INFLUENCE OF FIRST LANGUAGE LITEREACY SKILLS ON SECOND LANGUAGE

LITERACY SKILLS: A STUDY OF A PRIMARY SCHOOL, CAPE COAST

ABSTRACT

The general purpose of the study is to investigate the influence of pupils’ first language

(L1) literacy skills on second language (L2) literacy skills. Specifically, it is to find out how: the

use of first language literacy skills influence pupils reading skills in the second language the use

of first language literacy skills influence pupils speaking skills in the second language, and the use

of the first language literacy skills influence pupils writing skills in the second language. Purposive

sampling technique was employed to select sixty-eight (68) Lower Primary pupils and seven (7)

teachers of the Amamoma Basic School in the Cape Coast Metropolis. Questionnaire and

observation guide were the instruments and frequency, percentage and means were used to analyze

data from the field. The study revealed that the use of first literacy language skills influenced pupils

reading skills in the second language and that if teachers are to use it appropriately pupils reading

skills could improve. The study found out that speaking skills of pupils in the second language is

influenced by the first language literacy skills and teachers should continuously adopt the first

language skills to improve upon pupils speaking. The study again found out that writing skills in

the second language was not influenced in their first language literacy skills. The study

recommended that teachers should be encouraged to use pupils mother tongue to as the foundation

to transfer learning from the first language to the second language. Again, teachers should be

encouraged to adopt appropriate language literacy skills in the first language to transfer into the

second language.
 INTRODUCTION

Background to the Study

Language learning begins at birth, but many children do not receive the ongoing

experiences that support this learning (Snow, 1998). Children’s language and literacy development

may be negatively affected by factors, including poverty, limited English proficiency, visual,

hearing, and language impairments; cognitive deficiencies; and parents who have had difficulty

reading (National Early Literacy Panel, 2008; Snow, 1998).

Strong language skills are essential for children’s success in school and life (Hart & Risley,

2003; Heath & Hogben, 2004; Jalongo, 2008; Kalmar, 2008), and one of the best predictors of

educational and life-skills competency is the level to which a child progresses in reading and

writing (Neuman, Copple, & Bredekamp, 2000). Effective instruction in the early years can have

a large impact on children’s language and literacy development, and children at risk of school

failure stand to benefit the most from high-quality experiences (Campbell, Ramey, Pungello,

Sparling, & Miller-Johnson, 2002). Without such instruction, differences in children’s

understanding and use of language can vary enormously by age 3 (Copple & Bredekemp, 2009;

Strickland & Shanahan, 2004).

Given that language and literacy develop during a child’s first five years, early childhood

educators need to make a conscious effort to intentionally plan activities and experiences that

optimize conditions for children to acquire positive attitudes, skills, and knowledge about language

and literacy. The study according to Neuman, Copple, and Bredekamp, (2000) tells us that a

teacher’s role is critical to a child’s learning and that teachers can inspire children to read, write,

and learn through thoughtful planning and developmentally appropriate literacy instruction.
 The issue of the use of pupils' first language (L1) literacy skills and second language (L2)

literacy skills has been debated for many years (Cook, 2001; Wells, 1999). Steven Krashen, with

his Natural Approach to language acquisition, proposed that pupils learn their second language

much in the same way that they learn their first, and that L2 is best learned through massive

amounts of exposure to the language with limited time spent using L1 (Tang, 2002). However, in

recent years, focus has been shifting towards inclusion of L1 in the language classroom. Research

has shown that the occasional use of L1 by both pupils and teachers increases both comprehension

and learning of L2 (Cook, 2001; Tang, 2002; Wells, 1999).

Teachers often use L1 in beginning and intermediate classes to give instructions, explain

meanings of words, explain complex ideas, and explain complex grammar points (Tang, 2002).

