Use Of Mother Tongues Research Articles

Learners’ and teachers’ perspectives on the use of code switching in Geography teaching and learning

Language of instruction stands as a crucial element in fostering learners’ comprehension of any subject matter. Prior studies indicate that learners’ limited proficiency in the English language is among the factors influencing their performance in Geography. The present study delved into the impact of code switching in the domain of Lesotho’s geography education, drawing insights from both learners’ and teachers’ viewpoints. Drawing on Hoffmann’s theory of code switching, the study employed explanatory sequential mixed method research design, which involved classroom observations, focus-group interviews as well as in-depth interviews with grade 10 learners and teachers respectively. Findings indicate that code switching in geography education improves learners’ comprehension by improving their proficiency in subject-specific terminology. However, an over-reliance on code switching must be avoided as learners can lose their ability to employ geography vocabulary. This study suggests that the Lesotho Education Language Policy could be revised to include the selective use of mother tongues in teaching and learning.

Language Ideologies and the Use of Mother Tongues as the Medium of Instruction and Learning in Junior Primary Schools: A Case Study of Parents and Teachers in a Namibian School

In the Namibian education system, teaching in the junior primary is supposed to be done in the learners’ mother tongue. However, there is always controversy on adopting a language to be used as a medium of instruction (MoI) due to the multi-ethnic and multilingualism of the Namibian society. To make matters worse, parents equally cast doubt on enrolling their children in schools that uses mother tongue as an MoI. Framed within the qualitative case-study orientation, this research investigated: parents’ and teachers’ language ideologies and beliefs; the factors that informed the embodied and expressed language ideologies and beliefs of parents’ and teachers’; and how these dominant language ideologies and belief systems informed parents’ and teachers’ choice of language of instruction and the general implementation of the language policy in a Namibian school. The study found that both parents and teachers harbored monolingual ideological belief systems that did not only construct and perpetuate an “English-only” language zone but also banished all mother tongue languages from the school premises. Not only do the findings point to the hegemonic positioning of the English language in the minds of parents, teachers, and school principals as the only language that can lead to success, but its violation was punishable in a derogatory manner. The study concludes that, among others, parents, teachers, and school principals’ language ideologies and beliefs were shaped and informed by the prevailing English language hegemony. The liberal and duality stance of the Namibian language policy, and its decentralization, partly resulted in parents, teachers, and school principals’ neglect of the multilingualism and heterogeneity that the very same policy purports to advocate. The study recommends raising parents’ and teachers’ awareness of embracing the heteroglossia of language practices and for the ministry of education to consider a more inclusive language policy.

African Languages Development in Education -Bilingualism and African Languages

The issue of teaching in the mother tongue has generated significant and controversial debates among decision-makers and has engendered different policies aiming to enhance the use of mother tongues into educational curricula. Africa is a perfect illustration of a continent where mother tongues have been marginalized over years to let the place to foreign and colonial languages to expand and become official languages.This article reviews the current situation of African languages as means of instruction and provides some anticipation for the use of mother tongues in educational systems designed in future national strategic plans. The study of these plans has been conducted in order to examine whether African countries have been able to achieve the significant resolutions derived from the UNESCO conference in 1953 and whether they apply bilingual approaches properly without ignoring the importance of mother tongues. Results have demonstrated that most African countries have been able to use their own mother tongue as the language of instruction together with a foreign language, and seek to adopt the same strategy in the coming years. Few countries on the other hand plan to change from using the mother tongue into applying one foreign language only.

“I think it was a trick to fail Eastern”: A multi-level analysis of teachers’ views on the implementation of the SHRP Program in Uganda

This article is possibly the first qualitative research on the USAID-funded School Health and Reading Program (SHRP), implemented in Uganda since 2012. The SHRP program is aimed at scaling up the Thematic Curriculum (TC) reform, which was the first attempt to standardize the use of mother tongues in lower primary schools through child-centred pedagogical practices. SHRP has expanded the TC to additional local languages and districts, providing new learning materials – including specific teaching techniques – and teacher training to support it. However, the implementation of SHRP is marked by the fact that it is a donor-led reform that is perceived by teachers as an external intervention not well suited for Ugandan classroom realities. Our research is a multi-layered analysis of how teachers perceive the reform as its grassroots implementers. We ask how SHRP’s pedagogical emphasis on child-centred pedagogy is linked to it being donor-funded, and how teachers translate this perceived link into their classroom practices. We trace the links between the policy, classroom, and community levels to make concrete suggestions on how the SHRP program can benefit from teachers’ resources and creativity, while highlighting which aspects of mother tongue education the Ugandan Government needs to prioritize on a national level, and which aspects need to be better adjusted on a regional basis.

