Review <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>literature</str<strong>on</strong>g> <strong>on</strong> <strong>basic</strong> educati<strong>on</strong> <strong>in</strong> Nigeria<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> <strong>in</strong>structi<strong>on</strong> and assessment plays a major part <strong>in</strong> poor atta<strong>in</strong>ment – a view endorsed by <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> recentEGRA and EGMA <strong>in</strong> Bauchi and Sokoto states (USAID 2013a, b and c) – but this was not c<strong>on</strong>sideredwith<strong>in</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> ESSPIN report.The EGRA results clearly <strong>in</strong>dicated <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> benefits <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> learn<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> a first language/language <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> immediateenvir<strong>on</strong>ment. Although <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>re were very few pupils perform<strong>in</strong>g well, <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> relati<strong>on</strong>ship between <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>irresults for read<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> two languages suggested that read<strong>in</strong>g Hausa has an important role to play <strong>in</strong>learn<strong>in</strong>g to read and understand English:Children who are am<strong>on</strong>g <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> high performers <strong>in</strong> Hausa read<strong>in</strong>g comprehensi<strong>on</strong> also tended to perform well<strong>in</strong> English read<strong>in</strong>g comprehensi<strong>on</strong>. C<strong>on</strong>versely, <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>re were no children who performed well <strong>in</strong> Englishread<strong>in</strong>g comprehensi<strong>on</strong> who did not also perform well <strong>in</strong> Hausa read<strong>in</strong>g comprehensi<strong>on</strong>, suggest<strong>in</strong>g thatlearn<strong>in</strong>g to read Hausa plays an important role <strong>in</strong> learn<strong>in</strong>g to read and understand English (USAID 2013b: 45,and c: 47).The reports also c<strong>on</strong>cluded that children should be taught to read <strong>in</strong> Hausa, while English should betaught as a foreign language:More attenti<strong>on</strong> needs to be placed <strong>on</strong> <strong>in</strong>structi<strong>on</strong>al approaches that focus <strong>on</strong> teach<strong>in</strong>g English as a ForeignLanguage. Improv<strong>in</strong>g children’s Hausa read<strong>in</strong>g ability and improv<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>structi<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> English as a subject willboth facilitate English language acquisiti<strong>on</strong> (USAID 2013b: 69, and c: 72).4.3.2 Language <strong>in</strong> educati<strong>on</strong> policy <strong>in</strong> practiceNati<strong>on</strong>al government policy <strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> MOI dictates that <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> ‘language <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> envir<strong>on</strong>ment’ should be usedfor <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> first three years <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> primary school<strong>in</strong>g, with English taught as a subject, before a ‘progressive’transiti<strong>on</strong> to English-medium teach<strong>in</strong>g (FME 2004a). However, practice varies and <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>re is no policyguidance for children <strong>in</strong> multil<strong>in</strong>gual envir<strong>on</strong>ments. Theobald et al. (2007) claim that less<strong>on</strong>s <strong>in</strong> primaryschools <strong>in</strong> all years are predom<strong>in</strong>antly carried out <strong>in</strong> <strong>on</strong>e <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Nigeria’s three ma<strong>in</strong> languages, i.e. <strong>in</strong> Hausa<strong>in</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> north, Igbo <strong>in</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> South East and Yoruba <strong>in</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> South West.In c<strong>on</strong>trast, Adekola (2007), summaris<strong>in</strong>g f<strong>in</strong>d<strong>in</strong>gs from several nati<strong>on</strong>al studies, claimed that teacherstaught <strong>in</strong> English up to 70% <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> time, even <strong>in</strong> Primary 3. Similarly, a study <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> lower primary Science classes<strong>in</strong> 12 schools <strong>in</strong> Lagos State found teachers predom<strong>in</strong>antly used a mix <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> mo<str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>r t<strong>on</strong>gue and English withan <strong>in</strong>crease <strong>in</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> <strong>in</strong>tensity <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> use <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> English from Primary 1 to 3 even <strong>in</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> more rural schools, where<str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>re was greater homogeneity <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> mo<str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>r t<strong>on</strong>gue (Okebukola et al. 2013). Even at pre-school level,accord<strong>in</strong>g to <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> 2003 ASC, over 70% <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> pre-schools claimed to be