ABSTRACT
This study has thrown an insight into the impact of mother tongue in the speaking skills of
English language.The impact: of
“mother tongue” was noticed in the section of grammar and sentence
structure and this affected their dialect and their grammar and
sentences structure.
Students’ background in all the four language
skills listening, speaking, reading and writing was extremely woeful.Poor still was their timidity towards
speaking of English Language, Some of the teachers did not hide their interest
regarding their zeal in teaching the subject.
CHAPTER
ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background
to the Study
The
importance of English language acquisition as a stepping-stone for proficiency
in other school subjects cannot be over emphasized. The.’ knowledge is
important both for educational, economical and national development of a
country. The importance of English language as a school subject derives mainly
from its utilitarian value to the larger Nigerian society, English is the
officia1 language of administration and commerce, It is major language of
science. Above all, Salami (2002) had emphasized the importance of tile USC of
English language in improving communication among, the various ethnic groups
in, Nigeria, He further highlighted the need for improving the quality of
spoken and written English. language among school children.
However,
one of the current educational problems of public interest is
that of poor level of achievement especially in public examinations
(Kolawole1998) Kolawole and Dele 2002). This problem of underachievement
among school children has persisted in many subject areas such as Mathematics,
English and Science (Ivowi, Okebukola, and Oladorun, 1992; Falayajo, 1997).
This poor level of achievement in many subject areas may -be due to
poor foundation in English Language at the primary school level. There are also
several research reports, which support the view, that language inefficiency
invariably leads to poor academic performance (Ayodele, 1988; Falayajo, 1997).
No wonder why today, according to Iroegbu (2006) much emphasis is placed on the
passing of English language at credit or distinction Level in addition to other
subjects to enable any candidate gain admission into any Nigerian Higher
Institution of learning or be placed well in a good white collar job.
In
recognition of the importance of English language for enhancing
educational attainment as well as for improving communication ability of
citizens, the government had made the subject a core subject (FGN, 2004). It is
also compulsory for students to have credit in English language before entering
the university. This also explains why many parents go off their way to see
that their children pass at credit level or above in English language.
The
importance of English language as a school subject derives mainly from, its
utilitarian value to the larger Nigerian society. English is the official
language of administration and commerce. It is major language of science. Above
all, Salami (2002) had emphasized the importance of the use of English language
in improving communication among the various ethnic groups in Nigeria. He
further highlighted the need for improving the quality of spoken and
written English language among school children.
However,
one of the current educational problems of public interest is that of
poor level of achievement especially in public examinations (Kolawole .1998,
Kolawole and Dele 2002). This problem of underachievement among school children
has persisted in many subject areas such as Mathematics, English and
Science (Akpan, Ivowi, Okebukola, and Oladotun, 1992; Falayajo, 1997). This
poor level of achievement in many subject areas may be due to poor foundation
in English language at the primary school level. There are also several
research reports, which support ·the view that
languageinefficiency invariably leads to poor academic performance
(Oluikpe, 1979; Ayodele, 1988 Falayajo, 19.97 Onukaogu and Arua, 1997;
Onukaogu, 2002).
Okoro
(2000) has stated that the problem of poor level of achievement of primary
school. children were a serious one in Nigeria and this was in spite of the
fact that Nigeria had set up goals for increasing minimum level of learning by
1995. The author had observed that ample evidences of poor performance were
still observed as the pupils move up the system. Attempt was therefore made to
find out the extent to which Okoro’s (2000) observation applies to primary
school English. Language beyond the year 2000.
Perhaps
the way English language is taught in schools and colleges may be
blamed for some of the observed lapses in English language achievement and
skills of learners. Ubahakwe (1991), Ohia (1997) and Duff (1997) had
criticized the traditional teaching strategy for use in
English
language classrooms. Kolawole (1991,1998) had blamed the Use of traditional
teaching strategy for lack of good grasp of basic skills in writing. Williams
(1990) had described this teaching strategy as a hit and miss affair. Oglan
(1997) had criticized the domineering nature of traditional teaching
strategy which renders learners passive in class. He therefore recommended an
activity classroom where learners especially at the primary school level, can
make learning a fun: Such learning activities may include learning with objects,
things, photographs, films etc.