Grammar Translation Method: Current Practice In EFL Context

This paper reports the findings of a case study investigating Grammar Translation Method (GTM) through mother tongue, much-isolated words, and putting words together in grammar class to scaffold students’ learning. Mixed methods, classroom observations, field-notes and videotape recording, were employed to collect the data. The data gained, then, transcribed and classified by using code. The selected data is displayed into table and analyzed descriptively. While validating data is done by crosschecking the result of data analysis of each methods. The data is reported in regard with the result of findings and discussion to answer the research questions of this study. Findings indicate that among three types of GTM, the use of mother tongues was frequently used to give instruction.Other findings show that much-isolated words were used to introduce new vocabulary, and putting words together were used to explain topic discussion. Some changes to create effective GTM through other types of GTM was also discussed.

The Medium of Instruction Policy in Nepal: Towards Critical Engagement on the Ideological and Pedagogical Debate

Although there were attempts to develop multilingual and multicultural education in Nepal, changes have remained more discursive than pragmatic at the working level. Problems discussed have remained unsolved. The issues of protection and promotion of the historically residing linguistic diversity have been addressed through the current constitution (Constitution of Nepal-2015) which provides an appropriate legal framework for substantive legal protection for the national indigenous languages as MOIs. However, the successful implementation of this provision is further complicated due to the global political economy, interdependence, and the ‘sandwiched’ geopolitical status of Nepal. It has been noted that education policymaking is highly centralised and implementation is top-down (Edwards, 2011) in many countries such as Nepal, the current trend of English-medium instruction supported by parents, communities, and the private sector from the bottom up will further weaken the attempts for mother tongue MOI in Nepalese schools. Moreover, the social capitalisation of English from the bottom up will have grave consequences for language policymaking in education, which are obviously dismal but essential nonetheless. Despite the research findings revealing that multilingual education offers the best possibilities for preparing the coming generation to participate in constructing more equitable and democratic societies in the globalised world, the translation of such findings into real-life practice is telescopic. This article emphasises the need for the critical engagement of scholars, educators, investors, and policymakers in order to develop contextually realistic, sustainable, and efficient MOI policymaking that justifies the use of mother tongues, national language, and the global language in an integrated framework sufficient for future generations to compete both locally and globally.

Attitudes towards English as a Medium of Instruction in Malawian Universities

Malawi’s language-in-education policies have been through numerous changes since the colonial period. In 1996 a policy directive was announced which encouraged the use of mother tongues in the early stages of education before transitioning to English. However, this policy was never effectively implemented and, in 2014, an English-only policy was announced. This has resulted in renewed debate on which languages are suitable for use as mediums of instruction in the country. This article will discuss the Malawian language-in-education policy context with a focus on university education, and the prevailing attitudes which students and staff exhibit towards English. This will be done through an analysis of data collected from focal groups and interviews with students and staff in Malawian universities. Results show that while English is viewed positively and as suitable for use within universities it is not viewed uncritically and there are complex attitudes towards the language. English skills are viewed as a valuable resource; however, so too are multilingual language skills. Students and staff also display positive attitudes towards the use of a multilingual language policy in the university suggesting that the recent policy changes in Malawi do not reflect stakeholder attitudes.

Immigrants Psychopathology: Emerging Phenomena and Adaptation of Mental Health Care Setting by Native Language.

Mental health of immigrants is an important social and clinical issue. Immigrants may report higher rates of mental disorders and lower levels of use of mental health service with respect to natives. The aim of the present work is to review recent findings of the psychopathology of immigrants and analyze how to adapt the mental care settings through the use of mother tongues. We searched the literature to individuate and review the most recent scientific articles focused on the psychopathology of immigrants realized in Europe. Moreover, we summarized the guidelines about immigrants mental health care and we focused on the barriers caused by language. We individuated 15 papers reporting data about mental disorders among immigrants and the related risk and protective factors. The articles reported information about psychosis, depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, somatization and suicide rates. Risk and protective factors are individuated mainly among social factors (e.g. ethnic density effect, hosting countries' policies). Furthermore, immigrants encounter language barriers in the use of mental care services. The realization of cross-cultural training and the development of a working alliance between clinicians and interpreters resulted to be effective solutions even if these interventions are not frequently implemented. The extent of migratory flows and the related difficulties experienced by immigrants require attention and well-informed interventions. The high rates of incidence of mental disorder and the strict number of services who implement interventions taking into accounts fundamental aspect as language show that there is still a lot to do.

