FRONTIER INSTITUTE OF PROFESSIONAL AND MANAGEMENT

STUDIES.
Along wajir international airport road, opposite the new sokomjinga market.
P. O BOX 228-70200, WAJIR .TEL 0718712578.
“Center Of Academic Excellence And Educational Innovation
LECTURER: FRANKLINE ODONGO.

INTRODUCTION

Indigenous Language
Indigenous is born or originating in, native to a land or region before intrusion.
Native is belonging to one or something by birth.
Indigenous language or autochthonous language is a language that is native and spoken by
indigenous people. It is a language from a linguistically distinct community that originated in an
area.

NATIONAL GOALS OF EDUCATION

Education in Kenya should:

1. Foster nationalism and patriotism and promote national unity.

Kenya is a country with a lot of people who belong to different communities, races, and
religions, but these differences need not to divide them.
Education should help young people acquire this sense of national hood by removing conflicts
and promoting positive attitudes of mutual respect which enables them to live together in
harmony and foster patriotism.

2. Promote the social, economic, technological and industrial needs for national
development.

Education in Kenya should prepare the youth of the country to play an effective and productive
role in life of the nation.
a) Social Needs
Education must prepare children for changes in attitudes and relationships which are necessary
for smooth progress of a rapid developing modern economy. Thus, education should assist our
youth to adapt to this change.

b) Economic Needs
Education in Kenya should produce citizens with skills, knowledge, expertise and personal
qualities that are required to support a growing economy.
c) Technological and Industrial Needs
Education in Kenya should provide learners with necessary skills and attitudes for industrial
development.

3. Promote individual development and self- fulfilment.

Education should provide opportunities for the fullest development of individual talents and
personality. It should help children to develop their potential interest and abilities ie building of
character.

4. Promote sound moral and religious values.

Education should provide for the development of knowledge, skill and attitudes that will enhance
the acquisition of sound moral values and help children to grow up into self-disciplined, self-
reliant and integrated citizens.

5. Promote social equality and responsibility.

Education should promote social equality and foster a sense of social responsibility within an
education system which provides equal educational opportunities for all.

6. Promote respect for and development of Kenya's rich and varied cultures.
Education should instils in the youth of Kenya an understanding of past and present cultures and
their valid place in contemporary society.

7. Promote International conscience and foster positive attitudes towards other nations.
Kenya is part of the international community. Education should lead the youths of the country to
accept membership of this this international community with all the obligations and
responsibilities, rights and benefits that this membership entails.

8. Promote positive attitudes towards good health and environmental protection.

Education should inculcate in young people the value of good health in order for them to avoid
indulging in activities that will lead to physical or mental ill health. Thus, education should
foster positive attitudes towards environmental development and conservation.

ESSENCE STATEMENT
This subject area equips the trainee teacher with the language skills required to facilitate and
foster a positive attitude towards indigenous languages. According to the United Nations,
indigenous languages promote peace, human rights, inclusion, and diversity. The UN declared
2019 'The International Year of Indigenous Languages' to preserve, promote and revitalize them.
The trainee teacher will be provided with a rich and supportive environment to develop their
talents through linguistic and cultural diversity. The knowledge will in turn provide opportunities
for nurturing the learners' acceptance and appreciation of their cultural diversity.
The trainee teacher will also be equipped with the language skills which will enable their
learners to acquire indigenous language skills that will enable them to communicate proficiently
and acquire other relevant competencies. Acquisition of Indigenous language skills will further
enable the trainee teacher to interact appropriately with the learners, parents, and instructional
materials, as well as enhance the learners' cognitive, affective and psychomotor development at
this level and beyond. This also resonates well with the Vygotsky's social Cultural Development
Theory, which asserts that learning is a social activity. Continuous advancement of knowledge in
indigenous language will inform the teacher on how to guide the learners in making decisions on
future career paths.

GENERAL LEARNING OUTCOMES

By the end of the Course the trainee teacher should be able to:

1. Use indigenous language to foster critical and creative thinking skills in learning for
application in life.

2. Inculcate appropriate communicative competencies in a variety of social contexts.

3. Use appropriate methodology to facilitate language learning in school s.
4. Develop the learner’s interests, talents, and character for positive contribution to the society.
5. Promote inclusive and equitable quality education and lifelong learning in schools.
6. Protect and revitalize indigenous languages to promote unity in diversity in the society.
7. Apply effective skills to create a cultural approach to learning indigenous languages.
8. Research and promote the development and use of Indigenous languages.
9. Appreciate the role of Indigenous languages in the preservation of our cultural heritage.
 COURSE OUTLINE
1.1 Overview of First Language Learning.

1.1.1 Legal status of the First Language

a) Legal status of the first Language Learning in Kenya.

b) How Language policy in Kenya impacts the learning of Indigenous languages.
c) Rationale of Learning indigenous languages.
d) The roles of Indigenous language in promoting culture and unity in society.
e) Importance of learning indigenous languages as a way of preserving culture.
KIQ: I) In what ways do indigenous languages guide realization of the national Goals of
Education?
II) What can be done to prevent Indigenous Languages from becoming extinct?

1.1 Background to First Language Learning

1.1.2 Language Acquisition Theories.

a) Language Learning Theories with a focus on the learning of Indigenous languages.

b) Comparisons between basic Education core competencies and the Teacher education
competencies from the curriculum designs

c) Importance of Indigenous languages in learning.

KIQ: I) What is the importance of Vygotsky's social constructivism and social Cultural theories
to indigenous language learning?
II) How do theoretical concepts influence the facilitation of learning in indigenous
languages?

1.2 Listening and Speaking

1.2.1 Principles of effective Listening and Speaking.

a) Principles of effective Listening and Speaking in oral communication.

 b) Pedagogical approaches in learning of oral skills.
c) Barriers to effective Listening and Speaking and how they hinder learning of Indigenous
Languages.

d) Role of the Principles of effective Listening and Speaking in enhancing learning.

KIQ: I) How can we apply the principles of good listening and Speaking skills to facilitate the
learning of Indigenous languages?
II) Why is it important to cater to learners with difficulties in listening and speaking
indigenous languages?

1.3 Reading
1.3.1 Effective Reading Skills

a) Importance of correct pronunciation and articulation during a reading lesson.

b) Effective Reading Skills in learners.
c) Use of variety of materials and approaches to facilitate the acquisition of effective
reading skills in indigenous languages.

d) Merits and demerits of different Pedagogical techniques used to facilitate reading lessons
e) Appreciate the importance of using of using appropriate materials for reading lessons in
learning indigenous languages.

KIQ: I) How can we overcome barriers to effective reading?

II) Why should we pronounce words and articulate sounds correctly in reading?

1.4 Writing
1.4.1 Writing Skills

a) Appropriate strategies that enhance writing skills in indigenous languages.

b) Barriers to effective Writing and possible remedies.
c) Appropriate activities in enhancing writing in indigenous languages.
 d) Relationship between learning outcomes and learning Experiences and how they inform
classroom approaches.

e) Importance of overcoming barriers to effective Writing.

KIQ: I) What are the qualities of good writing?

II) Why is it important to overcome barriers to effective Writing?

III) How do we generate writing activities from learning outcomes?

1.5 Grammar
1.5.1 Word classes

a) Various word classes in Grammar.

b) Various strategies in the learning of different word classes.
c) The Role of Key Inquiry Questions in enhancing critical thinking and information finding
skills

d) Design Key Inquiry Questions to enhance the learning of word classes in indigenous
languages.

KIQ: I) How do we design Key Inquiry Questions for a grammar lesson in indigenous
languages?

II) What is the role of grammatical structures in language use?

III) Which strategies do we use to facilitate the learning of grammatical structures in
indigenous languages?
 1.1 OVERVIEW OF FIRST LANGUAGE LEARNING

1.1.1 LEGAL STATUS OF THE FIRST LANGUAGE

LEGAL STATUS OF FIRST LANGUAGE LEARNING IN KENYA

 In Kenya, the language policy states that the child’s first language either Mother Tongue
(MT) or the language commonly spoken in the school’s catchment area (usually
Kiswahili or English) should be used as the Language of Instruction (LOI) in lower
primary up to end of Grade Three. The policy further states that English and Kiswahili
should be taught as subjects in lower primary and English should be used as the LOI
from grade four onwards.
 This means that in lower primary it is official for children to be taught in
English, Kiswahili or any of the vernacular languages. Many parents, even
those from the rural areas, prefer to have their children taught in either English or Kiswahili
and not in the vernacular languages which they perceive to be of little benefit to their child.
 Teachers are faced with a dilemma of what language to use in lower primary partly
because of the pupil’s inability to understand and communicate in English or Kiswahili,
or the teacher’s inability to speak in the language of the catchment area. The most
common practice by teachers is to use a mixture of Mother Tongue, Kiswahili and
English as LOI in lower primary. The Constitution of Kenya 2010 recognizes Kiswahili
as the National
Language at Article 7. It also recognizes both English and Kiswahili as the Official Languages.
It tasks the state with the responsibility of promoting and protecting the diversity of language of
the people of Kenya and promoting the development and use of indigenous languages, Kenyan
Sign language, Braille and other communication formats and technologies accessible to persons
with disabilities.
 Kenya is a highly multilingual country. The use of mother tongue for instruction has
always been challenged as well as supported by parents, teachers, scholars and other
stakeholders in the education sector.
 This is especially so in schools in villages where teachers tend to believe that all pupils or
students in their classes speak in their mother tongue and use it as a means of
instructions.
 Research by Elizabeth Asewe Oluoch published in February 2017 recommended that
Educational reforms should pay attention to the crucial question of the language of
instruction and implementation of language policy in education, particularly, the use of
the language of the catchment area in lower primary in schools in the rural areas because
it provides a foundation for all other subsequent learning. The teachers should help
parents and other stakeholders in the education sector understand the benefits of use of
mother tongue in the early years of learning.
  As much as this idea is recommended, people have migrated and intermingled and it is
rare to find a school with children from only one tribe. Therefore, the language used for
instructions in schools should never, at any point in time make our children in schools
feel discriminated on basis of language used for instructions in schools.
 Research by Noel Omukumbi in 2013 showed that mother tongue used as a mode of
instruction in school improved the quality of education. Education being a basic human
right, many children ended up missing out on it due to fact that they felt the mode of
instruction used in school was too complicated for them to understand. Using mother
tongue language in the former level of education had to be encouraged to help eliminate
the problem.

