The Language that Works at the Lower Primary Level: The Views of Curriculum Implementers in the Central Region of Ghana

Abstract

The study examined the views of teachers and head teachers concerning the language of instruction that works well at the lower primary level of public basic schools in the Central Region of Ghana. Ghana, which is a multilingual country, uses the mother tongue at the lower primary levels of all its public schools according to the suggestion made by the Anamuah Mensah Committee on curriculum review. The study employed the descriptive survey design, using closed-ended questions and structured interviews, in collecting the views of 370 lower primary class teachers and 78 head teachers of purposively selected basic schools in the region. The results of the questionnaire were analysed using descriptive statistics, frequencies and percentages whilst that of the structured interviews was done by grouping like responses and subsequently being analysed using frequencies. It was found out that the majority of teachers liked to use the bilingual medium, both the dominant mother tongue and English, in teaching since to them, the bilingual medium helped pupils to understand concepts better. Again, both teachers and head teachers regarded the bilingual medium as appropriate in teaching the child in the lower primary since apart from the pupils grasping the concepts taught, it again offered the pupils the opportunity in grasping some vocabulary in English for future use. The results collected meant that using the dominant mother tongue in the bilingual medium puts the other minority groups represented in the class in a disadvantaged position. Thus, schools should move from using a bilingual medium to using a trilingual medium in teaching so all pupils will benefit from lessons taught or there could be the mapping out of schools according to languages so that all pupils could be taught in their own mother tongues.