Science teachers’ attitude towards the use of mother tongue for instruction in basic schools

Abstract

"This study examined science teachers’ attitude towards the use of mother tongue for instruction in Basic Schools, employing a descriptive survey design. The respondents were selected through purposive and convenience sampling techniques and data were collected from a sample of 162 Basic School Science. The questionnaire used for data collection was titled “Science Teachers’ Attitude towards the Use of Mother Tongue in Instruction Questionnaire (STAUMTIQ)”, which yielded a reliability coefficient of 0.83 using the test-retest method. Descriptive and inferential statistical tools were used to analyse the data. The findings showed that science teachers’ attitude towards the use of mother tongue for instruction in Basic schools was negative. Teachers’ gender, school type and teaching experience did not influence their attitude, while educational qualification influence their attitude towards the use of mother tongue for instruction in Basic Schools. It was recommended that teachers should be encouraged to implement the language policy provision on the use of mother tongue for instruction, especially in Basic Schools in Bayelsa State, Nigeria. "