IMPACTS OF LANGUAGE POLICY IN THE LEARNING OF INDIGENOUS

Language policies are associated with a great deal of debate, policy action and conflict. The
use of uniform languages can lower the cost of communication, facilitate education, and expand
economic growth. Thus, the mismatch in education, that is, when students are taught in a
language, usually an official state language, that differ from the mother tongue may benefit the
learners or hinder long term educational achievement.

- Although the language of instruction policy appears to be clear, practical implementation

is less straightforward. The lack of instructional materials in the indigenous languages,
and a concern that students who do not begin the instruction in English upon school entry
will be disadvantaged when they take exit exams, combine to increase the use of English
in early primary grades.

- A number of qualitative and quantitative studies on language of instruction practices in

the region indicate that using the language spoken by the child significantly enhances
learning outcomes compared to using a language of instruction that the child does not
speak.

- Reading assessment across the region point to very low overall reading levels. Using a
language of instruction that the learners can understand is a central feature of improving
these outcomes. Thus, it is important and strong component of reading pedagogy.

Impact of the new curriculum

Kenya’s new curriculum could boost the use of mother tongues quite significantly.
 - Firstly, the methodology itself is likely to affect language use. The curriculum is
designed to build learner capacities by putting pupils at the Centre of learning activities.
This implies the use of language to name things, to discuss with the teacher and fellow
pupils. Majority of lower primary school pupils usually enter school with their mother
tongues and this is the only resource they have to negotiate ideas.

- The use of mother tongues to do this makes a great deal of sense. And also suggests that
using English at grade one for children in rural and other areas is inappropriate.

- Secondly, new various languages have been published to meet the demands of the new
curriculum. At Kisii University recently, a publisher launched literacy books in the
Ekegusii language, which is the predominant language in both Kisii and Nyamira
Counties of western Kenya. Materials for other indigenous languages for use in the new
curriculum are being developed.

- The publication of literacy materials promises a rebirth of the use of these languages in
the school system. This might help preserve many local languages from extinction.

Broader benefits to society.

- Firstly, children will have an opportunity to acquire and develop their mother tongues.
Very early introduction to second languages is in some cases to blame for the poor
language mastery of most young people – they do not know any of the languages they
speak competently.

- Secondly, it will improve early literacy outcomes in primary schools. Recent research
indicates that majority of pupils entering grade four have literacy skills below
expectations. Researcher’s attribute this to premature introduction of pupils, especially
from rural areas and informal settlementsinto the English medium.

- Thirdly, the new curriculum provides for the study of indigenous languages as career
subjects later on. This implies that learning the languages might be sources of
employment like in working as interpreters, book writers, teachers, and as linguists.

- Fourth, it will make Kenya a truly multilingual society. Contrary to arguments about
many languages breeding tribalism, a country with a multilingual and multicultural ethos
is a truly cohesive society; the population grows to appreciate others as different and not
as good or bad.

- Finally, counties might consider making some indigenous languages as additional official
languages in their territories. This might give millions of Kenyans a voice to negotiate
development issues. Currently, the use of Kiswahili and English only excludes some
 people from participating in public affairs specifically in projects that require public
participation. This isn’t an optimal state of affairs.

RATIONALE OF LEARNING INDIGENOUS LANGUAGES

Rationale is an explanation of the basis or fundamental reasons for something or a justification.

• The state of indigenous languages today mirrors the situation of indigenous peoples. In
many parts of the world, they are on the verge of disappearance. The biggest factor
contributing to their loss is state policy. Some governments have embarked on campaigns
to extinguish indigenous languages by criminalizing their use – as was the case in the
Americas, in the early days of colonialism. Some countries continue to deny the
existence of indigenous peoples in their territories – indigenous languages are referred to
as dialects, and accorded less importance than national languages, contributing to their
eventual loss
• But today, the major influence on the sorry state of their languages is the fact that
indigenous peoples are threatened themselves.

1. Indigenous languages connect you to the landscape.

Many Elders in communities assert that Indigenous languages come from the land, and therefore
act as a medium to connect us with the deeper elements and stories of Country. Some also go as
far to say that every single word contained within an Indigenous language is a universe unto
itself, which revolves around other words and modes of expression such as dance, visual art,
song and symbolism in a 'galaxy' of communication. While this idea extends far out into the
cosmos, language and land are the fundamental building blocks to understanding the bigger
concepts.
2. They can help find local solutions to universal problems
Problems can vary by scale. For example, while climate change is a global issue, there are
applied solutions that can be implemented at local levels to lessen the greater impact of things
such as pollution, carbon build-up and climate shift. Indigenous languages contextualize the
needs of the land at a bioregional level and provide insight into patterned relationships across
ecosystems.
3. They will expand your thinking and cognition
We travel to different countries around the world to have new experiences and to expand our
horizons. On a cognitive and neurological level, we can enjoy the same experiences by making
contact with different linguistic concepts within new and old languages. While we may not be
enjoying the physical and aesthetic experiences of travelling to new worlds, we are employing
similar processes of immersing ourselves in the conceptual culture of language.
4. They will help you better understand Indigenous people
Arguably, Indigenous disadvantage today has stemmed from broken communication between
Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in early colonial times, along with greatly conflicting
values and forced removal from traditional homelands. While some early colonists sought to
learn and record Indigenous languages, many only wrote them down without understanding their
correct context. Better examples of positive 'race relations' (although still somewhat extractive)
were with those such as Thomas Petrie and Alfred Howitt, or those who lived with Indigenous
communities for extensive periods. These people were fluent speakers of local Indigenous
languages and made the effort to understand their contexts, and thus earned the trust and respect
of local Indigenous people in those areas.
5. They promote dynamism and higher order thinking
Innovation, creativity and knowledge are fluid and dynamic concepts which rely heavily on a
diversity of perspectives. With more than 400 different Indigenous languages spoken across
Australia, there are a multitude of new possibilities that can arise from Indigenous language
learning and communication which will greatly benefit communities today.
6. You will be contributing to keeping Indigenous languages alive
Most Indigenous languages are on the verge of extinction. With more people - and children
especially - learning Indigenous languages we will be keeping them alive, and thus retaining the
knowledge that they hold which may prove to be important or useful in the future. There is an
old saying, “when an Elder die we lose an entire library”, but when a language is lost, we lose
just as much - if not more.
As the world moves towards a greatly uncertain future, we will be needing to draw on more
unique and diverse perspectives than the ones that have led us into situations of social, political
and ecological unrest. Indigenous languages may prove as a gateway into seeing the world
differently, and approaching contemporary issues from various, wide-ranging angles.

ROLE OF INDIGENOUS LANGUAGE IN PROMOTING CULTURE AND UNITY IN

SOCIETY.

Language is culture and culture are language.

“If you know all the languages of the world, and you don't know your mother tongue, or the
language of your culture, that is ENSLAVEMENT. But if you know your mother tongue or the
language of your culture and add all the other languages of the world to it, that is
EMPOWERMENT”
Prof. Ngugi WA Thiong'o
 He also stated that A man without culture is like a naked man.

