<p>According to a report by the World Bank, Kiswahili and English are not the best-suited languages to determine the development of children.</p>
<p>Although these are the official languages in Kenya, the report suggests that mother tongue is better placed when it comes to determining the development of a child before s/he joins school.</p>
<p>Therefore assessments of children in either Kiswahili or English may not fully depict a clear picture of the child’s progress.</p>
<p>The report also reveals that when a child is growing up, s/he is likely to grasp the language that the primary caregiver (the mother) speaks- the first language, L1 also known as the child’s mother tongue.</p>
<p>This means that these children are less likely to get exposed to English since most of the neighbours speak in the child’s mother tongue.</p>
<p>The report’s finding is based on a study which was conducted in Homabay and Kisumu on September 2015.</p>
<p>The study also aimed at understanding the performance of children on receptive vocabulary tests in mother tongue versus official languages.</p>
<p><strong>MULTI-LINGUALISM</strong><br />
13 children who took part in the assessment could answer the questions given in English.</p>
<p>Six children responded in Swahili. The rest, 297 which translates into 58% answered in more than one language.</p>
<p>It was further noted that the number of children who could answer in a single language decreased with age.</p>
<p>Children answered more expressive words in Luo, followed by English then Kiswahili.</p>
<p>The use of Swahili decreased slightly with the respondents’ age.</p>
<p>Even the youngest of all preferred their mother tongue to English and Kiswahili.</p>
<p>The question is, should we examine our children in the mother tongue?</p>

