THE ROLE OF THE IMMEDIATE ENVIRONMENT LANGUAGE IN EDUCATION: A STUDY OF IZZI LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA, EBONYI STATE, NIGERIA

The study aimed at investigating the stipulations of the Nigerian Language Policy and the implementation of the use of language of the immediate environment as a language of instruction in the upper basic schools in Izzi Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, Nigeria. To guide this study, three research questions were answered. The design of the study was a descriptive survey design. The population comprised 978 upper basic/junior secondary school students in Izzi Local Government Area. The sample constituted of one hundred (100) students randomly drawn from the twenty-two (22) public secondary schools in Izzi L.G.A. stratified under urban and rural schools. A twenty-one (21) questionnaire items were constructed and used in collecting the needed information. Mean and Standard Deviation were used for data analysis. The findings showed that language of immediate environment of the child was not used in teaching the students in the area, and the challenges faced in the implementation of language policy included: Government inability to develop orthography of many more Nigerian Languages, lack of textbooks written in the child’s language of the immediate environment. Based on these findings, recommendations were made some of which were that Government should develop orthography of many more Nigerian Languages, textbooks should be written in the child’s language of immediate environment and that teachers who teach these languages should be trained.