Indigenous Language and Acquisition of Productive English Language Skills Among Primary School Pupils in Rivers East Senatorial District

Abstract

This study was conducted to determine the relationship between indigenous language and acquisition of productive English language skills among pupils in public primary schools in Rivers East Senatorial District. Two research objectives were posed and two hypotheses were formulated. Correlational research design was adopted for this study and the study was conducted in Rivers East Senatorial District. 9,565 primary five (5) pupils found in 359 public primary schools in Rivers East Senatorial District constituted the population of the study. 936 public primary school pupils which is about 10% of the total population formed the sample size for the study using the multi-stage sampling technique. A researcher designed questionnaire and productive English language inventory were used for data collection. The face and content validity were conducted to determine if the instrument can measure what it intends to measure. The reliability of the instrument was done through the test-retest method and a reliability index of 0.81 and 0.73 were obtained. The data generated was analysed using Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PPMC). Result findings indicated that there is a significant relationship between indigenous language and productive English language skills in terms of fluency. Also, there is a significant relationship between indigenous language and productive English language skills in terms of punctuation among pupils in Rivers East Senatorial District. It was concluded that there is a significant relationship between indigenous language and productive English language skills among pupils in terms of fluency, and punctuation among Pupils in Rivers East Senatorial District. The study recommended among others that primary school pupils be allowed to express themselves freely in their indigenous language by allowing them use the language when they could not get the appropriate English words while in school and at home without fear of punishment from parents and teachers.