Full Project – THE EFFECTS OF MOTHER TONGUE INTERFERENCE IN THE LEARNING OF BIOLOGY IN SOME SELECTED SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN ILORIN WEST LOCAL GOVERNMENT OF KWARA STATE

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CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

The theme of this study aims at finding out the effects of mother tongue interference in the learning of Biology in some selected secondary schools in Ilorin west local government of Kwara State. Mother tongue is one’s native language and we have many native languages in Nigeria. Everyone has mother tongue influence (MTI) in the use of sounds when speaking or interacting. Hence, our respective mother tongue exists before colonization. This has necessitated the teaching and learning of the Biology and its consequent inference of our mother tongue in various schools in Nigeria. It is therefore, glaring to state that, Nigeria is a linguistically complex nation by the mere fact of the history of its creation. It is estimated that there are about over 400 languages spoken in Nigeria.

This linguistic heterogeneity promotes the continued use of Biology in Nigeria since the role of Biology in Nigeria is diverse and ubiquitous, especially as a means of intra and international communication. It is as a result of the negative effects which the mother tongue has caused in the learning of Biology in the educational structure and the attempt to determine the effect of the use of mother tongue in the teaching and learning process in secondary schools.

Biology as one of the science subject is defined as the study of life and structure of living things. Biology is the study of living things and concerns itself with the study of the structure, behaviour, distribution, the origin of plants and animals and their relationship with their environments.

Abugu (2007) stated that biology is a natural science in which we study living organisms – plants and animals. Furthermore Iloeje (1981) viewed Biology as the science in which we study living things. Based on the above statement, man lives in a novel world, there are animals, plants, rivers, oceans, deserts, mountains, and so on, all round him. Being a curious being, man takes delight in exploring his world, the seeks to have a world view of the universe, the strives to investigate all matter around him – their origin, nature, characteristics and other features, the inquires in his inquiry, he asks a lot of questions and in his search for answers to such questions, he needs to be systematic and unbiased. To achieve his goal, he engages in experimentation and observation, which are fundamental to science. Like other science subjects, biology in secondary schools is composed of practical activities. In all the sciences, biology geared towards simplifying the theoretical content, so as to enhance effective instruction and learning of the subject.

Allan, Rob and Jonathan (2000), stated the reason for emphasizing practical activities in biology like a realization of practical; work to be predecessor to real science knowledge. On the other hand, mother tongue is a language that a person has been exposed to from birth or within the critical period. In some countries, the term native language or mother tongue refers to the language of one’s ethnic group rather than one’s first language (Love and Umberto, 2010).

A language besides being the major distinguishing phenomenon between man and other creatures is evidently the most enduring of every people’s cultural heritage. It reflects the culture of a people and it is in extricable bound up with it. Language is an important tool that enhances human communication and interaction. It is a vital instrument in cultural transmission and preservation of a social group. It is in a fundamental sense, a crucial tool in the preservation and propagation of the human species. An examination of the linguistic content of a particular speech community can provide information about the life style, occupation etc. of a given people. Mother tongue as the first language of instruction in schools is an essential tool in whatever field we may find ourselves, without it any meaningful form of intellectual pursuit will be hindered. As we all know that most children who begin their education in their mother tongues make a better start as they demonstrate increased self confidence, and continue to perform better than those who start school in a new language (English).

Mother tongue disrupts the smoothness of communication as students with no confidence tend to use mother tongue instead of Biology . Many students from different tribes cannot pronounce many words correctly as an Biology native speaker will do e.g. measure, pleasure, treasure, support, college, bus, school etc.

1.2 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM

Before the advent of British traders, missionaries and colonialists, indigenous Nigerian language defined every aspect of speech within the community from religious, cultural, political, economic and social function effectively to deal with everything relating to the day existence of the people.

New sets of ideas, concepts and values were introduced to the system where indigenous local language had previously been self-sufficient rendering them inadequate to deal with the new concepts introduced by the British, particularly in our secondary schools.

The effect of mother tongue interference in the learning of Biology in schools.

The following problems are identified when teaching Biology as a second language.

Problems of mother-tongue interference arise the second language learner use the mother tongue (native language) speaker’s acquisition of the Biology
Encounter problems in sentence and word stresses, vowel sounds, and Biology supra segmental of pitch.
Problem of pronunciation.
When a learner makes use of some linguistic items in the mother tongue to replace difficult words in the target language.

