INTERFERENCE OF IGALA LANGUAGE IN LEARNING ENGLISH LANGUAGE AT THE LOWER BASIC SCHOOL LEVEL IN KOGI EAST EDUCATION ZONE KOGI STATE NIGERIA

ABSTRACT

English language is indispensable in the educational system from the Lower Basic Level through all  other  stages of education in  Nigeria.  The  achievements of pupils  in  English  language, especially in public schools have been low. One of the reasons for low achievements by pupils in English language is interference of their mother tongue in learning the language. Mother tongue interference hinders effective learning of English language at the early stage where English is learned as a subject while the widely used language of instruction is the mother tongue (language of the immediate community) of the pupils. The poor standard in education and low performance in English language by pupils necessitated the need for effective learning of English language at the early stage of learning. This study was therefore embarked on to find out the interference of Igala language in learning English language at the Lower Basic Classes. Five research questions and two null-hypotheses guided the study. The descriptive survey design was adopted for the study. A sample size of 476 Lower Basic II pupils in public schools in Kogi East Education Zone was used for the study. Simple random sampling techniques was used to sample five schools in each of the two local government areas sampled. Five of the schools were located in urban areas and five were in the rural areas. In each of the ten sampled schools, one intact class was randomly sampled for the study. The study looked at the pronunciation of words with regard to the production of vowel and consonant sounds of English language and translations of constructions at the level of morphology from Igala language into English. A-50 item Incidence of Interference Interview Schedule (IOIIS) developed by the researcher, which was validated by three experts from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka was used for data collection. Reliability of the instrument was ensured through trial testing using the Kuder-Richardson (K-R) 21 formula. An internal consistency of 0.90 was obtained. The test was administered on the sampled group with the help of research assistants in the schools. The research questions were analyzed using the statistical tools of frequency and percentage while the hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance using Pearson Chi-Square. The findings of the study revealed that there was Igala language interference in learning English language at the Lower Basic Class. Female pupils performed better than the male pupils in articulating vowel and consonant sounds as well as in the aspect of morphology of English language. In the same vein, pupils attending schools in the urban areas performed better than their counterparts attending schools in the rural areas. There was significant difference between urban and rural pupils interference ratings. Recommendations were made based on the findings. The major recommendations was that curriculum planners and textbook writers should re-design the Basic Education Syllabus and Textbooks by making use of research works on Igala language and items in the local environment of pupils.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

Language, being at the centre of all human activities is vital to human existence. It is the means by which human beings communicate thereby facilitating all human activities. Ezikpe (2010) defined language as a social phenomenon with a central function of making interpersonal communication easy. It is a formalized code used by a group of people to communicate with one another. Menegbe (2009) pointed out that language is described as words, their pronunciation and methods of combining them and how they are used and understood by a considerable community over a long period of time. When used appropriately, language enables people to mediate on a common ground of understanding and people are consequently, able to react accordingly to issues and in ways that are bound to facilitate decisions geared towards the realization of agreed national objectives. According to Anyanwu (2007) asserted, language is a social phenomenon, and as such, it is closely tied up with the social structure and value systems of any society.

A language is a tool for the transmission of culture. The progress of a people’s way of life and civilization from generation to generation is possible through the medium of language. According to Okafor and Ugwu (2007), language fosters social cohesion at all levels of living in a society. Through the use of language, people get to understand one another and appreciate the living  conditions,  viewpoints,  and  aspirations  of  other  people.  Ngugi (2006)  affirmed  that language  is  the  primary means  of communication, knowledge, and  power, the  bedrock of

civilization and culture.

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As a vital tool that permits people to function in all spheres of human existence, language is crucial in the Nigerian education sector. Alabi, Adebiye, and Olatayo  (2008) pointed out that language is an indispensable factor in the meaningful existence of man. It establishes man as a social being who not only uses words as a vehicle of socio-cultural transmission but also as a means of knowledge advancement and educational development.   In the field of academics, language makes learning possible since it is a means of communicating ideas, feelings, and desires. It provides a cognitive process, which could be seen as the primary function of language. It is for the importance of language in education that the Federal Government of Nigeria (FRN

2013)makes pronouncements in  the  National Policy  on  Education  (NPE)  for  all  levels  of education in Nigeria. For the Lower Basic Education, the policy states that:

The medium of learning in the primary school shall be the language  of the  immediate  community for  the  first  three years.  During  this  period,  English  shall  be  taught  as  a subject, from the fourth year, English shall progressively be used  as  a   mediumof  instruction  and   the   language  of immediate community and French shall be taught as subjects (pg.10).

From the above declaration, the policy statement for the Lower Basic School is clear that the language of instruction should be the mother tongue of the pupils. The introduction of the Basic Education to the education system in Nigeria is as a result of the reform in the Early Child Education in the Country. Igbokwe (2015) observed that following the decision of the Federal Government  of  Nigeria  to  introduce  the  Universal Basic  Education  (UBE)  Programme  in September 1999, the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC) re- structured and realigned all Primary and Junior Secondary School (JSS) curricular into 9-year Basic  Education  Curriculum  for  implementation  in  Nigerian  Schools  with  effect  from September, 2008. The 9-year and the revised 9-year Basic Education curricular in Nigeria are

categorized into Lower Basic (Primaries 1-3), Middle Basic (Primaries 4-6) and Upper Basic (Junior Secondary 1-3). The language of the immediate environment which is the pupil’s mother tongue should be used for instruction, while English should be learned as a subject. This is to allow the pupils to learn the English Language before it could be used as the language of instruction. In the light of the above declaration, the language required for instruction at the Lower Basic School in Kogi East Education Zone is Igala language which is the mother tongue of the pupils. The pupils at this level learn English as a subject since teaching and learning in Igala language is wide spread in the public schools where this study is centered, in line with the directive of the Federal Government in the national language policy.

