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Under-utilization of French Graduates in secondary schools in Makurdi Local Government Area of Benue State of Nigeria

Introduction

While the learning and use of English Language was compulsory for Nigerians because of their colonization by the British colonial government, the teaching and learning of French was not significant to Nigerians. The French government was not encouraged by the British because of their economic interest in Nigeria. French is actually rivaled by English as the international language of trade, diplomacy and science.

In Africa for instance, Equatorial Guinea in 1997 declared French as their official language along with Spanish. The small islands of Cape Verde and Sao tome and Principe are also members of La Francophonie and as a result, French is getting more widely spoken there as well. Nigeria shares its borders with francophone speaking countries namely: Chad, Republic of Benin and Cameroun. No wonder in 1996, the late General Sanni Abacha, the former head of state of Nigeria in Ouagadougou declared the new status of French as the nation’s second official language. French as a modern language is spoken, written and used like other modern languages of the world. Therefore for Nigerians to interact effectively with francophone countries locally or internationally, they should be able not only speak the language fluently but also be able to attend international seminars and conferences without much problem. According to Adekunle (1976), the language policy of every country should make provisions for the following areas of communication: Internal communication, international scientific or technical communication. French is one of the international languages most widely used in commerce, scientific and technological research, administration, education, literature etc. With the knowledge of French, Nigerians and Francophone countries will be able to work together in areas of science and technology. This however cannot be achieved if French teachers are not employed or if those employed are not encouraged to teach the language.

Statement of the problem

There is a growing concern about the attitude of Nigerians towards the study of French in our schools. A good number of them are not sufficiently informed about the usefulness of French in our educational system or its importance as an international language. They feel that people should not waste their time studying it. This feeling has often misled some secondary school teachers so much so that they fail to:

(a) Include the subject in the school time-table.

(b) Allow French graduates teach French. Rather preferring them to teach

other subjects.

(c) Assign enough number of periods to the teaching of French.

(d) Provide adequate teaching/learning materials for the teaching of French.

Purpose of the study

Much has been said about the need for French in Nigeria and also the teaching and learning of French in Nigerian educational institutions. That is to say that the importance of French in Nigeria cannot be over-emphasized. The purpose of this study therefore is to:

(a) Find out if French is being taught in secondary schools in Makurdi Local

Government Area of Benue State

(b) Find out if French graduates teach French.

(c) Determine if there are enough teaching/learning materials.

Research Question

The study was to provide answers to the following research questions:-

(1) Is French language taught in your school?

(2) Are there enough French teachers in your school?

(3) Do French graduates teach other subjects other than French?

(4) Are there adequate teaching/learning materials?

(5) Do French teachers attend seminars and workshops?

Significance of the study

The need for French in our secondary schools cannot be over-emphasized. Nigeria’s geographical, economic, diplomatic as well as her educational and research needs makes it imperative for her to give adequate attention and priority to the learning of French. In view of the above it is hoped that this research will throe more light on the importance of French language to our society. It is also hoped that the study will inform education managers on the importance of engaging French graduates fully in teaching French in our secondary schools.

The importance of teaching French in Nigeria

French is one of the world’s greatest languages which is rivaled only by English as the language of international society and diplomacy, a position it has now lost to English. Katzner (1975), records that French is the mother tongue of about 75million people, with millions more familiar with it in some degrees as a second language.

The planning and implementation of a national language on the adoption of French as the nations second official language is of utmost importance. The status of languages forms an important part in language policy in francophone countries. According to Moruwawon (2004), The republic of Cameroon was made up of two former colonies; French and English speaking. The republic consists of eastern Cameroon who were predominantly French while the western Cameroon were English speaking. At present, French and English are today being used as official languages but French is dominating. Bimbo Fisayo an educationist speaking to the Daily Champion African News (2005), stressed the importance of speaking and understanding a second international language, especially the French language. From the above accounts so far given, the real need for French in Nigeria according to Emordi(1986), is Nigeria’s geographical, economic and diplomatic as well as her educational research, makes it imperative for her to give adequate attention to the teaching and learning of the French language. It could be said that the first attempt at the Franco- Nigerian co-operation started from the teaching of French in Nigerian secondary schools. For many years the, the efforts at establishing sound basis for the teaching of French in Nigeria and the provision of facilities in French universities for the “one year abroad” training of students of French in Nigerian Universities remained the hallmark of Franco-Nigerian co-operation. According to Ojo (1997), French would better prepare the Nigerian child who is planning to move into the future with self assurance, hope and sense of belonging. He wil discover that even in the Nigeria of tomorrow, French will serve as a linguistic visa that would open better professional prospects for him.

Like with the teaching of most foreign languages, teaching French in Nigerian secondary schools is not problem-free. Some of these problems are highlighted by Emordi (1986), who complains that there are lack of qualified teachers and teaching materials for effective teaching of the language. Emordi recommends the teaching of only the oral aspect of French.. Asobele (2004), states that for French to succeed in Nigeria, French must be taught as a language of culture. It is therefore of great importance for parents and guardians to allow their children and wards to learn the language as it would open wider doors of opportunities to them. It therefore behooves all of us to speak more than one language. If we can speak an international language like French, definitely we will have certain immeasurable concessions. It will expose us to several meetings and seminars outside the shores of this country.

Methodology

The method used is the survey method. It is descriptive research based on the information gathered through the questionnaire. The population sampled where thirteen (13) secondary schools which were randomly selected in Makurdi Local Government Area of Benue State where we had French graduates. Thirty-five French Language graduates teaching various other subjects were the respondents to the questionnaire that was administered. Ten principals of secondary schools were also interviewed. Frequency and percentage were used to analyze the data.

