THE USE OF MOTHER TONGUE AS A MEDIUM OF INSTRUCTION IN SELECTED PREPRIMARY AND PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN IJEBU EAST LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF OGUNSTATE

Abstract

The use of the mother tongue as a medium of instruction in early education has engendered a lot of research
interests and several scholars have advocated its use in early education. The assessment of the use of the mother
tongue as a medium of instruction in pre-primary and primary schools has not attracted sufficient research
interest, particularly from Ijebu East Local government area of Ogun State. Thus, this study investigates the use
of the mother tongue as means of communication at pre-primary and primary level. The use of mother tongue is
being threatened as a result of the complexities it will pose in selecting a particular language among several
languages caved together in the course of state creation. A descriptive survey research design was adopted for
this study since there is no need to manipulate any variable. The population for this study comprised of Head
Teachers, Teachers, Caregivers, Pupils and parents of pre-primary and primary schools in Ijebu East Local
Government Area of Ogun State. Also, quality language teaching aids should be made available for educators
in particular mother tongue.