Basweti, Nobert Ombati

Promoting the Use of African Indigenous Languages among the Youth in Kenya: An Argument for E-Inclusivity

By Gitu, Susan Wangari

This paper looks at the use of African indigenous languages in social media as a positive mechanism to decolonise the Internet. Specifically, the study analysed the use of Gikuyu language as an indigenous language to establish whether Kenyan youths use indigenous languages on social media platforms, with an aim of highlighting the need to promote African languages on social media as a means to decolonise the Internet. The case-based study used a mixed-method research design. Using purposive sampling, the study employed focus group discussions to gather qualitative data, while employing stratified sampling to conduct a survey using a questionnaire for quantitative data. Random sampling was used to identify 300 high school participants aged between 15 and 25 years in a public school in rural Kenya. Using Herman Batibo’s African Linguistic Dynamism Theory to capture the diversity and dynamism in language use and Blumler and Katz’s Uses and Gratifications Theory to account for the strategic use of language to meet one’s needs, the study found that Gikuyu language is rarely used by the youth on social media. This prompts the need to promote the use of African languages through policy, electronic media, publishing of fictional books and adoption of youth speaks fora. © 2024 Unisa Press.