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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Mother-tongue education: problems and prospects in a post-colonial African state, Nigeria
Author:Iwara, A.U.
Year:1981
Periodical:Présence africaine
Issue:119
Pages:90-108
Language:English
Geographic term:Nigeria
Subjects:schooling
languages of instruction
mother tongues
Abstract:After a brief introduction on the role of language in education, there follows a short historical account of the development of mother-tongue education in Nigeria from a cross-cultural point of view, i.e. describing how the English language, the English educational system and English culture came to be firmly established in Nigeria and how the use of local languages as instructional media in that educational system was more of a cosmetic exercise than a genuine attempt to create and fashion a new educational institution responsive to the authentic developmental needs of the African population. The article goes on to examine the tendency of parents to reject mother-tongue education for their children for whom the system would appear to have obvious pedagogical, psychological and socio-cultural advantages over the 'straight-for-English' scheme of education. The author concludes by suggesting, from personal experience in the field, ways and means of making mother-tongue education more readily acceptable to all Nigerians. Notes.
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