Language Education a s Pana cea for Effective Teaching and Learning a mong Pupils o f Primary Schools in Ogun State

Abstract

The study examineslanguage education as a panacea for effective teaching and learning amongpupils of primary schools in Ogun State, Nigeria. The study adopted the descriptive surveyresearch design, using questionnaires to acquire necessary data for the research work. Thepopulation comprises all pupils of primary schools in Ogun State. A simple random samplingtechnique was used to select five (5) schools in the Odeda Local Government Area of Ogun State,in which twenty (20) pupils were randomly selected from each of the c hosen primary schools tomake a total of two hundred (200) as a sample for the study. A self developed questionnaire wasused as an instrument for data collection. The questionnaire contained items on the main title ofthe study. The instrument was given t o experts for construction and content validation. Thereliability of the instrument was determined using Cronbach Alpha Two research hypotheseswere used and tested for the study. Data collected were analyzed with the use of a chi squarestatistical tool . Findings revealed that language education is based on four essential skills;listening, speaking, reading and writing. However, as children in the early childhood period donot have literacy skills, language education focuses on listening and speaking pr ocesses ofeffective teaching and learning of the pupils. It was therefore recommended that English is thelanguage of instruction in schools. Hence, students should undergo language education topromote and foster better learning in school, and parents sh ould communicate with theirchildren in the probable pedagogical language to create familiarity with the language.