A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE SOCIOLINGUISTIC PROFILES OF ENGLISH IN KENYA AND UGANDA

Abstract

This paper compares the historical and sociolinguistic contexts of English in Kenya and Uganda addressing several questions such as: What are the similarities and differences in the sociolinguistic profiles of English in these two East African countries? How do the roles English plays in Kenya compare to its roles in Uganda? Who are the users of English in Kenya, and how do these compare with the users in Uganda? Although there are several similarities in the sociolinguistic profiles of English in Uganda and Kenya, due to the different historical and political experiences these two countries have had, their sociolinguistic profiles differ in subtle yet significant ways making it necessary for these varieties of English to be described as distinct varieties instead of being viewed as one unified East African variety.

Keywords: Language attitudes; functional allocations; English in Kenya; African indigenous languages; English in Uganda