Emerging role of media as the language art in children’s literature in Kenya

Abstract

The growing need to understand a Kenyan child in learning situations today indeed broadens our quest to understand literacy and related text forms associated with information and multimedia technologies. Media today constitute socialization avenues for children in the contemporary society. They play a relation in family and school life for children regarding children’s socialization and cultural transformation. Therefore there is a need to harness the benefits of the 21st century information technologies in children’s learning. The paper’s main concern is on media’s symbolic meaning involving interpretation, negotiations and making compromises for potential meaning of representational forms. Firstly it recognizes how media have meshed into contemporary society. Therefore we are pedagogically faced with presentation problems in children’s literature where African values, beliefs and codes of behaviour can be inculcated. Secondly it argues that children’s literature calls for a rethinking, such that it is made ‘integrative’ and new media such as television, videos, and internet use are given a role in contributing to learning. Thirdly, representation strategies to embrace the information age are described.

Keywords: Pedagogy, literacy skills, multimedia technologies, integrative approach, multiliteracy , multiculturalism.