Paper short abstract:

Paper examines how far efforts of National Institute for Cultural Orientation to intervene through Nigerian Indigenous Language Programmes has achieved its objectives and suggests how indigenous languages can be further empowered to handle concepts, abstract notions and scientific linguistic tools.

Paper long abstract:

Language is an integral part of indigenous knowledge that encapsulates a people’s identity and way of life. Indigenous languages being a veritable vehicle for transmitting culture, norms, values and beliefs from generation to generation, their use in the formal educational system is key to achieving holistic national development. As Prah (1995) notes, the mother tongue is the primary code for the perception of reality and allows for the creative display and application of human ingenuity. Such languages facilitate the grasping of abstract scientific concepts and notions within institutional settings, thus helping learners to more competently interpret reality. Studies on basic education by the World Bank and UNESCO found that learning is more effective and efficient when instruction is given in the mother tongue. Other studies found that countries ranking highest in mathematics and science tests are mostly those heavily invested in instructing pupils in the mother tongue. Preliminary findings indicate some efforts are being made at micro and macro levels to develop the capacity of local languages to serve as effective tools for teaching mathematics and science subjects. One of such efforts is the initiative of the National Institute for Cultural Orientation (NICO) to intervene through the Nigerian Indigenous Language Programme (NILP) platform. Thus, the study examines how far NILP has achieved its objectives and suggests how indigenous languages can be further empowered to handle concepts, abstract notions and scientific linguistic tools.

Keywords: Indigenous languages/Mother Tongue, Development, Scientific Knowledge, National Institute for Cultural Orientation (NICO), Nigerian Indigenous Language Programme (NILP)