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Mother Tongue Word Order Competence and Second Language Writing Skills: A Case Study of Acoli and English


LD Akello

Abstract

This paper reports the findings of a study that delved into the relationship between mother tongue (L1) word order competence and second language (L2) writing skills, taking the case of Acoli and English respectively. It reports that, triggered by concerns that schools that instruct their pupils in L1 before introducing L2 perform worse than those that use L2 from the start, the study involved the administration of a test of L1 word order competence and L2 writing skills to 177 pupils of primary four, selected from Gulu District of Uganda. Using the Pearson Product Moment Correlation test, the scores on L1 word order competence were correlated with those on L2 writing skills. The findings were that there is a signifi cant relationship between the variables (r=.813, p.=.000). Therefore, it is
recommended that the Ministry of Education and Sports, as well as other stakeholders, promote the adoption of L1 as a medium of instruction in the early grades.

Key words: Medium of Instruction; Language Education; Mother Tongue; Acoli

Journal Identifiers


eISSN: 2070-1748
print ISSN: 2070-1748