THE ROLE OF FRENCH LANGUAGE IN EDUCATION (EDUCATION PROJECT TOPICS AND MATERIALS)
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Education is as old as the existence of man on earth. The early man learnt to adapt to his social and physical environment by observation and precautious learning. Later generations were taught to cope with their environments by the process of socialization. Over the years, government has evolved national objectives to be attained through education because education has been acclaimed as the instrument for the development of a nation. It’s a tool that appears to have been utilized by developed nations to attain national development. Developing nations particularly countries in Africa have sought national development by using education to attain desired objectives in Nigeria, after over four decades of independence, the degree of illiteracy is still alarming and the standard of education is failing at an irredeemable rate. It was in view of the above that the federal government of Nigeria evolved the universal primary education (UPE) scheme 1976 and the universal basic education (UBE) in 1999 (Jomtien Conference, 1990 and Ehiametalor, 2000). Language is very important in every human interaction as the medium, of education. This explains the fact that in Nigeria, to be educated is synonymous with literacy and proficiency in English language English being the official language. French language is one of the most unique languages spoken in the world.
It is as a medium, of communication in most African countries, especially those countries colonized by France where its spoken as the lingua franca (Tiften, 1969). French studies are multi disciplinary; however, the level of integration of the different disciplines and subject varies enormously. A period abroad is also an integral part of the vast majority of French studies, thus creating room for students to interrelate and associate with others in French speaking environment. (HEFEC, 1998). In the course of studying French language a number of problems emanate which are seen as impediment to effective learning of the concept. The inefficiency is traced to the fact that French language is not used as a mother tongue in Nigeria. As a matter of fact the French language is not widely spoken in Nigeria due to a number of difficulties. Consequently the attempt to achieve both communication and linguistic competence is not easily achieved (Abecrobe, 1956).