Mother tongue is the native language of a group of people.  Mother tongue according to United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) (2011) may be referred to as primary or first language. The first language is the language acquired first by an individual. If children and their parents speak Igala before learning any other language, Igala is the children’s mother tongue and their first language (L1). However, if a child of Igala parents living in England acquires English first before acquiring Igala, English is described from this condition as his first language. Mother tongue is widely used among children in most homes and communities in Nigeria. It should be the language used for instruction in schools both in the rural and urban communities as recommended in the national language policy.  As pointed out earlier, the Federal Government of Nigeria (2008) stipulated in the NPE that the language of instruction in the Lower Basic Classes shall be the language of the immediate community for the first three years. The language of the immediate community for most children in Nigeria is their mother tongue. According to Alhassan (2017), the rationale for the mother tongue policy is the known fact that children learn better when they are taught in their mother tongue at the early stage of

education. This fact  is based on the famous UNESCO positive research findings and other researches on the use of mother tongue medium of instruction at the early stage of children’s education worldwide.

The term ‘mother tongue’ according to UNESCO (2011) is commonly used in policy statements  and  general  discourse  in  education  issues.  It  is  an  obvious  yet  not  generally recognized truism that learning in a language which is not one’s own provides a double set of challenges, not only is there the challenge of learning in a new language but also that of learning the new knowledge contained in that language. Mother tongue instruction is the practice of teaching children in the language they speak from home. UNESCO has encouraged mother tongue learning in early childhood and primary education since 1953. According to UNESCO (2011), when children are offered opportunities to learn in their mother tongue, they are more likely to enroll and succeed in school, and their parents are more likely to communicate with teachers and participate in their children’s education. Mother tongue-based education especially benefits disadvantaged groups, including children from rural communities. Girls and rural children with less exposure to a dominant language like English stay in school longer and repeat grades less often. Ball (2010) stated that six to eight years of education in mother tongue are essential to develop the literacy and verbal proficiency level of learners required for academic performance in schools. Literacy in mother tongue as Ball pointed out allows for a linguistic foundation for learning additional languages. On the gains of mother tongue instruction, Iyamu and Ogiegbaen (2005) posited that mother tongue provides a rewarding school learning experience  which  can  be  a  continuation  of  home  experience  that  guarantees  cognitive equilibrium. Teaching children in mother tongue such as Igala language is of immense benefit at

the early stage of learning,hence the adoption of mother tongue instruction in the NPE for early learning.

People come to understand and use their mother tongue through the language acquisition process which is not the same as the language learning situation. In language acquisition, the process  is  informal,  unconscious and  with  little  effort  on the  part  of the  child.  Language acquisition means to the process by which the child comes to use his first language which in most cases is the mother tongue. According to Opega (2008), a child acquires his mother tongue through practical exploration of his physical and social environment. The mother tongue is acquired unconsciously through social interaction with parents, older siblings, peer group and members of the wider community. The child is surrounded by situations that stimulate language acquisition, play, games and other interesting activities form the basis of the quick mastery of the language. Opega (2008) maintained that imitation, repetition, and reinforcement are essential characteristics of mother tongue acquisition. The child listens attentively to parents and members of the family as they speak what he or she hears and repeats these often. The child is encouraged if the correct sound or utterance is reproduced, and corrected if incorrectly uttered. In language acquisition, language items are not structured. Whatever situation the child encounters is an opportunity  for  acquiring  language.  A  child  acquiring  the  mother  tongue  has  very  high motivation. He requires it as the only means to communicate his desires and feelings. The language acquisition process makes a deeper and more lasting impression on the mind of a child than second language learning.

Language learning is the process of learning another language after an individual has acquired the mother tongue or the first language. Alhassan (2009) noted that language learning is a process by which an individual is helped to learn a new language. It is usually in a formal setting

or through conscious and organized methods. There are usually needs for people to learn new languages. These could be for the purpose of business, employment or education. An example of the language learning situation is the position of English and French in Nigeria. The Nigerian child has to learn English or French taught in the classroom in a formal and organized manner. Opega (2008) pointed out that language learning involves conscious efforts on the part of the teacher and the learner. In this situation, the language learning activity is formal, systematic and often associated with the artificial classroom. Learning is in an organized and formal way. Second language learning is usually problematic because of the unnatural settings for learning and mother tongue interference.

Igala language is the language of Igala people. A group located mainly in the central part of Nigeria. Before the British Colonization, the people lived in a kingdom known as the Igala kingdom headed by the Ata. The seat of Ata and the original home of the Igala people is Idah. Igala language is one of the numerous local languages in Nigeria. It is regarded as one of the minority languages in the country.