The most effective engine of a people’s culture is their mother tongue. Indigenous languages are
treasures of our culture and self-identity. In other words, it is the indicator of history and self-
identification. Mother tongue is an indispensable cultural legacy with which all forms of human
interactions are carried out. Language is the key to the heart of the people. If we lose the key, we
lose the people. If we treasure the key and keep it safe, it will unlock the door to wealth or
affluence. Therefore, the success of sustainable development projects depends on the
participation of indigenous people at all stages, including design, planning, implementation and
evaluation of plans. The need to the participation of local people in development activities, in
Kenya, makes the use of indigenous languages and knowledge indispensable. Indigenous
knowledge systems, rooted in indigenous languages, are the basis of decision making at the local
level. This is because such knowledge is the result of the efforts of local people to identify
problems and find solutions to help innovation and to experiment them. Local people develop
new technologies at the local level and benefit from indigenous communication organizations for
their dissemination. The role of indigenous knowledge in collaborative activities for achieving
development has expanded in recent years. In some communities, indigenous knowledge is
considered as a priceless national heritage that provides opportunities for social development
programs and helps to identify, prioritize and organize local interests. This implies that
indigenous knowledge also has a big role to play in development issues. Indigenous languages
are the carriers, transmitters and actualizers of indigenous knowledge. The perspective of
indigenous peoples is vital in identifying their development needs. However, the conflict
between indigenous knowledge and formal knowledge in development activities cannot be
ignored and requires the merging of the two. This is because given the current state of the world,
solutions to many development challenges need to be searched in the integration of indigenous
knowledge and formal knowledge. And also, because due to the current development needs of
Kenya's population and vulnerability of remaining natural resources, none of the two types of
knowledge can alone meet the required development needs. Proper detection of indigenous
development problems and effective communication with indigenous people can only be
achieved effectively through the use of indigenous languages. Indigenous languages can play a
big role in national development and unity. Indigenous languages can act as catalysts in
educational development which is an important index of national development and achieving of
the National Goals of Education. Qualitative education in any nation is not a luxury, but an
imperative to national development. In order to achieve national cohesion and unity Kenya
recognizes the importance of indigenous languages as articulated in the Constitution. It also
recognizes the importance of mother tongue education as articulated in the National Policy on
Education that the language of instruction in lower primary school should be initially in the
child’s mother tongue or the language of the catchment area. Multilingual education is capable
of eradicating illiteracy as it provides political awareness and socio-political stability. National
unity depends largely on mutual understanding of each other’s language and culture, including
interests. Kenya should thus consider it to be in the interest of national unity that each person
should be encouraged to learn other indigenous languages other than his/her own mother tongue.
Unity means strength or power, and it is language that unifies people. Indigenous languages
therefore confer power on a nation. Given that indigenous languages are the most important tools
with which society is organized and that it is hardly possible to talk of national development
without including the languages with which the people formulate their thoughts, ideas and needs,
government’s programs and policies on development issues should reach the grassroots with the
use of indigenous.

IMPORTANCE OF LEARNING INDIGENOUS LANGUAGES AS A WAY OF

PRERSERVING CULTURE.

INTRODUCTION
A major concern exists in tribal communities for the preservation of the native language and
culture. For many generations, tribal people have relied on the traditional educational system to
support their future. Through this educational process, the family role of transmitting tribal
knowledge has been severely weakened as formal educational institutions do not transmit tribal
knowledge, language, or cultural elements as part of their learning process. Since the public and
private schools are not supporting the cultural and language needs of the tribe, the responsibility
rests on community programs to provide alternative opportunities of tribal holistic learning for
tribal ways.
The perceptions of the elders as described through the indigenous language reveal
overwhelming, comprehensive, and rich reflections on families, schooling, and community. The
elders reflect on their experiences, mostly when they were young and with their parents. The
elders share the socializing of long visits, singing, and dancing. The indigenous language was the
bond because everyone spoke only the language. Elders today probably faced and experienced
the most change of any generation of people. The fast pace of living has caught up to the society
as a group of people in areas where language loss is very evident. The elders are worried about
it. The spirituality in the families used to be strong. To be able to reflect back in time provides
comfort to many elders because they have carried forward their knowledge and want the next
generations to take over. Storytelling among the people was a favorite form of visiting with each
other. The elders valued the extended family concept of living. The relatives took care of them as
children. Constant praying for the wellbeing of family members was done daily. Again, the
indigenous language was held in high regard by the elders. They were proud of the family
members that know and speak the indigenous language. Many elders took their names from the
fore fathers. People's names guide them through their journey in life. It is very important that
every individual have in their possession a Blackfeet name.
The elders hold knowledge sacred. This knowledge can only be obtained through the indigenous
language. Ceremonial rites and rituals have been handed down by Creator Sun since the
beginning of time and must continue to remain so. The writing of information is not considered
revealing of or disturbing to the sacredness. The time is coming when many ceremonial rites
need to be transferred to new and younger people. Therefore, the urgency for reviving the
teachings through the indigenous language is of utmost concern. Ceremonies must continue on to
provide protection to the people. The elders have high regards for the indigenous language.
The elders in regard to the education policy feel the language must be taught to the children. The
children are going to bring back what was lost in language retention. Even though punishment
was used to get rid of the language in the elders and generations before them, it made everyone
place a higher value on the language. The elders are willing and anxious to take on apprentices
of the language. Failure to retain the language has weakened and is threatening the Blackfeet
knowledge base. The elders reflected on their educational experience in the formal school
setting. Those times were not totally enjoyable for many of the elders while others knew that
education was a means of survival. All formal education systems had one goal in mind when
teaching Blackfeet children; that goal was to produce English speakers at any expense.
The devaluing of the Blackfeet way of life by education affected many generations of people.
The educational systems also dismantled the strong family structures of the Blackfeet people.
The elders feel the people must have their ceremonies to provide support, their language to
transmit culture, and the singing and dancing to promote to restore the Blackfeet lifestyles.
The relationship between children and families is very strong. The elders have come to a
realization that the language needs to be restored again. It is through the children where hope
lies. Some elders have advocated teaching children at infancy levels and breast feeding will
provide the nurturing and support all children need. The path must be paved for transferring
tribal knowledge, which means more language speakers are needed. One elder advocated for a
reflection and action process of seeking tribal knowledge by using tribal people to conduct field
base research.
1.1 BACKGROUND TO FIRST LANGUAGE LEARNING
1.1.2 LANGUAGE ACQUISITION THEORIES.

Language learning theories with focus on learning Indigenous languages.

Language acquisition is the process by which we are able to develop and learn a language. This
generally includes speaking, listening, writing, and overall communication. Our ability to
acquire language is a uniquely human trait because although bonobos, a species of primate, can
produce vocalizations with meaning, birds can produce songs, and whales have their own
version of a language, no species on Earth that we know of can express an unlimited amount of
abstract ideas with a limited set of symbols (gestures, words, and sounds).
The term language acquisition often refers to the first-language acquisition, which simply means
that it’s the first language learned as an infant (unless the child learns two or more languages at
the same time). However, there is also the term second-language acquisition, which refers to the
process in both children and adults when they learn additional languages apart from their native
one. Each of these terms has at least one language acquisition theory behind them which seeks to
answer the big question of “how do we learn a language?”
1. Behaviorism
The behaviorist psychologists developed their theories while carrying out a series of
experiments on animals. They observed that rats or birds, for example, could be taught to
perform various tasks by encouraging habit-forming. Researchers rewarded desirable behavior.
This was known as positive reinforcement. Undesirable behavior was punished or simply not
rewarded - negative reinforcement.
The behaviorist B. F. Skinner then proposed this theory as an explanation for language
acquisition in humans. In Verbal Behavior (1957), he stated:
"The basic processes and relations which give verbal behavior its special characteristics are now
fairly well understood. Much of the experimental work responsible for this advance has been
carried out on other species, but the results have proved to be surprisingly free of species
restrictions. Recent work has shown that the methods can be extended to human behavior
without serious modifications."
(Cited in Lowe and Graham, 1998, p68)
Skinner suggested that a child imitates the language of its parents or carers. Successful attempts
are rewarded because an adult who recognizes a word spoken by a child will praise the child
and/or give it what it is asking for. Successful utterances are therefore reinforced while
unsuccessful ones are forgotten.
Limitations of Behaviorism
While there must be some truth in Skinner's explanation, there are many objections to it.

• Language is based on a set of structures or rules, which could not be worked out simply
by imitating individual utterances. The mistakes made by children reveal that they are not simply
imitating but actively working out and applying rules.

For example, a child who says "drinked" instead of "drank" is not copying an adult but rather
over-applying a rule.
The child has discovered that past tense verbs are formed by adding a /d/ or /t/ sound to the base
form. The "mistakes" occur because there are irregular verbs which do not behave in this way.
Such forms are often referred to as intelligent mistakes or virtuous errors.

• The vast majority of children go through the same stages of language acquisition. There
appears to be a definite sequence of steps. We refer to developmental milestones. Apart from
certain extreme cases (see the case of Genie), the sequence seems to be largely unaffected by the
treatment the child receives or the type of society in which s/he grows up.

• Children are often unable to repeat what an adult says, especially if the adult utterance
contains a structure the child has not yet started to use. The classic demonstration comes from
the American psycholinguist David McNeill. The structure in question here involves negating
verbs:

Child: Nobody don't like me

Mother: No, say, "Nobody likes me."
Child: Nobody don't like me. (Eight repetitions of this dialogue)
Mother: No, now listen carefully: say, "Nobody likes me." Child: Oh!
Nobody don't likes me.

(McNeil in The Genesis of Language, 1966)

• Few children receive much explicit grammatical correction. Parents are more interested
in politeness and truthfulness. According to Brown, Cazden and Bellugi (1969): "It seems to be
truth value rather than well-formed syntax that chiefly governs explicit verbal reinforcement by
parents - which renders mildly paradoxical the fact that the usual product of such a training
schedule is an adult whose speech is highly grammatical but not notably truthful."

(cited in Lowe and Graham, 1998)

• There is evidence for a critical period for language acquisition. Children who have not
acquired language by the age of about seven will never entirely catch up.

The most famous example is that of Genie, discovered in 1970 at the age of 13. She had been
severely neglected, brought up in isolation and deprived of normal human contact. Of course,
she was disturbed and underdeveloped in many ways. During subsequent attempts at
rehabilitation, her carers tried to teach her to speak. Despite some success, mainly in learning
vocabulary, she never became a fluent speaker, failing to acquire the grammatical competence of
the average five-yearold.
2. Innateness.

Innateness is a condition of being innate.

