ABSTRACT
This study was conducted to investigate the effects of mother tongue on the linguistic competence of English language on students in Tertiary institutions. Five purposes and research questions were raised to determine the possibility of students gaining linguistic competence in English language, despite it being a second language.
The study adopted the survey design. The population of the study consists of eight thousand, two hundred and twenty six (8,226) students of the Faculty of Education in The University of Benin. The sample size for this study was a total number 120 out of 244 final year students of English language, Department of Educational Foundations, Faculty of Education, 2020/2021 session, selected using the random sampling technique. The instrument for data collection was the questionnaire developed by the researcher, and validated by the researcher's supervisor.
Findings revealed that the students are aware of their mother tongue interference in the use of English as a second language. It was also revealed that the interference occurs mostly at the phonological levels/areas of English. Other areas include lexis, syntax and semantics. And also, this constitutes an impediment to the effort of the second language user at attaining appreciable level of competence and performance in English language. It is recommended, among others that at the grassroot level/primary school, schools should lay emphasis on the mastery of English by contrasting the native language and the target language, and more attention should be devoted to teaching the area of phonology as this challenges learners most.
