ABSTRACT
This
research work examined the effects of mother tongue
in the teaching and learning of English Language in Junior Secondary Schools in
Orumba
South L.G.A, Anambra state. The objectives of
the study include; to find out how mother-tongue
affects the learning of English language, to find out how teachers’ method of
teaching affects the learning of English language, and to find out the extent
to which students’ family background affects their spoken English. The research
method adopted was the survey research method. The major instrument of data
collection was the questionnaire. The sources of data were the primary and
secondary sources of data. The population of the study was 13,462, while the
sample size of 200 students was determined, by adopting the rule guiding
population and sampling. The findings include; there are many factors that
contribute to mother tongue interference in teaching and learning of English
language in secondary school in Orumba south education zone and how the
students immediate environment contribute to mother tongue interference in
teaching and learning of English language in secondary school. The
recommendations include that teacher-training institutions such as College of
Education and the Universities have crucial roles to play in making sure that
teacher’s in training recognize and appreciate the important role of the
mother-tongue instructional policy in the lower primary school as an avenue to
foster functional primary education and literary in Nigeria and teachers will
always look for the most comfortable and experiment approach of teaching. There
must also be more teaching and learning materials in the indigenous language in
Nigeria. In conclusion, effectiveness and initiative in teaching depend largely
on teacher qualification.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title page i
Certification page ii
Dedication iii
Acknowledgements iv
Table of Content vi
Abstract vii
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
Background of
the study 1
Statement of
the problem 8
Purpose of the
study 9
Significant of
the study 10
Scope of the
study 11
Research
question 11
CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
Conceptual framework 13
Theoretical Framework 18
Empirical studies 23
Summary of Reviewed Literature 26
CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research design 28
Area of Study 28
Population of the study 28
Sample and sampling techniques 29
Instrument for data collection 29
Validity of the Instrument 30
Reliability of the Instrument 31
Method of Data Collection 31
Method of Data Analysis 32
CHAPTER FOUR: DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS
Data Analysis 34
Summary of Result and Findings 39
CHAPTER FIVE: DISCUSSION, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Discussion of the Findings 41
Conclusion 41
Summary 43
Recommendations
43
References
45
Appendix
I 48
Appendix
II 49
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
The
present status of English Language in Nigeria is one identified by many as
lingua franca. It appears to be so bcause Nigeria’s civil service, government
establishments, and armed forces the public and judicial systems use English
language as the prescribed language of communication. Various ethnic groups with different language
background use English in social gathering, English language is also used among
people for social interaction.
In
one sense, we are being educated all the time, to the extent that everything
that happens to us bring about some changes in the way we feel, think, act and
obviously the way we speak. We learn
from the things we learn, from the circumstances in which we live, the people
we meet, ideas in the papers, in fact, everything that surrounds us and of
English language best be achieved by interacting closely with native speakers
or teachers of the language by nothing what they say, how they say them and
taking interest in culture. According to
Eze (2010), she described language as a vehicle of thought. According to
Webster’s encyclopedia unabridged dictionary of the English Language, it is the
body of words and systems of use common to a people who are of the same
community or nation, the same geographical area or the same cultural
tradition. Language is human speech
written or spoken. When there is a human
society, there is a language. A common
language enables human beings to work together in a fruited variety or
ways. Nigeria as a multilingual country
adopted English language as its official language which will be used as
language of instruction and administration.
This choice was based on our colonial masters (Britain) being Anglophone
country.
According
to Oga (2015), English is one of the major languages out of about 5000
estimated languages spoken in the world.
About 2000 years ago, English was simply the language of more than 300
million people and second only to Chinese as regards to number of people using
a particular language. English is one of the most influential and fast growing
languages spoken across the globe.
One
fifth of the earth’s land surface use English either as a native tongue or
official language of the entire world’s language, English is the most wide
studied language especially in areas where it is not native. According to Anibueze (2007), English
Language is a lingua franca. As lingua
franca, it is language for unification.
