THE EFFECTS OF MOTHER TONGUE INTERFERENCE IN THE STUDY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN ENUGU NORTH LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF ENUGU STATE

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study.

Language is a creation which every human being is endowed with or blessed; a unique gi of language is used naturally as one tool of expression consisting of different sub skills. The English language is the official and native language of Britain, Ireland, North America, Australia, America and most of the British colonies, (for the colonies, it is regarded as the official language rather than native). It is commonly divided by periods into Anglo-Saxon, or old English (about 450-1100 Bc), Middle English (about 1100 to 15Bc) and modern English (from 1500 to date). Mother tongue is one’s native language.

A language besides being the major distinguishing phenomenon between man and other creatures is evidently the most enduring of every people’s cultural heritage. It reflects the culture of a people and it is in extricable bound up with it. Language is an important tool that enhances human communication and interaction. It is a vital instrument in cultural transmission and preservation of a social group. It is in a fundamental sense, a crucial tool in the preservation and propagation of the human species. An examination of the linguistic content of a particular speech community can provide information about the life style, occupation etc. of a given people. The English language beings the national official language for the British colonies of which Nigeria is among makes it our second language. Hence, our respective mother tongue exists before colonization. This has necessitated the teaching and learning of the English language and its consequent interference in our mother tongue in various study points nation wide. It is therefore, glaring to state that, Nigeria is a linguistically complex society by the mere fact of the history of its creation. It is estimated that there are between 250 and 400 language spoken in Nigeria (INTER NET).

This linguistic heterogeneity promotes the continued use of English in Nigeria. Ethnologic include English amongst its list of Nigeria language this hardly supervising since the role of English language in Nigeria diverse and ubiquitous, especially as a means of intra and inter national communication. It is as a result of the negative effects which the mother tongue had caused the study of English language on the educational structures of the attempt to determine the effect of the use of mother tongue on the teaching and learning process in secondary schools. Statement of the Problem. Before the advent of British traders, missionaries and colonialists, indigenous Nigerian language defined every aspect of the speech community from its religious, cultural, political, Economics, social to whatever else that can be through of the language functioned effectively to deal with every thing relating to the day existence of the people.

The arrival of the British, concomitant with the English language provided a language contact situation with an attempt to a language shift in the population. New sets of ideas, concepts and values were introduced to the system where indigenous local language had previously been self-sufficient, rendering them inadequate to deal with the new concepts introduced by the British, particularly in the areas of formal education, Western law etc. the result was the initial subtle and later blatant intrusion & influence of English language on domains that were the exclusive preserve of indigenous language. Now, the English language is generally an accepted language which was introduced into Nigeria through colonialism and missionary activities is now spoken, thought and learned in Nigeria. Where English language sentence are made, they are characteristically uttered with variation in pitch often referred to as intonation. This is often an area of difficulty for second language, users of English language who have tonal? Language as their first language. This is one of the major problems encountered by learners of English language. Other areas of problem encountered are’, Sentence and word stresses, vowel sounds and English supra-segmental of pitch. The study intended to identify the effect of mother tongue in the study of English language in senior secondary schools in Enugu North Local Government Area of Enugu State.