CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
Acquisition of language skills is vital both to the academic and individual development. Language is the chief means by which human personality engages in social interactions with one another. Ward (2002) defined language as a system of communication with its own set of conventions or special words. This entails that language enables the learners to perform specific communicative functions both in the academic and professional context.
Language is essential for survival and development as human beings. It is one of the greatest of human achievement. Henry (2003) maintained that language is a range of activities which includes learning and accepting words, knowing the rules for using words accurately, learning the rules for putting words together meaningfully and obtaining a growing grasp of the appropriateness of what is being communicated. It is an important aspect of human development which follows a specific pattern or skills. Skills according to Worley & Story (1999) is the ability to do something well, usually gained through training or experience. It has to do with reaching a required standard of performance in doing something.
Language appears in several form; listening, speaking, reading and writing. These are referred to as language skills. Maduewesi (1997) defined language skills as the indispensable tools for learning and acquisition of various skills and experiences needed by the child to develop a satisfactory personal life. It is a vital skill needed for development, thinking and human relationship. Language skills are means through which children build knowledge, gain competence and intimacy in their relationships. It is based on the above statement that Johnson (2005) maintained that as children gain competence and intimacy with language in one form, they also build knowledge and experience with the underlying core language, which then is carried into acquiring language in another form. In the same view, Owen (2001) pointed out that although speaking and reading are distinct, they are also related. The researcher further stated that early speaking skill acquisitions have been linked to later successful reading. That is to say that a child has to be competent in one form of language skill before moving to the next form, also there is linkage between each form of language skills.
Listening is the first and essential language skill to be acquired by a child. Listening differs from hearing, which is a psychological process that does not involve interpretation. Malik (2010) defined listening as a language skill that requires the listener to understand, interpret and evaluate what they hear. It entails concentrating on hearing somebody or something. The researcher averred that listening skill is important in the process of developing children socially and cognitively. Mili and Ali (2008) noted that listening means understanding what we hear at the same time. This means that two concurrent actions are demanded to take place in this process. Adewole and Oduolowa (2009) pointed out that listening call for evaluation, acceptance or rejection, internalization and at times appreciation of the ideas expressed. Listening skill is a forerunner of reading and speaking skills. This informed the reason while Brown (2000) upheld that proficiency in listening is a good predictor of reading and speaking. This means that listening may lead to improvement in reading and speaking skills.
Speaking skill is another important aspect of language skills. Speaking is the ability to give meaning to words, signs and symbols with a particular language. Agbeha (2003) defined speaking as a meaningful interpretation and response using a particular language. Thus, speaking skill is an integrated skill comprising listening, pronunciation and communication skills and appropriate store of necessary vocabulary (Nweneli, 2005). Speaking skill is a prerequisite for reading skill. This is in line with Ball and Pence (2006) that speaking skill is a better predictor than intelligence and efficiency with which children acquire reading skill. This means that, there is a linkage between speaking skills and successful reading. According to Simone (2008), the ways in which children acquire speaking skills can have a strong influence on their success in school. A close perusal at the above assertion reveals that listening skills precede speaking skills. In relation to the above assertion, Maduewesi (1999) asserted that development of speaking is made possible by listening to language in the social and concrete context and other means of expressing feelings such as writing.
Writing skill is a vital means of communication. It is one of the four language skills. Writing is the act of putting down on paper one’s ideas, feelings and emotions using graphic symbols. Encarta (2010) defined writing as words or other symbols such as hieroglyphics written down as a means of communication. Writing skill is an integrated skill that involves communicating a message by making meaningful signs using a particular language on a page or on a particular object or place (Tompkins, 2002). To write, the writer needs a message and someone to communicate to. This means that writing and reading skills are productive skills that are closely related.
Reading skill is another important aspect of language skills. Reading is the interpretation languages that have been written down. It occupies a vital position in the educational process. According to Mgbodile (1999), reading is defined as the ability to decode or interpret the written or printed words and to gain meaning out of them. Reading skill according to Baker (2001) is a unified skill that encompasses the process of identifying and understanding the meaning of the characters and words in written or printed material. Reading skill starts with the use of the eye and memory to recognize shapes, patterns and letter of the alphabet, and ends with using past experiences and background knowledge to confirm what is read. This confirmation is an indication that the reader comprehends what he/she is reading.
Reading skill provides the child the power to assimilate and digest documented records. In reaction to this, Agada (1998) pointed out that reading that does not involve comprehension is more of barking at print. This entails that to read and comprehend a text, the reader must be able to interpret the symbols on the page, convert the strategies for reading, access knowledge of the language and incorporate prior knowledge of the subject. In line with this, Austrad (2003) maintained that the understanding of a text lies in the interpretation between the reader and the text.
In line with the above deposit, the reader has to “read between the lines” in order to understand a text. Alo (2001) stressing on the importance of reading skill maintained that reading skill is an indispensable tool for human learning and adaptation in the modern economy. It prepares the child for citizenship roles by providing him the power to assimilate and digest documented records that help to sustain the rhythm and the ethos of life in the society. Reading skill allows citizens of the state to have access to documentation and recorded debate. It means that a child should acquire reading skill in order to function well as a citizen. Reading skill is one of the most essential language skills and foundation for language acquisition.