Kolawole
(2002) also confirmed that the performance of the primary school pupils in
English language was very poor. They stressed further that the standard was
poor due to a number of other. reasons such as:
i.
The use of tribal language in the lower classes of the primary school;
ii.
Some pupils do not understand the grammar because their teachers themselves do
not know it; and
iii. In
most cases English language teachers in the senior primary schools
resort to these of mother tongue to teach and explain the English language
even up to the secondary school level.
These
researchers are of the opinion that there should be a review in the language
policy on education. The review according to them should contain
recommendations that will make pupils to have exposure to the subject quite
early from the primary school’ irrespective of the advantages of mother tongue,
they further suggested that teaching and learning of English should be more
practical in our schools, and also the number of years of study and. teaching
periods should ‘be increased. Finally, materials for learning the subject
should be supplied.
This
will be the time when the problem of failure in the subject will hopefully be
overcome. So a firm foundation in English language is very important for better
performance.
Ogunsanwo
(2003) has a different view on the use of English language in the early years
of the primary school. He opined that the use of mother tongue .in the process
of teaching and learning in the early years helps, not only to preserve and
value ones culture but also to develop it lexically. According to the author,
the use of English language in the early primary school makes the average
primary school child unable to be sufficiently literary in either the
mother tongue or English language.
He
felt that to use English language at that level will lead to the children
having a mental translation of a1l concepts presented in English language to
their mother tongue in order to gain sufficient meaning of the concepts
presented. The researcher believes that a citizen that is literate even only in
the mother tongue will be sufficiently equipped to live a useful life
in the fast changing world. So if permanent literacy is to be promoted in the
primary schools the use of the mother tongue as the medium of instruction in
schools ought to be encouraged.
Harker
(2000) investigated gender differences in achievement of boys and girls in
schools in New Zealand. The study which employed a large sample of 5300 pupils
showed that the achievement of girls in English language was significantly
higher than that of boys both in terms of mean curriculum coverage and
examination learning outcomes. The results however showed that boys
achieved significantly better results than girls in Mathematics. The result
further revealed that there was
no significant difference in the achievement of boys and girls in Science
(Okeke, 2004). Iyowi, Okebukola, Oludotun and Akpan (1992) showed that English
language and literature achievements by Nigerian Junior Secondary School
Students is very poor (Ivowi, et al, 1992; Okoro, 2000). Primary schoolchildren
in the age range of (6-1lyrs) need to improve level of their achievement or at
least the number achieving minimum standard. This target has not been met
(Okoro, 2000).
Although
English language retains its dominant position in the education. Delivery
system in Nigeria, the thrust of our educational language policy is the use of
the. Mother tongue or the language of the immediate community in
pre-primary and primary education. Interestingly, private educational
entrepreneurs provide pre-primary education exclusively through the medium of
English language. The mother tongue medium education at the primary
school level is provided in less than twenty Nigerian languages
throughout the country. English is the exclusive medium of instruction at the
junior and senior levels of secondary school education.
It
was in recognition of the importance and contributions of mother tongue to
education that made the, Federal Ministry of Education in Collaboration with
other educational statutory agencies include in the National Policy on
Education published in 1977, revised in 1981, the use of mother tongue as a
medium of educating pupils at the pre-primary and primary level throughout the
country.
According
to the National Policy on education published in 1977 revised in 1981, Section
2(u) which stated that “Government will ensure that the medium of
instruction will be principally the mother tongue or the language of the
immediate community” also in section 3 of the same National Policy on Education
stated that:
“Government will see
to it that the medium of instruction in the primary school is initially the
mother tongue of the immediate community and at a later stage English”.
The
importance of Nigerian language in the educational process is stated in section.
“In
addition to appreciating the importance of language in educational process, and
as a means of preserving peoples’ culture, the government considers
it In the best interest of national unity that each child should be
encouraged to learn one of the three major languages other than his mother
tongue”.
The
mother tongue therefore, is a part of the Nigerian culture; it conveys or
transmits culture and itself in subjects to culturally conditioned attitudes
and beliefs (Awoniyi, 1975). The positive results of the experiment in Mother
Tongue Medium in Yoruba carried out at the then University of Ife empirically
demonstrated the great advantages, of mother tongue in primary education for
scholastic attainment (Bamgbose, 1984) and even in the successful mastery of
English as a second language.
