Early childhood education is the foundation for much of what a person would invariably learn over their lifetime. That early stage is also the phase where a child is exposed to only the mother tongue used to communicate with him/her at home. For some experts, that mother tongue is also the best way to communicate and in fact, properly educate a child in their early years.

Language, after all, is a medium by which thoughts are conveyed from person to person, and from place to place. Hence, some education stakeholders have said the teacher and pupils must belong to the same speech community, especially at the basic education cadre for them to be able to understand and comprehend the teaching message effectively.

The debate was first stirred by the late Babs Fafunwa, a one-time Nigerian minister for education. In 1975, after Fafunwa had observed that many people finished primary education with no proficiency in either the language of instruction, English, or their native language, he advocated that the language of instruction in the nation’s primary schools should be in the native language.

When teaching starts in the teacher’s and student’s mother tongue, the experience is more natural and less stressful for all

Elizabeth Ohaka, an educationist, with specialisation in early childhood education believes there is a great need for teaching the first level of education in a child’s mother tongue.

She explained that teaching children in their mother tongue bring about a better understanding of concepts while making adaptation easier.

She strongly believes that this should start from the pre-nursery stage because creativity and expertise start with the understanding of the concepts behind the subject involved.

Ohaka, who is also a certified UK Jolly Phonics trainer, cited China as a good example of countries where children are taught in their mother tongue right from their early childhood education.

“Learning is a partnership cum a relationship activity. It is something that must be concretised and must be authentic. Learning is environmental and is much more than simply an academic exercise. It involves the conscious and the unconscious,” she said.

Vincent Brian, a professor of language at King’s College, University of London, believes that the two major concepts involved in literacy (teaching and learning) are autonomous and ideological concepts.

The first deals with the universal skill or aptitude of being able to learn. The second sees literacy as a social construct that takes on complex, cultural, and ideological meanings in different specific settings.

Some experts believe the need for a mother tongue in teaching young children is hinged on the fact that communication and language saturate our lives as community- beings. Hence, they argue that the mother tongue enables the children being taught to have the ability to build up critical thinking and analytical skills at a younger age.

For these stakeholders in education, mother tongue usage is a fundamental requirement to help children become successful students who can actively and effectively replicate what they are being taught.

Even though some research findings have shown that students benefit more from using their mother-tongue language in education in their early grade years, many developing countries, especially those with heterogeneous societies continue to use other languages for teaching in their schools. Nigeria is a good example.

In Kenya, the language of instruction is English, and some students in urban and cosmopolitan areas speak and understand some measure of English by the time they join the school. However, students in rural areas enter school with only their mother tongue language.

But research has shown that this kind of student, taught with the mother tongue in early education, has a better understanding of the curriculum content and has a more positive attitude towards school than those taught in the English language at an earlier age.

Many reasons are adduced for this: First, learning does not begin in school. Learning starts at home in the student’s mother tongue. Although the start of school is a continuation of this learning, it also presents significant changes in the mode of education.

At this point, the school system structures and controls the content and delivery of a predetermined curriculum as against the previous practice, when the child was learning from experience – (an experiential learning mode).

On starting school, children find themselves in new physical environments. The classroom is new, most of the classmates are strangers, and the teacher, who is the centre of authority, is also a stranger.

The structured way of learning is also new. If, in addition to these things, there is an abrupt change in the language of interaction, then the situation can get quite complicated. Indeed, it can negatively affect a child’s progress.

However, by using the child’s mother tongue, schools can help the students navigate the new environment with the experience they bring from home.

Second, by using the child’s mother tongue, students are more likely to engage in the learning process. The interactive learner-centered approach recommended by all educationalists thrives in an environment where students are sufficiently proficient in the language of instruction.

It allows students to make suggestions, ask questions, answer questions, create, and communicate new knowledge with enthusiasm. It gives students confidence and helps to affirm their cultural identity.

Many educationists believe that this positive impact on the way students see the relevance of school to their lives. Likewise, there is a belief that using a child’s mother tongue at the start of school also lessens the burden on teachers, especially where the teacher speaks the local language well, as research has shown that in learning situations where both the teacher and the student are non-native users of the language of instruction, the teacher struggles as much as the student, particularly at the start of education.

But when teaching starts in the teacher’s and student’s mother tongue, the experience is more natural and less stressful for all. As a result, the teacher can be more creative and innovative in designing teaching cum learning materials and approaches, leading to improved learning outcomes.

On the other hand, Mrs. Janet Anwo, a retired Deputy Director of Education with Lagos State, observed that when children start school in a language that is still new to them, it leads to a teacher-centered approach and increases passiveness and fewer interactions in classrooms.

“This in turn suppresses young children’s potential and freedom to express themselves freely. It dulls the enthusiasm of young minds, inhibits their creativity, and makes the learning experience unpleasant.

“All of which is bound to have a negative effect on learning outcomes. Learning should be fun, and that is where the medium of communication becomes very essential,” she said.

Experts point out that a basic crucial learning objective of early education is the development of basic literacy skills such as reading and writing.

These skills come to children with the ability to associate the sounds of a language with the letters or symbols used in the written form.

These skills are built on the foundational and interactional skills of speaking and understanding. When students speak or understand the language used to instruct them, they develop reading and writing skills faster and in a more meaningful way.

Researchers have also shown that skills and concepts taught in students’ mother tongues do not have to be re-taught when they transfer to a second language.

A student who knows how to read and write in his mother tongue will develop reading and writing skills in a new language faster. Omotayo, who is a Biology Science teacher in her teaching expatiating on this, stated that knowledge and skills are transferable from one language to another.

“The use of a child’s mother tongue in the classroom promotes a smooth transition between home and school. It means students get more involved in the learning process and speeds up the development of basic literacy skills.

“It also enables more flexibility, innovation, and creativity in teacher preparation. Using students’ mother tongue is more likely to get the support of the general community in the teaching-learning process and creates emotional stability which translates to cognitive stability. In short, it leads to a better educational outcome,” she said.

However, there are many challenges facing the realisation of the objectives offered by teaching children in their mother tongues in schools. Society is getting more cosmopolitan, whereby people from different tribes and tongues find themselves dwelling together to form a community. This has gradually eradicated the mother tongue in many such urban areas.

Another challenge to achieving this goal is teacher preparation. Many of our today’s teachers are not prepared enough to be the vehicle to deliver this goal.

“If a child is to be taught in his mother tongue, there must be a teacher who understands both the mother tongue and subject well enough to be able to translate or interpret them to the student,” Ohaka said.

These challenges seem to be the major bottlenecks that are facing the full implementation of the noble idea of conducting early education in Nigeria in the mother languages of the students.

How education experts and administrators are able to find a way out and let society enjoy the inherent advantages of this idea remains to be seen.