Effectiveness of Yoruba proverbs in acquiring Yoruba language and culture

Abstract In the Yoruba community, proverbs are regarded as Yoruba philosophy repository, with wisdom, brevity, criticality, and stored experience that are believed to be a viable tool of acquiring the language. Hinging on reversing language shift model theory, the study investigated: (a) whether Yoruba proverbs are effective in the acquisition of Yoruba language and culture by children, and (b) whether the language attitudes of Yoruba learners change with access to a structured Yoruba teaching framework using proverbs. This experimental study of 51 children (30 in the experimental group and 21 in the control group) between ages 7 and 13 and in Primary 4 to Junior Secondary School 3 in Ile‐Ife, Southwest Nigeria, employed ethnographic, quantitative, and qualitative methods to analyze questionnaires, recordings, interviews, conversations, and field notes. Findings indicated that the competence of learners increased after the intervention. Additionally, the attitude of participants to the acquisition of Yoruba language and culture was greatly influenced in the positive direction. The study concluded that using Yoruba proverbs to teach Yoruba language and culture within a controlled framework improved the competence of learners and their attitude toward the acquisition and learning of the language and culture.