Journal of Education and Practice ISSN 2222-1735 (Paper ISSN 2222-2!!" (#nline $ol.%& No.

2%& 2'13

www.iiste.org

The Role of Mother Tongue in Early Childhood Education

()pa*io .+. Effiong ,epart-ent of curriculu- studies and educational tec.nolog/& 0ni1ersit/ of Port 2arcourt. 3i1ers state& Nigeria. 4E-ail5 alorafingers6/a.oo.coAbstract 7.e i-portance of education to .u-anit/ can ne1er *e o1er e-p.asi8ed9 it is against t.is *ac)drop t.at e-p.asis is *eing laid on t.e education of a c.ild w.o is t.e future leader. :o1ern-ent at all le1els and organi8ations all o1er t.e world .a1e reiterated t.eir co--it-ent in education& especiall/ t.at of c.ildren and /out.s &*ut in doing so effecti1el/ &attention -ust also *e gi1en to t.e -ediu- of instruction& deter-ining w.at language will *e used to teac. t.e students is one of t.e i-portant factors to *e considered in c.ild.ood education. +an/ researc.ers& educationists and ot.er sta)e.olders .a1e spent enor-ous ti-e& energ/ and resources enu-erating and e-p.asi8ing t.e i-portance of education to t.e c.ild wit. little e-p.asis on t.e -ediu- of instruction. 7.is paper see)s to raise t.e le1el of consciousness wit. regards to t.e i-portant role -ot.er tongue pla/s in earl/ education of a c.ild. Keywords5 t.e notion of language& -ediu- of instruction& -ot.er tongue& t.e role -ot.er tongue in c.ild.ood education. 1. INTRO !CTION 7.e i-portance of -ot.er tongue in t.e education of a c.ild especiall/ at t.e earl/ stage is of great para-ount. +ot.er tongue .ere represents t.e first language of a c.ild w.ic. could *e language of .is;.er parents or t.at of t.e i--ediate en1iron-ent. Ps/c.ologicall/& t.e proper de1elop-ent of a c.ild is closel/ related wit. continued uninterrupted usage of t.e language of .is i--ediate fa-il/& friends and people t.at t.e c.ild is ac<uainted wit.. Educationall/& t.e c.ild cannot learn t.e facts and ideas of w.at is *een co--unicated unless .e .as an understanding of t.e language of instruction. (European Journal of social science 2''= In conte-porar/ ti-es& t.e use of second language in teac.ing during t.e earl/ education of a c.ild .as gain pro-inence especiall/ w.en t.e language in <uestion is percei1ed as t.e elite language */ -e-*ers of t.e societ/. 7.is is a co--on practice of so-e pri-ar/ sc.ools especiall/ in (frica and ot.er de1eloping continent& a situation t.at .as pro-pted t.e need to reiterate t.at -ot.er tongue is t.e culture of t.e c.ild& it is t.e -ediut.roug. w.ic. culture is e>pressed .ence ignoring t.e c.ild?s -ot.er tongue w.ic. is a fa-iliar language and co--unicating wit. .i- as soon as .e gets into t.e sc.ool en1iron-ent wit. a different language would a-ong ot.er t.ings i-pede t.e educational &ps/c.ological growt. and de1elop-ent of t.e c.ild. ".# T$E NOTION O% &AN'!A'E @anguage -a/ *e defined as a set -eans of co--unication& it denotes a set of signs and s/-*ols w.ic. is generall/ accepted as referent for concepts. @anguage is *asicall/ used -ost in two for-s w.ic. include t.e spo)en for- and t.e gesticulation for- *ut it can also *e transferred to suc. -edia writing especiall/ if t.e spo)en for- is una1aila*le or for record purposes. A.et.er spo)en& written or */ gesture& language ser1es as a *ridge a-ong people of 1arious tri*es and races in t.e world. (.# MOT$ER TON'!E )&1* +ot.er tongue si-pl/ put -eans t.e first language a c.ild co-es in contact wit. or t.e language of t.e i--ediate en1iron-ent. 7.e o>ford ad1anced learners dictionar/ defines -ot.er tongue as t.e first language a c.ild learns to spea). 7.e -entalist ps/c.ologists *elie1es t.at a c.ild ac<uires .is -ot.er tongue at a tender age wit. t.e .elp of w.at t.e/ referred to as t.e @anguage ac<uisition de1ice (@(, & a de1ice in w.ic. t.e -entalist ps/c.ologist *elie1es to *e present in t.e c.ild?s *rain wit. t.e pri-ar/ function of ac<uiring language .it is wort./ to note t.at at t.e earl/ stage& t.e c.ild naturall/ i-*i*es t.e structure of .is -ot.er tongue. +.# ,ECON &AN'!A'E )&"* Second language refers to t.e language learnt after t.e ac<uisition of -ot.er tongue or first language. 0nli)e t.e case of -ot.er tongue w.ere t.e c.ild i-*i*es t.e language structures naturall/& a second language learner -a)es a conscious effort in ac<uiring t.e structures of t.e target language. -.# ME I!M O% IN,TR!CTION,. +ediu- of instruction .ere refers to t.e language used */ teac.ers to teac. in sc.ools& it entails t.e c.oice of 1er*al co--unication *etween t.e teac.ers and t.e students. 1%1