Innate is inborn, existing or having existed since birth.
Noam Chomsky published a criticism of the behaviorist theory in 1957. In addition to some of
the arguments listed above, he focused particularly on the impoverished language input children
receive. Adults do not typically speak in grammatically complete sentences.
In addition, what the child hears is only a small sample of language. Chomsky concluded that
children must have an inborn faculty for language acquisition. According to this theory, the
process is biologically determined - the human species has evolved a brain whose neural circuits
contain linguistic information at birth. The child's natural predisposition to learn language is
triggered by hearing speech and the child's brain is able to interpret what s/he hears according to
the underlying principles or structures it already contains.
This natural faculty has become known as the Language Acquisition Device (LAD). Chomsky
did not suggest that an English child is born knowing anything specific about English, of course.
He stated that all human languages share common principles. (For example, they all have words
for things and actions - nouns and verbs.) It is the child's task to establish how the specific
language s/he hears expresses these underlying principles. For example, the LAD already
contains the concept of verb tense. By listening to such forms as "worked", "played" and
"patted", the child will form the hypothesis that the past tense of verbs is formed by adding the
sound /d/, /t/ or /id/ to the base form. This, in turn, will lead to the "virtuous errors" mentioned
above. It hardly needs saying that the process is unconscious. Chomsky does not envisage the
small child lying in its cot working out grammatical rules consciously!
Chomsky's ground-breaking theory remains at the Centre of the debate about language
acquisition. However, it has been modified, both by Chomsky himself and by others. Chomsky's
original position was that the LAD contained specific knowledge about language. Dan Isaac
Slobin has proposed that it may be more like a mechanism for working out the rules of language:
"It seems to me that the child is born not with a set of linguistic categories but with some sort of
process mechanism - a set of procedures and inference rules, if you will - that he uses to process
linguistic data. These mechanisms are such that, applying them to the input data, the child ends
up with something which is a member of the class of human languages. The linguistic universals,
then, are the result of an innate cognitive competence rather than the content of such a
competence."
(cited in Russell, 2001)
Evidence to support the innateness theory Work in several areas of language study has provided
support for the idea of an innate language faculty.
Three types of evidence are offered here:

a) Slobin has pointed out that human anatomy is peculiarly adapted to the production of
speech. Unlike our nearest relatives, the great apes, we have evolved a vocal tract which
allows the precise articulation of a wide repertoire of vocal sounds. Neuro-science has
also identified specific areas of the brain with distinctly linguistic functions, notably
Broca's area and Wernicke's area. Stroke victims provide valuable data: depending on the
site of brain damage, they may suffer a range of language dysfunction, from problems
with finding words to an inability to interpret syntax. Experiments aimed at teaching
chimpanzees to communicate using plastic symbols or manual gestures have proved
controversial. It seems likely that our ape cousins, while able to learn individual "words",
have little or no grammatical competence. Pinker (1994) offers a good account of this
research.
b) The formation of creole varieties of English appears to be the result of the
LAD at work. The linguist Derek Bickerton has studied the formation of Dutch-based creoles in
Surinam. Escaped slaves, living together but originally from different language groups, were
forced to communicate in their very limited Dutch. The result was the restricted form of
language known as a pidgin. The adult speakers were past the critical age at which they could
learn a new language fluently - they had learned Dutch as a foreign language and under
unfavorable conditions. Remarkably, the children of these slaves turned the pidgin into a full
language, known by linguists as a creole. They were presumably unaware of the process but the
outcome was a language variety which follows its own consistent rules and has a full expressive
range. Creoles based on English are also found, in the Caribbean and elsewhere.
c) Studies of the sign languages used by the deaf have shown that, far from being crude
gestures replacing spoken words, these are complex, fully grammatical languages in their
own right. A sign language may exist in several dialects. Children learning to sign as a
first language pass through similar stages to hearing children learning spoken language.
Deprived of speech, the urge to communicate is realized through a manual system which
fulfils the same function. There is even a signing creole, again developed by children, in
Nicaragua. For an account of this, see Pinker, 1994 (pp 36-7). (Note: some of this section
is derived from the BBC television documentary The Mind Machine.) Limitations of
Chomsky's theory Chomsky's work on language was theoretical. He was interested in
grammar and much of his work consists of complex explanations of grammatical rules.
He did not study real children. The theory relies on children being exposed to language
but takes no account of the interaction between children and their carers. Nor does it
recognize the reasons why a child might want to speak, the functions of language.
d) In 1977, Bard and Sachs published a study of a child known as Jim, the hearing son of
deaf parents. Jim's parents wanted their son to learn speech rather than the sign language
they used between themselves. He watched a lot of television and listened to the radio,
therefore receiving frequent language input. However, his progress was limited until a
speech therapist was enlisted to work with him. Simply being exposed to language was
not enough. Without the associated interaction, it meant little to him. Subsequent theories
have placed greater emphasis on the ways in which real children develop language to
fulfil their needs and interact with their environment, including other people.

3. The Cognitive Theory

The Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget placed acquisition of language within the context of a
child's mental or cognitive development. He argued that a child has to understand a concept
before s/he can acquire the particular language form which expresses that concept. A good
example of this is seriation. There will be a point in a child's intellectual development when s/he
can compare objects with respect to size. This means that if you gave the child a number of
sticks, s/he could arrange them in order of size. Piaget suggested that a child who had not yet
reached this stage would not be able to learn and use comparative adjectives like "bigger" or
"smaller". Object permanence is another phenomenon often cited in relation to the cognitive
theory. During the first year of life, children seem unaware of the existence of objects they
cannot see. An object which moves out of sight ceases to exist. By the time they reach the age of
18 months, children have realized that objects have an existence independently of their
perception. The cognitive theory draws attention to the large increase in children's vocabulary at
around this age, suggesting a link between object permanence and the learning of labels for
objects.

Limitations of the Cognitive Theory

During the first year to 18 months, connections of the type explained above are possible to trace
but, as a child continues to develop, so it becomes harder to find clear links between language
and intellect. Some studies have focused on children who have learned to speak fluently despite
abnormal mental development. Syntax in particular does not appear to rely on general
intellectual growth.
4. Input or Interactionist Theories
In contrast to the work of Chomsky, more recent theorists have stressed the imposrtance of the
language input children receive from their care-givers. Language exists for the purpose of
communication and can only be learned in the context of interaction with people who want to
communicate with you.
Interactionists such as Jerome Bruner suggest that the language behavior of adults when talking
to children (known by several names by most easily referred to as child-directed speech or CDS)
is specially adapted to support the acquisition process. This support is often described to as
scaffolding for the child's language learning. Bruner also coined the term Language Acquisition
Support System or LASS in response to Chomsky's LAD. Colwyn Trevarthen studied the
interaction between parents and babies who were too young to speak. He concluded that the turn-
taking structure of conversation is developed through games and non-verbal communication long
before actual words are uttered.
Limitations of Input theories
These theories serve as a useful corrective to Chomsky's early position and it seems likely that a
child will learn more quickly with frequent interaction. However, it has already been noted that
children in all cultures pass through the same stages in acquiring language. We have also seen
that there are cultures in which adults do not adopt special ways of talking to children, so s may
be useful but seems not to be essential.
SUMMARY OF THEORIES
Language Acquisition Device (LAD)
The Language Acquisition Device (LAD) is the innate biological ability of humans to acquire
and develop language. The LAD was developed by linguist Noam Chomsky who contributed to
the field of cognitive psychology through his language research. He challenged the prevailing
behaviorist theory that language (like any other behavior) was acquired through exposure to it in
our environment. He theorized that all humans share a mechanism which allows us to
comprehend, develop, and use language like no other animal. Animals raised around humans
don't develop the ability to speak but humans do. He called this biological language mechanism
the Language Acquisition Device.
Our capacity for language is the same all over the world in wildly different cultures and
environments. Children quickly learn language and learn in developmental stages that occur at
the same age no matter what differing environments they grow up in. Cognitive psychologists
use the LAD theory as evidence to support the concept that language is both a learned and innate
capability.

LANGUAGE ACQUISITION SUPPORT SYSTEM By Jerome Seymour Bruner

The adults and older children who help a young child to acquire language. Children learn
language in and from conversation:

Family members talk to them, tailoring their language to the children’s level of comprehension
and often using higher pitch and exaggerated intonation. The LASS is conceptualized as
essential to language learning and may interact with the language acquisition device of the
younger child.
Vygotsky: Zone of Proximal Development
Lev Vygotsky’s theory of language development focused on social learning and the zone of
proximal development (ZPD). The ZPD is a level of development obtained when children
engage in social interactions with others; it is the distance between a child’s potential to learn
and the actual learning that takes place. Vygotsky’s theory also demonstrated that Piaget
underestimated the importance of social interactions in the development of language. Piaget’s
and Vygotsky’s theories are often compared with each other, and both have been used
successfully in the field of education.

BASIC EDUCATION CORE COMPETENCIES

A competency is more than just knowledge and skills; it involves the ability to meet complex
demands by drawing on and mobilizing psychosocial resources (including skills and attitudes) in
a particular context. Competency is essential to an educator’s pursuit of excellence.
The Core Competencies are sets of intellectual, personal, and social and emotional proficiencies
that all students need in order to engage in deep, lifelong learning. Along with literacy and
numeracy foundations, they are central to BECF and assessment system and directly support
students in their growth as educated citizens. Students develop Core Competencies when they
are engaged in the “doing” – the Curricular Competencies – within a learning area. As such, they
are an integral part of the curriculum. While they manifest themselves uniquely in each area of
learning, the Core Competencies are often interconnected and are foundational to all learning.
Before students enter school, development of Core Competencies begins at home and then
continues throughout their life. Students encounter opportunities to develop their competence in
formal and informal settings. They move from demonstrating competence in relatively simple
and highly supported situations, to demonstrating independence in more complex and varied
contexts. Competency development does not end with school graduation but continues in
personal, social, educational, and workplace contexts.
Students, teachers, and parents/guardians share responsibility for the ongoing development of
Core Competencies. That is to develop across all academic subject areas in order to become
engaged, empowered, and ethical citizens and thrive in the 21st century
These are: communication and collaboration, critical thinking and problem solving,
imagination and creativity, citizenship, learning to learn, self-efficacy and digital literacy.

