Access to Literacy Resources in Tanzanian Homes and Schools

Abstract

The issue of scarcity of resources that aid language and literacy acquisition at home and at school is the focus of this paper. These resources include books, print media such as newspapers, broadcasting media for instance television and radio sets. This paper examines - through an ethnographic lens - the role played by literacy resources in literacy acquisition. This was done through data elicited from interview and observations of interviewees’ home to determine the availability of these literacy resources and the way interviewees interact with them. First, the finding indicates, on the one hand, that some homes lack literacy resources, which assist language and literacy acquisition, and on the other, the finding suggests that some home possess these materials and yet they are not used in literate ways. Secondly, with regard to the availability of textbooks at school, the finding shows that books are scarce and where available they are locked away for fear of being lost by pupils.  Concerning this issue, the paper exhorts parents to invest in textbooks for their children.

Keywords: New literacy studies; literacy resources; literacy acquisition; Kiswahili; Tanzania; ethnography