Igala language as Omachonu (2012) affirmed belongs to the West Benue-Congo and more precisely one of the ‘Yoruboid’ languages in Nigeria. Other languages in the group are Yoruba and Itsekiri. Igala is a common language in Kogi State, spoken by over two million natives  in  nine Local Government Areas of Kogi East  Senatorial District  –  North Central Nigeria. Kogi East Education Zone is located within the angle formed by the confluence of the rivers Niger and Benue. It is situated on the eastern region of Kogi State. It is bounded on the North by Benue State, on the West by River Niger, on the East by Enugu State, and on the South by Anambra State. (See Appendix D Pg. 123).

As a register tone Language, Igala has three basic tonemes high, mid and low (H. M. L.). Basically subject, verb and object (SVO) with no grammatical tense, and major word classes include nouns and verbs. The standard Igala orthography emerged in 1980 and was approved and published by the then National language centre, Lagos under the Ministry of Education. The approved orthography has the following 32 letters.

a  b ch d  e ẹ  f g  gb  gw h i  j k  kp kw I  m n ng  nm nw   ny o  ọ  p r t  u nwu  w y

The  Language got  its  first  attempt  of development  in 1948  when Rev.  John Clerk presented a word list of the language in his specimens of Dialects (published at Berwick-upon- Tweed, England). Among notable efforts is the German Missionary, S.W. Kolle who listed one hundred Igala words in his  massive work, “the polyglota Africana (published by the CMS London). In 1855, Samuel Ajayi Crowder (late Bishop of the Niger) published a comparative word list of Igala and Yoruba with their English meanings. In 1867, the first Igala primer was written by Rev. A. G. Comber and published by the CMS, London.

The use of mother tongue, that is, Igala language in teaching and learning in Kogi East Education Zone  is  common in public  schools  in conformity with the  Federal Government proclamations in the National Policy on Education. Some teachers seem not to understand the requirements of the NPE as they do not publicly agree that they use the mother tongue.  Alabi, Adebiye, and Olatayo (2008) observed that in public primary schools, hardly do they use English even in upper primary schools. They maintain that a lot of pretences is even going on among teachers as to the language of instruction they use in the class to teach the pupils. They may profess using English as a medium of instruction, but in actual fact, it is the mother tongue of the

pupils they are using, albeit, without control. Ogunsiji in Alabi, Adebiye, and Olatayo (2008)

captured this phenomenon succinctly in the following words:

In virtually all public primary schools, the children do not receive their education in English either at an earlier or later stage, yet the government, teachers, and learners engage in a game of proclaiming to the world that English is  the  medium. The truth is that  the teacher teaches  the  children  with  his  own  or  the  children’s mother tongue (pg. 29).

The situation seems not to be different in schools in Igala speaking areas of Kogi State. Children  are  taught  using  the  local  language,  especially  in  public  Schools.  This  practice continues up to the Secondary School Level sometimes. The teachers speak Igala to the pupils in and outside the classroom. The fact that the pupils speak no other language except Igala, so when they start school, the teacher has no option than to teach them in Igala language.As teaching and learning are carried out in Igala language, English language is also taught and learned as a subject at the Lower Basic Classes in Kogi East Education Zone. Igala language – the mother tongue of the pupils in which they have attained the appreciable level of proficiency and also the language in which they learn at this level could interfere with their learning of English language.

According to Egwuogu (2017), performing important roles in the national life of the country has  made  the  English  language  so  colossal and  prestigious that  it  subjugated the indigenous languages, relegating them to the background. The elevation of English has also affected the standard of education making it lower, since, it has been established empirically  by the famous Ife experiment that majority of children taught in mother tongue at the primary level of education performed better than those taught in English. Egwuogu (2017) maintained that the language situation in Nigeria has given rise to bilinguals not only in respect of English and indigenous languages but also in the indigenous languages due to long period of interaction

between English and the Nigerian environment on the one hand and between Nigerians from different socio-linguistic backgrounds who live together in different towns and cities and interact with one another. This is the real language contact phenomena in Nigeria. Ubong (2017) asserted that Nigeria is known to harbour a multiplicity of ethnolinguistic groups; therefore, it is no doubt a multilingual nation. The different languages and dialects in Nigeria are in contact with the English language. The implication of this is that most Nigerians are regarded as bilinguals, that is to say, that a large number of them speak, at least two languages – one indigenous language and the English language.

As Spolsky (2010) affirmed, a bilingual is a person who has some functional ability in a second language. This may vary from a limited ability in one or more domains, to very strong command in both languages, which is called balanced bilingualism. Olaoye (2007) pointed out that in balanced bilingualism, the individual is fully competent in two languages and he or she is also bicultural, i.e. he or she is a member of two or more cultural groups of the languages. Individuals as Olaoye (2007) maintained, can become bilinguals through intermarriage, travels, and trade, religious conversion, dual nationality through deliberate learning of a second language and through contact with a bilingual country or residence in a bilingual society. The degree of bilingualism  differs  from  one  person  to  another,  in  the  age  they  acquired  or  learned  the languages, in the order in which the two are acquired, and in the ability to keep both languages apart. Between the languages of the home (mother tongue) and that of the school (second language), there is often a difference. Bilinguals generally experience phases during which one language becomes more prominent than the other. When a situation like this persists, there is a strong tendency for one of the languages to gain ascendancy over the other, with the result that

one eliminates the other. Mother tongue often suffers this metaphoric death, through disuse of the MT, and ever use of the second language.

