. There is therefore a gap in this area. It is important that more sociolinguistic studies be carried out as very little is known about how indigenous Kenyan communities acculturate. As already mentioned the present study draws its data from the Tugen, one of the dialects of the Kalenjin community. As Muthwii (1994, p. 102) argues, Kalenjin dialects share a lot of linguistic features and are mutually intelligible. This echoes Toweett (1979) who observes that speakers of the various Kalenjin dialects ‘understand one another. Muthwii (1994) notes the existence of a dialect continuum where the dialects are linked by a chain of mutual intelligibility. As far as standardization of Kalenjin is concerned, Muthwii (1994, p. 106) notes that there is no standard variety in Kalenjin although unsuccessful attempts were made in the first half of the twentieth century to make Nandi the standard dialect. Toweett (1979), in studying Kalenjin Linguistics gets data from his Kipsigis dialect. He notes that there are no marked differences between Kipsigis and other Kalenjin dialects, and generalizes his findings to the whole of the Kalenjin language group. This study is conducted in an area mainly inhabited by the Tugen. One aspect of linguistic diversity which people notice readily and comment on quite frequently is lexical variation. They are certainly common enough as markers of the differences between geographical areas or regions--for instance the fact that “a carbonated soft drink” might be called ‘pop’ in the inland North and the West of the United States, ‘soda’ in the Northeast, ‘tonic’ in Eastern New England, and ‘cold drink,’ or ‘dope’ in various parts of the South (Carver, 1987). Or the fact that a person who was “tired” or exhausted” might describe themselves as being ‘all in’ if they were from the North or West, but ‘wore out’ or ‘give out’ if they were from the South (Carver, 1987). Accordingly, lexical differences play a significant role in regional dialectology (the study of regional dialects), and in popular treatments of American dialects like the documentary film American Tongues, lexical differences are given prime coverage. This study renders Tugen lexical items a similar treatment. Literature reviewed on LVC in this section has helped in highlighting the major issues in the broad study area. In the next section we present the theories used to guide the study. Theoretical Framework The analysis of data in this study was guided by two theories: the Denotational Theory of Meaning (Lyons, 1968) and the Variationist theory (Labov, 1966; 2010). The Denotational Theory of Meaning (Lyons, 1968) attempts to equate a word’s meaning with the entities it refers to. It is premised on the notion that if two expressions denote the same object, then they mean the same thing; that is, they are synonymous. Also known as the Reference Model of Semantics, the Denotational Theory of Meaning posits that “there is a sense in which at least certain items in the vocabularies of all languages can be put into correspondences with ‘features’ of the physical world” (Lyons, 1968, p. 425). Since this study seeks to determine the words (nouns and verbs) that are used by the initiated and uninitiated Tugens, the Denotational Theory of Meaning aids this study in deducing the meanings of these words. For example the verb ‘hunt’ is ‘tembea’ to the initiated Tugens but ‘logot.’ to the uninitiated. Acceptance of the assumption that “reference is the relationship which holds between words and the things, events, actions and qualities that they stand for” (Lyons, 1968, p. 424) makes it possible for us to determine the meaning of Tugen words analysed in this study. The Variationist theory is based on the premise that language varies. These variations occur at all levels of language (i.e. phonological, morphological, syntactic, lexical and pragmatic). Variation is therefore an integral part of the linguistic system (Labov, 2010). Variationists operate on the principle that the variation occurring in language is not ‘random’ but that rather it is systematic. Thus by correlating linguistic and non-linguistic variables many LVC studies have been able to show patterns of language variation in different speech communities. The present paper fits into this paradigm. Data from initiated and uninitiated Tugen respondents residing in Kapkiamo area of Baringo County was collected and instances of lexical variation identified. This paper correlated linguistic data (Tugen nouns and verbs) with two non-linguistic variables (initiated/uninitiated). Data Collection Data for this paper was obtained from a fieldwork study conducted in Kapkiamo sub location for four months in the year 2013. The study area, Kapkiamo is located in Kelyo location, Kabartonjo division, Baringo North Sub County, Baringo County, Kenya. A founding member of the East African Community, Kenya borders the Indian Ocean South East-wards and is made up of 47 counties. The entire country covers 581 309 km2 and has a total population of 38 610 097 (Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, 2009). Baringo county only occupies 11 075.3 square kilometres and has a