MOTHER TONGUE INTEFERENCE AS A FACTOR RESPONSIBLE FOR THE POOR PERFORMANCE OF SECODNARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE IN ETSAKO WEST LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA

ABSTRACT

Thisstudywasaimedbasicallyataddressinghowmother tongue interferenceisa factorresponsible forstudents’poorperformance in the English language of some seniorsecondary school students in EtsakoWestLocalGovernmentareaEdoStateusingfivedifferent senior secondary schools. It addresses the various interference problemsthatexistintheEnglishspokenbythestudents.

Thesurveyresearchdesignwasusedforthisstudy.Duringthe course of this study, five research questions were designed. 255 questionnairesbasedontheseresearchquestions wereadministered aftervalidation to students of the five seniorsecondary schools of study.Datafromthequestionnairewerepresentedintablesandwere analysedinsimplepercentage.

Thefindingsofthestudyrevealedthat:

1.      Mothertongueisactuallyafactorresponsibleforstudents’poor performanceintheEnglishspokenbyseniorsecondarystudentsin Etsako West.
2.      Themothertongueofasecondlanguagelearnerinterferesinthe studies of the students because the students transfer the knowledgeofhismother tonguetothetargetlanguage.
3.      Thepronunciationmistakeoftenmakebythestudentsisasaresult oftheirnativelanguage.
4.      ThewronguseofthegrammarofEnglishbythestudentscanbe attributedto their constant communicationintheir mother tongue.
5.      Thepoor academicperformanceofthestudentsisasaresultofthe negativeinfluenceofthemother tongueinthelifeofthestudents.

Basedonthefindings,thefollowingrecommendationsweremade.

•   Schools (especially senior secondary schools) should lay emphasis onthemasteryofEnglishbythestudents.
•   Government and private schools proprietors should employ qualifiedteachersofEnglishLanguagetoteachthestudentsto have masteryof it.