It is highly estimated so that the people of varied languages will have
purpose to relate together mutually and work in union. For example, Hausa man may comfortably stay
and effectively speak with a Yoruba man or an Igbo man, and vice versa.
The
English language had remained a very important tool for socialization and bureaucratic
activities in Nigeria, since the days of colonialism. It was only natural that emphasis was laid on
spoken English only on written English or both of them.
However,
with the emergence of a new class of people, with time, the civil servants, and
their roles in colonial administration, the teaching and learning of English
Language took another form. According to
Ogayi (2005), language learning is a creative yet subtle process that we don’t
even realize.
When
we acquire or learn a new language, Ubekwe (2010) language acquisition is a
skill as well as a culture that should be cultivated. This is what happens when students learn a
foreign or second language in a school situation but do not consistently use it,
as it often the case with many primary, secondary and post secondary schools in
Nigeria. This is due to parents and
siblings inability to interact with English language at homes. As small percentage of the people who use
English in Nigeria, only negligible proportion of them may be said to speak and
write standard English. Since the
students uses foreign language as a medium of communication, they have to start
from the scratch to learn the rudiments of the language. It is natural then that this is the function
where the various problems arising from the teaching and learning of the
language meet the need to do properly.
Theodore
(2007) stated that language learning requires thorough time, patience and
practice. It cannot be done solely in
school with the large class but requires few minutes of daily practice for
students. Olukpe (2005) stated that the
basic criteria for assessing students proficiency in writing and speaking are
generally control of the basic grammatical categories such as punctuation,
tense, number, gender etc. Language
learning in Nigeria is fraught with deficiencies caused by method of teaching
employed by teachers. Since teaching and
learning are married beyond divorce.
Though human beings have the ability to learn and to understand and
think about things. He has the ability
to gain and use knowledge. He can as
well explore the plans. This has to be
supplemented with effective teaching method to provide a good teaching,
learning situation. Robert (2003), for
effective teaching and learning to take place, the skillful teacher needs to
use the many different methods and techniques at his commands. Even though there is a great diversity in
teaching method and techniques, there is no one of them that can be regarded a
s the best for every teaching situation.
In
the learning of mother-tongue, it was not as in second or foreign
language. According to Robert (2002),
when you learn a language, you make assumptions to learn faster. When you learn a second language, you make
assumption based on the first language and the second sometimes (when it is
different). These assumptions do help
you learn language faster on the whole but result in some errors which may
become entrenched (habits that are not easy to break). To understand second language learning
process we will need to look at the process of language acquisition and how
second language acquisition is different than mother-tongue. The mother-tongue was learnt so early in life
that the learner does not find it difficult to couple with its frequent usage.
But in terms of second language, how rooted the learner is to the mother-tongue
interferes with rules of target or second language. Mother-tongue is the first language learned
at home in childhood and still understand by the person. At present, mother-tongue interference is the
inhibition to the learning of second language caused by the mother tongue. The major area of mother tongue interference
in English language is on phonology (pronunciation). Spencer (2003) observed
that phonology of a second language will almost receive some important imprint
from the phonology of the mother-tongue. Atuonwu (2006) emphasized that Igbo
phonological pattern affect the study of spoken English by Igbo speaking
students. Such interference were noticed
when /N/ is substituted for /L/, /R/ for /L/ or vice versa, this is called
metathesis. In another development,
Bambose (2007) observed that the greatest area of interference is on the
pronunciation of English sound by Nigerian. He concluded that Igbo speakers of
English even educated ones tend to transfer their vowel harmony system in their
language into English. They say (folo)
instead of the word “follow” and so on.
Exports
posit that there are critical age to language learning. There is no clarity or
the age but puberty is considered to be the time after which language learning
stops. However, there are exceptions for instance, some adults learn second
language much later in life but, with motivation and dedication manage to
achieve native like competence. Actually it is easier learning languages from
separate language groups, English as second language learning will be easy for
you. If you know your specific reason
for learning so that you can map your journey accordingly. Laboratory, recorded English language
cassettes and other audiovisual lingual equipments.
