Teaching Social Studies to Primary II Pupils: The Place of Mother Tongue in Nigerian Schools

Abstract

Language is human phenomenon that manifests itself in sounds and symbols. It is a basic factor in communication. The mother tongue is a language of the immediate environment where the child is born. It is the language of the child’s parents. Children learn their mother tongue from baby hood. It is part of the child as he or she grows up. The use of mother tongue in the lower primary school classes enhances the continuity in the child’s educational process. This paper seeks to examine the use of mother tongue as an option in the teaching of Social studies at this level, in contrast to what some teachers do, using English to teach the students especially in the cosmopolitan urban centers. The study revealed that Social studies taught using the mother tongue enhance pupils’ grades in examination. Suggestion and recommendations were made.