The learning of Foreign Languages in Kenyan Universities: The Relevance of French

Abstract

Everybody seems to agree that the world today has been transformed into a small village. The effects of globalization have been felt all over the world and the best reaction that people seem to prefer is accepting this reality and learning to live with it. One of the obvious consequences of this phenomenon is that people from different countries and cultures are now interacting more than ever before. This interaction will almost always involve communication. And communication implies language. It is in this regard that more and more people are now learning one or more languages, other than their own, that is to say foreign languages. This need to learn foreign languages has existed in Kenya for a long time. However, languages that have not been classified under the “traditional foreign languages” category are now being learnt at post-secondary school level. Journal of Language, Technology and Entrepreneurship in Africa Vol. 1 (1) 2007 pp. 75-83