A Survey of Teachers’ Experience in Implementing Yoruba Medium of Instruction in the Lower Primary Schools of Ikire Nigeria

The paper investigated the local implementation of the National Policy of Education (NPE) on the use of mother tongues or the languages of the immediate community. Using a case study approach of Yoruba medium of instruction in Ikire in the south-western part of Nigeria, data were collected from 50 teachers from both private and public schools. These respondents were selected on being able to satisfy the following conditions: first, they should be able to communicate in Yoruba; second, they should have adequate teaching experience; third, they should have good academic qualifications; and fourth, they should have been teaching, for more than a year, Elementary Science (the particular classroom subject the study examined being taught to the pupils). These conditions ensured the teachers engaged had cognate experience in teaching a science subject that can reveal the level of terminology development within Yoruba as an adequate medium of mother tongue instruction. The result affirmed the advantages of Yoruba medium of instruction over English; however, Yoruba was not exclusively used for the pupils contrary to the expectation in the mother tongue medium of instruction policy. Most of the teachers used in the study preferred to employ a bilingual mode of instruction combining Yoruba with English, claiming that English had better educational resources for the subject they were teaching. This paper, though, based on a local case study, can be used to estimate the expected limitation to be encountered while implementing mother tongue instruction in a similar linguistic domain.

Bilingualizing linguistically homogeneous classrooms in Kenya: implications on policy, second language learning, and literacy

ABSTRACTBilingualism characterizes people in linguistically heterogeneous settlements like Nairobi among other urban centres in Kenya. But the country is also predominantly rural (where you find people of a common language settled in one geographical rural region) in which mother tongues are primary means of communication. Children in lower primary in rural areas should be taught in their mother tongues. The purpose of this study was to find out the use of mother tongues and official languages in elementary linguistically homogeneous classrooms in Kenya and the possible effect of this use. Data were obtained through classroom observations and interviews with classroom teachers and head teachers. The findings indicate that instead of using mother tongues to teach, teachers use Kiswahili (a national and co-official language) and English (an official language) in various ways to teach content subjects; mathematics, science, social/religious studies, hence making the classrooms bilingual. The article presents evidence and discusses how this use of language affects learning and what it implies on language in education policy, on second language learning, and on early literacy development. Negative effects of the practice include poor learning outcomes and poor teacher morale. The study recommends corrective steps to avert learning and literacy development losses.

Mother tongue and education in Africa: Publicising the reality

Varied realities surround the use of mother tongue education in Africa. These realities are entrenched in the attitudes and misconceptions that have gone unchallenged due to inadequate literature on the successful use of mother tongues in the classroom and beyond. The realities discussed in this paper include the frustrations of children introduced to education in a foreign language; misconceptions about the success of mother tongue education; educational benefits of mother tongue education; and mother tongues and enhanced economic opportunities. The foci of this paper are the success stories from Africa and the economic benefits in the use of the mother tongue in creative media or economies. These success stories are a way of getting to stakeholders to invest in mother tongue education for there are returns on such investment. The stories are also a way of challenging scholars to get out of the conference rooms and do something gainful with the mother tongues.

Harnessing multilingualism in Nigeria for development: The challenges and strategies

The arbitrary and haphazard territorial boundaries imposed by the colonial masters in the last two centuries or so did not take cognizance of the people’s diversities before differentiating Nigeria and other sub-Saharan African states. As a result, the geo-political enclave now known as a country encompasses people with varying linguo-cultural identities. This has continued to have far reaching effects on the socio-economic potentials of the nation. This paper argues that the post independence Nigeria’s slow pace on the road of development is due to the non-participation of the Nigerian mono-lingual majority in the socio-economic and political affairs of the nation. This phenomenon is either as a result of the non-availability, non-utilization or defective language policy geared towards the use of mother-tongues. This paper therefore contends that positive results can still be gleaned from the resourceful utilization and positive involvements of the Nigerian factors despite her multilingualism. An empirical survey on the area of activities where English domination is mostly manifested was conducted among some secondary schools located in the South western part of Nigeria. It was found that European influence had continued to have series of devastating effects on the self actualization ethos of the nation because a wealth of indigenous knowledge was being locked away in the local languages and was gradually being lost as the custodians of this knowledge passed on. It is conclusively posited, therefore, that sustainable developments of the Nigerian individual and society only reside in turning a new leaf to the involvement of mother-tongues in the production and consumption of the world knowledge. Key words: Harnessing, multilingualism, linguo-cultural, mother-tongues, nationality, Yoruba