Maintaining the mother tongue is express as a desirable form of cultural diversity in societies, to promote ethnic identity, to lead to social adaptability, to add to the psychological security of the child and to develop linguistic awareness. Because of its many gains, many countries including developed ones have resorted to bilingual education at the early stage of learning. Fishman (1976) observes that in very general terms, bilingual education means some use of two (or more) languages of instruction in connection with teaching courses other than language per se. He maintains that within this broad definition, vastly different types of programmes and programme goals are being pursued. Fishman (1976) categorizes bilingual education programmes as transitional bilingualism, mono-literate bilingualism, biliterate bilingualism partial and biliterate bilingualism full.

Transitional Bilingualism is where the mother tongue is used in the early grades to the extent necessary to allow pupils to “adjust to school” and or “master subject matter” until their skill in the English is developed to the point that  it  alone can be used as the  medium of instruction. Fishman notes that such programmes do not strive toward goals of fluency and literacy in both languages with opportunity throughout the curriculum for the continued improvement towards mastery of each word. Rather, they state goals such as increasing overall achievement of mother tongue speaking, by using both their local language and English as media of  instruction  in  the  primary  grades.  Such  programmes  (consciously  or  unconsciously) correspond to the societal objectives of language shift and give no consideration to long-range institutional development and support of the mother tongue.

Monoliterate Bilingualism, according to Fishman (1976), indicates goals of development in both languages for aural-oral skills but do not concern themselves with literacy skills in the non-English mother tongue. Thus such programmes emphasize developing fluency in mother tongue as a link between home and school, with the school providing recognition and support for the language in the domains of home and neighbourhood; but they are not concerned with the development of literacy skills in the non-English mother tongue. As Fishman remarked, this type of programme is intermediate in orientation between language shift and language maintenance, and the societal effect of such a programme might be one of language maintenance in the short run.

Similarly,  the  Biliterate  Bilingualism  Partial  seeks  fluency  and  literacy  in  both languages, but literacy in the mother tongue is restricted to certain subject matter most generally that relate to the ethnic group and its cultural heritage. In such a programme, reading and writing skills in the mother tongue are commonly developed in relation to the social sciences, literature, and the arts, but not in Sciences and Mathematics. This kind of programme is clearly one of language maintenance coupled with a certain effort at culture maintenance (perhaps even cultural development should the programme result in the production of journalism, poetry, and other literary art forms).

Biliterate Bilingualism full is where students are to develop all skills in both languages in all domains. Typically, both languages are media of instruction for all subjects (except in teaching the languages themselves). Clearly, this programme is directed at language maintenance and development of the minority language. Fishman noted that from the viewpoint of much of the linguistically and psychologically oriented literature this is the ideal type of programme. The

author states that it results in “balance, coordinate bilingual children capable of thinking and feeling in either of the two languages independently.”

It is a truism that by imperatives of Nigeria’s history of colonization by Britain, according to Onuigbo (2006), the internal linguistic complexity in Nigeria and the necessities of modern times, English is both the second and official language of the people of Nigeria. It is the most crucial out of all legacies bequeathed to Nigeria by the British colonial administration. Commenting on the dominant status of English language in Nigeria, Onuigbo posited that the English language had become a fact of life in Nigeria and many other countries of the world where the language is used as a second language. As Onuigbo maintained, it is still important that as the frontiers of the language increases, it continues to acquire new significance and to place new demands on the users. In Nigeria, however, English is used in many situations – home, office, market, social gathering, administration, government, commerce, industry, law, inter- ethnic communication and most importantly in education, the reason for which English has become a core subject in the educational system in Nigeria. The Federal Republic of Nigeria made several policy declarations on the English language which shows the official position of the language and its place and role in Nigeria’s educational setting.

The English language is the language of formal education which enhances the social and economic status of individuals and consequently of the Nigerian nation. In Nigeria, proficiency in the English Language is a necessary route to respectable jobs as well as to higher education. It is the official language of the country, and it enables the citizens to function in all sphere of national life. The effective use of English is what many learners in the second language situation in Nigeria lack. The lack of proficiency in the use of English language by learners is prevalent and exhibited in all aspects such as phonology, morphology, syntax and so on. The learning of

the language begins at the Lower Basic School Level of classes 1 – 3. It is learned as a subject and also serves as a medium of instruction from the Middle Basic Education level of classes 4 –

6.  At the point of transition at the Middle Basic Level where English should be the language of instruction, the policy has not been adhered to strictly as teachers continue to use the mother tongue of the pupils for instruction. For this reason, Jibrin (1990) asserted that there were no definite ‘chronogram’ and legal provisions to enforce and make the implementation of the policy effective and successful in all ramifications. This generates a situation where learners switch to their mother tongue or pidgin. Onuigbo and Eyisi (2008) noted that English language education in Nigeria does not only contend with interference problems from native languages but also with the corrupting influence of pidgin. Learners are thereby incapable of activating vocabulary for a given task. The plight of Igala learners of English language as a second language is not different from the above situation.

