A socio-pragmatic and structural analysis of code-switching among the Legoli speech community of Kangeni, Nairobi, Kenya

Abstract

The study is an in-depth examination of code-switching in the Logoli speech community in the cosmopolitan Kangemi informal settlement area on the outskirts of the city of Nairobi. The aim of the study is to investigate the sociolinguistic and structural developments that result from urban language contact settings such as Kangemi. The main objective is to identify and illustrate the social motivations that influence the tendency of the Logoli speakers to alternate codes between Lulogoli, Kiswahili and English in the course of their routine conversations as well as the structural patterns that emerge in the process of code-switching. Various methodological techniques were used in the gathering of data, including questionnaire surveys, oral interviews, tape recordings and ethnographic participant-observation techniques are highlighted. Extracts from the corpus were analysed within a theoretical framework based on two models, namely the Markedness Model and the Matrix Language Frame Model, both developed by Myers-Scotton. The study identified and interpreted, within the Markedness Model framework, the key social variables that determine code-switching behaviour among the Logoli speech community. These include age, education, status and the various social domains of interaction. In the light of these factors, the researcher was able to explain the tendency to switch codes in different settings and confirm the study’s assumption that urban-based social factors largely determine the motivations for and the patterns of code-switching. This lead to the conclusion that code-switching is not a random phenomenon but a strategy and a negotiation process that aims at maximizing benefits from interaction. Structural features of the corpus were also identified and analysed within the Matrix Language Frame Model. The assumptions of the model were tested and found to be supported by numerous examples from the data. A number of recommendations were made for further research on minority languages in Kenya and the need for language policy in Kenya to be formulated to take these language groups into consideration.