COMPLETE SCHOOL PROJECT TOPICS & MATERIALS :
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SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF ENGLISH AS THE SOLE MEDIUM OF INSTRUCTION ACROSS ALL SUBJECTS IN SELECTED PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN ABA METROPOLIS, ABIA STATE.
CHAPTER ONE
Introduction
Background to the Study
Language is not just a means of communication, it is a basic means of thinking, learning and building an identity. The choice of a medium of instruction (MOI) in schools is a very influencing educational policy decision in multilingual society as in the case of Nigeria because it not only has implications on how students learn but also influences the way they think of themselves as learners, as citizens and as cultural and linguistic groups. The linguistic situation in Nigeria is exceptionally complicated as more than 500 native languages are used in its 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (Ethnologue, 2023). Under this abundant linguistic heterogeneity, the official language of instruction in the secondary school is English, and the National Policy on Education (Federal Republic of Nigeria [FRN], 2014) proposes the use of the mother tongue or a dominant language of the immediate community as the official language of instruction in early primary school.
In Abia State, which is the South-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria, Igbo is the most widespread native language in the state which is spoken by the huge majority of the population. However, the introduction of English as the only medium of instruction among all subjects, even science, mathematics, social, and vocational, remains imposed on the public secondary schools even without proper scaffolding and pedagogical support to those students whose mother tongue is Igbo. Aba Metropolis being the business centre of Abia State and being one of the most busy urban centres in the South East Nigeria, has a unique sociolinguistic set up where English, Igbo, Nigerian Pidgin English, and other languages are at a day to day interaction.
In such setting, senior secondary school students are supposed to master academic materials in all subjects using a language, most of them are exposed to in the school environment, which is English. Studies have always revealed that students learn most effectively in a language they can comprehend (Benson, 2004; UNESCO, 2016), and that monolingual policies that are restrictive to English only can pose a great hindrance to understanding, academic success, and psychological comfort of students who do not speak English as a native language (Chimbutane, 2021; Pluddemann, 2015). It is in this context that it is educationally important as well as socially urgent to find out how these students themselves view the policy of the English-only medium of instruction.
Perception as a psychological construct determines the ways people perceive and react to their surroundings. Perceptions of educational policies by students could define the extent of involvement, motivation, and eventually their academic achievement (Aro, Viholainen, Koponen, Warinowski, and Lerkkanen, 2022). Students tend to succeed in their studies better when they feel that the language policies are just, reachable, and that they are supportive to their learning requirements. On the other hand, the feeling of being excluded, inadequate, or unjustified with regard to language policies may contribute to disengagement, anxiety, and poor performance (Cummins, 2021). The proposed research, thus, examines how senior secondary school students in some of the public schools in Aba Metropolis expect the use of the English language as the only language of instruction in all subjects.
The language-in-education policy of Nigeria has a lengthy and debatable history that originated in colonialism. The British colonial rule made English the language of government, commerce, and formal education and thus placed native languages as inferior and marginal in comparison to the civilised life (Adegbija, 2004). In post-independent Nigeria this colonial legacy was officially entrenched in the post-independence National Policy on Education series of documents beginning in 1977 and continuing to the present, which ensure that English is the main medium of instruction after the initial years of primary school (FRN, 2014).
The National Policy on Education of 2014 provides that the medium of instruction in primary education (first three years) is to be the mother tongue or the language of the surrounding environment, before giving way to the use of English. English will become the sole language of instruction in all subjects by the time the students are in secondary school. But what happens on the ground and is practised by policy frequently does not conform to the policy intentions. In low-resource public schools, code-switching to Igbo or Nigerian Pidgin English is a common practise by teachers so that they can be understood, and students use their native languages in conversations with peers, which means that the English-only policy, although officially enforced, is not practised in reality (Owolabi, 2020; Nwachukwu and Okeke, 2021).
