TEACHERS’ LANGUAGE OF INSTRUCTION IN SELECTED SENIOR SECONDARY TWO (SS 2) SCIENCE CLASSROOMS IN OSUN STATE, NIGERIA.

Abstract

The study identified and examined the language of instruction used by teachers in the teaching of the selected Science subjects in Senior Secondary School Two (SS 2) classrooms in Osun State, Nigeria. It also quantified the frequency of alternation between English and Yoruba (an indigenous language) as media of instruction in the selected Science subjects. The study employed responses from two sets of questionnaire that were administered to 400 Senior Secondary School II students and 35 teachers who taught Mathematics, Biology and Chemistry. The teachers and student respondents were selected randomly from 12 Secondary Schools in 6 Local Government Areas of Osun State. The research design is self-constructed and explorative. The data were analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). It was discovered that the teachers use the bilingual medium of instruction i.e. use of English and Yoruba in teaching of students in the classroom Also, as regards the frequency of alternation between English and Yoruba as media of instruction in the selected Science subjects, it was discovered that teachers sometimes alternate between both languages. It was concluded that the bilingual medium of instruction is used in the teaching of science subjects which makes it easier for teachers to explain knotty terms and topics in a way that the students can understand and decode, thereby fulfilling the purpose of teaching