Kavenuke, Patrick Severine2019-03-272019-03-272017-12APA2411-5681http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11810/5128The debate of language of instruction particularly in Tanzania and Rwanda has drawn attention to policy makers, researchers and the entire public. The study examined the factors to be considered in introducing a foreign language as a language of instruction (LOI). It also analyzed how the selection of a given foreign language to be a LOI liberates or silences learners in the learning process. It adopted document analysis where documents such as language policy, education policy, curriculum development, language studies and previous studies related to the topic under scrutiny were reviewed. It concludes that the aim is neither to ban the use of foreign languages as languages of instruction nor to ban the use of local languages or lingua franca, given the advantages attached to each medium. Rather, it intended to critically analyze how liberating and silencing is the language adopted to become a LOI in the entire learning process. The study recommends teachers and students to be allowed to code switch and translate in their language, when need arises. Being too rigid to policy statements on the LOI, only propagate teaching but not learning.enForeign languages, Language of instruction, Liberating learners, Silencing learners, Tanzania, RwandaJournal Article