Many teachers find that the use of some L1 provides more time to practice L2 because

understanding is achieved much more rapidly. The key with teacher use of L1 is that it be used for

clarification purposes, after an attempt has been made to communicate ideas in L2 and pupils still

appear to be confused. The idea is that L1 serves a "supportive and facilitating role in the

classroom" (Tang, 2002), and not that it is the primary language of communication. L1 use also

allows pupils to become more aware of the similarities and differences between cultures and

linguistic structures, and thus may improve the accuracy of translations. Finding cognates and

similarities between languages builds up "interlinked L1 and L2 knowledge in the pupils' minds"

(Cook, 2001).

Reading, writing, speaking and listening in both first and second language contexts

involves the reader, speaker, the text, and the interaction between the reader and text (Singhal,

1998). Reading, writing, speaking and listening in Ll shares numerous important basic elements

with reading, writing listening and speaking in a second or foreign language, and on the other hand
the processes also differ greatly (Wells, 1999). Reading, writing, listening and speaking in both

the contexts require knowledge of content, form, and linguistic schema (Singhal, 1998). Readers

use mental activities in order to construct meanings from text. These activities are generally

referred to as reading strategies or reading skills. Successful Ll and L2 readers consciously and

unconsciously engage in specific behaviours to enhance their comprehension of text. Reading

comprehension involves multiple cognitive processes and that are related to each other (Horiba,

1996). The processes include recognizing letter, characters, and words; analyzing the Syntactic

and semantic structure of clauses and sentences, and generating inferences.

Second or foreign language learner uses first language knowledge and various strategies to

facilitate their learning of target language (i.e., speaking, reading, and writing). This phenomenon

is known as language transfer (Benson, 2002). Transfer occurs consciously as a deliberate

communication strategy, where there is a gap in the learner's knowledge; and unconsciously either

because the correct form is not known or because, although it has been learned, it has not been

completely automatized (Benson, 2002). According to Chomsky's (1979) universal grammar

theory, humans produce language through a deep structure that enables them to generate and

transfer their own grammar to any other language (Lakshmanan, 1994). As people learn languages,

they develop certain skills. They naturally transfer the skills learned in the first language (LI) to

the second language (L2). O'Malley and Chamot (1990) define transfer as "the use of previous

linguistic or prior skills to assist comprehension or production" (p.20). This indicates that while

reading or writing in second language, learners transfer their first language knowledge or skills.

This transfer process may either support (positive transfer) or detract (negative transfer) from

learning.

Statement of the Problem

 Amamoma, Kwaprow, and Apewosika Primary Schools in the Cape Coast Metropolis are

examples of schools where L1 and L2 are used with an English immersion programme where

pupils are exposed to English from their first year of school. From kindergarten to Primary three

(P3), pupils receive all classes in English, except Fante (L1). During the first years in immersion

schools, pupils face academic content in a language they have never been exposed to before,

making the learning process a challenge.

As second language learners use different strategies to facilitate their comprehension and

production (i.e., reading, speaking and writing) and transfer of first language skills or knowledge

is one of those, it is vital to examine whether transfer plays a positive or negative role on reading,

writing and speaking in second language. As comprehension -the learning stage, comes before

production, it is natural that transfer in production occurs after transfer influences learning. So it

is important to focus on the stage at which transfer occurs first (i.e., comprehension) thus there

will be a better chance to understand how Fante (Ll) influences the learning of English Language,

especially reading, speaking and writing context. On the other hand, as literacy is composed of

many component skills, such as reading, speaking and writing need to be carefully assessed in both

Ll and L2 in order to trace the development in Fante (Ll) and English language (L2) (August,

Calderon & Carlo, 2000). Moreover, the study of language transfer strategies may help us to better

understand the positive influence first language knowledge has in the processes of reading in

another language. It has been found that the use of first language in the second-language classroom

helps pupils make connections with their existing knowledge of the mother tongue, facilitating the

process of understanding (August, Calderon & Carlo, 2000). Research suggests that the first

language should not be banned in the use of second-language but that neither should its use be

constantly encouraged, otherwise the mother tongue may replace the target language rather than
support it and it is for this reasons the researcher want to investigate into finding the influence of

first language (L1) literacy skills on second language (L2) literacy skills (August, 2000).

