review-of-the-literature-on-basic-education-in-nigeria-june-2014-3-1

Review <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>literature</strong> on basic education in Nigeria4.3.5 Teachers’ and parents’ views on <strong>the</strong> medium <strong>of</strong> instructionThe evidence on teacher and parental preference, which is more extensive, is more mixed. Ejieh’s (2004)study <strong>of</strong> second- and third-year student-teacher attitudes in a predominantly Yoruba-speaking college <strong>of</strong>education in Osun State noted how, although <strong>the</strong> majority recognised that teachers could express<strong>the</strong>mselves better in <strong>the</strong>ir mo<strong>the</strong>r tongue and pupils could understand better and would find lessonsmore interesting, <strong>the</strong> vast majority (85%) were adamant <strong>the</strong>y would not engage in mo<strong>the</strong>r-tongueteaching after finishing <strong>the</strong>ir training, even though almost half said <strong>the</strong>y were willing to undergo trainingthat would enable <strong>the</strong>m to do so. Most respondents also displayed popular misconceptions aboutmo<strong>the</strong>r-tongue teaching, believing that it negatively affects pupils’ ability to learn English, and that <strong>the</strong>irsubject could not be taught through a Nigerian language (see also Salami 2008). Tellingly, over 60%thought that mo<strong>the</strong>r-tongue teaching would degrade <strong>the</strong> teaching pr<strong>of</strong>ession.Ango et al.’s <strong>review</strong> (2003, cited in Akyeampong et al. 2009) also highlights teacher and parentalpreference for English-only tuition, even at pre-school level (see Ajayi 2008). In particular, Englishmediumteaching is associated with private schools (and by implication higher-quality teaching) andwith better socio-economic opportunities (Ejieh 2004; Osokoya 2004; Salami 2008) and higher prestige.In a study <strong>of</strong> parental preference in selected schools in <strong>the</strong> South West, Osokoya (2004) found that <strong>the</strong>majority <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> respondents (66.7%) preferred English, irrespective <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> language <strong>of</strong> interaction athome. One school inspector in Salami’s (2008) study explained that it was precisely because <strong>of</strong>competition for enrolments in English-medium private schools in <strong>the</strong> area that <strong>the</strong>y were actuallyencouraging teachers to teach in English from Primary 1, contrary to government policy. Additionally,Salami (ibid.) noted how <strong>the</strong> government <strong>of</strong>ficials interviewed were generally in favour <strong>of</strong> Englishmediumschooling.However, parental attitudes can vary. In Sunal et al.’s (2003) study <strong>of</strong> parental and teacher attitudes toschooling (taking 80 teachers and 80 parents from <strong>the</strong> South West, South East and <strong>the</strong> north), allparents thought children could learn better in <strong>the</strong>ir home language. Similarly, in Amadi’s (2012) study inurban Enugu, <strong>the</strong> majority <strong>of</strong> both teachers and parents (all ‘educated’) chose a bi-literate systeminvolving code-switching and code-mixing over mo<strong>the</strong>r-tongue teaching and English as <strong>the</strong> MOI(although <strong>the</strong> latter came a close second with parents), ahead <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> current transitional bilingual policy.A large-scale survey <strong>of</strong> 1,500 literate parents and 1,000 primary teachers randomly sampled from across<strong>the</strong> country were asked about <strong>the</strong>ir perceptions <strong>of</strong> mo<strong>the</strong>r-tongue teaching, while <strong>the</strong> teachers werealso given a short questionnaire on <strong>the</strong> practical constraints <strong>of</strong> teaching in <strong>the</strong> mo<strong>the</strong>r tongue (Iyamuand Ogiegbaen 2007). Over 70% <strong>of</strong> parents and teachers agreed with <strong>the</strong> statements that mo<strong>the</strong>rtongueteaching helped bridge <strong>the</strong> home and school experiences <strong>of</strong> young children and that it allowedilliterate parents to better support <strong>the</strong>ir children’s learning at home. A similarly high percentage <strong>of</strong>parents thought that early learning in mo<strong>the</strong>r-tongue education can make learning less traumatic forchildren, whereas only around half <strong>of</strong> teachers were <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> same view. Crucially, however, only 54.3% <strong>of</strong>teachers and 41.5% <strong>of</strong> parents thought that children learned better in <strong>the</strong>ir mo<strong>the</strong>r tongue. Yet <strong>the</strong>separental views were ra<strong>the</strong>r at odds with <strong>the</strong>ir views on <strong>the</strong> later statement that early use <strong>of</strong> English as<strong>the</strong> MOI posed learning difficulties for pupils; 80.2% <strong>of</strong> parents agreed with this whereas a moreconsistent 40.5% was posted for teachers. More nuanced qualitative research might help unravelpeople’s <strong>of</strong>ten contradictory feelings toward <strong>the</strong> MOI. Finally, as regards teachers’ views on <strong>the</strong> possibleconstraints <strong>of</strong> mo<strong>the</strong>r-tongue teaching, <strong>the</strong>y agreed with eight out <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> 10 items with <strong>the</strong> highest level<strong>of</strong> agreement (just under 80%) accorded to <strong>the</strong> statements about <strong>the</strong> lack <strong>of</strong> necessary teachers trainedin mo<strong>the</strong>r-tongue teaching and <strong>the</strong> lack <strong>of</strong> instructional materials in Nigerian languages.EDOREN – Education Data, Research and Evaluation in Nigeria 39