EFFECTS OF MOTHER INSTRUCTIONAL MEDIUM ON PRIMARY SCHOOL PUPILS' ACHIEVEMENT IN MATHEMATICS IN OKPOKWU LGA, BENUE STATE.

Abstract

This study investigates the effects of mother tongue instructional medinm on primary school pupils achievement in Mathematics in Okpokwu Local Government area of Benue State The Study adopted a pre test post-test Control group quasi experimental design purposive sampling technique was used to select four primary schools which were randomly assigned to experimental and control group. Intact classes were used for the study.A total of 87 pupils participated-in the study.Two research questions were raised and two hypotheses were formulated and tested at 0.05 level of significance. Two instruments were used for the study.Mathematics Achievement Test in English Language (MATEL)and Mathematics Achievement Test in Idoma Language (METIE) The two instruments were subjected to face and content validity and a reliability coefficient of 0.81 and 0.87 were obtained respectively usng test-retest method of determining reliability.The Research questions were answered using descriptive statistics of mean and standard deviation and the hypothesis tested using mean and t-test. The result revealed that pupils taught Mathematics in ldoma language perform better than those taught Mathematics in English language Similarly, the result also shows that female pupils performed better than their male counterparts. It is therefore recommended that mother tongue should be combined with English for the first three years in the primary school as this will foster easy assimilation of concepts by the child.