Purpose of the study

The general purpose of the study is to investigate the influence of pupils’ first language

(L1) literacy skills on second language (L2) literacy skills. Specifically, it is to find out how:

1. the use of first language literacy skills influence pupils reading skills in the second

language.

2. the use of first language literacy skills influence pupils speaking skills in the second

language.

3. the use of the first language literacy skills influence pupils writing skills in the second

language.

Research Questions

The study seeks to address the following questions related to the problem.

1. How does the use of the first language literacy skills influence pupils reading skills in the

second language?

2. How does the use of the first language literacy skills influence pupils speaking skills in the

second-language?

3. How does the use of the first language literacy skills influence pupils writing skills in the

second-language?

Significance of the Study

Findings from the study will also add to research on the influence of the use of L1 on

pupils’ literacy skill on L2 in the Cape Coast Metropolis. The researcher hoped that the outcome
of the study would urge other teachers and educationists to adopt the use of L1 as it improves the

performance of pupils in the use of L2, and come out with other appropriate suggestion to the

educational planners as well as other fellow teachers in general.

Again, the study could also be of great value to policy maker such as Ministry of Education

(MOE), Ghana Education Service (GES) and curriculum developers in education in designing

modern instructional strategies in language development and approaches for adoption by teachers

and prospective teachers as a complement to the traditional methods of instruction.

Scope of the Study

The study focused on the use of L1 as it influences pupils’ language literacy skills in the

use of the L2. Again, the study will be a case study focused on pupils in Primary Schools in the

Cape Coast Metropolis because case study enables participants to describe their actions which the

researcher identified the problem with.

Definition of Terms

Language Skills: Language skills are a set of four capabilities (i.e. reading, writing, speaking and

listening) that allows an individual to comprehend and produce spoken language for proper and

effective interpersonal communication.

First language: First language also known as the mother tongue or native language is a language a

person is exposed to from birth.

Second language: Second language is a language that is not the native language of the speaker, but

that is used in the locale of that person.

Language transfer: Second or foreign language learner uses first language knowledge and various

strategies to facilitate their learning of target language (i.e., speaking, reading, and writing) in the

second language.
 METHODOLOGY

Introduction
 This chapter is focused research design, population, sample and sampling procedure,

research instrument, data collection procedure and data analysis procedure.

Research Design

The study adopted a case study design. According to Yin (2003) a case study design should

be considered when: the focus of the study is to answer “how” and “why” questions; you cannot

manipulate the behaviour of those involved in the study; you want to cover contextual conditions

because you believe they are relevant to the phenomenon under study; or the boundaries are not

clear between the phenomenon and context.

In case study design, the participants are able to describe their views of reality and this

enables the researchers to better understand the participants’ actions (Robottom& Hart, 1993). One

of the advantages of this approach is the close collaboration between the researcher and the

participant, while enabling participants to tell their stories (Crabtree & Miller, 1999).

The strengths of this design are it helps the researcher to study individual behaviours. It

also provides an orderly framework for solving problems identified by the researcher. It also

provides a platform for the researcher to monitor the changing rates in behaviour patterns of the

people understudy (Borgia & Schuler, 1996).

A great set back in the use of case study research is that the procedure used in solving a

problem at one locality may not work successfully within another locality; hence results obtained

cannot be generalized.

Population

According to Mason (2007), the population of a study is the collection of all possible

individuals, objects or measurements of interest. The population of the study were pupils and their
teachers of Amamoma Basic School in the Cape Coast Metropolis. Thus, the target population for

the study was Lower Primary pupils with their teachers of the Amamoma Basic School.

Sample and Sampling Procedures

The study will cover pupils in lower Primary of Amamoma Basic School. Lower Primary

pupils consisting of kindergarten to primary three (P3) were selected as the sample for this study.

The sampling procedure that was used was purposive sampling. This is because the participants’

whose opinions are taught to be relevant to the study was purposively chosen for this study. This

way, all the Lower Primary pupils with their teachers of the Amamoma Basic School in the Cape

Coast Metropolis will be purposively chosen. With regards to the sample size that was chosen,

sixty-eight (68) pupils and seven (7) teacher were selected.

