ABSTRACT
This study examined the parents’ and
teachers’ perception of the use of mother tongue as language of instruction in
Lower Primary Schools (1 – 3). A total of four (4) public primary schools in
Mainland Local Government Area of Lagos State were used. The study was carried
out to ascertain whether the children’s mastery of mother tongue at school, is
influenced by their parents’ and teachers’ perception of the language.
The descriptive survey research was
used in order to collect data from respondents. Two different questionnaires
were used – one for the teachers and the other for the parents. A total of two
hundred and forty (240) respondents were randomly selected and used for this
study. The sample size is made up of one hundred and twenty (120) parents and
one hundred and twenty (120) teachers.
Two null hypotheses were formulated and
tested using the independent t-test statistical tool at 0.05 level of
significance. At the end of the analyses, the results obtained show that:
(1)
There is a significant difference between parents’
perception of mother tongue and children’s mastery of mother tongue at home.
(2)
There is a significant difference between teachers’
perception of mother tongue and children’s academic performance at school.
Based on the results obtained at the
end of the analyses, it could be deduced that, the way both parents and
teachers perceive the use of mother tongue as a medium of instruction at
school, to a large extent influence the children’s mastery of the mother tongue
and their performance in it. Recommendations were proffered also.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title page i
Certification ii
Dedication iii
Acknowledgements iv
Abstract v
Table of contents vi
CHAPTER
ONE 1
1.1 Introduction/Background
to the Study 1
1.2
Statement
of the Problem 4
1.3
Purpose
of Study 5
1.4
Research
Questions 5
1.5
Research
Hypotheses 6
1.6
Significance
of the Study 6
1.7
Scope
of the Study 7
1.8
Limitation
of the Study 7
1.9
Definition
of Terms 7
CHAPTER
TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW 8
2.0 Introduction 8
2.1 Concept of mother tongue 8
2.2 The use of mother tongue 9
2.3
The
use of mother tongue in education 10
2.4
Some
comments on the use of mother tongue in education 14
2.5
The
importance of the mother tongue as a medium of education 15
2.6
Mother
tongue in primary education 16
2.7
The
effectiveness of the mother tongue 19
2.8
The
National Policy on Education Language Policy 22
CHAPTER
THREE: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 26
2.0
Introduction
26
3.1 Research Design 26
3.2 Population of the Study 26
3.3 Sample and Sampling Technique 26
3.4 Instrumentation 26
3.5 Procedure for Data Collection 28
3.6 Validity of Instrument 29
3.7 Reliability of Instrument 29
CHAPTER
FOUR: Data Analysis and Presentation of
Results 30
1.1
Introduction 30
1.2
Descriptive
Analysis of Teachers’ Bio-Data 31
1.3
Descriptive
Analysis of Data Collected from Teachers
according to Research Questions 33
1.4
Descriptive
Analysis of Parents’ Bio-Data 41
1.5
Descriptive
Analysis of Data Collected from Parents according
to Research Questions 43
1.6
Testing of Hypotheses 53
1.7
Summary of Findings 54
CHAPTER
FIVE: Discussion, Summary, Conclusions,
Recommendations and Suggestions for
Further Studies 56
1.1
Introduction
56
1.2
Discussion
of Findings 56
1.3
Summary
of the Study 58
1.4
Conclusions
59
1.5
Recommendations
60
1.6
Suggestions
for Further Studies 62
References 63
Appendices 67
CHAPTER
ONE
1.1
Introduction/Background
to the Study
A primary school pupil
according to the National Policy on Education, 3rd Edition (1998)
comprises children aged between 6 – 11 years) plus. The primary education is
graded from Primary 1 to 6. The first three years of the primary education is
termed the lower primary.
Children at the lower
primary form the bedrock of the educational system in Nigeria.
Therefore, the success of the whole system of education is hinged on the
success of the lower primary education level. At this level, pupils are still
very attached to their homes which is one of the agents of socialization.
Hence, the mother tongue which is a means of transfer of cultural practices,
norms and mores of the society should be given utmost priority.
According to Obanya
(1985:19), the child’s mother tongue is the child’s first language, the one in
which he/she feels most at home with and which he/she uses most of the time.
