Collaborating with native Lubukusu language speakers in CBC Education in Kenya for maintenance and preservation of Indigenous Languages

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to identify strategies for indigenous language preservation and to investigate how the use of Lubukusu native language resource persons in CBC education can be integrated into the formal curriculum development process for indigenous languages. The study adopted a qualitative descriptive research design because it intended to describe the phenomenon of the use of resource persons alongside classroom teachers. The respondents were pre-primary and lower primary teachers and key informants comprising Native Language Resource Persons. A purposive sampling technique was used to sample respondents based on two criteria: early education teachers stationed in the South Kulisiru Ward of Bungoma County and Lubukusu language resource persons based on prior classroom experience with these teachers in lesson delivery. Two research instruments were telephone interviews with key informants and open-ended questionnaires with the teachers, respectively. The authors concluded that awareness of the role of indigenous languages in education, the campaign against negative perceptions amongst parents, and an explicit policy framework would eventually provide the necessary curriculum infrastructure for the preservation of indigenous languages