Some psychological and educational implications of receiving school instruction through a foreign language

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Periodical article

Title:	Some psychological and educational implications of receiving school instruction through a foreign language
Author:	Opoku, J.Y.
Year:	1994
Periodical:	Research Review
Volume:	10
Issue:	1-2
Pages:	23-31
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Ghana
Subjects:	language instruction English language languages of instruction
Abstract:	Findings from psychological research show that learning through the medium of a foreign language may be mediated by the mother tongue, in which a child is likely to be more competent. Yet in many developing countries, such as Ghana, a foreign language is used as the medium of instruction in the early school years when children are inept in the foreign language in question. This educational practice has psychological implications, for such children come to possess a common representational (conceptual) system for the two languages instead of separated representational systems; they also come to possess dependent instead of independent linguistic systems. As a result, such children may find it difficult to acquire basic concepts through the medium of the foreign language because of the inefficient learning strategy of referring all foreign language concepts to the mother tongue. It is suggested that schoolchildren in Ghana receive instruction through the mother tongue for the first six years at school. At the same time intensive and effective study of English as a second language should be encouraged throughout primary and secondary school years. Bibliogr., notes, sum.