Journal of Education and Practice ISSN 2222-1735 (Paper ISSN 2222-2!!" (#nline $ol.%& No.2%& 2'13

www.iiste.org

..# T$E RO&E O% MOT$ER TON'!E IN C$I& $OO E !CATION ..1 IT %ACI&ITATE, &EARNIN' 7.e use of -ot.er tongue in t.e earl/ education of c.ild .elps in facilitating learning& it ser1es as a -oti1ation as t.e c.ild -o1es fro- t.e )nown& w.ic. is t.e -ot.er tongue to t.e un)nown w.ic. is t.e second language or target language. ,illip 7ir)e/ &a -e-*er of #disa (di1as.i -auc. (#(+ a state foru- for tri*al to pro-ote earl/ education in t.e -ot.er tongue in India ad-itted t.at .e faced a great deal of difficult/ in .is sc.ool da/s *ecause of t.e -ediu- of instruction. Birst language taug.t s.ould *e w.at c.ildren are fa-iliar wit.. C7ri*al c.ildren w.o are not taug.t in t.eir own dialect or -ot.er tongue in t.e initial /ears find learning difficult.D 2e also noted t.at t.e c.ildren are una*le to full/ understand classroo- teac.ing and te>t*oo)s properl/ as t.e language see-s to *e strange to t.e-. .." IT /REE , CON%I ENCE AN /ETTER ACA EMIC 0ER%ORMANCE E.ildren are a*le to e>press t.e-sel1es and understand concepts and su*Fect -atter taug.t in -ot.er tongue. ( stud/ was carried out on fifteen Italian interpreters w.o were wor)ing for t.e European 0nion (E0 & t.e interpreters were also all e>tre-el/ fluent in Englis. language. 7.e stud/ re1ealed t.at t.ere were differences in *rain acti1it/ w.en t.e su*Fects (interpreters were s.own words in t.eir nati1e language 1ersus ot.er languages t.e/ were co-petent in& a*out 17' -illiseconds after a word is s.own& t.e researc.er recorded a pea) in electrical acti1it/ in t.e left side of t.e *rain area w.ere words are recogni8ed and t.ese *rain wa1es .ad a -uc. .ig.er a-plitude w.en t.e words were in Italian& t.eir -ot.er tongue ot.er t.an ot.er language t.e/ were e>posed to. 7aiwo (1=!'51!3 *uttress t.is point */ sa/ing t.at C( language of t.e .o-e in w.ic. is trans-itted and t.e foundations to t.e c.aracteristic parental and filial ties are laid -a)es c.ildren to *e -ore proficient and produces .ig. degree of s)ills and co--and.D ..( IT 0RE,ER1E, T$E &EARNER, I ENTIT2 AN C!&T!RE Instruction in -ot.er tongue also preser1es t.e c.ild?s identit/ and culture. 7.us (won/i (1=!' as)ed Ccan one identif/ wit. .is culture wit.out spea)ing t.e -ot.er tongueD. 7.is goes on to s.ow t.at -ot.er tongue connects t.e c.ild wit. t.e culture of t.e societ/ t.at .e co-es fro- and s.apes .is identit/. Nelson +andela also supported t.is 1iew w.en .e said CIf /ou tal) to a -an in t.e language .e understands& it goes to .is .ead& *ut if /ou tal) to .i- in .is -ot.er tongue t.at goes to .is .eartD. 7.is portra/s t.at -ot.er tongue .old close ties to learner identit/ and culture& .ence den/ing t.e c.ild of .is -ot.er tongue would tanta-ount to den/ing .i- .is culture. ..+ MOT$ER TON'!E 0RO1I E, T$E 0REMI,E %OR &EARNIN' OT$ER &AN'!A'E,. +ot.er tongue .elps t.e c.ild to ac<uire and con1erse in languages ot.er t.an .is -ot.er tongue. 2ere t.e c.ild gets ac<uainted wit. t.e nuances of .is -ot.er tongue and on t.at foundation9 .e uses t.e- to learn ot.er languages especiall/ w.en t.e -ot.er tongue and t.e target language s.are a si-ilar structure. It also .elps t.e c.ild to de1elop stronger literac/ s)ills and c.ildren co-e to sc.ool well prepared to learn t.e language of t.eir i--igrant countr/ and -a)e progress educationall/. 3.# CONC&!,ION It is pertinent for t.e go1ern-ent& organi8ation& teac.ers and ot.er sta)e .olders in t.e educational sector to renew t.eir co--it-ent to t.e use of -ot.er tongue as t.e -ediu- of instruction in earl/ c.ild.ood education. Negligence in t.is regard -ig.t result in t.e following5 It creates difficult/ in t.e learning process as t.e c.ildren .ardl/ learn effecti1el/ until t.ere is so-e degree of -aster/ in t.e language of instruction. It ro*s t.e c.ild of .is personal identit/ and social status. 7.e i-position of a new language on a /oung learner not onl/ denationali8es and disorgani8es .i- *ut also de*ases .is personalit/ ((woni/i It does not create an at-osp.ere of continuit/ *etween t.e .o-e and t.e sc.ool for t.e c.ild as t.e c.ild is e>posed to a different language i--ediatel/ .e gets to sc.ool. It neglects t.e *asic rudi-ents of t.e c.ild?s cultural .eritage w.ic. language in essence is t.e 1e.icle of trans-ission. References Eu--ins& Ji-. Gilingual E.ildrenHs +ot.er 7ongue A./ Is It I-portant for EducationI (1aila*le at .ttp5;;www.iteac.ilearn.co-;cu--ins;-ot.er..t-. International 2erald 7ri*une& +a/ 23& 2''!. Grain (cti1it/ 3e1eals +ot.er 7ongue. (1aila*le at .ttp5;;www.i.t.co-;articles;ap;2''!;'5;23;europe;E0-BE(-:EN-Ital/-@anguage-#f-7.oug.ts.p.p CGrain acti1it/ re1eals -ot.er tongueD pu*lis.ed on +arc. 23& 2''! in t.e International 2erald (raro-i (2''5 .7.e -ot.er-tongue language of institution and issues in -et.odolog/. 7.e federal repu*lic of Nigeria& t.e national polic/ of education.%t. edition (2''% #lag*afu #.# (2''= t.e c.allenges of using Nigerian language in -odern education.