1.3 SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY.

The significance of study will help to expose numerous factors that influence the interference of mother tongue in the learning of Biology
The study will identify the effects of this interference on the academic performance of students in Biology in external examinations.
The study will enable teachers to identify their problems in the teaching of Biology
It will enable students to understand how to make use of Biology words especially pronunciation, intonation, and phonology.
This piece of work could equally be of immense help for those wishing to go into more research in the area of study. The results of findings in this work will be of great importance to provide necessary information to teachers and education planners on how to help the students improve on their pronunciation at the early stages of learning the second language.
It will also ease the teachers’ method of teaching.

1.4 PURPOSE OF THE STUDY.

To find out the level at which mother tongue can interfere in the learning of Biology in senior secondary schools.
To investigate the qualifications of Biology teachers in secondary schools in Ilorin west of Kwara State.
To know the teaching methods used by teachers in the teaching of Biology in secondary schools.

1.5 RESERCH QUESTIONS

Does mother tongue actually interfere in the learning of Biology in secondary schools?
Does Biology teachers uses correct teaching methods?
Do you have qualified Biology teachers in your schools?
How can you overcome mother tongue influence?
Does the phonology of mother tongue affect the learning of Biology in secondary schools?

1.6 THE SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The study covers four selected secondary schools in Ilorin west LGA of Kwara State.

The schools are:

Government Girls Day Secondary School. Oko- Erin.
Queen Elizabeth Secondary School. Ilorin.
Government Day Secondary School. Oke-Aluko.
Government Day Secondary School. Odo-okun.

The study is restricted to SSS1-3 in the selected school and their continuous assessment and summative examinations of schools such as WASSCE and NECO Senior School Certificate Examination in Biology (2015-2016).

1.7 DEFINITION OF TERMS.

The following terms are operationally defined as used in this research work.

This will go a long way giving direction to the work.

MOTHER-TONGUE: it is the native language one first learns to speak before other language. It is the language a person learned as a child at home usually from their parents. The children growing up in a bilingual environment can have more than one mother tongue or native language. Mother tongue refers to the language a person learns to speak first in life.
INTERFERTENCE: refers the influence of one language or variety on another in the speech of bilinguals who use both languages.
BILINGUAL: is that person who has the ability to function in two languages. Bloom field identified the bilingual as somebody with nature-like control of two languages.
LINGUISTIC: is concerned with the structure of language which is subdivided into subfields i.e. phonetics, phonology, and morphology. Syntactical and lexical.
HETEROGENEITY: consist of many different kinds of people or things.
ETHNOLOGIC: is the branch of anthropology that analyses and compares human cultures, as in social structure, language, religion and technology.
SECONDLANGUAGE: refers to the language a person learns in addition to his first or native language. Encyclopedia defines second language as any language whose acquisition starts after early childhood.

A second language (SL) is a non-native language that is widely used for purposes of communication, usually as a medium of education, government or business. Biology is the second language in Nigeria.

LANGUAGE: is considered to be a system of communicating with other people using sounds, symbols and words in expressing a meaning, idea, or thought. This language can be used in many forms primarily through oral and written communications as well as using expressions through body language. Language remains the most common medium for the communication of ideas, feelings, requests, criticisms and needs.
PHONETICS; it investigates the whole articulating or audial system of language. It describes variants of pronunciation that occurs in different types of speech.
BIOLOGY: Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field.

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Full Project – THE EFFECTS OF MOTHER TONGUE INTERFERENCE IN THE LEARNING OF BIOLOGY IN SOME SELECTED SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN ILORIN WEST LOCAL GOVERNMENT OF KWARA STATE

Full Project – THE EFFECTS OF MOTHER TONGUE INTERFERENCE IN THE LEARNING OF BIOLOGY IN SOME SELECTED SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN ILORIN WEST LOCAL GOVERNMENT OF KWARA STATE

Full Project – THE EFFECTS OF MOTHER TONGUE INTERFERENCE IN THE LEARNING OF BIOLOGY IN SOME SELECTED SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN ILORIN WEST LOCAL GOVERNMENT OF KWARA STATE

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