According to Okpanachi (2013), Igala speakers have problems with pronunciation of certain English vowel and consonant sounds. Igala speakers of English are not able to articulate

correctly the following vowel sounds: /i/, /æ/, /Λ/ /Ʒ:/ and /ƸƏ/. Igala speakers are not able to distinguish between /i/ and /i:/. It is the same with other length and qualitative distinction as words like  “sit” /sit/ and  “city” /siti/  are pronounced as /si:t/ and /si:ti/. Okpanachi (2013) maintained that learners have problems with the central vowels /Λ, Ʒ:, Ə/, all these are articulated

as /Ɔ/ as in the following; “cut” /KΛt/ as /kƆt/, “word” /wƷ:d/ as /wƆd/, “nurse” /nΛ:s/ as /nƆs/. Sometimes, /Ə/ is pronounced as /a/, for example in the word “about” /Əbaut/ as /abaut/. In addition, the vowel /æ/ as in “man” /mæn/ and “bad” /bæ/ are pronounced /man/ and /bad/ respectively. This is an indication that /æ/ is wrongly pronounced as /a:/. There is also the

problem of vowel substitution.  The dipthong /iƏ/ is substituted for /ƸƏ/. For instance the words

“care” /kƸƏ/, “pair” /pƸƏ/ and “bear” /bƸƏ/ are pronounced /kIƏ/, /pIƏ/ and /bIƏ/.

Commenting further, Okpanachi (2013)  maintained that,  learners do  not  have  much problems with the consonant sounds. However, difficulty arises with the production of the palate-alveolar affricate /ʧ/ which is pronounced as potato-alveolar fricative /ʃ/. The voiceless dental fricative /ɵ/ is pronounced as alveolar plosive /t/, for instance the words “thick” /ɵik/, “method”  /meɵƏd/  are  pronounced  /ti:k/  and  /metƆd/.  The  voiced  dental  fricative  /ð/  is

pronounced as voiced alveolar plosive /d/.Another pair of sounds which speakers substitute constantly for each other is /z/ and /s/. The Igala learner cannot differentiate between the sounds. Furthermore, the voiced palate-alveolar fricative /Ʒ/ is pronounced as /ʃ/ and /j/, voiceless palate- alveolar fricative and the semivowel.

Igala speakers of English also have problems with the pronunciation of words with consonant clusters. It is more obvious in the final position. When there is a consonant cluster at the final position, vowels are slotted in between the consonants. For instance, a word like “middle” /midl/ is rendered as /midul/ and “little” /litl/ as /litu/. As a result of slotting in of vowels, some consonants in the cluster are eliminated, while dropping the final alveolar lateral /l/ and substituting the vowel /u:/ for it.

In the aspect of morphology, Igala learners of English also encounter problems which result into interference. This could be due to the differences in the morphological processes of Igala and English language. Concerning the morphology of English, Ekundayo, Salami, and Oni (2002)  noted  that  certain  words  can  be  further  sub-divided  into  minimal  forms  that  have

meaning, these  minimal forms usually occur in a  number of words in the  language. Such minimals words are referred to as morphemes, for example, the word farmer, walked, laughed, boyhood can be sub-divided into farm+ er, walk+ ed, laugh+ ed , boy+ hood. Walk, farm, laugh, boy, ed, -hood are morphemes. The root is the morpheme that remains after all affixes have been removed from a word.

Though all  languages perform the same  functions to the users of language, no  two languages can be said to be the same. For this reason, English and Igala language are not the same. A contrastive analysis of the two languages by Ikani (2004) revealed that there were areas of differences in the language especially at the levels of phonology and morphology (the speech sounds and word formation). Speech sounds are the discrete units into which every utterance or sound in a particular language can be broken down. They are the vowels and consonants of a particular language. A vowel is a speech sound produced when air  passes from the lungs, through the mouth, and across the lips without obstruction by any organ of speech. Okorafor (2012) pointed out that English vowels are twenty (20) in number. Out of the twenty vowels, twelve (12) are called monotones or pure vowels because they are each clearly recognizable as one sound, and eight (8) are called diphthongs or impure vowels because they sound like two different vowels fused together in pronunciation. The monothongs are classified into seven short vowels and five longs vowels. In Igala language, the speech sounds of the language vary from those of English language. Igala language as Omachonu (2000) indicated functions with a seven (7) vowel system. This is in sharp contrast with the English vowels which are twenty in number. The long vowels and diphthongs do not exist in Igala speech sounds. A consonant is a speech sound produced when the airway is totally or partly obstructed by one or more organs of speech. In producing a consonant, two or more organs of speech such as the tongue and the palate often

interact  with  each  other.  The  English  consonants  are  twenty-four  in  number.  They  are categorized based on the manner of articulation into plosives, fricatives, Affricates, liquids, semivowels, and Nasals. The Igala language consonants are twenty-three (23), categorized into Plosives,  Fricatives,  Affricates,  Semi  vowels,  and  Nasals.  According  to  Okorafor  (2012), plosives are articulated with the mouth closed first, followed by sudden (explosive) release of air, fricatives with the frictional passage of air across a narrow opening in the airway. Affricates are articulated when a  fricative  is  preceded  by a  consonant  the  production of which  involves complete closure of the air track followed by the sudden release of air. Liquids are consonants articulated without friction because the vocal cords are open. The semivowels or glides are called semivowels because there is no significant obstruction of airflow through the mouth during their articulation and nasals are articulated with most of the air passing upwards from the lungs escaping through the nose.

