The Impact of Mother Tongue on Teaching and Learning of English as a Second Language in Junior Secondary Schools
The Impact of Mother Tongue on Teaching and Learning of English as a Second Language in Junior Secondary Schools
ABSTRACT
This study was carried out to look at and identify the impact of mother tongue on teaching and learning of English as a second Language in Junior Secondary Schools in Makurdi Local Government Area of Benue state. The study adopted a descriptive survey design.
A random sample of 160 English teachers was drawn from schools in the study area to respond to the questionnaire. Three research questions were formulated respectively. The data collected were analyzed using simple percentage, mean and standard deviation to analyze the research questions as well as the chi-square (x2) statistics at alpha level of P < 0.05 to test the hypothesis.
Findings showed that mother–tongue has significant impact on pronunciation of English sounds, use of lexical items and on the use of English grammar. Conclusion was drawn that mother–tongue impacts significantly indeed on the teaching and learning of English as a second language and so there is need for the language to be spoken and used appropriately and intelligently such that it will be devoid of every mother–tongue impact.
It was recommended that over reliance on the structures and lexicons of the mother tongue by second language learners should be discouraged and controlled by second language teachers. Also, second language teachers should endeavour to give priority attention to the development of oral language competence in the second language learner.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODDUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
Language is the pivot on which all human activities ranging from the most prosaic to the most profound revolve. Language provides the world view, moral values and virtually all the basic ingredients of any given society which are passed on from generation to generation.
The essential thread that runs through all these activities is communication. That is, interlocutors trying to exchange their ideas. It is the most lasting and enduring artifact of culture.
As a natural ability, language is an indispensable tool which human beings use daily for communication; it enables a social group to codify, preserve and share its values, ideas, philosophy, technology and history. It also permeates our thoughts and areas into our dreams. The bulk of human knowledge is stored in language.
Language is characterized by a set of vocal sounds which can be decided. These are produced by the human organs of speech namely, lips, tongue, larynx, glottis, pharynx, nostrils, teeth, soft palate, hard palate, uvula, trachea, velum and alveolar ridge. It is an integral part of culture; a reflection of many features of a given cultural experience (Akindele 2005).
The Impact of Mother Tongue on Teaching and Learning of English as a Second Language in Junior Secondary Schools
Language is a productive or creative phenomenon. This Suggests that out of the alphabets produced in a language, a limitless number of sentences, paragraphs exist and operate within a language of one form or the other.
Human beings therefore, use language to communicate their individual thoughts, inner feelings and personal psychological experiences. It must be stressed that human beings communicate using signs, symbols, nods, dresses, and other socially acceptable formality. It is an indispensable tool for teaching and learning as well as development of human beings.
The most important role of language is its usefulness as a medium of social communication. The entrenchment of English language in Nigeria is perhaps most noticeable in the field of education. English language is taught as a second language (L2) in Nigerian schools.
English as a second language in Nigeria plays a vital role in connecting people of different linguistic background and playing the prominent role of being the language of education. Beyond the early elementary level of schooling, English as a second language (L2) becomes the medium of instruction. The Nigerian National Policy on Education (2004; 12) leaves no one in doubt about this.
Nigeria is a heterogeneous or multi-lingua country with diverse cultures. Government will see to it that the medium of instruction in primary school is initially the mother tongue, or the language of the immediate environment and at a later stage, English (Bamgbose 1971).
Because of Nigeria’s multi-lingua nature, it is quite glaring that it is really difficult to have a single language as the medium of communication and particularly for instruction, hence the adoption of English language as the official language of communication and instruction in Nigeria.
In view of the prominent role assigned English in the Nigerian Situation, the participation function of the language becomes crucial in the lives of the people. The status of English as a second language implies that” English plays a very important function in the social, professional and educational lives of Nigerians” (Banjo, 1999). Indeed to be regarded as an educated Nigerian, according to Banjo, some level of proficiency in English is required.
The Impact of Mother Tongue on Teaching and Learning of English as a Second Language in Junior Secondary Schools
There is however, a noticeable disparity in the features of the Nigerian indigenous languages: Mother tongues and those of the second or target language. When one speaks or writes, there is usually a transfer of features of the mother tongues (MT) into the second language (L2). This phenomenon gives rise to the mother tongue exerting major impacts on the second language. This is usually referred to as “interference “. Brimful (2001:14) confirms this when he points out that:
“Truly, Nigerian learners cannot learn English effectively as possible as the native speakers due to the effect of their mother tongue which is mostly noticeable at the phonological level”.
There may be incidence of interference by direct translation. In the case of grammar and phonology, it is easily noticeable where some vowels of the mother tongue (MT) are not present in English language and vice-versa.
