Teacher Factors Influencing Use Of Mother Tongue In Teaching Of Mathematics In Lower Primary Schools In Yola South Local Government

ABSTRACT

Studies have established that when pupils are taught using mother tongue they

comprehend and perform well in mathematics and sciences. However, frequent

teaching mathematics in English language by teachers in lower primary

schools in Yola south local government area contributes to low performance of

pupils in mathematics. This study aimed to investigate to what extent teachers

use mother tongue in teaching mathematics in lower primary school classes.

The objectives of the study were to; establish the extend to which teachers use

mother tongue in teaching mathematics, to find out the influence of teachers‘

training on use of mother tongue in teaching mathematics, to determine the

influence of teachers‘ teaching experience on use of mother tongue in teaching

mathematics, to find out the influence of teachers‘ motivation on use of mother

tongue in teaching mathematics and to determine the challenges faced by

teachers while using mother tongue to teach mathematics. The study was

guided by social constructionist by Robert Craig. This study used descriptive

research design. The study targeted a population of 1,211 teachers in lower

primary school classes in Yola South local Government. The researcher

employed multistage random sampling techniques to select the sample. Sample

size 126 teachers of lower primary school class. Data was collected using

questionnaires. A pilot study was carried out in two primary schools. Validity

of the instruments was tested using content validity. Test re-test method was

used to determine the reliability of the instruments at a correlation coefficient

(r) of 0.75. data was analysed qualitatively and quantitatively. Statistical

Package for Social Sciences (SPSS was used to analyze quantitative data and

results were presented in tables. Results from the study showed that, majority

of the respondents always used mother tongue in teaching counting and

recognition of numbers. Quantitative results revealed that teachers rarely used

mother tongue in teaching mathematics. Qualitative data from class

observation also showed that teachers rarely used mother tongue in teaching

mathematics in lower primary school classes. The study therefore,

recommended that School Board of Management should sponsor teachers to

attend training programmes to learn how to use mother tongue in teaching in

lower primary schools.