Challenges facing Teaching and learning of Nigerian Indigenous languages in the 21st century

Abstract

The 21st century is a century of great possibilities with the compression of the world into a global village. Language which is very vital in every human endeavour is used as a powerful tool in this age in E-Teaching and learning, E-trading etc. Every field of human endeavor involves the use of language in both oral and written form. Languages of wider usage like English Language and French are waxing stronger by the day due to the fact that their knowledge and acquisition is becoming more imperative by the day. The hydra headed multilingual landscape coupled with multi ethnic and cultural leaning and sentiments attached to the issue of language makes the situation to be a very delicate matter. Coupled with this is the low premium attached to the Nigerian indigenous languages which has made enrollment figure to drop. The government’s failure to enforce a strict compliance of its language policy in education in the face of daily flouting of the policy added to the low esteem accorded to Nigerian languages. It is therefore in the face of this worrisome trend that the paper seeks to examine some of the challenges facing the teaching and learning of Nigerian indigenous languages and the way forward. The paper concludes that ideally as Nigeria grows and develops, her indigenous languages should also develop with it