Mother tongue according to Olayemi (1990), refers to any language indigenous to
Nigeria.
The National Policy on
Education (1998) stipulates the importance of language as a means of promoting
social interaction, national cohesion and preserving cultures. Thus, every
child should learn the language of the immediate environment. Furthermore, in the
interest of national unity, it is expedient that every child should be required
to learn one of the three Nigerian languages: Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba.
According to Agagu
(1990), parents’ and teachers’ perception of the use of mother tongue or the
traditional language to teach the child is negative. This is because many
parents, especially the ones living in the urban areas of Nigeria, do not
even have the mastery of the mother tongues and this is applicable to the
teachers. As Agagu puts it, one cannot give what one does not have. As parents
who are the first teachers of the child at home, the educated urban dwellers
especially, do not know how to speak the mother tongue without code-mixing it
with English Language. They lack the capability and competence to impart it to
their children.
Also at school, the
teachers cannot teach the children with the mother tongue because many do not
have the mastery of the indigenous language such as Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba, Efik,
Urobo, Nupe etc. This has left the child to be more proficient in English
Language which his/her teachers and parents mostly apply in teaching and
interacting with them.
Language plays a very
important and active role in the effective education of the child. In the
process of educating the child, especially at the primary level, different
languages could be used, for example, the mother tongue of the child. This is
the first acquired language by the child from parents who are the child’s first
teachers, Abingbola (1995).
Once a solid
educational foundation is laid in the child’s first language, the child learns
more even through other languages spoken in his/her wider environment, Munonye
(1991). Children who come to school with a solid foundation in their mother
tongue develop stronger literacy abilities in the school language. For example,
when parents and other caregivers are able to spend time with children and tell
stories or discuss issues with them in their mother tongue, it will in a way
help them to develop vocabulary and concepts in their mother tongue (the L1)
thus, the children will be well prepared to learn the school language which is
English Language (L2) and this will enhance their success educationally. Mother
Tongue education encourages the understanding of those linguistic concepts in English.
According to Asuai
(1994), the destruction of the local language and culture in schools is highly
counter-productive for the society itself. Whether it is done intentionally or
inadvertently, when the child’s mother tongue is destroyed or ruptured, their
relationships and interactions with parents and grandparents especially the
uneducated ones, will be affected. The need for the use of mother tongue as a
means of instruction in schools has featured prominently in educational
discussions in recent times. It has postulated that a child needs to be tutored
by both parents and teachers in the mother tongue at the early stages, in order
to enable him/her think clearly and communicate effectively in his/her
immediate environment or at school, Adekeke (1996).
Various educationists
including the former Minister of Education, Professor Babs Fafunwa have
recommended the use of the mother tongue as a medium of instruction in the
first three years of the primary schools. The United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), has been pioneering and
promoting the use of the mother tongue as a means of education and more
actively so in the last decade. For example, the 1925 Memorandum on Education,
the British Colonial Government Officially approved the use of mother tongue in
education. Also, Psychologists such as Baker (2000) and Cummins (1999) said
that: “the first twelve years is the most formative in a child’s life,
therefore, the mother tongue education for the child should be seen as a right
and it’s denial be viewed as denial of the fundamental human right”.
The challenge for
parents, teachers and policy-makers is to shape the evolution of national
identity in such a way that the right of the school children are respected and
the cultural, linguistic and economic resources of the nation are maximized.
Therefore, any credible educator will agree that schools should build on the
experiences and knowledge that children bring to the classroom and instruction
should also promote children’s abilities and talents, Maxwell (1984).
Mother tongue can be
any of the indigenous languages in the country. The three major languages –
Igbo, Hausa and Yoruba have become the subjects of study and examination even
in secondary schools. At primary school level, which is our major concern, some
efforts in the use of mother tongue have been made, although with varying
degrees of success.
The Nigerian National
Curriculum Conference held in 1969, declared that: “The Nigerian primary school
child should be well grounded in his mother tongue”. Therefore, both parents
and teachers should have positive perceptions of the use of mother tongue as
the language of instruction for children in lower primary schools.
1.2
Statement
of the Problem
Inspite of the growing
interest in the use of mother tongue as language of instruction, English
language serves as both a subject and medium of instruction in most schools at
the lower primary school level (1 – 3), Etim (1989).