population of 555 561. Kapkiamo sub location is made up of 10 villages namely: Kapkoroi, Lomet, Nguwo, Menonin, Kapkorongoro, Talai, Ngenyin, Kaptuno, Kasikorion and Sundet. The subjects of the study were drawn from all 10 villages where we sampled 8 respondents from each village. Thus a total of 80 respondents were selected to participate in the study. Of the 80 half of the respondents had undergone traditional circumcision while half had not. This study refers to those who had been traditionally circumcised as the initiated and those who had not as the uninitiated. This sample was purposively selected. Questionnaires were used to obtain bio data from prospective respondents in order to determine their suitability to participate in the study. In order to identify the Tugen nouns and verbs per group (namely initiated vs. uninitiated) we conducted oral interviews (guided by an interview schedule) on the 80 respondents that had been sampled. All interviews were tape-recorded. This allowed the researchers to listen to the responses later on and even replay the recordings for verification of one issue or the other. Milroy and other sociolinguists recommend the recording of sociolinguistic interviews (Milroy and Gordon, 2003; Chambers and Schilling, 2013). After interviewing initiated and uninitiated Tugen speakers, a total of 80 recordings were obtained each lasting about 15 minutes. The first item of the interview schedule asked the respondents whether they were aware that are words in Tugen that are only known to people who have been circumcised. All the 80 subjects answered ‘YES’ to this question. This is a clear indication that lexical variation exists in the two Tugen sub-groups. The second task in the interview schedule was for respondents to give the Tugen equivalent of a specified set of English words in the predetermined word list. The study was guided by a Swadesh wordlist which we revised and adapted to the Tugen community. Native speaker intuition also assisted in the revision of the word list. One of the researchers is an initiated Tugen and is familiar with the ‘new’ register of initiates so he helped in domesticating the Swadesh wordlist. Results From the responses collected, it was evident that different lexical items were given for the same concept by the two groups. Subjects who had undergone circumcision used different words from those used by individuals who had not been circumcised. This was true for both Tugen Nouns (naming words) and Verbs (doing words). For purposes of being systematic nouns are presented first and then verbs. Variation of Nouns in the Speech of Tugen Respondents This sub section presents the variation of nouns in Tugen (see Table 1). Table 1: Variation of Nouns per group in Kapkiamo Nouns used by Initiated Tugens Nouns used by Uninitiated Tugens Gloss 1. Manga Kumnyo Ugali 2. Ito Maat Fire 3. Kipsang Arawa Moon 4. Keet Seket A kind of spoon 5. Keten Teket Chest 6. Boshek bo ma Oron Ashes 7. Komet Mama Mother 8. Oboi Babae Father 9. Karna Taret Male organ 10. Sikor Kwen Firewood 11. Malsenji Marangeti Blanket 12. Jeptapkuko Senge Aunt 13. Milesi Rikei Robe 14. Murungu Keten Udder 15. Anwo Soka Axe 16. Chemerian Kiwotum Female initiate A total of 16 nouns were found to vary in the speech of initiated and uninitiated Tugens. These nouns are presented in Table 1 above. In the Table, initiated Tugens refer to ugali as ‘manga’ while the uninitiated refer to it as ‘kumnyo.’This is an example of variation at the lexical level between the two groups. These kinds of variations are likely to lead to miscommunication. This is because if a hungry Tugen who has undergone traditional circumcision asks to be given some Ugali (whose equivalent is manga); his uninitiated addressee may fail to give him what he has asked for even when there is some kumnyo in the cupboard! Failure to know the register of initiated members of society by those who are yet to be initiated can lead to even more serious problems such as starvation, mistrust and violence (in case the hungry guy is also angry). There is therefore need for more studies to be carried out in this area for more insights to be shed on more incidences of lexical variation. According to Table 1, a total of 15 nouns exhibit a similar pattern of systematic variation as ‘ugali’ in the two cohorts. For example, fire is referred to as ‘ito’ by the initiated and ‘maat’ by the uninitiated. ‘Kipsang’ is the word used by the initiated for moon whereas the uninitiated call it ‘arawa’. A kind of spoon used to serve ugali is ‘keet’ for the initiated and ‘seket’ for the uninitiated. The chest especially in male is ‘keten’ for the initiated and ‘teket’ for the uninitiated. Ashes also had a different name for the initiated and uninitiated. For the uninitiated, they called ‘oron’ while the initiated called ‘boshekboma’. The male organ was referred to as ‘karna’ by the initiated and ‘taret’ by the uninitiated. A blanket especially the heavy one was ‘malsenji’ among the initiated and ‘marangeti’ among the uninitiated. Other examples include ‘komet’ by the initiated and ‘mama’ by the uninitiated to refer to mother. The head of the family who is