Abstract:
Kiswahili is recognized by the Constitution of Kenya as the national language and also the
official language alongside English. It is therefore the tool of communication in both
official and non official contexts.For instance, Taifa Leo newspaper presents
environmental information to readers in Kiswahili. This means that many people who
can read have access to news on environment. The environment is a cross-cutting and
sensitive issue nationally and internationally. Environment affects the life of every
creature on a daily basis in one way or another. The print media, the Taifa Leo included,
which has been tasked with informing the public about the world's environmental issues,
ought to do so in a way that will enable people to understand the importance of the
environment and thus interact with it in a positive way. This argument stems from the
belief that a person values and cares for what he or she understands. This study therefore
aims to determine whether the choice of language in conveying environmental
information in the Taifa Leo newspaper contributes to how the audience understands the
information and ultimately the behaviours generated by that understanding. This study
analysed the language features selected by journalists in reporting on environmental
news in the Taifa Leo newspaper to ascertain if the choice of language contributes to the
reporting of intended environmental issues and finally to explain whether the choice of
language elements has any relationship with the meaning of information emerging from
the environmental news.This study was conducted in a library where environmental
discourse was analysed. Taifa Leo newspapers published from January 2021 to March
2022 were selected purposively, by extracting texts from the selected newspaper that
had environmental information. Data was analysed based on language used in
presentation of environmental information in selected texts from Taifa Leo newspapers.
