Assessment of Kivunjo as Second Language Learners’ Competence

Abstract

The current study sought to assess the second language learners’ competence at lexical, syntactic, morphological, comprehension and pragmatic levels. The language under study was Kivunjo dialect of Chagga, spoken in Kilimanjaro. The study involved 68 subjects who included 28 subjects who were dubbed ‘the diaspora”, 20 immigrants into Kivunjo speaking area by virtue of their marriage, and 20 who were residing in Kivunjo speaking area because they are working or doing business in the area. Two instruments were used to collect data. The first was a cloze test to measure the respondents’ level of competence and the second was questionnaire which was aimed at capturing the respondents’ biodata focusing on their age, sex, place of birth and growth, and their domicile. The findings showed that the respondents’ level of competence was such that the majority from all three clusters performed between ‘fair’ and ‘very good’, which gives the impression that most of them were able to communicate accurately and appropriately. However, there was variability across the three groups which point to the fact that the Kivunjo as L2 speakers are no a homogenous group with regard to their varying levels of competence.