Multilingual studies around the world have extensively recorded the contradictions between government monolingual policies and the multilingual situation in postcolonial classrooms (Canagararajah, 2011; Makoni and Pennycook, 2007; Lin, 2019). In sub-Saharan Africa in particular, researchers like Chimbutane (2021) in Mozambique and Probyn (2019) in South Africa have proved that English as the only medium of instruction is discriminatory against non-English speakers at home, further fueling the inequality in the educational attainment of these students. In Nigeria, Owolabi (2020) has discovered that students in Lagos public secondary schools said they felt alienated and anxious whenever teachers imposed strict English-only policies especially when the students were learning subjects such as mathematics and integrated science which were already high cognitive loads.
Aba Metropolis can be regarded as a particularly profitable place to explore this phenomenon. Aba is also a commercial centre and thus, it is marked by high levels of multilingualism with the Igbo, Nigerian Pidgin English, and English language being fluidly spoken in various social spheres. In this setting, the public secondary schools are based in diverse student bodies with children of traders, artisans, and civil servants attending their schools with many having little exposure to the formal English beyond their school setting. Nonetheless, such students are supposed to study the whole secondary school curriculum in English alone including biology and chemistry, economics, and literature. Their perception about this policy is an important initial step towards coming up with more just and efficient language-in-education policies in Abia State.
This research is informed by a number of recent studies conducted in Nigeria and the African region at large. In the case of medium of instruction and academic performance in South-East Nigerian secondary schools, Nwachukwu and Okeke (2021) established that students who had been instructed in a bilingual medium performed better on standardised tests of academic achievement than their counterparts who received instruction in English language alone especially in subjects that were not related to language. Likewise, Okafor (2022) explored the attitudes of students toward English-medium instruction in Enugu State and found out that although students generally recognised the necessity of mastering the English language to secure a job in the future and unite the nation, many were frustrated with the slowness of the instruction and the inability to express more complicated thoughts in a foreign language. The results imply that the attitudes, feelings, and pragmatic evaluations of the English-only teaching have a multidimensional nature, as they do not simply boil down to support or opposition.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
Despite the long-standing policy mandating English as the sole medium of instruction in Nigerian secondary schools, there exists a significant and growing body of evidence suggesting that this policy produces inequitable outcomes for students from Igbo-speaking homes and communities. In public schools in Aba Metropolis, students navigate a complex linguistic landscape daily speaking Igbo or Nigerian Pidgin English at home and in the community, then being expected to receive, process, and produce all academic knowledge in English within school walls. The challenges this creates for comprehension, academic performance, and student well-being are widely reported anecdotally by teachers and administrators in the region.
Yet, remarkably little empirical research has directly centred the perceptions of senior secondary school students themselves in examining this problem. Most existing studies in the Nigerian context focus on teacher attitudes and practices (Owolabi, 2020), language policy implementation fidelity (Nwachukwu & Okeke, 2021), or academic achievement outcomes (Okafor, 2022), without systematically capturing the subjective experiences, evaluations, and attitudes of the students who are most directly affected by the English-only policy. This is a significant gap, because educational policies that ignore the perspectives of their primary beneficiaries risk reproducing the very inequalities they aim to address (Ruiz, 1984; Hornberger & Johnson, 2007).
Furthermore, Aba Metropolis, despite its educational and demographic significance in Abia State, has received relatively little focused attention in language-in-education research. Most South-East Nigeria-based studies have concentrated on Enugu or Anambra states (Okafor, 2022; Nwachukwu & Okeke, 2021), leaving an important empirical gap regarding students’ experiences in Aba’s public schools. This study addresses this gap by systematically investigating senior secondary school students’ perceptions of the implementation of English as the sole medium of instruction across all subjects in selected public schools in Aba Metropolis.
1.3 Objectives of the Study
The broad objective of this study is to investigate senior secondary school students’ perceptions of the implementation of English as the sole medium of instruction across all subjects in selected public schools in Aba Metropolis, Abia State. Specifically, the study seeks to:
i. Determine the extent to which senior secondary school students in Aba Metropolis perceive English-only instruction as beneficial to their academic learning.
ii. Examine students’ perceptions of the challenges they face when learning all subjects through the medium of English.
iii. Ascertain students’ perceptions of the impact of English-only instruction on their understanding and performance in non-language subjects.
iv. Find out whether students’ perceptions of English-only instruction differ based on gender, class level, and school location within Aba Metropolis.
v. Identify students’ preferred approaches to language use in the classroom for effective learning.