There may be instances where some learners of English insert imaginary vowels between consonant clusters, thereby reflecting all manner of local and regional impacts which makes the teaching and learning of the target language difficult for learners.
One Implication of this is that, English has to be taught and learnt very well. According to Tiffen (1996), it is a question of ensuring that learners have a complete mastery of the language. Second language learners appear to accumulate structural entities of the target language but demonstrate difficulty in organizing this knowledge into appropriate coherent structures which is often caused by the impact of their mother tongue.
Based on the existing conflict between mother tongue (MT) and English language, the researchers decided to carry out the study that is concerned mainly with the impact of the mother tongue on the teaching and learning of English as s second language in Junior Secondary Schools in Makurdi LGA of Benue state.
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
In deciding to carry out a research in this area, certain problems stimulated the researchers to investigate and ascertain the extent to which mother tongue impacts on the teaching and learning of English as a second language in Junior Secondary Schools in Makurdi Local Government Area of Benue State.
In fact, learning a secondary language after a child has acquired its mother tongue (MT) is bound to be problematic. There may be incidence of interference by direct translation in the case of the mother tongue on English language and wrong translation of lexical items from mother tongue onto the teaching and learning of English language. This study is therefore, designed to survey the impacts of mother tongue on teaching and learning of English as a second language in Junior Secondary Schools in Makurdi Local Government Area of Benue state.
1.3 PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
The aim of this research work is to investigate the impact of mother tongued (MT) on the teaching and learning of English as a second language in Junior Secondary Schools in Makurdi Local Government Area. Specifically, the study seeks to:
(i) Investigate the impact of mother tongue on the pronunciation of English by learners at the Junior Secondary School level.
(ii) Examine grammar and the impact of mother tongue on the use of English grammar by learners at the Junior Secondary School level.
(iii) Find out the impact of mother tongue on the lexical features of English as a second language.
1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
The following research questions have been formulated to serve as a guide for this study.
- In what ways does the mother tongue affect the pronunciation of English sounds by learners at the Junior Secondary School level?
- How does the mother tongue affect the use of grammar by English learners at the Junior Secondary School level?
- To what extent does mother tongue affect the use of lexical items of English by learners at the Junior Secondary School level?
1.5 RESEAERCH HYPOTHESES
The following hypothesis is formulated and will be tested at 0.05 level of significance.
- Mother tongue has no significant impact on the pronunciation of English sounds by Junior Secondary School learners of English language.
- Mother tongue has no significant impact on the use of grammar by Junior Secondary School learners of English language.
- Mother tongue has no significant impact on the use of lexical items of English as a second language.
1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
This research work on the impact of mother tongue on the teaching and learning of English language is not an end to itself, rather, there is hope that this study may aid better planning and decision making in language education in schools such that the adverse effects of mother tongue usage in second language classroom would be minimized and controlled.
This project work would probably aid government in the area of planning the language curriculum and its policies.
Furthermore, this study may aid both language teachers and learners in accumulation of the grammatical, phonological and lexical knowledge of English language and organise this knowledge into appropriate means of better understanding the working of the linguistic system of the target language. It would enable readers to understand ”why “and “how” mother tongue impacts on the teaching and learning of English language grammatically, phonologically as well as the use of lexical items.
Also, English teachers or linguists may benefit from the data suggestion and observations of the researchers. Linguists would be motivated to carry out more defined research on the impacts of mother tongue on the effective teachings and learning of English language.
The Impact of Mother Tongue on Teaching and Learning of English as a Second Language in Junior Secondary Schools
1.7 SCOPE OF THE STUDY
The Scope of the study is delimited to the impacts of mother tongue on the teaching and learning of English as a second language in Junior Secondary Schools in Makurdi local government area of Benue State. The variable of the study includes pronunciation, use of grammar and use of lexical items. The study will cover all the Junior Secondary Schools in the study area.
1.8 OPERATIONAL DEFINITION OF TERMS
The following defined terms are extensively used in this study:
Mother tongue: This refers to the language of one’s parents. It is a person’s native language in which one may have the greatest command of.
Impact: This refers to the ways in which situations change the functions of something.
Language learning: This is a process whereby language learners engage in activity skills of a language.
Language teaching: This is an art of imparting useful knowledge into learners to aid them learn a language by a teacher.
Second language (L2): This is a language which one learns after acquiring ones mother tongue. In this study therefore, English language is regarded as a second language.
Pronunciation: This refers to the ability to articulate the correct stress, rhythm, and intonation of a word in a spoken language.
Grammar: This refers to the study of the internal structures of words and the use of words in the construction of phrases and sentences. This includes morphology, syntax and phonology often complemented by phonetics, semantics and pragmatics.
Lexical Items: This refers to a single word, a part of a word or a sequence of words that form the basic elements of a language’s lexicon.
