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This qualitative study investigates Swahili-English bilingualism and biliteracy in five Kenyan children as part of the broader social context including home and school. It explores the influences in the home and school contexts in relation to facilitating or delaying the development of bilingualism and biliteracy in the children studied.The findings indicated that the extent of Swahili used in the children´s homes differed considerably even though all of the families strongly maintained other aspects of their Kenyan cultural identities. Parents primarily supported English literacy because English was the school language. Data on student performance illustrated differences in children´s strengths and weaknesses in both English and Swahili; and that English was the stronger language for four of the children. A major implication of the study is that immigrant parents need to be aware of the adverse effects of only emphasizing English literacy on their children´s bilingual and biliterate development and identities. The language loss findings illustrate the strong hegemonic influence of English in both the USA and Kenya.

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A linguist and educator, was born in Muheza District in Tanzania. She earned a bachelor´s degree in Linguistics and Education; and a master´s degree in Linguistics from the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania; and a master´s degree in Linguistics and a PhD in Education from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA.

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