1%2

This academic article was published by The International Institute for Science, Technology and Education (IISTE). The IISTE is a pioneer in the Open Access Publishing service based in the U.S. and Europe. The aim of the institute is Accelerating Global Knowledge Sharing. More information about the publisher can be found in the IISTEs homepage: http://www.iiste.org CALL FOR JOURNAL PAPERS The IISTE is currently hosting more than 30 peer-reviewed academic journals and collaborating with academic institutions around the world. Theres no deadline for submission. Prospective authors of IISTE journals can find the submission instruction on the following page: http://www.iiste.org/journals/ The IISTE editorial team promises to the review and publish all the qualified submissions in a fast manner. All the journals articles are available online to the readers all over the world without financial, legal, or technical barriers other than those inseparable from gaining access to the internet itself. Printed version of the journals is also available upon request of readers and authors. MORE RESOURCES Book publication information: http://www.iiste.org/book/ Recent conferences: http://www.iiste.org/conference/ IISTE Knowledge Sharing Partners EBSCO, Index Copernicus, Ulrich's Periodicals Directory, JournalTOCS, PKP Open Archives Harvester, Bielefeld Academic Search Engine, Elektronische Zeitschriftenbibliothek EZB, Open J-Gate, OCLC WorldCat, Universe Digtial Library , NewJour, Google Scholar