The Use of Nigerian Languages in Formal Education: Challenges and Solutions

Language plays an important role in teaching and learning situations, not only as a subject taught in school but also, as the vehicle through which information is shared between the learner and the teacher. It is therefore important to use an ‘appropriate’ language in education. The word ‘appropriate’ in this sense means a language that can effectively capture and interpret all the aspirations of the teacher to the learner in a way that he or she best understands. The trend all over the world especially amongst the developed countries of the world is that the Mother Tongue is equally used in the school system as the medium of instruction. This factor has helped those countries (China, Japan, India, and South Africa to mention but a few) in no small way in achieving enviable development amongst the committee of nations because learners are able to transfer concepts learnt in the mother tongue easily. It is however sad to note that Nigeria, a multilingual with over 400 living languages seems to be reluctant to tap into the benefits of using the Mother Tongue in her system of education. This paper delves into the various challenges that confront the adoption of an indigenous language as a medium of instruction in formal education in Nigeria and their solutions. Keywords: Mother Tongue, Language of Education, Challenges, Solutions, Formal Education