Family and school are the two main social environments in which a child grow and acquire language skills. Family according to Eggen and Kauchak (2002) is a group of people who are closely related by birth, marriage, or adoption. It is a group of people living together and functioning as a single household, usually consisting of parents and their children. When a child is born into a family, he or she becomes part of the family and interacts with other members of the family. In every corner of the world, young children learn languages at their different families that differ from the dominant language used in their broader social world (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), 2011). In childhood, the family provides the most significant attachment as well as the care and stimulation required for children growth and development. This entails that the family in which a child grows up has a powerful impact on how the child develops and what the child learns.
There may be no doubt that many children speak a family language that differs from the language of instruction in education programmes. This could be as a result of family factors. Family factors according to Marmot (2004) are the summation of all the factors that can help or hinder a child in gaining an education. It is the sum of all external factors to which a child is exposed. Such factors are socio-economic statues of parents, bilingualism, the number of siblings at home and parenting styles.
The family into which a child is born confers on him the socio-economic statues of his or her parents. This is a very important factor in determining how a child relates and how others respond to him in the society. Socio-economic statues comprises of many things such as level of education, occupation, income/wealth, position, family type. Lareau (2003) defined socio-economic statues as an economic and sociological combined total measure of a person’s work experience and of an individual’s or family’s economic and social position in relation to others, based on income, education, and occupation. According to the author, when analyzing a family’s socio-economic statues, the household income, earners’ education, and occupation are examined, as well as combined income, versus with an individual, when their own attributes are assessed.
Socio-economic statues are typically group into three categories. According to Kraus & Keltner (2008), socio-economic statues are broken into high, middle, and low socio-economic statues. Furthermore, the researcher maintained that high socio-economic statues families are made-up of rich business men and high government officials, while middle socio-economic status families consist of skilled workers, graduates, professionals and middle government workers. The low socio-economic status families are manual workers, petty traders and low income government workers.
In order to determine an individuals socio-economic statues, New South Wales (2005) grouped the family into four occupational groups, namely; professional/Managerial, Clerical/Sales/Service, trade and labourers. The family that falls into professional/Managerial group has a high socio-economic status, Clerical/Sales/Service and trade has middle while labourer has a low socio-economic status.
A family’s financial statues influence a number of factors that can help or hinder a child in the acquisition of language skills. In the opinion of Hoff (2005), children from high socio-economic statues family have easy access to quality childcare, books and toys to encourage children in various learning activities at home and this facilitate their language acquisition unlike children from low socio-economic status family.
In line with the above assertion, Akagwu (2003) stated that the socio-economic statues of pupils’ parents as well as their parental academic background go a long way to influence their reading comprehension. According to the researcher, a child that comes from uneducated parents/guidance is likely to lack the necessary reading materials that motivate reading. In a similar view, King and Mackey (2007) averred that parents of high educational background have good intentions towards their children’s academic performance. These children are furnished with educational toys, books and equipment for home studies. This will help them to improve their performance in reading.
Occupation of parents is another socio-economic statue that can affect or deter child’s language acquisition. Cummins (2005) maintained that parents occupation is a major predictor of parental care, encouragement, attitude towards children and their education, and provision of adequate stimulating reading materials would develop pre-requisite readiness skills in children. The absence of such facilities would contribute to academic delay. Akanle (2007) identified parental income to be a cogent factor upon which the academic successes of students lie. In a similar view, Hoff and Naigles (2002) stated that language skill acquisition is faster in children whose parents occupied professional/managerial positions in their place of work than children from the families of clerical/sales/service, trade and labourers. This is because, according to the author, children whose parents occupied professional/managerial positions have access to reading materials such as books to encourage children in various learning activities at home and this facilitates their language acquisition unlike children from the families of clerical/sales/service, trade and labourers.
Another family factor that affects childrens language acquisition is bilingualism. Bilingualism is the ability to speak two languages easily and naturally. Crystal (2000) defined bilingualism as the regular use of two languages in everyday communication. Bilingualism as one of the family factors that affects language skills acquisition of children is the ability to comprehend and breakdown the meaning of a second language and also, produces the language orally in most communication situation. Put in a simple form, bilingualism can be seen as the ability of an individual to speak and understand two languages. For a person to be bilingual, he or she must have enough command of both languages. Bialystok (2001) stated that bilingual children are more creative, intelligent, and cognitively flexible and have more social awareness than monolingual children. In the same context, Bialystok (2007) noted that the experiences of bilingual children have a profound impact on children’s social, cognitive and language acquisition. Bialystock stated that, although bilingualism may contribute to the strengthening of some specific cognitive skills for some children, it should not be viewed as a predictor of high academic performance in language acquisition.