COMMUNICATION AND COLLABORATION

The Communication and collaboration competency encompasses the knowledge, skills,

processes and dispositions we associate with interactions with others. Through their
communication, students acquire, develop and transform ideas and information, and make
connections with others to share their ideas, express their individuality, further their learning,
and get things done. The communication competency is fundamental to finding satisfaction,
purpose and joy.
The Communication and collaboration Core Competency has two interrelated subcompetencies:

COMMUNICATING
Communicating encompasses the set of abilities that people use to impart and exchange
information, experiences, and ideas; to explore the world around them; and to understand and
effectively use communication forms, strategies, and technologies. Communicating provides a
bridge between peoples’ learning, their personal and social identity, and the world in which they
interact.
People who communicate effectively use their skills and strategies intentionally to ensure
understanding their audience. They communicate in an increasing variety of contexts, for a
variety of purposes, and often with multiple audiences. It involves:
Connecting and engaging with others

Students engage in informal and structured conversations in which they listen, contribute,
develop understanding and relationships, and learn to consider diverse perspectives. This facet of
communication is closely linked to the building and sustaining of relationships at home, at
school, in the community, and through social media.
Focusing on intent and purpose
Students communicate with intention and purpose. They understand that communication can
influence, entertain, teach, inspire, and help us make sense of the world and our experiences.
They recognize the role the audience plays in constructing meaning, and they make strategic
choices to help convey their messages and create their intended impact. They draw from a range
of forms, media, and techniques, monitoring and adjusting their approaches and assessing their
effects.
Acquiring and presenting information

Students communicate by receiving and presenting information. They inquire into topics of
interest and topics related to their studies. They acquire information from a variety of sources,
including people, print materials, and media; this may involve listening, viewing, or reading, and
requires understanding of how to interpret information. They present information for many
purposes and audiences, and their presentations often feature media and technology.

COLLABORATING
Collaborating involves the skills, strategies, and dispositions that people use to work together to
pursue common purposes and accomplish common goals.

People who collaborate effectively recognize how combining others’ perspectives, strategies, and
efforts with their own enhances collective understanding, use, and impact. They value the
contributions of group members, interact supportively and effectively using inclusive practices,
and strive for shared commitment and mutual benefit. It involves:

Working collectively

Students combine their efforts with those of others to effectively accomplish learning and tasks.
As members of a group, they appreciate interdependence and cooperation, commit to needed
roles and responsibilities, and are conscientious about contributing. They also negotiate
respectfully and follow through on plans, strategies, and actions as they share resources, time,
and spaces for collaborative projects.
Supporting group interactions

Students engage with others in ways that build and sustain trusting relationships and contribute
to collective approaches. They value diverse perspectives and integrate the ideas of others with
their own to tackle tasks, issues, and problems. Students seek to distribute leadership, listen
actively, take turns in discussions, acknowledge contributions, and identify missing voices. They
regulate the group’s interactions together, mutually encouraging one another, creating space for
marginalized voices, and applying constructive strategies to navigate through misunderstandings,
struggles, and conflict.
Determining common purposes

Students develop shared understandings of information, issues, situations, and problems in

pursuit of common purposes and goals. They honor various group processes and proactively
support movement forward, including refocusing on intended goals as needed. They revise plans
according to mutual deliberations and strive for consensus. As co-members of a group, students
see one another as valuable resources, commit to impact and collective success, assess group
results and processes, and share in the recognition of achievements.

CRITICAL THINKING AND PROBLEMS SOLVING

THINKING
The Thinking competency encompasses the knowledge, skills and processes we associate with
intellectual development. It is through their competency as thinkers that students take subject-
specific concepts and content and transform them into a new understanding. Thinking
competence includes specific thinking skills as well as habits of mind, and metacognitive
awareness. These are used to process information from a variety of sources, including thoughts
and feelings that arise from the subconscious and unconscious mind and from embodied
cognition, to create new understandings.
The Thinking Core Competency has two interrelated sub-competencies:

CREATIVE THINKING
Creative Thinking involves the generation of ideas and concepts that are novel and innovative in
the context in which they are generated, reflection on their value to the individual or others, and
the development of chosen ideas and concepts from thought to reality.
People who think creatively are curious and open-minded, have a sense of wonder and joy in
learning, demonstrate a willingness to think divergently, and are comfortable with complexity. A
creative thinker reflects on existing ideas and concepts; uses imagination, inventiveness,
resourcefulness, and flexibility; and is willing to take risks to go beyond existing knowledge. It
involves:

Creating and innovating

Students get creative ideas that are novel and have value. An idea may be new to the student or
their peers, and it may be novel for their age group or the larger community. It may be new to a
particular context or absolutely new. The idea or product may have value in a variety of ways
and contexts – it may be fun, provide a sense of accomplishment, solve a problem, be a form of
self-expression, provoke reflection, or provide a new perspective that influences the way people
think or act. It can have a positive impact on the individual, classmates, the community, or the
world.
Generating and incubating

Students may generate creative ideas through free play, engagement with other’s ideas, or
consideration of a problem or constraint, and/or because of their interests and passions. New
ideas and inspirations can spontaneously arise from the unconscious mind, but students can also
develop strategies to facilitate the generation of ideas – learning a lot about something, engaging
in a period of reflection, providing time for incubation, and doing relaxing or automatic activities
to quiet their conscious mind. The capacity for creative thinking expands as individuals increase
their range of ideas and concepts to recombine them into new ideas. The ideas available as raw
material for creative thinking depends on previous experiences and learning, as well as students’
cultural legacies.
Evaluating and developing

Students reflect on their creative ideas in order to decide which ones to develop. They consider
whether their idea would ultimately support the well-being of self, community, and the land.
They do this with a sense of place and taking into consideration unintended consequences for
other living things and our planet. If they decide to develop an idea, they work individually
and/or collaboratively to refine it and work to realize it. This may require accessing the
knowledge of those who have gone before, building the necessary skills, sustaining
perseverance, using failure productively over time, and reflecting on process and results. It may
also require the generation of additional creative ideas to come up with solutions to problems
along the way.

CRITICAL AND REFLECTIVE THINKING

Critical and Reflective Thinking encompasses a set of abilities that students use to examine their
own thinking and that of others. This involves making judgments based on reasoning, where
students consider options, analyze options using specific criteria, and draw conclusions.
People who think critically and reflectively are analytical and investigative, willing to question
and challenge their own thoughts, ideas, and assumptions and challenge those of others. They
reflect on the information they receive through observation, experience, and other forms of
communication to solve problems, design products, understand events, and address issues. A
critical thinker uses their ideas, experiences, and reflections to set goals, make judgments, and
refine their thinking. It involves:
Analyzing and critiquing

Students learn to analyze and make judgments about a work, a position, a process, a
performance, or another product or act. They reflect to consider purpose and perspectives,
pinpoint evidence, use explicit or implicit criteria, make defensible judgments or assessments,
and draw conclusions. Students have opportunities for analysis and critique through engagement
in formal tasks, informal tasks, and ongoing activities.
Questioning and investigating

Students learn to engage in inquiry when they identify and investigate questions, challenges, key
issues, or problematic situations in their studies, lives, and communities and in the media. They
develop and refine questions; create and carry out plans; gather, interpret, and synthesize
information and evidence; and reflect to draw reasoned conclusions. Critical thinking activities
may focus on one part of the process, such as questioning, and reach a simple conclusion, while
others may involve more complex inquiry requiring extensive thought and reflection.
Designing and developing

Students think critically to develop ideas. Their ideas may lead to the designing of products or
methods or the development of performances and representations in response to problems,
events, issues, and needs. They work with clear purpose and consider the potential uses or
audiences of their work. They explore possibilities, develop and reflect on processes, monitor
progress, and adjust procedures in light of criteria and feedback.
Reflecting and assessing

Students apply critical, metacognitive, and reflective thinking in given situations, and relate this
thinking to other experiences, using this process to identify ways to improve or adapt their
approach to learning. They reflect on and assess their experiences, thinking, learning processes,
work, and progress in relation to their purposes. Students give, receive, and act on feedback and
set goals individually and collaboratively. They determine the extent to which they have met
their goals and can set new ones.