the father also had a different reference. The initiated called him ‘oboi’ while the uninitiated called ‘babae’. The aunt who was a respected member of the family and would be accorded special attention during her visits was ‘jeptapkuko’ for the initiated and ‘senge’ by the uninitiated. A kind of string used to tie domestic animals and in carrying heavy items commonly referred to as a robe was ‘milesi’ by the initiated and ‘rikei’ for the uninitiated. A cow’s udder was referred to as ‘murungu’ by the initiated and ‘keten’ by the uninitiated. An axe that was used to split firewood was ‘anwo’ for the initiated and ‘soka’ for the uninitiated. In conclusion, a female initiate was called ‘chemerian’ by the initiated and ‘kiwotum’ by the uninitiated. Variation of Verbs in the Speech of Tugen Respondents Variation was also observed in the Verb category. When we replayed the recorded interviews, we found that 8 verbs systematically varied in the two cohorts. This number is half that of Nouns, an indication that there are more variations in the noun group than in the verb group. In Table 2 presents the eight Verbs. Table 2: Variation of Verbs per group in Kapkiamo Verbs used by initiated Tugens Verbs used by uninitiated Tugens Gloss 1. Kikengso Kiibisio To marry 2. Etgei Kaiwai Excrete 3. Tartabei Sokos Urinate 4. Tembea Logot Hunting 5. Kopchin Ru Sleep 6. Washingeibei Iungei Bath 7. Bwat Inan Think 8. Abosan Berber To fool A look at Table 2 shows that initiated and uninitiated Tugens use different verb forms. According to the Table, the word for ‘to marry’ in Tugen is either ‘kikengso’(if the speaker is initiated) or ‘kiibisio’ (if one is uninitiated). Excreting is ‘etgei’ by the initiated and ‘kaiwai’ by the uninitiated. To urinate is’ tartabei’ by the initiated and ‘sokos’ by the uninitiated. Initiated Tugens refer to hunting as ‘tembea’ while the uninitiated ones use the term ‘logot’. To sleep is ‘kopchi’ for the initiated and ‘ru’ for the uninitiated. Other verbs that varied include ‘washingeibei’ by the initiated and ‘iungei’ by the uninitiated to refer to bath. Think, is ‘bwat’ for the initiated and ‘inan’ by the uninitiated. Lastly, to fool is ‘abosan’ by the initiated and ‘berber’ by the uninitiated. These examples demonstrate that lexical variations are systematic in the two groups of Tugen speakers. Conclusion Circumcision is a significant rite of passage in the Tugen community and it is highly valued. A majority (85%) of the respondents felt that traditional circumcision plays an important role in the community and that it should continue being practiced. The study further established systematic variations involving several nouns and verbs among initiated and uninitiated respondents in Kapkiamo. While Uninitiated Tugens referred to the chest as ‘teket’ the initiated subjects used a different lexical item, ‘keten’ to refer to the chest. It is therefore evident from our data that Tugen respondents who have undergone traditional circumcision have an argot which they use among themselves. Thus language in this community is not just a tool for communicating about stuff it plays an additional role; it is an emblem. Thus language is used to symbolize one’s initiation status; that is whether an individual has undergone circumcision or not. Considering that 16 nouns and 8 verbs were found to systematically vary in the two groups of subjects it is possible that there may be more cases of lexical variation in this community. Therefore more studies need to be conducted on the Tugen and other speech communities in order to unearth instances of lexical variation. This will ensure that attention is paid towards linguistic differences of cultural groups in an effort to optimize communication. The key to effective cross cultural communication is to understand the cultural and linguistic diversity of our communities. References Berry, J.W., (2005). “Acculturation: living successfully in two cultures.” In International Journal of Intercultural Relations. 29, 6, p. 697-712. Elsevier. Carver, C.M. (1987). American Regional Dialects: Word Geography. : USA: University of Michigan Press. Chambers, J. K. & Schilling, N. (Eds.). (2013). The Handbook of Language Variation and Change. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell. Cheshire, J. (1982). 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Norwich: University of East Anglia. Noels, K. A. (2014). “Language Variation and Ethnic Identity: a social psychological Perspective.” In Language and Communication, 35, 88-96. Elsevier. Retrieved: http://www. psych.ualberta.ca/-knoels/personl/kimb publications/Noels2014 Towett, T. (1979). The Study of Kalenjin Linguistics. Nairobi: Kenya Literature Bureau. Trudgill, P. (1974). The Social Differentiation of English in Norwich. London: Cambridge University Press. Tuitoek, R. K. (2010).The Tugen Community. Nakuru: St. Mary’s Printing Press. Yip, T. (2013). “Ethnic Identity in everyday life: the influence of identity development status.” Child Development, 00, 1-15. About the Authors Dr. Hilda Kebeya is faculty Department of English and Linguistics while Philip Kiprop is an M.A graduate from the same department.