Another arresting family factor that can improve or hinder child’s language acquisition is the number of siblings in a home. Siblings are brothers and sisters in the home. Encarta (2010) defined siblings as a member of a group of persons who trace their descent from a single real or presumed ancestor. The number of siblings in a home may play a very important role in child’s language acquisition. The siblings’ relationship is a natural laboratory for young children to learn about their world. It is a safe and secured place to learn how to interact with others. It is based on this that Hoff (2006) averred that older siblings talk differently and are seen as models by their speech and this in return improve younger siblings speaking ability. Siblings provide an important context for the development of children’s emotional, moral, language and cognitive world. In the same view, Lanthier (2002) maintained that older Siblings deliberately adjust their speech to younger siblings to allow for greater understanding. This may help the younger siblings to improve in their language acquisition.
Parenting style is another family factor that can advance or hamper child’s language acquisition. It is a psychological construct indicating standard that parents use in their child nurturing. Abadzi (2006) defined parenting style as a concept used to explain normal disparities in parents’ effort to control and socialize their children. Fakeye (2008) listed the types of parenting styles as follows; Indulgent parents, Authoritarian parents, Authoritative parents and uninvolved parents. According to the researcher, indulgent parents are permissive, non-directive, and lenient. Authoritarian parents are obedience and statue oriented and expects their orders obeyed without explanation. Authoritative parents and uninvolved parents are assertive but not intrusive and restrictive. And uninvolved parents are low in both responsiveness and demandingness.
Parents are the child’s first educator. A child’s family and the type of parenting style used in child upbringing may have a strong impact on their children’s language acquisition. According to Ekanem and Eneh (2010), indulgent parents are more responsive than they are demanding. The researcher affirmed that indulgent parents make few rules like asking their children to read and do not enforce the rules like encouraging them to read and this hinders their children in acquiring reading skill. Similarly, Iannelli (2004) opined that indulgent parents want their children to feel free, do not set clear boundaries or expectations for their children’s behaviour and tend to accept the child’s behaviour without complaint no matter how badly the child behaves. By implication, such families rarely supervise their children to ensure that they do their homework. This will no doubt hamper their child’s language acquisition.
A child’s degree of language acquisition depends to a large extent on the type of parenting style adopted by the family. In line with the above statement, Iannelli (2004) deposited that authoritarian parents do not explain why they want their children to do some academics exercise like reading and writing. The researcher further stated that authoritarian parents focus on negative behaviour, rather than positive behaviour and their children are scolded or punished often harshly for not following their rules. On the other hand, Cherry (2010) deposited that authoritative parents are responsive to their children and are willing to listen to their questions. Their disciplinary methods are supportive rather than punitive. In other words, children of such families are free to ask question and are responded. This will no doubt improve their children’s speaking skill. In a similar view, Ekanem and Eneh (2010) upheld that uninvolved parents are low in warmth and control and are not concerned about their child’s academics. This may go a long way to hinder their child’s language acquisition.
The relationship between these family factors and language skill acquisition of primary school children is of great importance to the educational system. Primary school is one of the levels of Nigeria education system. It is the education given in institutions for children aged 6 to 11 plus (Federal Republic of Nigeria (FRN), 2004). Primary education is the foundation or the stepping stone to all other level of education. To ensure a solid foundation for Nigerian educational system, the National Policy on Education, FRN (2004:14) outlined the goals of Primary education as follows;
- Inculcate permanent literacy and numeracy and the ability to communicate effectively.
- Lay a sound basis for scientific and reflective thinking.
- Give citizenship education as a basis for effective participation in the contribution to the life of the society.
- Mould the character and develop sound attitudes and moral in the child.
- Develop in the child the ability to adapt to the child’s changing environment.
- Give the child opportunities for developing manipulative skills that will enable the child function effectively in the society within the limits of the child’s capacity.
- Provide basic tools for further educational advancement, including preparation for trades and craft of the locality.
In pursuance of the above goals, the Federal Republic of Nigeria maintained that curriculum for primary education shall include Languages and language of the environment. The inclusion of languages is not only to make the foundation solid but to help the pupils to be efficient in listening, speaking, writing and reading (Simone, 2008). In the opinion of Maduewesi (1999), success in school is determined by language acquisition and family factors. This entails that language skills acquisition in one way correlates with family factors. Correlates according to Beller (2008) means to have a mutual or complementary relationship, or show that two or more things such as a cause and an effect have a mutual or complementary relationship.
The correlation between family factors and language skills acquisition of primary school children is excessively important for the actualization of the goals of primary school education. Family factors are usually closely related to language acquisition as it was the most important determinant of success in reading in school (Abadzi, 2006). Similarly, Fakeye (2008) identified family factors as a major determinant factor that contributes to either success or failure towards child’s language acquisition in Delta State. This abnormality according to the researcher is of the fact that many parents belong to the families of clerical/sales/service, trade and labourers and this contributes to their children’s language skills acquisition. The author further maintained that many parents in Delta State are uneducated and as a result, they speak Ibo language and Pidgin English. In this regard, to enhance a child language skills acquisition, the need to study how family factors and language skills acquisition correlates becomes highly imperative. The situations above motivated the researcher to embark on the study to determine how family factors correlates with language skills acquisition of primary school pupils.Statement of the Problem
