Implication of Language Use in Higher Education Curricula Development and Implementation: A Case of Moi University, Kenya

Abstract

Knowledge creation, dissemination, and consumption require the use of an appropriate language. Kenyan Higher education relies more  on non-native languages, which brings about communication disconnect at all levels, including, the utilisation stage/ in practice, a stage  that determines how much of the acquired knowledge is consumed for societal development. The study investigates communication  challenges that professionals in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (henceforth, STEM) and Law encounter in their  careers, and argues for the inclusion of the Kiswahili component in the Kenyan Higher education curricula, for effective knowledge and skills application. Consequently, we identify and critically discuss the place of language in the development and implementation of  curricula in Moi University (henceforth, MU); examine the dis/harmony in knowledge and skills application and utilisation, and finally,  conceptualise a holistic Higher education future that embraces the peoples’ shared linguistic code- for productivity. Using the  Communication Accommodation Theory, data from 15 university students, 10 lecturers and 15 practitioners in the above fields, 6  Kiswahili, French, and German (2 for each) lecturers, and 20 consumers of related knowledge and skills are analysed. Findings inform the Kenyan education policy-makers and implementers on the need to re-evaluate the place of language in Higher education curricula for  STEM (and by extension, the Arts, Social sciences, and Humanities, (henceforth, AHSS)) for effective knowledge and skills utilisation and  eventual societal well-being.