Teaching in linguistically diverse classrooms: difficulties in the implementation of the language-in-education policy in multilingual Kenyan primary school classrooms

Kenya’s language-in-education policy supports mother-tongue education as the ideal approach to developing language and literacy skills of young learners. The policy has been informed by findings of various past national education commissions as well as international declarations such as the UNESCO declaration on the use of Vernacular Languages in Education of 1953, the World Declaration on Education for All of 1990 and the Dakar framework of 2000. The country’s Constitution of 2010 re-affirms this policy. However, available reports indicate that little progress has been made in implementing the use of Kenyan mother tongues in education. This paper reports on impressions gained in the process of collecting and analysing data for a doctoral study still in progress. Preliminary findings indicate that in most urban and peri-urban schools, where the learner population is highly multilingual, the policy has been implemented in such a way that in effect either the notion of ‘mother tongue’ seems to have been redefined or the term is used in an unconventional way. Even in rural areas where, comparatively, there is minimal diversity, practical aspects of the use of mother tongue in education seem not to be in accordance with policy provisions. Learning materials and assessment systems are not suitably structured to enable mother-tongue education to take place. The paper (1) gives an impression of the status quo regarding use of language in multilingual primary school classrooms in Kenya, (2) considers the different interpretations given to the term ‘mother tongue’ in current classroom practices and (3) provides pointers to the gap between de jure and de facto policy, which may eventually be helpful in improving the implementation of the current language-in-education policy, in such a way that it will strengthen mother-tongue literacy and facilitate eventual transfer to English as medium of instruction.

The changing language policies and reversing language roles in Malawi: From colonial times (1891-1964) to the present

This article attempts to chart the language policies that Malawi has followed from colonial times (1891-1964) up to the present. The focus falls on the roles accorded to indigenous languages and English in national life and communities, respectively. In Malwi, the value of mother tongues or languages widely used by particular communities is recognised and these languages are used as instructional languages in early education. This is done to enable learners to understand basic concepts and to facilitate cognitive development. It is also to ensure that there is a smooth transition to English, which becomes the medium of instruction in standard five. The use of mother tongues and community languages of wider communication also plays an important role in the development of pride in, respect for and affiliation with mother tongues and cultural identity. It appears that there is a crucial need to for language policy in Malawi to be reviewed. To date it has been politically motivated, fragmentary and often not effectively implemented. This is particularly true since Malawi gained its independence in 1964. President Bakili Muluzi has seen the value of developing viable indigenous languages as well as some of those spoken by a small minority, However, since his election to power, language issues have received little attention: the policies he promised have not been implemented.

Language Issues And The Attainment Of Education-For-All Policy In Nigeria

This paper examined language issues in the attainment of Education-For-All goals in Nigeria. It started by stating that the major emphasis of the six EFA goals is on how to achieve basic education of good quality to all children, young people and adults through equitable access to appropriate learning and life skills programmes. The paper looked at the relationship between language and learning and provided a juxtaposition analysis on the categorization of language usage in Nigeria. It also examined language issues in the promotion of Basic Education in Nigeria as well as the experiments carried-out on the use of mother-tongues in literacy and basic education in Nigeria. The paper was rounded-off by providing a justification for the choice of indigenous language(s) in the implementation of EFA goals in Nigeria. International Journal of Emotional psychology and sport ethics (IJEPSE) Vol. 7 2005: pp. 14-22

Mother Tongue Education and Transitional Literacy in Sierra Leone: Prospects and Challenges in the 21st Century

There is renewed interest in mother tongue education (MTE) in many former African colonies. The new drive is informed by Unesco's model of mother tongue literacy (Unesco 1953) that has been critically re-examined by Tabouret-Keller et al. (1997). In Sierra Leone, the 1991 National Constitution and the New Education Policy emphasise basic education and the teaching of Sierra Leonean languages, both as media of instruction during the first three years of primary schooling and as subjects of study from Junior Secondary School (JSS) upwards. A critical appraisal of the prescriptions of the New Education Policy and other government pronouncements on the use of mother tongues in formal and non-formal education draws attention to important setbacks, including sociolinguistic, economic, educational and political factors in Sierra Leone of the 21st century. Other important questions include, what the actual literacy needs of 'illiterate' Sierra Leoneans are, and whether it is feasible to rejuvenate interest in MTE in a country where the meaning of literacy and good education are equated only to English literacy. The new policy has therefore sparked off the ageing debate on the language question for education, particularly among language educators. This article is a part of that debate and the wider debate on the appropriate language for literacy in sub-Saharan Africa.