The Role of Mother Tongue in Early Childhood Education

Abstract

The importance of education to humanity can never be over emphasized; it is against this backdrop that emphasis is being laid on the education of   a child who is the future leader.

Government at all levels and organizations all over the world have reiterated their commitment in education, especially that  of children and youths ,but in doing so effectively ,attention must also be given to the medium of instruction, determining what language will be used to teach the students  is one of the important factors to be considered in childhood education. Many researchers, educationists and other stakeholders have spent enormous time, energy and resources enumerating and emphasizing the importance of education to the child with little emphasis on the medium of instruction. This paper seeks to raise the level of consciousness with regards to the important  role mother tongue plays in early education of a child.

Keywords: the notion of language, medium of instruction, mother tongue, the role mother tongue in childhood education.