Some of the vowel and consonant sounds in the English language are absent in Igala language. The production of such sounds may constitute problems to Igala learners of English Language. At the Lower Basic classes where learners are introduced to learning the English language, some are faced with difficulty in pronouncing English words such as school, teacher, exercise-book, field, basket, eraser and so on. This hinders the effective learning of the English language on a good foundation at Lower Basic Level. The liquids categories do not appear on the Igala consonant chart.  Though other categories are similar in both languages. Some consonants in Igala language do not exist in English language; examples are /kp/,/kw/, /gb/ and so on.

Similarly, a comparison of English and Igala language at the morphological level is imperative. Muhammad (2013) affirmed that morphemes are the ultimate element of morphological analysis as a single word may be composed of one or more morphemes. The root

of a word is the basic part of the word. It is a morpheme on which words can be built through the addition of affixes. Affixes which are grammatical morphemes are added before, within or after the root of a word in order to give it a desired meaning. They are added to a word in order to change, expand, and modify the meaning of words and to help build new words. Affixes can be in form of prefixes, infixes or suffixes. In Igala language, however, affixes are mainly in form of prefixes and not very common in infixes. Affixation of words in the language occurs mainly in the form of prefixes. Contrasts in the morphology of English and Igala language pose learning problems to Igala learners of English at the Lower Basic Level. For instance, plurals are formed in English by adding the suffixes ‘s’, ‘es,’ ‘ies’ to words, while in Igala it is by adding the affixes

‘am’ and ‘amb.’ Tenses in Igala remain the same, but in English language, words take on ‘ed,’

‘ing’ or change their  forms as in walk-walked, go  – went, drink – drank and so  on. The differences in the  features of Igala and English  make the  learning of English as a  second language problematic for Igala learners.

Interference is a major hindrance to communication and learning of a second language. Ikani (2004) noted that when speakers who have acquired the habits of one language want to learn a second language, there is the tendency for the speech habits of their first language to interfere in their efforts at learning and using the second language.  According to Crystal (2003), second language (L2) is a language other than one’s mother tongue used for special purpose, e.g., for education and government. It usually has official status or recognized functions within a country. The second language in Nigeria is English which has acquired a unique position. It is the language of instruction at all levels of education except the Lower Basic Classes of 1 – 3.

As the source of interference, the mother tongue according to Harmer (2008) has potentially negative and positive impacts; the positive may serve social and cognitive functions,

but on the other hand, reliance on it undermines interaction in English. Learners are thereby linguistically incapable of activating vocabulary for a chosen task. This problem is aggravated in a situation where there is a wide range of differences between the system of the native language of the learner and that of the target language. Past studies on the contact of English and Nigerian languages according to Ikani (2004) have located mother tongue interference at three levels – the level of sound, the level of grammar and the level of lexis which in other words are the levels of phonology, morphology, and syntax. At the level of sound or phonology, for instance, each language has a different stress and intonation system. The learner transfers the sounds of his own language (or their nearest equivalents) and the stress and intonation system to the language which he or she is learning. The structure (morphology and syntax) of the mother tongue may be transferred to English, especially in cases where English structures are problematic. Areas of major difficulty according to Ikani (2014), usually lie in the handling of English tenses, number, articles, prepositions, passive constructions, gender and the problems of correct  answers to negative questions. Since language involves the expression of culture, there are usually areas of difficulties in the expression of certain concepts. The major ones include the kinship terminologies, colour, weather, or season, cookery/food, building, agriculture, flora-fauna and time concepts by Igala learners of English as a second language in Kogi East Education zone. These are sources of confusion for Igala learners especially at the early stage of learning the English language at the Lower Basic Classes.

Interference  occurs when Igala-speaking learners use  the  linguistic  features of their mother tongue to replace or approximate closely with the features of the English language

This happens because the Igala learners have internalized their first language and consequently, this affects their thinking process. Learners think first in their mother tongue and translate such

thought directly into English. The above is corroborated by Eyisi (2009) who pointed out that mother tongue or native language is usually very significant in the lives of speakers because it carries the culture and tradition of speakers. A person wishing to learn a second language is bringing into contact two languages within his linguistic characteristics. There is the danger of one influencing the other; especially the second in most cases is influenced most often at areas of semblance. Mahmoud (2006) asserted that the data on the interlanguage and language transfer show that it is highly probable that L2 learners will always think most often in the L1 first even at the advanced level. There is also the problem of lack of exposure to the English language by pupils entering into public schools at the Lower Basic Level in Kogi East Education Zone. So, for many pupils, it is learning a new language other than their mother tongue. This situation is responsible for the unsatisfactory language skills exhibited by some Igala learners of the English language. The mother tongue of Igala learners constitutes a source of interference at the Lower Basic classes. This study is focused on the interference of Igala language in learning the English language at the levels of phonology and morphology at the Lower Basic Classes.

