Semilingulität bei jugendlichen in Kenia beim erwerb der deutschen sprache

Abstract

The following study examined if the Kenyan youth are semi lingual and how this affects the acquisition of the German language. The research therefore assumed that the youth in Kenya are incompetent in English and Kiswahili thereby affecting their acquisition of the German language and had among its objectives to find out if the youth in Kenya are semilingual. As research method, interviews were conducted in two Kenyan high schools that teach German as a foreign language. Furthermore, the students filled in questionnaires that sought to get information about their own views on their competence in the languages they speak. This study found the social cultural theory of second language acquisition useful and therefore applies it in the research. The theory states that the learning of a language is centred in the individuals’ interactions. After conducting the research, the study could not find firm evidence to describe the Kenyan youth as semilingual, because the criteria available for its examination were not sufficient to enable a firm conclusion regarding the semilingalism phenomenon.