Abstract
Using Teacher's Assessment of Language Policy Practices (TAL2P) questionnaire and unstructured interview schedules, 63 randomly selected teachers (39 females, 24 males) from 21 schools within the Lawra District of the Upper West Region of Ghana were examined to determine the extent to which the language policy was practised. The study showed that teachers teach between 30-46% of their mathematics lesson periods in English at the lower primary level. Efforts to use the native language for meaningful mathematics instructions are constrained by teachers' inability to speak the language and the lack of materials in the native language. For children to derive the benefits of the language policy, the study recommends taking teachers linguistic competence into consideration during teacher postings and an urgent provision of text materials in the native languages to serve as resource materials for teachers. African Journal of Educational Studies in Mathematics and Sciences Vol. 2(1) 2004: 27-38
Highlights
The issue of language policy for instruction, especially in developing countries, is a common problem that has attracted many researchers and policy makers since language policies have both micro and macro implications (Amoah, 2000; Broch-Utne,1997 and Bamgbose, 1984)
The instrument for the study on the language policy practice of basic school teachers, in general, sort information on teachers’ linguistic background, what language they often use for classroom mathematics instruction, and their views about the language policy as it stands
A chisquare analysis showed significant usage of the native language for mathematics instruction compared to English language (χ2 = 26.552; p < 0.01)
Summary
The issue of language policy for instruction, especially in developing countries, is a common problem that has attracted many researchers and policy makers since language policies have both micro and macro implications (Amoah, 2000; Broch-Utne,1997 and Bamgbose, 1984). For instance Namibia, according to Broch-Utne (1997), is a country with about 1.5 million inhabitants that has ten (10) Namibian languages as official languages of instruction in the first grades of schooling This attempt to retain so many African Languages as languages of instruction is seen by linguists as a good initiative that should be appreciated internationally. Despite the higher proportion of the use of the native language in various aspects of instruction, teachers use an appreciable proportion of English in the various aspects of mathematics instruction. This situation is an indication of problems with the implementation of the language policy at the lower primary level
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