The imbalance in male and female performance in academics in recent times is becoming alarming with the female taking the lead. Christine (2004) affirmed that from the time immemorial, males have supposedly been in the forefront in most spheres of life with visibly overwhelming better performance in academics. Nowadays, this trend has not only been altered but has resulted in making their male counterparts academic minority in terms of their performances by reasons that  remain a puzzle. According to  Amoo (2011), any change  in academics that is acclaimed or assumed to portend inequality impacts or is capable of inflicting segregation on any sphere of human endeavours, demands close investigation. Klasen (2002) asserted that gender may be defined as what it means to be male and female. It is an array of

societal beliefs, norms and attitudes that determine and shape what is acceptable as male and female behavior and roles. It may also be explained as the economic, social, political, cultural attributes and opportunities associated with being male or female.

Furthermore, proactive interference as Wolman in Afangideh (2005) pointed out is a psychological construct involving internal, dispositional mechanisms. Its likely effect on male and female are crucial especially with respect to the confirmed psycho-cognitive differences in the  response  of males  and  females  in  academic settings.  Increasingly, gender  has  become indispensable in education matters. It is a relevant variable considered in language proficiency and use. Offorma (2004) indicated that there are divergent opinions on which gender achieves better than  the  other.  It  is  believed  by  some  that  females  achieve  higher  than  their  male counterparts. Azikiwe (2005) noted that the widely held views that females are superior to males in language use (acquisition and performance) are based on studies in foreign countries. In view of this, gender may constitute a factor that influences interference in the learning of English language at the Lower Basic Schools in Kogi East Education Zone.

Similarly, the location of schools in urban and rural areas may influence interference in the learning of English language at the Lower Basic Schools in Kogi East, commenting on the location of school Wilkins cited in Agu (2016) affirmed that what is needed in language learning is adequate exposure to the target language. The greater the exposure to the language, the more the learner can formulate and revise his hypothesis about the structure of the language. This points out that exposure to the target language is very important, but when schools are located in rural areas, the chances of exposure may be lacking. Schools located in urban areas have the advantage of exposure over those in rural areas. The current problem of poor quality in education in Nigeria to a large extent could be blamed on the inability of learners to master the English

language which is the language of education in the country. The problem begins from the point at which learners are introduced to learning the English language at the Lower Basic School. A preliminary study carried out by the researcher in Ankpa Local Government Area Schools revealed that the performance of pupils at the Lower Basic Classes is below standard. In the ten schools where the preliminary study was carried out, their English Language Examination results for the second term, Basic Class 2, 2016 showed a pass percentage of 18% – 46% (see Appendix E, Page 124). The poor performance in the English Language by pupils of the Lower Basic Classes could be due to difficulty in grasping the new language introduced to them. The pupils were already used to expressing themselves in Igala language at home before entering school. Their poor performance could have been as a result of mother tongue interference, as the manner of expressing themselves in Igala language could have been transferred to learning the English language.

In Kogi East Education Zone, the problem of lack of mastery of English language among learners lingers even to the point of entering into higher institutions of learning. Learners are unable to speak and write intelligibly in the English language. Their attempt at  expressing themselves in English is often marred by poor pronunciation, inappropriate use of words and poor constructions. This is as a result of a lack of proper foundation in learning English at Lower Basic School. Adakonye and Danjuma (2010) corroborated the above view as they pointed out that one of the thorny issues in the teaching and learning of the English language is the poor linguistic foundation of students. They declared that learners of English as a second language in the polytechnic have poor English language foundation right from their primary and secondary school education. The inability of Igala learners of English language to grasp the rudiments of

the language from the Lower Basic School level affects their performance in English and in the entire educational process.

Statement of the Problem

The lack of mastery of English language among learners and poor quality of education in Nigeria are indications that learning is not effective, especially learning of English language at the early and crucial stage at the Lower Basic School. The English position language occupies in Nigeria is central and crucial to the development of the country. Among many important roles, it is the official language and a medium of instruction in schools and colleges. Despite the public and  official  emphasis  on  English,  the  outcome  of  learning  has  not  achieved  the  desired objectives, that is, producing learners who are proficient in the functional use of the language. The problem of not achieving the desired objective of learning English language cuts across all levels of learning in the country.

At the higher level, employers in both the private and public sectors have complained about the poor quality of graduates. According to the World Bank in a report on labour market prospects for university graduates in Nigeria, the last well-trained crop of Nigerian graduates left the system in the mid-1980s. Since then, the products of university education are viewed by employers as half-baked graduates who  are  miserably ignorant even in their own areas of specialization. Two key skill areas, according to the report, where incompetence is blatantly displayed are communication and technical proficiency. The new graduate has the poor ability in oral and written expressions of English and  is ill-prepared in those applied technical skills necessary for solving problems and enhancing business productivity. The origin of this poor quality of communication skills by the graduates began from the Basic School level which is the foundation laying stage for further learning.