At
this juncture, it is very imperative to look at whether mother tongue has
bearing on the English language stage among the secondary school students. It
is important to draw attention to the presence of the problems and on the basis
of what will be found out recommend what could be doneto reduce
them if they cannot be totally eradicated.
1.2 Statement
of the Problem
The
study is designed to examine the influence of mother tongue on Students
performance in English language in Junior School Certificate Examination.
The study investigated if mother tongue is solely the cause of the student’s
woeful performance in English Language, in Junior School Certificate
Examination or if there are other complementing factors.
Several
scholars have addressed the core problems of communicative competence in the
use of English language as L2 and its use as the main language of instruction
in Nigeria’s education delivery process. It is unfortunate that most school
leavers (apart from the products of elite private schools) do not possess the
required competence in the four language skills for both cognitive and
communicative functions.
Statistics
released by the West African Examination Council, which conducts the West
African Senior Secondary Certificate Examination, show that less than ten
percent of secondary school leaver passes in English language at credit level.
At the tertiary level of education students have so much difficult with their
communicative skills In English that they cannot function effectively
in the academic use of English (Okoro, 2000).
There
is no doubt that there is a great diversity of varieties and functions of
English in Nigeria. For example, it is extensively used in both the
electronicand the print media, in the judiciary, the police, the
armed forces, the legislative, etc. and as a lingua franca in political
mobilization, ethical orientation and population education. This confirms the
entrenchment of English as the dominant official language of Nigeria. The
nagging problem however concerns the quality of English that is taught and used
in the system. The concern being expressed in informed educational circles is the
extent to which the variety and quality of English being learned and used the
school system can serve in achieving Nigeria’s educational goals and the
objectives.
It
is therefore generally accepted that in teaching .and learning processes the
mother tongue of the child is of utmost importance. For one thing, it
categorizes a large part of the child’s environment, that is, it has names for
most of the objects, actions, ideas, attributes and so on that are so important
to him, as well as to any society. In many developing countries today, this is
either local language or the language of the previous colorizing power. The
mother tongue.is the child’s environment and is the natural basis on which
verbal skills can be built, children learn through communicating in a language,
which they understood, hence the need for this study: Impact of mother
tongue on students’ performance in English Language.
1.3
Objectives of The Study
The broad objective of this study is to assess
Language barrier and the performance of students in English Language in
secondary schools. The specific objectives are:
i.
To identify the
causes of failure in English Language in secondary schools;
To identify the factors responsible for the students’
inability to learn English as a second language ;
ii.
To determine the
effect of language barrier on the performance of the students in the target
language and;
iii.
To find out if
the content of the English curriculum and the textbooks used embrace all the
various aspects of the language that meet the needs of the learners.
1.4
Research Questions
The
following research questions will be used in:
(i) Is
there any way that teachers can motivate students to speak English in the
school?
(ii) Are
there adequate teaching materials for teachers to teach the students?
(iii) Is
there sufficient period to teach the subject on
the school time-table?
(iv) Are
there specialized teaches to teach the subject?
(v) Are
there anyway students are exposed to correct pronunciation of words?
1.5 Significance or the
Study.
This
study would provide a threshold for proper understanding of the impacts of
mother tongue on students’ performance in English Language. It will also serve
as a rich source of data for consultation by teachers and students on how to
improve the performance of students in English Language. The project will form
an invaluable material for the academia and the public in general.
1.6 Delimitation or the
Study
The
study essentially covers Nigerian secondary schools but with specific reference
to secondary schools in Okota/lsolo Local Government Area. This choice is made
to cover both private and public schools. The schools were selected randomly
based on students’ population and enrolment strength. Also the
presence of a WAEC marking centre within the Okota Secondary Schools Complex
makes for easy access to data, hence the choice of Okota.
1.7 Limitations
of the study
The chief
limitation faced by the researcher was the inability to reach the target
audience to conduct interview as well as to administer the questionnaires
amongst teachers of the target secondary schools. To mitigate this and other shortcomings,
the researcher had to rely much on mail questionnaire as well as the few people
that could be interviewed and those who willingly completed the questionnaires
to corroborate her personal experience in the industry.