PERSONAL AND SOCIAL

The Personal and Social competency is the set of abilities that relate to students' identity in the
world, both as individuals and as members of their community and society. Personal and social
competency encompasses what students need to thrive as individuals, to understand and care
about themselves and others, and to find and achieve their purposes in the world.
The Personal and Social Core Competency has three interrelated subcompetencies:
PERSONAL AWARENESS AND RESPONSIBILITY
Personal Awareness and Responsibility involves understanding the connections between
personal and social behavior and well-being; it encourages people to make constructive and
ethical decisions and act on them.
People who are personally aware and responsible demonstrate self-respect, persevere in difficult
situations, and exercise responsibility. They understand that there are consequences for their
decisions and actions. A personally aware and responsible individual takes steps to ensure their
well-being, sets goals and monitors progress, regulates emotions and manages stress, and
recognizes and advocates for their own rights.
POSITIVE PERSONAL AND CULTURAL IDENTITY
Positive Personal and Cultural Identity involves the awareness, understanding, and appreciation
of the factors that contribute to a healthy sense of oneself; it includes knowledge of one’s family
background, heritage(s), language(s), beliefs, and perspectives in a pluralistic society.
People who have a positive personal and cultural identity value their personal and cultural
narrative and understand how this shape their identity. They exhibit a sense of self-worth, self-
awareness, and positive identity to become confident individuals who take satisfaction in who
they are and what they can do. They contribute to their own well-being and to the well-being of
their family, community, and society.
SOCIAL AWARENESS AND RESPONSIBILITY
Social Awareness and Responsibility involves the awareness, understanding, and appreciation of
connections among people, including between people and the natural environment. Social
Awareness and Responsibility focuses on interacting with others and the natural world in
respectful and caring ways.
People who are socially aware and responsible contribute to the well-being of their social and
physical environments. They support the development of welcoming and inclusive communities,
where people feel safe and have a sense of belonging.

A socially aware and responsible individual contributes positively to their family, community,
and environment; empathizes with others and appreciates their perspectives; resolves problems
peacefully; and develops and sustains healthy relationships. It includes: Building
relationships
Students build and maintain diverse, positive peer and intergenerational relationships. They are
aware and respectful of others’ needs and feelings and share their own in appropriate ways. They
adjust their words and actions to care for their relationships.
Contributing to community and caring for the environment

Students develop awareness of and take responsibility for their social, physical, and natural
environments by working independently and collaboratively for the benefit of others,
communities, and the environment. They are aware of the impact of their decisions, actions, and
footprint. They advocate for and act to bring about positive change.
Resolving problems

Students identify and develop an appreciation for different perspectives on issues. They show
empathy, disagree respectfully, and create space for others to use their voices. They generate,
use, and evaluate strategies to resolve problems.
Valuing diversity

Students value diversity, defend human rights, advocate for issues, and interact ethically with
others. They are inclusive in their language and behavior and recognize that everyone has
something to contribute. Their approach to inclusive relationships exemplifies commitment to
developing positive communities.

Self-efficacy

Self-efficacy is a person’s belief about his or her capabilities to perform tasks or assignments
that can change and transform his or her life. It determines how the person feels, thinks, behaves
and motivates themselves. Self-efficacy has the potential to determine four major processes
namely cognitive, motivational, affective and selection processes.

Citizenship
Citizenship is the state of being vested with the rights, privileges, and duties of a citizen. It
creates a sense of belonging and attachment to one's nation. A sense of citizenship helps to equip
young people to deal with situations of conflict and controversy knowledgeably and tolerantly.
They are able to understand the consequences of their actions, and those of the adults around
them.

Digital literacy
Digital literacy can be described as having the knowledge, skills and behaviors which are
necessary to effectively and safely use a wide range of digital content and devices. Such devices
include mobile phones, smartphones, tablets, laptops and desktops among others. All these falls
within the category of network enabled devices. Digital literacy focuses mainly on network
enabled devices and should not be confused with computer literacy skills. However, traditional
forms of literacy and computer literacy are enhancers in the acquisition of digital literacy skills.

Learning to learn
Learning to learn is the ability to pursue and persist in learning, to organize one’s own learning
by the effective management of time and information, both individually and in groups. This
competence includes awareness of one’s learning process and needs, identifying available
opportunities, and the ability to overcome obstacles in order to learn successfully. This
competence means gaining, processing and assimilating new knowledge and skills as well as
seeking and making use of guidance. Learning to learn helps learners to build on prior learning
and life experiences in order to use and apply knowledge and skills in a variety of contexts.
There are four pillars of learning: Learning to know, learning to do, learning to be and learning
to live to live together.

TEACHER EDUCATION COMPETENCIES

Being a teacher at any level requires a significant amount of knowledge and skill.
Paying attention to the core competencies for educators helps to ensure that all
teachers and others who work in education are prepared to make school a positive
experience for students/pupils and their families at large.
1. Interacting Well with Students

Educators must be able to positively interact with all students and pupils. This includes difficult
students/pupils, students/pupils who work below grade-level and students/pupils whose
personalities just grate on a teacher. Teachers must put aside their prejudices and feelings in
order to treat all students/pupils with respect, provide them with equal opportunities for learning
and make them feel confident.

2. Creating a Learning Environment

Creating a safe learning environment that is conducive to learning is essential. Educators must
set high expectations for student performance and behavior. All rules must be enforced
consistently and fairly. Students/pupils should not have to worry about being bullied in the
classroom and should feel comfortable when speaking up.

3. Good at Lesson Plan Design

All educators must be capable of designing lesson plans to meet student needs and cover the
standards. This requires knowing how to choose and create instructional materials to
accommodate students/pupils at different levels. It also requires creating a scope and sequence
that provides students/pupils with enough time to master the standards.

4. Able to Use Varied Teaching Strategies

Best practices and other appropriate teaching strategies allow competent educators to effectively
teach the curriculum. Competent educators may lecture, but they also incorporate a variety of
strategies, including non-traditional teaching strategies, to help students with multiple learning
styles learn and stay engaged. Educators also attend regular professional development sessions to
learn new strategies and the latest best practices.
5. Able to Assess
Educators must design or select and administer effective assessments. An assessment must
accurately measure what has been taught and what students have learned. Competent educators
combine informal and formal assessment techniques to monitor student performance. They also
incorporate technology, portfolios and other creative methods to assess students.

6. Able to Identify Student Needs

Being able to identify and address student needs is a crucial component of an educator's job. This
is done by partly using formal and informal assessments to help guide instruction. However, it
also involves getting to know students beyond an instructional level, learning about their
interests, recognizing changes in mood and making sure students are mentally and emotionally
focused on learning.

7. Good at Communication
Communicating effectively with parents and other stakeholders in a child's education is a key
component of an educator's job. A quality educator provides regular updates on a child's progress
and immediately addresses any concerns that may arise. The educator also knows how to calmly
discuss issues with difficult parents and how to come to decisions that have the best interests of
the child in mind.

8. Able to Collaborate
Educators must be able to collaborate with other teachers and school staff. Teachers can learn
from one another and grow into better teachers through collaboration. They can also collaborate
to make the school a safe, effective learning environment for all students and to improve the
overall image of the school and the instruction that takes place there.

9. Maintaining a Professional Appearance

Being an educator requires maintaining a professional appearance at all times. This includes
dressing appropriately and acting professionally. Educators often serve as role models for
students. Actions such as using foul language, gossiping about teachers and students or dressing
inappropriately can cause students to lose respect for an educator.

10. Demonstrating a Commitment to the Profession

Educators must make a commitment to education and professional development. Subject matter
knowledge fades, teaching strategies change and new research is always modifying the way
students learn and teachers teach. By furthering their education and taking part in professional
development sessions, educators can continue to improve the quality of the education they
provide.

TASK

Compare and contrast between Basic Education Competencies and the Teacher Education
Competencies from the curriculum designs

IMPORTANCE OF INDIGENOUS LANGUAGE IN LEARNING

Kenya is a multilingual country with more than 42 different Indigenous Languages. In addition,
Foreign Languages are used by minorities in major towns and in some learning institutions. The
most dominant foreign language is English which is an official language alongside Kiswahili.

The inclusion of Indigenous Languages in Kenya’s new curriculum has a lot of benefits to the
learners. The country’s language-in-education policy states that indigenous languages should be
used to teach children in Early Childhood Education. This policy has been in existence from
1976. But the lack of enforcement means that discussions about the importance of the use of
indigenous languages in schools is still hotly debated:

1. Academic success: Based on years of research, the inclusion of Native language and
culture in school curriculum is an important factor in improving the learner’s
performance. Gay (2013) notes a culturally responsive approach to teaching connects
students’ experiences in and out of the school, supports educational equity and
excellence, and empowers students by giving them the skills to effectively negotiate and
impact the world around them. This type of teaching approach and the inclusion of
indigenous languages is not detrimental to academic achievement; rather, it promotes
academic achievement and cultural knowledge, preparing youth to be leaders of their
communities (McCarty & Lee 2014).

2. Health and well-being: Current studies indicate that Native language is integral to the
sense of well-being of Native children, and in turn, to their academic performance, self-
esteem, and ability to succeed in a complex world. When a school values and utilizes
 students' Native language in the curriculum, there is increased student self-esteem, less
anxiety, and greater self-efficacy (Hakuta 2001).

3. Children will have an opportunity to acquire and develop their mother tongues. Very
early introduction to second languages is in some cases to blame for the poor language
mastery of most young people – they do not know any of the languages they speak
competently.

4. It will improve early literacy outcomes in primary schools. Recent research indicates that
majority of pupils entering grade four have literacy skills below expectations.
Researcher’s attribute this to premature introduction of pupils, especially from rural areas
and informal settlements-into the English medium.

5. The new curriculum provides for the study of indigenous languages as career subjects
later on. This implies that learning the languages might be sources of employment like in
working as interpreters, book writers, teachers and as linguists.

6. It will make Kenya a truly multilingual society. Contrary to arguments about many
languages breeding tribalism, a country with a multilingual and multicultural ethos is a
truly cohesive society; the population grows to appreciate others as different and not as
good or bad.

LISTENING AND SPEAKING

EFFECTIVE LISTENING AND SPEAKING

1.What Is Listening?