teach<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> English (FME 2005).At lower primary level <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> ESA survey found that out <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> sampled 1,000 schools English was mostwidely used (44%), followed by <strong>on</strong>e <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> three ma<strong>in</strong> Nigerian languages (36%) and <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>n <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> language<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> community (19.1%) (FME 2005). However, <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> report also claimed that <strong>in</strong>formati<strong>on</strong> ga<str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>redfrom field visits organised by <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> ESA Unit under <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> auspices <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> DFID-sp<strong>on</strong>sored Task Force <strong>on</strong>School-Level Management found that <strong>in</strong> a state where <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> language policy was be<strong>in</strong>g properly adheredto, <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> performance <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Primary 4 and 6 pupils <strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> MLA exercise was ‘excepti<strong>on</strong>ally higher than all <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>o<str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>r states’ (ibid.), although no statistical data were presented to back up <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> claim.The use <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> English is much more marked <strong>in</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> more multil<strong>in</strong>gual, urban envir<strong>on</strong>ments, when it is <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g>tenused as <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> default language, especially when <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> teacher does not share <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> mo<str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>r t<strong>on</strong>gue <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>dom<strong>in</strong>ant l<strong>in</strong>guistic group (Dunne et al. 2013; Okebukola et al. 2013). Yet, as Adekola (2007) po<strong>in</strong>ts out,<str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>re is a lack <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> preparati<strong>on</strong> <strong>in</strong> <strong>in</strong>itial teacher educati<strong>on</strong> for bi- or multil<strong>in</strong>gual educati<strong>on</strong> and a shortage<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> textbooks <strong>in</strong> Nigerian languages (Adekola 2007; Iyamu and Ogiegbaen 2007).Code-switch<strong>in</strong>g is a comm<strong>on</strong> feature <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> most classrooms (Hardman et al. 2008; Salami 2008; Dunne etal. 2013; Gabrscek and Usman 2013; Okebukola et al. 2013). In Hardman et al.’s (2008) survey <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g>Primary 6 Maths and English less<strong>on</strong>s <strong>in</strong> 20 schools, primarily <strong>in</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> north, code-switch<strong>in</strong>g was observedEDOREN – Educati<strong>on</strong> Data, Research and Evaluati<strong>on</strong> <strong>in</strong> Nigeria 37
Review <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>literature</str<strong>on</strong>g> <strong>on</strong> <strong>basic</strong> educati<strong>on</strong> <strong>in</strong> Nigeria<strong>in</strong> around three-quarters <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> less<strong>on</strong>s, although fewer than a quarter <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> teachers admitted to <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> practice<strong>in</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> questi<strong>on</strong>naires. Similarly, <strong>in</strong> Salami’s (2008) study <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> code-switch<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> primary schools <strong>in</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>South West, close to two-thirds <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> teachers code-switched between English and Yoruba, even whenteach<strong>in</strong>g English, whereas <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> vast majority claimed to use <strong>on</strong>ly English <strong>in</strong> class. The difference betweenpr<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g>essed and observed practice is likely expla<strong>in</strong>ed by teachers not want<strong>in</strong>g to admit to c<strong>on</strong>traven<strong>in</strong>ggovernment policy (Hardman et al. 2008; Salami 2008).4.3.3 ‘Mo<str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>r-t<strong>on</strong>gue’ teach<strong>in</strong>gImportantly, as Salami (2008) po<strong>in</strong>ts out, language-learn<strong>in</strong>g <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>ory posits that cognitive development isbest achieved through a solid foundati<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> learn<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> a child’s first language(s), before embark<strong>in</strong>g <strong>on</strong>learn<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> a sec<strong>on</strong>d or foreign language (see also Bens<strong>on</strong> 2004; Alidou et al. 2006; USAID 2013 a, b andc). Studies <strong>in</strong> o<str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>r West African countries have found that ‘mo<str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>r-t<strong>on</strong>gue’ teach<strong>in</strong>g has been found tobenefit girls and rural children <strong>in</strong> particular (Hovens 2002). Additi<strong>on</strong>al benefits <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> mo<str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>r-t<strong>on</strong>gueteach<strong>in</strong>g dem<strong>on</strong>strated <strong>in</strong> o<str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>r studies <strong>in</strong> SSA have <strong>in</strong>cluded: More active pupil participati<strong>on</strong>, <strong>in</strong>volv<strong>in</strong>g greater numbers <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> pupils (Bens<strong>on</strong> 2004; Hovens 2000;Heugh et al. 2007; see also Adekola 2007 <strong>on</strong> Nigeria);More relaxed teacher–pupil relati<strong>on</strong>s (Hovens 2002; Bens<strong>on</strong> 2004; Brock-Utne 2007); and Better pedagogy (Hovens 2002; Brock-Utne 2007).Box 4.1The ‘mo<str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>r-t<strong>on</strong>gue’ experimentA l<strong>on</strong>gitud<strong>in</strong>al language and literacy programme funded by <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> World Bank <strong>in</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> 1980s <strong>in</strong> SouthWest Nigeria showed that after six years <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Yoruba-medium teach<strong>in</strong>g pupils atta<strong>in</strong>ed better results,<strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> English, than <strong>in</strong> English-medium schools (Ejieh 2004; Adekola 2007). Intensive schoolbasedteacher development and mentor<strong>in</strong>g, community mobilisati<strong>on</strong>, availability <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> textbooks <strong>in</strong>Yoruba, and parental support – given after <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>y could see improved results after <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> first year – wereall vital to its success. There were not <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> same results with <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> Hausa-medium and Igbo-mediumprogrammes, attributed to <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> greater overcrowd<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> classrooms, <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> absence <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> textbooks <strong>in</strong>Hausa or Igbo and <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> fact that community support was not mobilised so successfully.Source: Adekola (2007).Yet Salami (2008) noted that <strong>in</strong> her study that, judg<strong>in</strong>g from <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> high level <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> code-switch<strong>in</strong>g, <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>re waslittle last<strong>in</strong>g trace <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> successful Yoruba-medium policy experiment c<strong>on</strong>ducted <strong>in</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> 1980s (see Box4.1). This suggests that susta<strong>in</strong>ed political (<strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g f<strong>in</strong>ancial) and community commitment is necessaryfor such a policy to succeed <strong>in</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> l<strong>on</strong>g term, whatever its apparent success <strong>in</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> short term. Any policypromot<strong>in</strong>g multi-l<strong>in</strong>gualism would need to be accompanied by <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> producti<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> textbooks andmaterials <strong>in</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> relevant Nigerian languages (Ejieh 2004).4.3.4 Pupils’ views <strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> medium <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> <strong>in</strong>structi<strong>on</strong>Pupils, whose views are rarely sought, generally prefer a bil<strong>in</strong>gual approach to teach<strong>in</strong>g; for example,over 60% <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> children <strong>in</strong> Salami’s study expressed a preference for teach<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> English and Yoruba. InDunne et al.’s (2013) study most pupils preferred learn<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> a mix <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> English and Hausa. Salamic<strong>on</strong>cludes that ‘mo<str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>r-t<strong>on</strong>gue’ teach<strong>in</strong>g should be given an enhanced role al<strong>on</strong>gside English <strong>in</strong> Nigeriaso that teachers can enjoy <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> ‘educati<strong>on</strong>al benefits [<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> code-switch<strong>in</strong>g] <strong>in</strong> a situati<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> bi-/multil<strong>in</strong>gualism, low English pr<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g>iciency, lack <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> or poor language teacher educati<strong>on</strong> tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g, and lackor scarcity <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> material resources <strong>in</strong> mo<str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>r-t<strong>on</strong>gue educati<strong>on</strong>’ (Salami 2008: 109).EDOREN – Educati<strong>on</strong> Data, Research and Evaluati<strong>on</strong> <strong>in</strong> Nigeria 38
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