Teachers’ Attitudes towards the Use of Mother Tongue as a Language Instruction in Lower Primary Schools in Hamisi District, Kenya

Abstract

This paper examines the attitudes of teachers towards the teaching and use of Mother Tongue as a language of instruction in lower primary schools based on a study conducted in Hamis District in Western Kenya, East Tiriki Division. The research design was a descriptive survey selected because surveys gather information from relatively large areas by employing sampling procedures hence cutting down on costs. The study sample included 12 schools randomly selected from the 40 primary schools in East Tiriki Division. . The instruments used for data collection were observation, tape-recording and questionnaires. The data was analysed using descriptive statistics. The study revealed that Mother Tongue is less valued than English. English is highly valued both for its instrumental and integrative purposes. It is recommended that there’s need for the government to encourage the publication of instructional materials for the teaching of Mother Tongue and that the educational language policymakers review their position with regard to Mother tongue with a view to promoting it both as a language of instruction and a subject.