Fawemi (1999),
identified the following problems in first language acquisition as: linguistic
inadequacies, societal acceptability, personnel problem, lack of relevant
materials in teaching and learning mother tongue and lack of finance. According
to him, many Nigerian languages are rendered useless economically and are also
viewed as inferior to English language. That is why, both parents and teachers
do not have the right perception of the local languages.
Most teachers do not
use mother tongue in reading and writing and will find it difficult to teach
the mother tongue, lack of funds to train staff, to develop instructional
materials and to provide training facilities, non availability of instructional
materials which includes textbooks and the inadequacy of the available ones,
are some of the problems of teaching and learning mother tongue in schools,
especially at the lower level of the primary school system, Ezewu (1990).
Other problems are:
linguistic diversity problems of choice and unsteady educational policies in Nigeria school
system. The language policy as stipulated in the National Policy on Education
(1998) that, every child should learn the language of the immediate environment
is not implemented at the lower primary school level.
1.3
Purpose
of Study
The main purpose of
this study is to examine parents’ and teachers’ perception of the use of mother
tongue as language of instruction in lower primary schools. The specific
objectives of this study are:
1.
To examine the perception of parents towards
the use of mother tongue as language of instruction at lower primary level.
2.
To determine whether teachers have positive
perception of the use of mother tongue as language of instruction in lower
primary schools.
3.
To find out the factors militating against the
use of mother tongue as language of instruction at the lower primary school
level.
4.
To proffer possible solutions to the problem
of negative perception of both parents and teachers towards the use of mother
tongue as language of instruction in lower primary schools.
1.4
Research
Questions
The study provided
answers to the following questions:
1.
To what extent are parents positively disposed
towards the use of mother tongue as language of instruction at lower primary
school level?
2.
To what extent are teachers positively
disposed to the use of mother tongue as language of instruction at lower
primary school level?
3.
What are the factors militating against the
use of mother tongue as language of instruction at the lower primary school
level?
1.5
Research
Hypotheses
The following research
hypothesis will be formulated and tested in this study:
1.
There will be no significant difference
between the perception of parents and children’s mastery of the mother tongue
at home.
2.
There will be no significant difference
between teachers’ perception of mother tongue and students’ academic performance
at school.
1.6
Significance
of the Study
The result of this
study will be:
(1)
Of immense benefit to the government and the
curriculum planners in the implementation of the use of mother tongue as
language of instruction at primary schools.
(2)
It will encourage the teachers on the use of
mother tongue for instruction to pupils, especially at the lower primary level.
(3)
Parents will also learn from the results and
recommendations of this study, because it will help to change their orientation
about the use of mother tongue as language of instruction.
(4)
The study will as well improve the academic
performance of pupils in lower primary schools.
(5)
The society will benefit from this study,
because it will help the child to imbibe the cultural norms of the society
through the mother tongue.
1.7
Scope
of the Study
This study will cover
the examination of parents’ and teachers’ perception of the use of mother
tongue as language of instruction in the lower primary schools (1 – 3) in
Surulere Local Government Area of Lagos State.
1.8
Limitation
of the Study
Limited time and
resources on the part of the researcher will not permit detailed and more result - oriented study of
this topic.
1.9
Definition
of Terms
The following terms
were defined in this study:
(1)
Mother
Tongue: This refers to the language a child first learns to speak
when he/she is a child e.g. Yoruba, Igbo, Hausa, Ijaw, Efik, Fulfulde etc.
(2)
Communication: This
is the process of expressing ideas and feelings or of giving people
information. One of the means of communication in primary schools is the use of
mother tongue.
(3)
Ethnic: The
customs of a particular group, race or tribe. The three major ethnic groups in Nigeria are:
Igbo, Hausa and Yoruba.
(4)
Achievement: This
refers to the process of doing things successfully, especially using one’s own
efforts and skill. The use of mother tongue as a means of communication and
instruction in the primary schools has improved the academic performance of the
primary school pupils.
(5)
Linguistic: The
scientific study of language. The firm linguistic foundation on the use of
mother tongue enables the pupils to express themselves in English Language.
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