[lg policy] Nigeria: Foreign Languages under the Spotlight

Wed Feb 15 15:50:45 UTC 2017

 Foreign Languages under the Spotlight
February 14, 2017
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As the world celebrates Mother Tongues Day on February 21, *Solomon Elusoji
*writes that to deprive indigenes of the use of their language for
education is like taking away their heritage

Inside the classrooms of a Community Primary School on the outskirts of
Lagos, conversations between students are held in Yoruba and a smattering
of English phrases. The instructors, too, deliver their lessons with a
composite of the two languages. But while one is the standard for tests and
examinations and consequently revered, the instructors say, the other,
which is most of the student’s mother tongue (Yoruba), is restricted to
interpersonal communication.

“We usually use both languages when we teach the students,” Taiwo Adegoke,
a Primary Two teacher says. “That’s because most of the students do not
speak English at home and we will be unable to communicate with them
without mixing it up.”

The reason for this interesting phenomenon is not far-fetched. Western
education was imported by the white man and, naturally, gains expression
through his language. And decades after attaining independence, the mode of
expression continues to hold. But education itself is not a function of
language, which is simply a means through which information is transmitted.
The English language is not officially recognised in some of the best
universities in the world and the Japanese, the Germans, excel
educationally with languages local to their populations.

According to Otunba Gani Adams, a cultural activist, “the secret of
technology is well hidden in language and that is why the world’s greatest
economies pride themselves in their language and tradition.” This makes it
impossible for outsiders to tap into the technology without getting
immersed in their local language.

Truly, language is deeply connected to notions of culture and identity,
but, according to UNESCO, as much as 40 per cent of the global population
does not have access to education in a language they speak or understand. A
large chunk of that number are in sub-Saharan Africa and Nigeria is a prime
victim. In some quarters, it is believed that the lack of knowledge
transmission in local languages is the reason for student’s mass failure in
nationally conducted examinations like WAEC and NECO, since it is difficult
to attain understanding (especially subjects like mathematics and physics
which are riddled with complex and abstract notions) in a language which
you have not sufficiently been immersed in; and understanding is crucial to
the success of any form of education.

This problem is prominent enough to have attracted the attention of the
Minister of Science and Technology, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu. In January, while
addressing pupils of Ekulu Primary School in Enugu, the minister said that
the federal government is in the process of ensuring that primary school
pupils are taught Mathematics and Science subjects in their mother-tongue.

 “The Ministry of Science and Technology is worried over the low interest
in mathematics and the science subjects, so, we are working on plans to
teach mathematics and sciences in indigenous languages in primary schools,”
he said.

“These pupils grow up with their indigenous languages at home before they
start going to school, where they are now taught in foreign languages. So,
we have observed that there is a challenge to understand the foreign
languages first before they could even start understanding what they are
being taught.

“We believe that this plan will help our students to understand mathematics
and science subjects, and also promote the application of science and
technology for national development.”

The words of the minister are sweet to the ears, but the question of
whether they can leave the domain of speeches and become implemented is a
matter best left to posterity. The argument for local languages to become
the de-facto mode for instruction in Nigerian schools is one that is almost
as old as the nation’s independence. In 1969, a six year experiment tagged
the ‘Ife Primary Education Research Project’, was initiated in South-west
Nigeria. The project used Yoruba as the medium of instruction for the six
years of primary education. Evaluations of the project found that students
who switched to English after six years of mother tongue instruction
performed better in English and in other subjects compared with those who
did so after only three years.

 “There are many ideas that you want to pass across in Chemistry, in
Physics, in Biology, etc that you can probably do more efficiently if you
teach them in their local language,” Kola Tubosun, a linguist and teacher,
says, in an interview with the Huffington Post. “What you’re trying to do
is to raise people who are competent, and who are knowledgeable in a
particular field. Education is about empowering people to be able to do
things, so it really doesn’t matter whether it is done in English or it’s
not. The people you’re teaching, if they can understand what you’re saying,
and you understand the concept of what you’re trying to preach or to work
on, then you can use that to solve a problem. So if that is done, I believe
that we’re going to unleash a generation of really smart and innovative
Nigerians.”

To buttress Tubosun’s point, a multitude of research point to the
superiority of instructing students in their mother tongues, especially in
the early stages, instead of in a second language, like English is to
millions of Nigerian students. A UNICEF Policy Paper, ‘If You Don’t
Understand, How Can You Learn’, notes that “speaking a language that is not
spoken in the classroom frequently holds back a child’s learning,
especially for those living in poverty” and that “at least six years of
mother tongue instruction is needed to reduce learning gaps for minority
language speakers.”

However, despite the obvious benefits of local languages over second
languages, the Nigerian government, regardless of Onu’s words, is not
particularly keen on investing in that direction. The popular reasons are
the complexity of such a language policy in a country with hundreds of
languages spread across its geography, and the massive funds that will be
required to train language instructors and re-write entire curriculums. But
some countries in sub-Saharan Africa are taking the giant leap. In 2015,
Ghana announced a bold plan to eliminate English as the medium of
instruction in its schools; and countries like Tanzania and Zimbabwe are on
similar paths.

According to Dr. Charles Mubita, a Doctor of International Relations from
the University of Sourthern California:  “The central message from these
countries is that the time has come for Africans to change our mindset so
that our education is administered in our local languages.

“Many have questioned the wisdom of removing colonial languages as media of
instruction in schools or as official languages. They argue that African
languages do not have terms such as algorithms, trigonometry, convex
geometry, quantum mechanics and other tongue twisters and jaw-breakers.

“The critics fear that these sophistries will be lost in translation
thereby lowering the standard of education. For them, English is the
definition of education sophistry, the height of sophistication, and
epitome of civilisation.

“This negative reaction is informed by an erroneous assumption that English
is the be-all and end-all of education – a false assumption that some
successful non-Anglophones such as Russia, Germany, Japan, China, France,
Finland, India, and many others will scoff at. Unfortunately, this debate
only demonstrates how far we are from breaking out of the shell of
imperialism and mental slavery.”

On February 21, the world will observe the International Mother Language
Day, to promote the awareness of linguistic and cultural diversity and
multilingual education, with the theme ‘Towards Sustainable Futures Through
Multilingual Education’. So, it is time for those in power to wake up to
the fractitious impacts of colonial languages and embrace the freedom
inherent in local languages. Because, in the words of Nigerian
educationist, scholar and former Minister of Education, late Professor Babs
Fafunwa, “to deprive the indigenous speaker of the use of his language for
education is like removing his soul.”

https://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2017/02/14/foreign-languages-under-the-spotlight/

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