1.4 Research Questions
The following research questions guide the study:
- To what extent do senior secondary school students in Aba Metropolis perceive English-only instruction as beneficial to their academic learning?
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What challenges do students perceive when learning all subjects through the medium of English?
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What are students’ perceptions of the impact of English-only instruction on their understanding and performance in non-language subjects?
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Do students’ perceptions of English-only instruction differ significantly based on gender, class level, and school location within Aba Metropolis?
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What classroom language use approaches do students prefer for effective learning?
1.5 Research Hypotheses
The following null hypotheses are formulated to guide the study:
HO1: There is no significant difference in senior secondary school students’ perceptions of English-only instruction based on gender.
HO2: There is no significant difference in students’ perceptions of English-only instruction based on class level (SS1, SS2, and SS3).
HO3: There is no significant difference in students’ perceptions of the impact of English-only instruction on academic understanding based on school location within Aba Metropolis.
HO4: There is no significant relationship between students’ perceived challenges of English-only instruction and their preferred classroom language practices.
1.6 Significance of the Study
This study carries both theoretical and practical significance. Theoretically, it contributes to the growing body of multilingual education research by centring the voices and perspectives of secondary school students in a South-East Nigerian urban context a group that has been systematically underrepresented in language policy scholarship. By applying a student-centred framework to language-in-education research, the study extends and enriches theoretical discussions on the relationship between medium of instruction, learner perception, and educational equity.
Practically, the findings of this study will be of direct relevance to educational policymakers in Abia State and at the federal level who are responsible for reviewing and refining Nigeria’s language-in-education policy. Specifically, the data generated will provide empirically grounded insights into the lived experiences of students under the current English-only policy, which can inform decisions about whether and how to incorporate multilingual or bilingual instructional approaches in public secondary schools. School administrators and teachers in Aba Metropolis will also benefit from the findings, as the study will illuminate specific subject areas and grade levels where the English-only policy is perceived as most challenging, enabling targeted pedagogical interventions. Parents, civil society organisations, and language rights advocates will likewise find the study’s findings useful in advancing policy conversations about linguistic inclusion in Nigerian public education.
1.7 Scope of the Study
This study is delimited to senior secondary school students (SS1–SS3) in selected public secondary schools in Aba Metropolis, Abia State, Nigeria. It focuses specifically on students’ perceptions of the implementation of English as the sole medium of instruction across all subjects, including both language arts subjects (English Language and Literature) and non-language subjects (Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry, Economics, and others). The study does not include private secondary schools, primary schools, or tertiary institutions. It is also geographically limited to Aba Metropolis, comprising Aba North and Aba South local government areas, and does not seek to generalise findings to the broader Abia State or Nigeria without appropriate caution. The study covers the 2024–2025 academic year.
1.8 Definition of Key Terms
The following key terms are operationally defined for the purpose of this study:
Medium of Instruction (MOI): The language used by teachers to deliver content and by students to engage with academic material across all subjects in a school setting.
English as Sole Medium of Instruction: A policy wherein English is the only language officially permitted and used for teaching, learning, and academic assessment in all subjects at the secondary school level, to the exclusion of other languages.
Perception: In this study, perception refers to students’ subjective evaluations, attitudes, beliefs, and emotional responses toward the English-only instruction policy and its effects on their learning.
Senior Secondary School Students: Students enrolled in classes SS1, SS2, or SS3 (equivalent to grades 10, 11, and 12) in Nigerian public secondary schools, typically between the ages of 15 and 18.
Public Schools: Government-owned and government-funded secondary schools under the administration of the Abia State Ministry of Education.
Aba Metropolis: The urban commercial centre of Abia State, Nigeria, comprising the Aba North and Aba South local government areas.
Code-switching: The practice of alternating between two or more languages or language varieties within a single conversational exchange or instructional episode.
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