Teachers’ Experiences with Yoruba-English Bilinguals: Implications for Learning Yoruba and English in Public Primary School Classroom in Ekiti State, Nigeria

International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume V, Issue X, October 2021 | ISSN 2454–6186

Teachers’ Experiences with Yoruba-English Bilinguals: Implications for Learning Yoruba and English in Public Primary School Classroom in Ekiti State, Nigeria

Oladunni O. Deji-Afuye and Felicia T. Obadare
Bamidele Olumilua University of Education, Science and Technology, Ikere-Ekiti, Nigeria

Abstract: This study investigated teachers’ experiences with Yoruba-English bilinguals in public primary schools in Ekiti State. The sample used for this study consisted of one hundred (100) public primary schools teachers in the state. A simple self-developed questionnaire was used to get information from the respondents regarding their experiences with their pupils concerning the pupils’ communication behaviour and competence in Yoruba and English. The research hypothesis was tested at 0.05 level of significance during the study. The findings showed that the pupils found it relatively more comfortable to communicate in their mother tongue than in the English language; that the issue of general preference for the use of English in the Nigerian educational sector which had imposed communication in the language on the pupils and their teachers was a major factor constraining the use of mother tongue at the elementary schools; and that teachers had resorted to the use of code mixing/switching to ensure pupils’ learning and understanding. These findings indicated that there were significant effects of English-Yoruba bilingualism on Yoruba and English learning among public primary school pupils in Ekiti State. This has negatively affected the learning of both languages by the pupils. Thus, the study recommended that the implementation of early Mother Tongue instruction should be made workable by ensuring adequate development of the mother tongue; teachers’ competence in the mother tongue; availability of teaching materials to be used and proper monitoring of the school to follow the stipulations in the policy.

Key words: experiences, bilingual, mother tongue, teaching, learning, indigenous language.

I. INTRODUCTION

Even though Nigeria has over four hundred indigenous languages as well as a number of non-indigenous ones, English has gained more prominence than any of the languages. One of the things indicating the aforementioned issue is the widespread of bilingualism among Nigerians. The multilingual nature of the country has created much room for English to be considered as a unifying language. The knowledge of English is a plus to any Nigerian child as it is the instrument with which we determine the quality and quantity of education possessed by the users (Deji-Afuye & Obadare, 2019).

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