Language Health

Parents have been urged to take up the responsibility of teaching their Children and Wards mother tongue. This was the submission of a Language Advocate, Josiah Egbilika during a Live program #LanguageHealth aired every Wednesday on NigeriaInfo 92.3fm, a renowned Radio Station in Rivers State. Mr  Egbilika stated that the child acquires language by hearing, urging that  language should always be spoken in and around as the child picks the sounds and words from the language as he/she hears those around him/her speak. He stressed  that the parents are the most important actors in teaching the child  language, noting that the parents are the first persons the child by nature relates with. He called on parents to ensure that they do not fail in the responsibility of speaking language often. Speaking further, the Language Advocate lamented how schools see speaking the  indigenous languages as vernacular and even ascribe some sort of disciplinary measure to those that...

 NO NIGERIAN LANGUAGE IS FREE FROM EXTINCTION - Josiah Chijindu Egbilika Nigeria has about 625 indigenous languages. Some of these languages like Igbo, Yoruba and Hausa are widely spoken and spread across the country and beyond. Some are spoken in the geographical locations they exist. Some have been developed to an extent while some others are yet to be developed, no written documentations of the languages. In the classification of extinction, people seen to exclude some of the languages that have written forms and some bit of documentation. But the true state of Nigerian languages is that no Nigerian Language is free from extinction. According to studies by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), 29 Nigerian minor languages have become extinct, while another 29 minor languages are in danger of extinction. Also, other views expressed by language teachers and linguists in respect of the three Nigerian major languages – Yoruba, Igbo, and...

  FG makes mother tongue compulsory in primary schools The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved the adoption of the mother tongue as a compulsory medium of instruction in primary schools in Nigeria. The Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, made this known on November, 30, 2022 after the Council meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. Conceding the government’s knowledge that implementation will be difficult, Adamu said the mother tongue will be used exclusively for the first six years of education, while it will be combined with the English language at the Junior Secondary School level. Though the policy has officially taken effect, full implementation will start when government develops instructional materials and qualified teachers are engaged, the Minister stated. He explained that the mother tongue to be used in each school will be the dominant language spoken by the community where the institution is located. The Minister fu...