The Role of Mother tongue on the Development of English Early Literacy Skills among Pre-Primary Children in Gasabo District, Rwanda

Abstract

The study aimed to investigate the role of Kinyarwanda as mother tongue on the development of English early literacy skills among pre-primary children in Gasabo district. The study used a descriptive research design where a census approach ensured that there is no sampling error since data was collected from the entire population. The population consisted of pre-primary children in Gasabo district. A total of 99 children were selected from 3 sampled schools, including Umuco Mwiza School, GS Kimironko and GS Gicaca 1. The schools were from Kimironko and Gikomero sectors. The two sectors were selected purposively to represent other sectors in Gasabo sector. Therefore, with the inclusion criteria of schools with teachers certified to teach in nurseries, we remained with only those 3 schools (2 schools from Kimironko sector and 1 school from Gikomero sector). The researcher used a questionnaire to collect data. Thus, a critical review was conducted to aid in identifying the appropriateness of the instrument to be used in this study. The questionnaire had three sections: Learners’ Pronunciation Fluency, Learners’ Grammar Proficiency and Learners’ Literacy Performance. Each of the research question’s data was analyzed using frequencies and percentages. In this case, the study used a test score to measure how well the pre-primary children answered the given test in each of the sections of the questionnaire in relation to English early literacy skills. The section of the questionnaire on grammar proficiency was marked out of 20 marks and the rest of the sections were marked out of 15 marks each. The scores had an interval of 5. Based on the findings of the study, the researcher concluded that Kinyarwanda as mother tongue plays a very positive role on the development of English pronunciation fluency among pre-primary children. The actual implementation of the English language policy in pre-primary helped the learners improve their pronunciation of English sounds based on their home background use of Kinyarwanda as mother tongue. The researcher further concluded that Kinyarwanda as mother tongue had a negative role on the development of English early literacy skills in terms of grammar proficiency because there is still direct transfer of rules from Kinyarwanda to English which leads to wrong English grammar proficiency. Lastly, Kinyarwanda’s role as mother tongue led to relatively low performance in English literacy performance. A bigger percentage of learners that did the test got less marks compared to the overall number of learners that sat for the test. In relation to the study findings, the study recommends the following: In reinforcing the positive role of Kinyarwanda as mother tongue on the development of English pronunciation fluency among pre-primary children, the use of Kinyarwanda in children’s homes should be emphasized and incorporated into early education. This will shape young children’s English pronunciation fluency. On the role of Kinyarwanda as mother tongue on the development of English grammar proficiency of pre-primary children, the negative role of direct transfer of rules from Kinyarwanda to English which leads to wrong English grammar proficiency should be corrected by educators prioritizing the introduction and teaching of irregular English forms, such as verb forms, prepositions, and plurals, at an early stage. Utilizing appropriate teaching methods like phonics and whole word approaches can help learners identify differences between Kinyarwanda and English. Lastly, on the role of Kinyarwanda as mother tongue on the development of English literacy performance of pre-primary children, the Ministry of Education should raise awareness among parents and guardians about the importance of providing sufficient reading materials and references in Kinyarwanda. This will help young children to establish a strong local language foundation, hence improving their English literacy performance at an early stage. Additionally, efforts should be made to document the orthographies of local languages in various districts and establish resources like reference materials and reading texts in Kinyarwanda.