Mother
tongue could be defined as the language which a group of people considered to
inhabitants of an area acquired in the early years and which eventually becomes
their natural instrument of thoughts and communication. Mother tongue is the first language that a
person learned. In terms of that view,
the person is defined as a native speaker of the first language, although one
may also be a native speaker of more than one language if all of the languages
were learned without formal education, such as through cultural immersion
before puberty. Often a child learns the
basics of the first language(s) from family (Wikipedia, 2007).
Experiences
in Africa and many parts of the world have shown that cognitive development is
achieved faster by using the mother tongue as language of instruction in
primary education (Kethelen 2006). This
implies that the learner understands very well he/she can understand
instructions and fully participate in the educational processes. Findings of that report stated: “the best
medium for teaching a child is his mother tongue” (Criper and Widdowson, 2005
cited in Seyoum, 2009). It is also pointed out (Robinson, 1996, cited in
Seyoum, 2008 that use of the first language is a factor in educational
achievement and that the educational process in any society ought to be
conducted through a language that both learner and teacher command well. Research results also have shown that mother
tongue education should cover the teaching of the mother tongue as a subject
and using it as medium of instruction.
STATEMENT OF
THE PROBLEM
In
spite of public awareness of the vital role English language plays in our
economic, political and social life, it is still worrisome to many as why the
learning of English language is still held down to its present level in
Nigerian schools and societies. Language
acquisition is skill as well as culture that should be cultivated. It has been proved through experience that
any acquired skill that is not constantly put to use usually be forgotten. This is what happens when students learn a
foreign or second language in a school situation, but do not use it constantly
as it often the case with many primary and post primary schools in Nigeria.
There
are four basic skills necessary for a proper acquisition of any language and
they are: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Teachers provide background experiences for
the students and also determine their academic achievements. English as a
second language which needs constant practice both at school and at homes was
not encouraged by some family backgrounds, hence the need arises to ascertain
the problem of teaching English as second language on the learning of English
language among junior secondary school students in Orumba South Local Government Area, Anambra state. As a number of factors militating against the
use of English language, in different parts of the country. Therefore, this study was carried out to
investigate problem of teaching English as second language in the learning in
Nigeria and Orumba South Local
Government Area, Anambra state in
particular.
PURPOSE OF THE
STUDY
The purpose of this study includes the following:
1.
To find out
how mother-tongue affects the learning of English language
2.
To find out
how teachers’ method of teaching affects the learning of English language.
3.
To find out
the extent to which students’ family background affects their spoken
English.
The
study on the problem of teaching English as second language on learning in
junior secondary schools in Orumba South Local
Government Area, Anambra state will be of
immense benefits to:
Teachers
will adjust their teaching methods and strategies to suit the learner and help
improve on his/her learning of English language without much stress.
Parents
will not over spend on their children education as they will not pay for their
children’s external examinations more than once, as a result of faultier on
English which is a compulsory end a prerequisite for admission into higher
institutions.
The students will realize their weak
point as it regards mother-tongue effect and work toward correcting it to
better their spoken and written English and at the same time save themselves
the stress resetting for external examination (WAEC or NECO) due to failure in English
language.
The
government and policy makers will know the directions in which teachers and
students are lagging behind so as to work toward improving on them through
organizing of seminars, workshops etc for teachers, on the teaching of English
language.
Increase
labour force as students will gain admission early into higher institutions and
graduate and join the labour force. The examiners and supervisors will have
less worked as the number of those who re-sit external examinations (WAEC or
NECO etc) are high die to mass failure in English language per annum.
RESEARCH
QUESTIONS
The following research questions are been raised
to guide the study:
1.
How does
mother tongue affect the learning of English language in Orumba South Local Government Area, Anambra state?
2.
To what extent
does teachers method of teaching affects the teaching and learning of English
language in English language in Orumba South Local
Government Area, Anambra state?
3.
To what extent
does students’ family background affect their spoken English language Orumba South Local Government Area, Anambra state?
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