Lack of proficiency in the English language among students is a growing concern in Kogi East Education Zone, North Central – Nigeria. As a teacher of English language in the zone, the researcher  comes  into  contact  regularly  with  individuals,  who  have  completed  the  Basic Education but are unable to read and write meaningfully in English. The next to illiteracy state some find themselves serve as a source of discouragement for further learning to them after the Basic Education level. The case is the same among students who gain admission into higher institutions after the Secondary School education. Many teachers have observed that students cannot construct grammatically correct English sentences. The researcher has observed that some Igala learners of English language tend to apply the structures of Igala to their use of English and these  result into a lot of un-English expressions with distortion of meanings. There is mother tongue interference at the levels of phonology, morphology, lexical and syntactic expressions of Igala learners of English. The Lower Basic level being the commencement point for the learning of English is the point where interference begins. Therefore, the problem of this study was to find out the interference of Igala language in the learning of English language at the Lower Basic School level of education in Kogi East Education Zone.

Purpose of the Study

The main purpose of this study was to determine the interference of Igala language in the learning of English language at the Lower Basic School level. Specifically, the study intended to:

1.  Find out the incidence of interference of Igala language in articulating the vowel sounds of English at the Lower Basic Classes.

2.  Find out the incidence of interference of Igala language in articulating the consonant sounds of English at the Lower Basic Classes.

3.    Find out the incidence of interference of Igala language in the English of pupils in the aspect of morphology at the Lower Basic Classes.

4.  Determine the influence of gender on the incidence of interference of Igala language in the learning of English at the Lower Basic Classes.

5.  Determine the influence of location on the incidence of interference of Igala language in the learning of English at the Lower Basic Classes.

Significance of the Study

The Significance of this study emanated from the theoretical and practical bases of contrastive analysis in teaching and learning a second language. This study adopted contrastive analysis (CA) as it applies to every aspect of language (e.g., phonology, morphology, syntax and soon). Contrastive analysis hypothesis is based on comparison and contrast of languages. The principle of CA is that where two languages are similar, the positive transfer would occur, and where  they  are  different,  negative  transfer  or  interference  would  result.  These  make  CA predictive about where second language learner would have difficulties in learning. Adopting CA in this study would  help to determine what pattern and structures are identical in Igala and English to  facilitate  learning among Igala  learners at  the Lower Basic  Classes, and which patterns and structures are absent in their mother tongue – Igala that would pose interference problems in their learning of English language. It is hoped that the findings of the study would help Igala learners achieve mastery and attain the required skills necessary in English language usage.   The results of this study would be of benefit to pupils, teachers, textbook writers, policymakers and curriculum planners. Pupils would benefit from the study as findings would contribute to their understanding of instruction, thereby positively affecting their achievement in English language and in all other subjects.

The findings of the study would equally help teachers of English as a second language in Kogi East Education Zone to expose the interference difficulties to their pupils and also help them understand how these difficulties arise. It would encourage teachers to employ materials and methods that would help learners to achieve more in the teaching and learning process. The findings of this study would also be useful to language methodology teachers in colleges of education and universities to emphasize the use of teaching methods like drills, substitution tables, or games by teachers at the Lower Basic Education as well as at the Secondary School levels.

The results of the study would equip textbook writers and instructional resource developers with information on the problem of mother tongue interference in order to receive due attention to their works. This they could do by placing more emphasis on the areas of difficulties in learning English for the second language learners.

The study would provide information for policymakers and supervisors of education on the need to adopt CA in teaching the English language in schools. The findings of this study would  be  useful to  curriculum planners and  developers to  call  for  review  and  curriculum adaptation for more effective teaching and learning of English language by encouraging teachers through seminars and workshops to carry out CA of the L1 and L2 of pupils to identify areas of difficulties for appropriate teaching strategies.

The findings of this study would reveal the differential responses of male and female pupils of theLower Basic Classes in learning English language skills and so help to decide on whether to give special attention and adopt separate instructional techniques for male and female Igala learners of English at the Lower Basic Classes. Furthermore, the results of the study would expose the differential influence of location on second language learning for which the necessary

corrective steps must be taken to arrest the situation. This would improve the teaching and learning of English language and boost pupils’ performance at Lower Basic Classes in Kogi East Education Zone.

Scope of the Study

The study was delimited to investigate the interference of Igala language in the learning of English language among Igala learners at the Lower Basic Class II in Kogi East Education Zone of Kogi State. Emphasis was on phonology and morphology of English language. The study focused on the learning of vowel and consonant sounds in phonology and the use of plural forms and tenses in words in the aspect of the morphology of English. The study looked at the influence of gender and location on interference in learning the English languageat the Lower Basic Class II in Kogi East Education Zone.

Research Questions

The following research questions guided the study:

(1)  What is the Incidence of interference of Igala Language in articulating the vowel sounds of English at the Lower Basic Classes?

(2)  What is the Incidence of interference of Igala Language in articulating the consonant sounds of English at the Lower Basic Classes?

(3)  What is the Incidence of interference of Igala Language in the English of pupils in the aspect of morphology at the Lower Basic Classes?

(4) What is the influence of gender on the Incidence of interference of Igala language in the

English of pupils at the Lower Basic Classes?

(5) What is the influence of location on the Incidence of interference of Igala language in the

English of pupils at the Lower Basic Classes?

Hypotheses

The following hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance:

H1: There is no significant difference in the interference ratings of male and female Igala learners of English language at the Lower Basic Classes.

H2: There is no significant difference in the interference ratings of urban and rural Igala learners of English language at the Lower Basic Classes.

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