• Listening is the ability to accurately receive and interpret messages in the communication
process.

• Listening is key to all effective communication, without the ability to listen effectively
messages are easily misunderstood.

• Listening is one of the most important skills you can have.

• An active process of getting information, ideas.
• “Listening is the process of receiving, constructing meaning from, and responding to spoken.
KEY FEATURES OF LISTENING

• Listening is not just about being Quiet while someone else is speaking.

• Listening is with the Mind.

• Hearing with the senses.

• Listening is conscious.

• To improve our interpersonal & oral exchange.

NOTE

Just Listening to words is not enough; a good Listener has to pay attention to the non-verbal
communication of the speaker. Process of Listening

1. Receiving

• Is the intentional focus on hearing a speaker’s message.

• This stage is represented by the ear because it is the primary tool involved with this stage of the
listening process.

2. Understanding
• In the understanding stage, we attempt to learn the meaning of the message, which is not
always easy.

• Deciding what the message means to you

3. Remembering
• Remembering begins with listening; if you can’t remember something that was said, you might
not have been listening effectively.

• However, even when you are listening attentively, some messages are more difficult than
others to understand and remember.
Highly complex messages that are filled with detail call for highly developed listening skills.

4. Evaluating
• evaluations of the same message can vary widely from one listener to another. • The stages
two, three, and four are represented by the brain because it is the primary tool involved with
these stages of the listening process.

5. Responding
• Responding—sometimes referred to as feedback
This is the fifth and final stage of the listening process.

• Your reaction to the message. It can be emotional and intellectual

• For example, you are giving positive feedback to your instructor if at the end of class you stay
behind to finish a sentence in your notes or approach the instructor to ask for clarification.

The opposite kind of feedback is given by students who gather their belongings and rush out the
door as soon as class is over.

• This stage is represented by the lips because we often give feedback in the form of verbal
feedback; however, you can just as easily respond nonverbally.

Importance of Listening

•We show that we are serious

•We display respect to other’s view point

•Helps us to learn

•Helps us to adapt and understand

•Empathize

Why Listening is Important?

•To avoid communication errors.

•Helps to learn something new.

•It is the key to success.
Basic Types of Listening
 Active listening
 Selective listening
 Emphatic listening
 Ignoring listening

1. Active Listening
•Understanding all things
•Proper interaction.
•Proper feedback

2. Selective Listening
•We remember only • Selective
portion.
• Topic is not to our liking
3. Empathetic listening • When we listen empathetically, we go beyond sympathy to
seek a truer understand how others are feeling.
• This requires excellent discrimination and close attention to the nuances of
emotional signals. When we are being truly empathetic, we actually feel what they
are feeling.
4. Ignoring Listening
• Not listening at all
• Is pretty insulting to others.
• It can lead to strained relations
NOTE

• A person with normal hearing is not necessarily a good listener.

Barriers to listening
Barriers to effective listening

Some common barriers in the process of listening include

1. Pre-judgments about the speaker.

2. Assuming that the speaker is going to give some unimportant information .
3. Arriving late for a speech, presentation or lecture .
4. Judging the speaker by his/her mannerisms, voice, appearance, accent, etc.
5. Lack of concentration/interest .
6. Avoiding listening to difficult, boring or complex information and selectively listening only
to what is considered interesting.

7. Speaker or listener being distracted by disturbances .

How To Listen Effectively
1. Stop Talking – Be Silent
2. Show Interest
3. Empathize
4. Ask Questions
5. Maintain Eye Contact
6. Take notes
7. Listen Creatively
8. Put Your Entirety
9. Send feedback
10. Avoid or eliminate distraction
11. Try to gather information about the topic to develop interest and familiarity.
Benefits of Effective Listening

• Enhances productivity

• Improves relations
• Avoids conflicts

• Improves understanding

• Improves negotiation skills

• Adds to your Image & Personality

SPEAKING
Speak is a synonym of talk and means to use words and sounds to communicate, to give a lecture
or speech, or to use your voice to say something.
The word speak has many other senses as a verb and is used in several idioms. The ability to
speak confidently and fluently is something which children will develop during their time at
school, and something that will help them throughout their life.

Speaking skills are defined as the skills which allow us to communicate effectively. They give us
the ability to convey information verbally and in a way that the listener can understand.

Children will learn English speaking skills as well as speaking skills in other languages, in
primary and secondary school. Learning how to develop language eg English speaking skills is
so important for ESL students and EAL students too. It's one of the most important parts of
language learning as speaking is how we tend to communicate in everyday life.

Speaking is an interactive process where information is shared, and if necessary, acted upon
by the listener. So, it’s important to develop both speaking and listening skills in order to
communicate effectively.

The four elements of speaking skills Vocabulary:

To develop our speaking skills, we first need to know the right words. Vocabulary development
begins when we are infants, as we learn to describe the world around us and communicate our
needs. This progresses from single words to sentences when children are 2 or 3, at which point
they will normally have a vocabulary of 150-300 words.

Vocabulary development is where students understand the meanings and pronunciations of

words necessary for communication. When they understand what a word means, they can check
what the word or sentence means. This is so important so they can keep up a conversation. If
they understand what the other person is saying and they know what vocabulary to say back,
they are halfway there to communicating effectively.

Did you know that to be considered fluent in a language, you need to have a vocabulary of
around 10,000 words?

Grammar:

You may think that grammar is something we only need for written language. But grammar
includes lots of important areas for spoken language such as an understanding of tenses and the
correct way to structure sentences. Grammar helps us to convey information in a way that the
listener will recognise and understand. Pronunciation:

Understanding how to correctly pronounce words is another important element of speaking

skills. We learn how to pronounce words by listening to those around us, such as our parents,
friends and teachers. Pronunciation varies from country to country, and even city to city!
A lot of this comes from phonemic awareness. This involves understanding the small units that
make up spoken language. English can differ quite a lot compared to other languages. Some
phonemes might not be in ESL students' native languages and children's minds are trained to
categorize phonemes in their first language, so it can become confusing. Developing this ability
in English can come from playing language games and using songs and poems to reiterate
rhythm and repetition. Phonics is where students start to see the relationship between the sounds
of spoken language and graphemes which are the letters and spellings representing sounds in
written language.

Fluency:

Fluency in spoken language is something that naturally develops as children go through school,
as they are using and practising speaking skills every day. Reading widely (and out loud) is a
good way to improve fluency as it introduces children to new vocabulary and reinforces their
knowledge of spoken language.

Fluency is the ability to hear words and understand them straight away. If they see a word
written down, they can read it aloud and pronounce it properly. Ways to develop this include
guiding your students to read passages out loud. You could also get your students to read aloud
in front of the class. This builds their confidence and also helps them to annunciate better.

The more fluent your students are in English, the more interesting, exciting and insightful
conversations they can have.

Resources to improve children’s speaking skills

We have a wealth of resources designed to support your children’s learning and improve their
speaking skills.

One great idea is to hold a No Pens Day, which encourages children to communicate verbally
and listen actively. This ready-to-use PowerPoint will introduce your class to No Pens Day and
explain why it's useful.

Develop speaking and listening skills with this handy set of posters, which include helpful tips
on how to have engaging conversations with others. And, for children who are struggling with
speaking skills and need a little extra help, we have the KS2 Speaking and Listening Catch Up
Pack, including a range of activities to bring children up to speed. Perfect for small group
interventions.
What’s more, you can help children develop their speaking and listening skills through drama
activities. Try out this fun improvisation activity to improve fluency and spoken language skills
in a fun way.

Ten Principles of Effective Listening

1. Stop Talking
Don't talk, listenark Twain

When somebody else is talking listen to what they are saying, do not interrupt, talk over them or
finish their sentences for them. Stop, just listen.
When the other person has finished talking you may need to clarify to ensure you have received
their message accurately

2. Prepare Yourself to Listen Relax.

Focus on the speaker. Put other things out of mind. The human mind is easily distracted by
other thoughts – what’s for lunch, what time do I need to leave to catch my train, is it going to
rain – try to put other thoughts out of mind and concentrate on the messages that are being
communicated.

3. Put the Speaker at Ease

Help the speaker to feel free to speak.

Remember their needs and concerns. Nod or use other gestures or words to encourage them to
continue.

Maintain eye contact but don’t stare – show you are listening and understanding what is being
said.

4. Remove Distractions
Focus on what is being said.

Don’t doodle, shuffle papers, look out the window, pick your fingernails or similar. Avoid
unnecessary interruptions. These behaviours disrupt the listening process and send messages to
the speaker that you are bored or distracted.

5. Empathise

Try to understand the other person’s point of view.

Look at issues from their perspective. Let go of preconceived ideas. By having an open mind we
can more fully empathise with the speaker. If the speaker says something that you disagree with
then wait and construct an argument to counter what is said but keep an open mind to the views
and opinions of others.

6. Be Patient
A pause, even a long pause, does not necessarily mean that the speaker has finished.

Be patient and let the speaker continue in their own time, sometimes it takes time to formulate
what to say and how to say it. Never interrupt or finish a sentence for someone.
7. Avoid Personal Prejudice Try to be impartial.
Don't become irritated and don't let the person’s habits or mannerisms distract you from what the
speaker is really saying.
Everybody has a different way of speaking - some people are for example more nervous or shy
than others, some have regional accents or make excessive arm movements, some people like to
pace whilst talking - others like to sit still.
Focus on what is being said and try to ignore styles of delivery.

