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The Impact of Mother Tongue on Students’ …

Kamla-Raj 2008J. Soc. Sci., 17(1): 41-49 (2008)The Impact of Mother Tongue on Students Achievement inEnglish Language in Junior Secondary Certificate Examinationin Western NigeriaDavid Adebayo OluwoleDepartment of Guidance & Counselling, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, NigeriaKEYWORDS Mother Tongue ; students achievement; English language; NigeriaABSTRACT The study is designed to examine the influence of Mother Tongue on Students performance in Englishlanguage in Junior School Certificate Examination.

THE IMPACT OF MOTHER TONGUE ON STUDENTS’ ACHIEVEMENT IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE43 were no significant difference in the achievement of boys and girls in Science (Okeke, 2004).

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1 Kamla-Raj 2008J. Soc. Sci., 17(1): 41-49 (2008)The Impact of Mother Tongue on Students Achievement inEnglish Language in Junior Secondary Certificate Examinationin Western NigeriaDavid Adebayo OluwoleDepartment of Guidance & Counselling, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, NigeriaKEYWORDS Mother Tongue ; students achievement; English language; NigeriaABSTRACT The study is designed to examine the influence of Mother Tongue on Students performance in Englishlanguage in Junior School Certificate Examination.

2 The study investigated if Mother Tongue is solely the cause ofthe students woeful performance in English Language in Junior School certificate Examination or if there areother complementing factors. The subjects for the study were one hundred male and female SSI students drawnfrom various government schools in western Nigeria. Using simple percentage descriptive statistic, the researchquestions that were raised analysed. The findings reveal that Mother Tongue influences the students poor performancein English language in Junior School Certificate examination and that there are other factors contributing tostudents poor performance in English language.

3 These other factors are poor method of teaching, lack oftextbooks, language background and lack of professional growth and development of teachers. Measures that couldbe taken to enhance students achievement in every aspect of English language are suggested also. The respondents age ranged between and The participants were those who have sat for the Junior Secondary SchoolCertificate examination. They were randomly selected across diverse religious and socio-economic importance of English language acquisitionas a stepping-stone for proficiency in other schoolsubjects cannot be over emphasized.

4 Theknowledge is important both for educational,economical and national development of a importance of English language as aschool subject derives mainly from its utilitarianvalue to the larger Nigerian society. English isthe official language of administration andcommerce. It is major language of science. Aboveall, Salami (2002) had emphasized the importanceof the use of English language in improvingcommunication among the various ethnic groupsin Nigeria. He further highlighted the need forimproving the quality of spoken and writtenEnglish language among school , one of the current educationalproblems of public interest is that of poor levelof achievement especially in public examinations(Kolawole 1998, Kolawole and Dele 2002).

5 Thisproblem of underachievement among schoolchildren has persisted in many subject areas suchas Mathematics, English and Science (Ivowi,Okebukola, and Oladotun, 1992; Falayajo, 1997).This poor level of achievement in many subjectareas may be due to poor foundation in Englishlanguage at the primary school level. There arealso several research reports, which support theview that language inefficiency invariably leadsto poor academic performance (Ayodele, 1988;Falayajo, 1997). No wonder why today, accordingto Iroegbu (2006) much emphasis is placed onthe passing of English language at credit ordistinction level in addition to other subjects toenable any candidate gain admission into anyNigerian Higher Institution of learning or beplaced well in a good white collar recognition of the importance of Englishlanguage for enhancing educational attainmentas well as for improving communication abilityof citizens, the government had made the subjecta core subject (FGN, 2004).

6 It is also compulsoryfor students to have credit in English languagebefore entering the university. This also explainswhy many parents go off their way to see thattheir children pass at credit level or above inEnglish importance of English language as aschool subject derives mainly from its utilitarianvalue to the larger Nigerian society. English isthe official language of administration andcommerce. It is major language of science. Aboveall, Salami (2002) had emphasized the importanceof the use of English language in improvingcommunication among the various ethnic groupsin Nigeria.

7 He further highlighted the need forimproving the quality of spoken and writtenEnglish language among school , one of the current educational42 DAVID ADEBAYO OLUWOLE problems of public interest is that of poor levelof achievement especially in public examinations(Kolawole 1998, Kolawole and Dele 2002). Thisproblem of underachievement among schoolchildren has persisted in many subject areas suchas Mathematics, English and Science (Akpan,Ivowi, Okebukola, and Oladotun, 1992; Falayajo,1997). This poor level of achievement in manysubject areas may be due to poor foundation inEnglish language at the primary school are also several research reports, whichsupport the view that language inefficiencyinvariably leads to poor academic performance(Oluikpe, 1979; Ayodele, 1988; Falayajo, 1997;Onukaogu and Arua, 1997; Onukaogu, 2002).

8 Okoro (2000) has stated that the problem ofpoor level of achievement of primary schoolchildren was a serious one in Nigeria and thiswas in spite of the fact that Nigeria had set upgoals for increasing minimum level of learningby 1995. The author had observed that ampleevidences of poor performance were still observedas the pupils move up the system. Attempt wastherefore made to find out the extent to whichOkoro s (2000) observation applies to primaryschool English Language beyond the year the way English language is taughtin schools and colleges may be blamed for someof the observed lapses in English languageachievement and skills of learners.

9 Ubahakwe(1991), Ohia (1997) and Duff (1997) had criticizedthe traditional teaching strategy for use in Englishlanguage classrooms. Kolawole (1991, 1998) hadblamed the use of traditional teaching strategyfor lack of good grasp of basic skills in (1990) had described this teachingstrategy as a hit and miss affair. Oglan (1997) hadcriticized the domineering nature of traditionalteaching strategy which renders learners passivein class. He therefore recommended an activityclassroom where learners especially at theprimary school level, can make learning a learning activities may include learning withobjects, things, photographs, films (2002) also confirmed that theperformance of the primary school pupils inEnglish language was very poor.

10 They stressedfurther that the standard was poor due to anumber of other reasons such as:1. the use of tribal language in the lower classesof the primary school;2. some pupils do not understand the grammarbecause their teachers themselves do notknow it; and3. in most cases English language teachers inthe senior primary schools resort to the useof Mother Tongue to teach and explain theEnglish language even up to the secondaryschool researchers are of the opinion thatthere should be a review in the language policyon education.


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