Impact of Mother Tongue on Students Performance in English Language
CHAPTER ONE
OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY
The objectives of the study are;
- To find out the level at which mother tongue can interfere in the learning of English language in secondary school.
- To investigate the qualifications of English teachers in secondary school in Okota Local Government Area.
- To know how teachers makes use of correct methods in teaching of English language in secondary school in Okota Local Government Area
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
LANGUAGE
We are in a world of language. Hardly will a moment pass in our lives without the use of language to communicate with each other. Whatever people do when they meet, whether they fight, play, share love, they have to talk. We talk to colleagues, friends, enemies, students, some form of language is definitely used. Every day of our lives we are not free from words as we talk face-to-face, telephone, in our dreams or even alone when there is no one to answer. Language is equally a medium of communication within the family and society. Every tongue expresses the culture of the society to the complete satisfaction of its members. The language an individual speaks is for him or her, the most expressive and the most beautiful of all languages (Fromkin, Rodman and Hyams, 2007). Several psychological studies have been proved that language is not only a product of human life it is the prerequisite of it. Or in other words, human beings require a human relationship to survive (sample is the experiment by Friedrich the second of Hohenstaufen (1194-1250) in Wikipedia, 2009). This is one basic reason why language is central to learning and life itself (Boyer, 1996). This may explain why it is said that the success of language education is generally the success of education. And it is equally true that educational failure is basically a linguistic failure. Language, therefore, is not just one of the subjects in the curriculum; it is the essential vehicle for learning all other subjects in Nigerian schools (Oyetunde, and Muodumogu, 1999).
LANGUAGE POLICY IN NIGERIA
It is a futile effort to talk about education without discussing its tool, which is language. Whether formal, non-formal or informal, education is imparted through the medium of language. In the formal educational system school subjects are coded via the means of language. Teachers teach through it, and pupils or students learn through it. Actually, language does not only serve as a medium of instruction in the school; it also exists as a subject taught through language. Like most African countries, Nigeria is multilingual. There were about 400 languages not dialects and three of these languages, Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba, are spoken by about half of the population of the country. In addition, some fraction of the population is made up of other languages that are nevertheless able to speak at least one of the major languages as an additional language.
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research design
The researcher used descriptive research survey design in building up this project work the choice of this research design was considered appropriate because of its advantages of identifying attributes of a large population from a group of individuals. The design was suitable for the study as the study sought to effect of mother tongue interference in the study of social studies in secondary school
Sources of data collection
Data were collected from two main sources namely:
(i)Primary source and
(ii)Secondary source
Primary source:
These are materials of statistical investigation which were collected by the research for a particular purpose. They can be obtained through a survey, observation questionnaire or as experiment; the researcher has adopted the questionnaire method for this study.
Secondary source:
These are data from textbook Journal handset etc. they arise as byproducts of the same other purposes. Example administration, various other unpublished works and write ups were also used.
CHAPTER FOUR
PRESENTATION ANALYSIS INTERPRETATION OF DATA
Introduction
Efforts will be made at this stage to present, analyze and interpret the data collected during the field survey. This presentation will be based on the responses from the completed questionnaires. The result of this exercise will be summarized in tabular forms for easy references and analysis. It will also show answers to questions relating to the research questions for this research study. The researcher employed simple percentage in the analysis.
DATA ANALYSIS
The data collected from the respondents were analyzed in tabular form with simple percentage for easy understanding.
A total of 133(one hundred and thirty three) questionnaires were distributed and 133 questionnaires were returned.
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
Introduction
It is important to ascertain that the objective of this study was to ascertain effect of mother tongue interference in the study of English language in secondary school
In the preceding chapter, the relevant data collected for this study were presented, critically analyzed and appropriate interpretation given. In this chapter, certain recommendations made which in the opinion of the researcher will be of benefits in addressing the challenges of interference in the study of English language in secondary school
Summary
This study was on effect of mother tongue interference in the study of English language in secondary school. Three objectives were raised which included: To find out the level at which mother tongue can interfere in the learning of English language in secondary school, to investigate the qualifications of English teachers in secondary school in Okota Local Government Area, to know how teachers makes use of correct methods in teaching of English language in secondary school in Okota Local Government Area. In line with these objectives, two research hypotheses were formulated and two null hypotheses were posited. The total population for the study is 200 students of selected secondary schools in Okota Local Government Area local government of Enugu state. The researcher used questionnaires as the instrument for the data collection. Descriptive Survey research design was adopted for this study. A total of 133 respondents made up principals, vice principals adm, senior staff and junior staff were used for the study. The data collected were presented in tables and analyzed using simple percentages and frequencies
Conclusion
Mother-tongue has been identified as a panacea for the acquisition of L2 in Nigeria, which for majority secondary school student it is English language. Therefore, its importance should not be underestimated. This paper recommends that teachers of English language should be dedicated and patient in handling students in developing their speaking skill as a foundation.
Recommendation
Teachers should make effort in designing student’s friendly activities in class as regards to remedial drills in correcting errors transferred from mother-tongue according to the need of the ethnic group of an environment. This is in line with what Oglan 1997 cited in Oluwole (2008) stressed that an activity classroom where learners especially at the secondary school, aiming to make learning fun should be encouraged.
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