Rural-urban dichotomy and Linguistic Variability: Evidence from speaking language as spoken by teachers in Kenya

Abstract

The research reported in this paper identifies and describes phonological and grammatical variations in the English spoken by teachers at Kenyan primary school level, correlates the variations observed with the teachers’ locality - either urban or rural area - and discusses pedagogical implications of the emergent patterns. First, the results indicate that the teacher’s spoken English varies from the British standard variety - the model of correctness at all the education tiers in Kenya - and second, that the location where the teacher has lived and worked in for a long duration significantly influences language variability. In terms of rural-urban dichotomy, the urban English speech is observed to approximate more to Received Pronunciation than the rural speech does. The greatest variation between these two settings (rural and urban) is especially pronounced in the phonological variables. Factors such as differences in patterns of language use, differences in access to technology and differences in attitude and motivation have been put forward to account for linguistic variability that relates to rural-urban dichotomy.