LANGUAGE AND POWER RELATIONS IN GENDERED DISCOURSE WITHIN EKEGUSII: IMPLICATIONS ON PEDAGOGY IN THE KENYAN CONTEXT

Abstract

This paper presents a discussion of language and power relations between men and women in EkeGusii and makes consideration with regards to how EkeGusii has constructed men and women to use language differently. Data was collected through participatory observation as well as own intuition and document analysis. The social theory is used to analyse data. Social theory is fundamental in this paper because gendered discourse is a social rather than biological construction and that social theory analyses language in society and what language use means to its users. It is recommended that EkeGusii chinsoni (statutes) for language be aligned with the Kenya Constitution in order to guarantee equal linguistic rights to both men and women. There is need for the curriculum to consider the learner’s sociolinguistic culture in order to play mitigative role in enabling girls realise equity of participation in the classroom process since school is taking over the socialization of an individual.