THE IMPACT OF MOTHER TONGUE ON CHILDREN'S LEARNING AT THE LOWER LEVEL OF PRIMARY EDUCATION

1.1 Introduction

The mother tongue is a mediating tool between students and teachers in language. Teachers are expected to play a leadership role in the classrooms. While monitoring the students who have problems with understanding the language, they can determine in what situations they need to resort to the use of the mother tongue. Mother tongue can be used as a facilitator to make a task meaningful. Thus the students can focus on the task without difficulty. The role of mother tongue in second language acquisition swings in two ways with one school of thought claiming that proficiency in mother tongue is useful in second language learning and another calling it interference influence.

As a prelude to other parts of this study, this chapter will discuss the background upon which this study was initiated, the statement of problems that led to this study, the Aim and Objectives of the study. Others are Significance of the study, Scope of work, Research hypothesis and questions, Limitations of the Study and Definition of technical terms.

1.2 Background of Study

Mother tongue as the first language of instruction in schools is an essential tool in whatever field we may find ourselves, without it any meaningful form of intellectual pursuit will be hindered. As we all know that most children who begin their education in their mother tongues make a better start as they demonstrate increased self confidence, and continue to perform better than those who start school in a new language (English) (Cummins,2000).

The outlook of the education is brighter when the school builds on the foundation of mother tongue in teaching a second language. It is therefore important that one understand the functions of mother tongue, particularly pupil’s learning through it as a-medium of instruction in school. This has been given a tremendous support by both educational authorities and the general public (Baker, 2000).

This support however, rests on the general belief that the mastery of mother tongue assists in the understanding of other subjects like Art, Social Studies and Primary Science etc. The numerous studies in all parts of the world shows that the effective use of mother tongue tends to the better knowledge of a second or foreign language when it is acquired in a comparative short time (Skutnabh, 2000). It is commonly known that children who lack the knowledge of mother tongue, that is children who only know how to speak English language as their first language without the knowledge of the language of their immediate environment, usually perform lower in academic work (Baker, 2000).

In Nigeria, almost every parent wants their children to acquire the knowledge of a second language as their first language at the expense of their immediate environment. [Modernization has affected the acquisition of mother tongue in this regards. Now the way children perform in school, is no more like before, their performance had greatly dropped down almost to zero point. In a situation where children are being introduced to the language of their immediate environment at their early age, when they begin schooling, their performance in academic “work will improve. That is why this research is been conducted in order to address the role of mother tongue as it relates to child education, but at the lower level of primary school. Primary one to three are the focus of the research with a case study of some selected Model Primary School in Sokoto metropolis.

Therefore, in Nigeria where the research was carried out, the activities that was conducted is to know the Impact of Mother Tongue on Children's Learning at the Lower Level of Primary Education.

1.3 Statement of Problems

Investigation revealed that it has been observed that the rates at which primary school pupils of nowadays are performing poorly is very alarming. This might not be unconnected with the fact that mother tongue as the first language of instruction in school and which had been stipulated in the National policy on Education (NPE, 2004) had not been use for instruction as required. And in line with this, therefore Pupils are facing a lot of challenges today with regards to their educational attainment or progress. Education, as we all know, is inevitable if one really wants to make it in life, though one may become somebody in life without it, yet it is generally believed that if one really wants to make it, education cannot be left behind.

1.4 Aim and Objectives of Study

The aim of the study is to examine the Impact of Mother Tongue on Children's Learning at the Lower Level of Primary Education. In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives were laid out as follows:

1. To evaluate the relationship between mother tongue and children’s learning at the lower level of primary education.
2. To examine whether there are sufficient periods to teach English language on the school time-table.
3. To know whether there are specialized teachers to teach English language in secondary schools.
4. To examine whether pupils are exposed to correct pronunciation of words in English language.
5. To evaluate the impact of mother tongue on children’s learning at the lower level of primary education.

1.5 Research Questions

The study came up with research questions so as to be able to ascertain the above stated objectives. The specific research questions for the study are stated below as follows:

• Are there specialized teachers to teach English language in secondary schools?
• Are pupils exposed to correct pronunciation of words in English language?
• Does mother tongue impact on children’s learning at the lower level of primary education?
• Is there sufficient period to teach the subject on the school time-table?
• Is there a relationship between mother tongue and children’s learning at the lower level of primary education?

1.6 Research Hypothesis

In order to pursue the objective of this study, the following generalized statements have been designed to guide and aids in obtaining the result for the experiment to be conducted. For this work, the null hypothesis will be represented with H0 while the alternative hypothesis will be represented with hypothesis H1.

Hypothesis One

• H0: There is no significant relationship between mother tongue and children’s learning at the lower level of primary education.
• H1: There is a significant relationship between mother tongue and children’s learning at the lower level of primary education.

Hypothesis One

• H0: Mother tongue has no significant impact on children’s learning at the lower level of primary education.
• H1: Mother tongue has a significant impact on children’s learning at the lower level of primary education.

1.7 Significance of Study

This study would provide a threshold for proper understanding of the impacts of mother tongue on children’s learning at the lower level of primary education. It will also serve as a rich source of data for consultation by teachers and pupils on how to improve the performance of pupils in English Language. The project will form an invaluable material for the academia and the public in general.

This study will be of immense benefit to academic students and other researchers who intend to know more on this study and can also be used by non-researchers to build more on their research work. This study contributes to knowledge and could serve as a guide for other study.

1.8 Scope of Study

The scope of the research is focused on the Impact of Mother Tongue on Children's Learning at the Lower Level of Primary Education in Delta Career College, Warri, Delta State.

1.9 Limitations of the Study

During the course of this study, many things militated against its completion, some of which are:

1. Time Constraint: The time frame given to accomplish this project was very short due to school academic calendar and it was carried out under pressure which made the researcher not to implement some necessary features.
2. Research material: availability of research material is a major setback to the scope of the study.
3. Frequent power failure: This made the researcher append more money on fuel to ensure sustainable power.
4. Financial Constraint: Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).

1.10 Operational Definition of Terms

Mother Tongue: Mother tongue is a language which a person acquires in early years and which normally becomes their instrument of thought. In this paper, I am going to consider mother tongue as the language of the catchment area since in the context under study, the vernacular used is also the mother tongue.

English Teacher: An individual, who teaches, instructs and facilitates the learning of English language.

Mother Tongue Education: Mother tongue education is the education which uses a person’s mother tongue as its medium of instruction.