Findings and discussions

The study was designed to investigate the extent to which French graduates of secondary schools in Makurdi Local Government Area of Benue State are under-utilized. The presentation, analysis and interpretation are based on research questions formulated for this study.

Research Question One

Is French taught in your school?

Out of the thirteen school used for this research, French is taught in only six of these schools. 46% of the schools visited indicated that French was taught in their schools while the remaining 54% of the schools did not have French in their school time tables. The six schools that offer French only teach it at their JSS level. From the above analysis one can infer that French is not included in most schools time-table. This is very sad indeed as none of these schools offer it at their SSS level. From the above analysis one could therefore infer that French is not included in the time-tables of most schools.

Research Question Two

Are there enough French teachers in your school?

There are thirty-five French graduates in the thirteen schools visited. This figure shows that there are enough French graduates in these schools. Every year, hundreds of French graduates are turned out into the work market. One then wonders why principals of schools will not include this subject in their time-tables. Ministries of education in each states have to re-educate themselves on the importance and usefulness of French as a subject in secondary schools.

Research Question Three

Are French graduates made to teach other subjects rather than French?

In the schools visited there are thirty-five French graduates. Of the 35 of them, only ten of them which make up 28.6% teach French in their respective schools while the remaining twenty-five which make up 71.4% of the respondents are forced to teach other subjects rather than French..88% of these teachers agree that they regret not teaching French. While the rest which make up 12% of these teachers do not regret their not teaching French.. Reasons given for their not regretting include lack of encouragement by their principals in terms of equipment textbooks and other teaching materials to aid in the teaching/learning of French. The disadvantage in this unfortunate circumstances is that these French graduates lose interest and cannot pursue the Course at a postgraduate level. Dusai (1995), in a survey found out that most graduates of French language especially from the colleges of education tends to pursue the alternate subject combination in the university to the detriment of the French language.

Research Question Four

Are there adequate teaching /learning materials in schools?

In the schools where French language is taught, 94% of the respondents agree that there are no adequate teaching/learning materials. The teachers complain that there are no text- books in their libraries. Even in schools where they have very few books, the books are not utilized by the students. None of the schools visited have audio-visual aids. This lack of text-books and equipment hinders effective teaching and learning of the French language which in turn hinders motivation of the teachers.

Research Question Five

Do French teachers attend seminars and workshops

Out of the 35 respondents, 29 of them which represent 82.9% have never attended any seminars or workshops. Only 17.1% of them have attended seminars. They sponsored themselves to attend these seminars. It would be encouraging for educational managers to organize lectures, symposia and seminars to enable French teachers to update their knowledge.

Conclusion and Recommendations

This study was designed to investigate the under-utilization of French graduates in French subject in secondary schools in Makurdi Local Government Area of Benue State. The study revealed that lack of knowledge of the importance of French language by educational managers, lack of incentives and motivation of French graduates, inadequate teaching/learning materials, absence of text-books which hinders effective teaching/learning of French and adversely kills student and teachers interest in the French subject are some of the causes of the under-utilization of French graduates in our secondary schools. It was also revealed that because principals fail to include the subjects in their time table, most French graduates posted to the different secondary schools are forced to teach English language, Literature and other arts subjects other than French. This negative attitude has therefore limited the scope whereby students could expand on their choice of future career. Limitations brought about by this kind of constraints affect the expansion of the educational horizon of Nigerians in the francophone speaking states of the world.

To alleviate some of the aforementioned problems that have caused the under-utilization of French graduates in Makurdi Local Government Area of Benue State, Educational managers need to be educated on the need for French in Nigeria in general. Apart from the geographical location of Nigeria which is surrounded by French speaking countries, Nigeria is a member of the African Union (A.U.), Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and very many important world organizations where French is used as one of the principal official languages. Nigeria also tends to gain economically and commercially by encouraging the teaching/learning of French. Still on the importance of French, Kwofie (1984), has this to say: “The national and international relevance in of French is further emphasized by the adoption of the language by non-French-speaking countries of the world” It is therefore necessary to make Nigerians realize the importance of French in our country. The fact that we see a lot of highly placed Nigerians rushing to study French in the different offices of Alliance de Francaise in the country shows that the need for this language exists. Government should therefore take adequate steps to motivate the teacher and the learner so that a lot of progress could be achieved and we will be in a position to reap the full benefits of improved teaching of French.

References

Adekunle, M.A., (1976), “National Language Policy and Planning: The Nigerian Situation” in West African Journal of Modern Languages, No. 1, January Pp23-29

Asobele, S.J. (2004), Prolegomena to a legislation of official languages acts in Nigeria with particular reference to French Language in Francophone Heritage in Africa.

Daily Champion African News Feb. 16, 2005

Ibanga E.E. (1995), L’importance de la langue française au Nigeria’ Unpublished PGDE Project, Benue State University, Makurdi.

Emordi, F.I. (1986), Report on the French programme inspection of the Bendel State University Primary and Secondary Schools Ekpoma.

Katzner,K.(1975), The Languages of the world. London, Routledge and Kequan Paul.

Moruwawon, B.S.(2004), Prospects of the adoption of French as a second official language in Nigeria. A journal published in the faculty of education, University of Ado-Ekiti, Ondo State.

Ojo, A. (1997), French Language and Nigeria, The Guardian Monday 5.

About the Author

Ebi is an Assistant Registrar in the Nasarawa State University, Keffi. She holds a B.A.ed in french and an M.ed in Educational Management. Her Ph.D degree in Educational Admin and Planning is in view

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