The Effects of ‘Sheng’ in the Teaching of Kiswahili in Kenyan Schools.

Abstract

This paper discusses the effects of ‘Sheng’ in the education institutions of Kenya, and gives a general overview of its development at the expense of the official languages, that is, Kiswahili and English. While some people have advocated the growth of ‘Sheng’ as an indication of societal growth in Kenya, others, including scholars, researchers and educationists are on the opinion that the spread of this code impacts negatively on the learners in Kenyan schools and colleges. They base their arguments on the fact that other international languages did not achieve their sophistication through breaking their morpho-syntactic or grammatical rules at the pace in which ‘Sheng’ is infiltrating Kiswahili. Indeed, according to some, this code should be left to hip hop musicians, public transport touts, drug peddlers and school drop outs. The paper recommends specific researches to be done on the language situation in Kenya especially as far as the spread of ‘Sheng’ and its impacts on education are concerned.