TABLE OF CONTENT
Title Page
No
Title page
Certification
Dedication
Acknowledgement
Table of content
Abstract
Abstract
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
Background of
the Study
Statement of the
Problem
Purpose of the Study
Significance of
the Study
Research
Question
Scope of the
Study
Limitation of
the Study
Definition of Terms
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW
Bilingualism/Multilingualism
The Status of
English in Nigeria
Language
Acquisition
Mother Tongue
Interference
Phonological
Interference
Nigeria English
CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research Design
Area of the Study
Sample and
Sampling Procedure of the Study
Research
Instrument
Reliability of
the Instrument
Validation of
the Instrument
Method of Data
Collection
Method of Data Analysis
CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS AND CONCLUSION
Results
Discussion
CHAPTER
FIVE: DISCUSSION, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
Discussion
Conclusion
Recommendation
REFERENCES
APPENDIX
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ABSTRACT
The topic of the study is an investigation into
phonological interference of language of immediate environment in learning
English in Anglican Secondary school Efon – Alaaye, Ekiti. The aim is to know
the language of the immediate environment affects the learning of English in
secondary schools especially in Anglican Secondary school in Efon – Alaaye
under Efon Local Government Area of Ekiti State. The targeted population for
the study was 200. The research instrument (questionnaire) were distributed to
students. The data were analyzed using simple percentage. The following were
the researcher findings:
That the student’s home background influences their
performance in oral English; that poor teaching of pronunciation had a negative
effect on the performance of the student’s in oral English; that inadequate
teaching equipment/materials had a negative effect on the performance of the
students in oral English; that the availability of teachers and their teaching
methods influences the student’s performance in oral English.
In view of the above, the researcher recommends that
parents should encourage their children to speak English always, parents should
also assist the school to equip their language laboratory.
The students also need to be enlighten on why they should
be able to use their leisure hours to read novels, newspaper and magazines at
home.
Teachers should be made to make use of correct teaching
method in teaching of English. also, mother tongue should be restricted as
stipulated by the national policy on education 4th edition.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background to the Study
The
existence of the English in Nigeria arose through the missionaries who brought
Christianity to Nigeria. These
missionaries discovered on their arrival that their new convert who had no
Western Education needed to read the Holy Bible and related religious
literature, therefore the need to educated them arose. The missionaries, who
initially settled in Badagry and calabar established some schools and their main
objective was to teach literacy that is, reading and writing. English in
Nigeria has acquired the status of official Language, according to Akano (2004),
English performs numerous functions in Nigeria. It serves as lingua franca, it
is language of instruction in schools and communication, it is the language of
constitution among others. This is because Nigeria is a multilingual country
and English serves as a link among the people.
English is introduced to a child from
the fourth year of primary school up to the university level as stated clearly
in the Federal Republic of Nigeria’s National Policy on Education. Importance
is attached to English in Nigeria, the practical oral aspect of the English
becomes even more important for the purpose of interaction and articulation in
our day to day use of the language. The role of English in Nigeria stresses the
need for Nigerians to learn and understand English.
Mother Tongue according to Ashworth
(1992) is a native language which a person acquires in early years and which
normally becomes his/her natural instrument of thought and communication. On
the other hand, Ashworth (1992) States that “the second language is a language
acquired by a person in addition to her mother tongue”.
Interference, according to Ellis (1999)
“Transfer is the process of using the knowledge of the first language in
learning a second languages” for the purpose of this research, transfer will be
considered as same as interference, therefore, interference is the transference
of the elements of one language to another.
Interference has been observed as a
cogent influence that mother tongue language has on English sources of the
interference therefore could be phenology, morphology or syntax. The concern of
this project is on the phonological aspect of English. (Oral English).
Phonology, according to the Collins
paper back English Dictionary is the study of the sound system in a language.
There could be poor teaching of pronunciation by the teachers. Some of the
teachers use grammatical translation method especially in the elementary
schools. They often explain meanings of English words using the mother tongue
language. The pupils transfer the idea of having explanation of meanings being
made in the mother tongue language over to the secondary school. It is
therefore the intention of this study to identify problems that affect the oral
English of students in the secondary schools as regards the influence of mother
tongue language on it. In addition, suggestions and recommendations would be
made on how to reduce the influence of mother tongue language on oral English.
Statement of the Problem
Statement
of the problem, According to Ellis (1999) is a statement that outlines the
problem addressed by the study.
There
is no doubt that secondary school students in Nigeria are being faced with the
problem of mother tongue language. The phonological aspect (oral aspect) is the
main focus of this research.
The
influence of the mother tongue language on the pronunciation of English words
is one of the problems. The influence of the home background on the students’ pronunciation
of English words is also a problem. Hence, series of works have been done
concerning the problems of mother tongue language interference on the oral
English of secondary school students in English but it was observed that little
or no emphasis has been made on the phonological interference of mother tongue
on the learning of English. Consequently, there has been a need to conduct a
research work, on the influence of mother tongue language on the oral English
of secondary school students.
Purpose of the Study
The
general purpose of this study is to examine the influence of mother tongue
language on the oral English of secondary school students. Specifically, the
purposes of this study are to determine the influence of home background on the
student’s performances in oral English, the influence of non- availability of
language equipment on students performances in oral English, the influence of
poor teaching on the influence of the teacher’s qualification on the
performances of students in oral English.
Significance of the Study
The
findings of this study would be of immense benefit to students, teachers,
stakeholders and government. This would be facilitated by making the study
available in places where the public could gain access to it, for example, the
library internet, and print media houses.
The
essence of this study is to show the result of the co-existence of the mother
tongue (Yoruba) and English. The co-existence will allow students to be exposed
to the interference of the two languages, where the interference occurs and how
to minimize it. The study will help the teachers of English to know the
measures to be taken in order to help student minimize their mother tongue
language interference on oral English.
Finally,
the suggested solutions in the study would be of great benefits to educational
curriculum planners. It would help the education curriculum planners to place
premium on the essential aspect of the study of English which would be of
immense help in alleviating the problems of mother tongue interference in oral
English.
Research Questions
Based
on the purpose of this study, the following questions are raised to direct the
study
1. What
are the influences of home background on the students’ performance in oral
English?
2. What
are the influences of language equipments/teaching materials on the students
spoken English?
3. What
are the effects of poor teaching on the performance of the students in oral
English?
4. What
are the influences of the teacher is availability and teaching method on the
performance of students in oral English
Scope of the Study
The
study focuses on the phonological interference of language of the immediate
environment on the learning of English, case study of Anglican secondary
school, Efon Alaaye, Ekiti state.
Limitation of the study
Since
it is impossible to devote years to studying a single research problem, the
time available to investigate the research problem and to measure change or
stability within a sample is constrained by the time limit, therefore, the
researcher devote most of the time carrying out the research.
Definition of Terms used in the Study
a. Interference
: According to Lott (1983) Interference is the situation whereby the feature of
the first language (L1) manifests in the second language( L2) usage
b. The
language of immediate environment (mother tongue) (L1): According to Ashworth
(1992), Mother tongue is a native language which a person acquires in early
years and which normally becomes his/her natural instrument of thought and
communication. It is first language a child acquired from his/her parent.
Mother tongue used in this research is Yoruba.
c. Second
language (L2): Ashworth (1992) stated that “the second language is a language
acquired by a person in addition to her mother tongue.
d. Phonology
: According to the Collins paper back English Dictionary is the study of sound
system in a language
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
In this chapter, literature related to
the study will be reviewed. The review will show the phonological interference
of student’s L1 which the language of their immediate environment (Mother
Tongue) in their L2, which is the English.
