Language of instruction and acquisition of literacy skills in English as a second language by children aged 4-5 years in Akwa Ibom state, Nigeria

Abstract

Efforts to provide effective learning environments for school children in Nigeria is ongoing. This effort becomes more necessary regarding the language of instruction (LOI) that teachers use to effectively support children’s learning, considering the multicultural and multilingual nature of the country. The National Education Policy prescribes the mother tongue as LOI for Early Childhood Education (ECE) in Nigeria. Yet, literature shows that parents and teachers have differing views about LOI in ECE. While some prefer English because it is a language of wider communication, others prefer the mother tongue for cultural preservation. Although previous studies have explored the perceptions of parents and teachers of this policy, a gap exists in literature about how LOI impacts children’s acquisition of literacy skills in Akwa Ibom state. Therefore, this study investigates how LOI may affect the acquisition of literacy skills in English by children aged 4-5 years and explores parents’ and teachers’ perceptions of the LOI policy on ECE in Akwa Ibom State. This study adopts a mixed methodology using quantitative and qualitative data collection methods. 286 children from public ECE centres were assessed in literacy skills using Children’s Literacy Skills Acquisition Test while 12 parents and 12 teachers were interviewed using semi structured interview schedules. Concerning the quantitative data, children’s literacy skills were compared based on LOI and school locations while qualitative data surveyed the views of parents and teachers of the LOI policy on ECE. Thereafter, results were combined and discussed during the interpretation phase. Findings show that while there is no significant difference between children taught using code switching and those taught using English only in acquisition of literacy skills, children taught using code switching and those taught using English only differ significantly across school locations. Furthermore, while teachers preferred codeswitching English and the mother tongue language/s during teaching, parents preferred the use of English only as LOI.

Date of Award	31 Mar 2021
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of Roehampton
Sponsors	TERTIARY EDUCATION TRUST FUND (TETFUND) NIGERIA
Supervisor	Fengling Tang (Supervisor) & Ana Guimaraes (Co-Supervisor)