8. Listen to the Tone

Volume and tone both add to what someone is saying.

A good speaker will use both volume and tone to their advantage to keep an audience attentive;
everybody will use pitch, tone and volume of voice in certain situations – let these help you to
understand the emphasis of what is being said.

9. Listen for Ideas – Not Just Words

You need to get the whole picture, not just isolated bits and pieces.

Maybe one of the most difficult aspects of listening is the ability to link together pieces of
information to reveal the ideas of others. With proper concentration, letting go of distractions,
and focus this becomes easier.

10. Wait and Watch for Non-Verbal Communication

Gestures, facial expressions, and eye-movements can all be important.

PRINCIPLES OF EFFECTIVE LISTENING AND SPEAKING

Well-Planned
Before presenting something, there should be proper planning regarding the audience, topics
to be delivered, timing, and other factors: So, a person must be well-prepared to deliver his
speech.
Clear pronunciation
To make oral messages meaningful to receivers, words should be clearly and correctly
pronounced. There should not be any lack of clarity, otherwise, the communication would
be a confusing one.
Brevity
Effective oral communication desires that a message should be brief. If the sender took a long
time for talking, his message may not get the attention of the receiver. Precision
Precision is needed to make oral communication effective. There should not be any confusing
words rather message to be delivered should be specific so that there is no misunderstanding.
Natural voice
Any sort of unnatural voice may distort the message. A natural voice can do a lot to make oral
communication effective.
Logical sequence
Ideas should be organized in a sequential way to make the message communicative and
attractive. Unorganized ideas do not provide a clear sense while a logical sequence of ideas gives
a clear sense.
Suitable words
Words have different meanings to different people in different situations in oral communication,
a speaker should use common, simple, and familiar words so that the receiver can react to the
message without any problem.
Courteous
Courtesy costs nothing but can earn many things. So, a speaker should be courteous while
addressing listeners. It helps create a good impression in the mind of listeners regarding the
speaker.
Attractive presentation
It is another principle to make oral communication effective. A speaker should deliver his speech
in a very nice and sweet language so that the receiver is attracted to take part in the communication.
Avoiding Emotions
Speaker must control his emotions to make oral communication effective. Too much emotion
will take the speaker away from the main subject.

Emphasis
The speaker must be knowledgeable regarding the portion of the speech where he should give
emphasis. Giving emphasis on respective points will help draw the attention of the audience.
Controlling Gesticulation
Speaker on many occasions, consciously or unconsciously, gesticulates for expressing his ideas
or thoughts. This is a habit and should be avoided. Otherwise, the application of such a habit
may lead to % disinterest of the audience.
APPROPRIATE STRATEGIES OF FACILITATING LANGUAGE LEARNING (ORAL
SKILLS)

Oral skills in language are the listening and speaking skills.

In the learning process there are different variables that do help in learning these skills. They
include:

1. The Independent variables

2. The dependent variables
3. The Intervening variables

INDEPENDENT VARIABLE DEPENDENT VARIABLE

Teaching methods

Repetition Question and Answer

Story telling

Dialogue Use of songs

Oral Skills Proficiency

Use of poems and rhymes

Fluency Expressive ability

Role play Teaching

Comprehension
Learning Materials

Textbooks Workbooks

Teaching aids

Teachers’ Qualifications

P1Certificate Diploma

Undergraduate Postgraduate

Teaching experience INTERVENING VARIABLE

Pupils’ Characteristics

School environment

Parental involvement
The independent variables are teaching methods used in teaching oral skills in languages such as

repetition, question and answer, storytelling, songs, role play, teaching and learning materials

and teachers’ academic qualifications.

This has an influence on oral skills proficiency (dependent variables). The indicators of oral

skills proficiency include fluency in the use of languages, expressive ability and learners

understanding or comprehension. The independent variable and the dependent variables

influence strategies used in teaching of oral skills.

The intervening variables; (parental involvement, students’ own characteristics and

implementation of the language policy in primary schools) may influence pupils’ oral

proficiency in language.

There are several strategies used in teaching oral skills.

There are more recent strategies which are not only used to set standards of correctness and a

measure of one’s conception of literacy but also a good command of the English language.

They include:

DIALOQUE

A dialogue is spoken or written conversation or talk. Ellis and Tomlinson (1980) point out that,

dialogues serve to show the pupils what such intonation pattern is appropriate for a specific

situation, KIE Report, (1987) says that these can be done with the teacher speaking or a student

speaking to another student. A teacher can play a recorded tape of pupils holding a dialogue to

teach intonation, sentence stress or even minimal pairs.

DRAMA

Baker and Westrup (2003) say that a drama activity is usually a form of a role play. For

language practice, learners can creatively come up with a drama activity using the language

items they understand. The class may dramatize certain actions in their daily lives such as going

shopping, fishing, or attending a soccer match (KIE, 1987).

Dramatization can be used to teach intonation, short word group and sentence stress.

SIMULATION

Simulation is the deliberate making of certain conditions that could exist in reality, for instance,

in order to study them or learn them. While Byrne (1986) defines simulation as an activity

where the participants normally discuss a problem of some kind with a setting that has been

defined for them.

Role-play is an activity where the participants interact either as themselves in imaginary

situations or other people in imaginary situations.

DRILLS

A drill is training in something by means of repeated or regular exercises e.g. pronunciation

drills. Correct spoken habits can only be attained by constant repetition.

Tiffen (1969) and KCID (1987) postulate that there are different types of drills designed to

practice the correct form, or correct meaning, or both. Some of these drills are situational drills,

dialogues, substitution drills, transformation drills, etc.

Speech drills can be used to teach word stress, sentence stress, intonation, and pronunciation of

speech sounds.

DISCUSSION

To discuss is to talk about something while a debate is a form of discussion. The two terms are

therefore related. People argue for and against a given topic in a debate. For example, the class

can be divided into groups of six to eight, with a leader appointed in 28 each group and a

recorder assigned to take notes on the topic being dealt with. The teacher would select a few

comments, may be on pronunciation of English sounds that do not occur in most Kenyan

languages but are common in English, such as contrastive sounds which the learners normally

find confusing (K.N.E.C., 2000-2001).

NOTE

These methods have helped promote oral language competency which will enable learners to

attain both academic excellence and oral language skills.

REFERENCES

Adelman, C. (1981). “Saving the Baby: Language Study and the New Reforms in General

Education.” ADFL Bulletin 13.2, pp. 3–19.

Aha Punana Leo. “Our Language: e ola ka olelo Hawai’i - the Hawai’ian language shall live.”

www.ahapunanaleo.org/HTML/OL.htm. Alter, M. (1970). “The Modern Case for German.”

American Association of Teachers of German. Philadelphia: ERIC ED 058 809. Bacon, H.,
Kidd, G., and Seaborg, J. (1982). "The effectiveness of bilingual instruction with Cherokee

Indian students." Journal of American Indian Education 21, pp.34-43. Bialystok, E. F. Craik &

M. Freedman. 2007. “Bilingualism as a protection against the onset of symptoms of dementia.”

Neuropsychologia 45, pp. 459-464. Bruck, M. (1982). “Language Disabled Children:

Performance in an Additive Bilingual Education Program.” Applied Psycholinguistics 6, pp. 39–

61. Demmert, W. G., Jr. (2001). Improving academic performance among Native American

students: A review of the research literature. Charleston, WV: ERIC Clearinghouse on Rural

Education and Small Schools. Edwards, H. (1989). “Review of the Literature.” In N. Halsall

(ed.), Immersion/Regular Program Study. Nepead, ON: Carleton Board of Education. Gay,

Geneva. (2013). “Teaching To and Through Cultural Diversity.” Curriculum Inquiry 43,

pp.4870. Genesee, F. (1991). “L’immersion et l'apprenant défavorisé.” Études de linguistique

appliquée 82, avril– juin, pp. 77–93. Genesee, F. (2009). “Early childhood bilingualism: Perils

and possibilities.” Journal of Applied Research on Learning, 2 (Special Issue), pp. 1-21.

Genesee, F., J. Paradis and M. Crago. (2004). Dual Language Development and Language

Disorders: A Handbook on Bilingualism and Second Language Acquisition. Baltimore, MD:

Brookes. Goodkind, J., K. Ross-Toledo, K., S. John, J.L. Hall, L. Ross, L. Freeland, E. Coletta,

& T. Becenti-Fundark. (2011). “Rebuilding trust: A Community, multiagency, state and

university partnership to improve behavioral health care for American Indian youth, their

families and communities.” Journal of Community Psychology 39, pp. 452-477. Mmari, Kristin

N., Blum, Robert Wm., and Teufel-Shone, Nicolette. “What increases risk and protection for

delinquent behaviors among American Indian Youth?” Youth and Society 41, pp. 382-413.

Hakuta, K. (2001). Testimony to the United States Commission on Civil Rights. "The Education

of Language Minority Students." April 13, 2001. Hakuta, K. (1986). Cognitive development of

bilingual children. UCLA: Center for Language Education and Research. Hofstadter, R., and
Wilson S., eds. (1961). “F. H. Hedge on University Reforms, 1866.” American Higher

Education: A Documentary History. Vol. 2, pp. 561-7. Chicago: U of Chicago Press. Ianco-

Worrall, A.D. (1972). “The effects of bilingualism on the individual: Cognitive and sociocultural

consequences.” In P. Hornby (Ed.), Bilingualism: Psychological, social, and educational

implications (pp. 15-27). New York: Academic Press.