Research Instruments

Research instruments that was used to collect data in this study are described herein.

Questionnaires for teachers and observation guide for both teachers and pupils was used for the

data collection. Questionnaire consists of sections A, B and C. Section A sought information on

the use of the first language literacy skills influencing pupils reading skills in the second language,

Section B sought information on the use of the first language literacy skills influencing pupils

speaking skills in the second language and Section C also sought information on the use of the first

language literacy skills influence on pupils writing skills in the second language. The items in the

questionnaire will be developed through researcher’s experience, input from supervisors and the

relevant literature review. The observation guide will also be developed by the researcher and

supervised by the researcher supervisor. Items on the observation guide was relevant to the

literature reviewed in this study.

Data Analysis Procedure

 Analysis of data was based on the research questions. The data was analyzed using

descriptive statistics such as mean, frequency and percentages, and presented using tables.

According to Gay (1996), when making the results known to a variety of readers, simple

descriptive statistics such as mean, frequency and percentages have a considerable advantage over

more complex statistics.

RESULTS AND FINDINGS

Overview

The chapter presents the data collected during the study. The data shows the distribution

of frequencies, percentages and means of responses by teachers and pupils. The researcher guest

to gather evidence on the influence of pupils’ first language literacy skills on their reading skills;

speaking skills and writing skills in the second-language.

Table 1: Responses on Length of Teaching Experience

Years of teaching Experience Frequency (f) Percentage (%)

1-5 1 10

6-10 3 30

11-15 3 30

16-20 2 20

20-25 1 10

26 and above 0 0

Total 10 100.0

Table 1 shows that out of 7 (100%) teachers involved the study, 2(28.5%) teachers have

had 1 to 5 years teaching experience, 1(14.3%) teacher have had 6 – 10 years and 21 – 25 years

teaching experiences. 3 (42.9%) teachers have had 11 – 20 years teaching experiences.

Results from Table 1 shows that, most of the teachers have had teaching experiences and

according to Tang (2002) teachers teaching experiences influence their teaching and transfer of

language skill in L1 to L2.

Influence of Mother Tongue on Pupils Reading Skills

The study sought to find out from teachers their response on whether the language skills

used influence pupils reading skills. Table 2 summarizes the findings.

Table 2: Teachers’ Responses on Influence of Mother Tongue on Pupils Reading Skills

 Reasons Yes No

(f) (%) (f) (%)

Language skills used by teachers 5 71.4 2 28.6

influence pupils reading skills

Table 2 shows that 5(71.4%) teachers indicated that the language skills used in the L1

influenced their pupils reading skills in the L2 while 2 (28.6%) teachers indicated that the language

used in the classroom did not influence pupils reading skills in English. These findings show that

language used by teachers influenced pupils’ reading skills in English. Therefore, since the

prevalence of switching language is high as indicated earlier, then this influence reading skills of

pupils of Amamoma Primary School. Kolawole (2002) has a similar view when he talks about the

language that teachers use and argues that some students do not understand grammar because their

teachers themselves do not know it and, in most cases, English language teachers in the primary

and junior secondary schools resort to the use of mother tongue to teach (code switching); this

leads to poor performance of English. Therefore, the findings imply that language used by teachers

in classroom influences pupils reading skills in the English language.

Furthermore, the study asked various questions to find out how the use of L1 influences

pupils reading skills, majority of the teachers who responded yes to the influence of mother tongue

on pupils reading skills argued that use of mother tongue help their pupils identify words correctly

which makes reading in the L2 easier. This concurs with Dulay and Burt (1982) who studied the

area of native language and found that majority of students believed that there is interference of

mother tongue on the target language. They further considered interference as the automatic
transfer, due to habit, of the surface structure of the first language onto the surface of the target

language. These findings therefore demonstrate that use of mother tongue influences performance

of English.

Table 3: Teachers’ Response to Pupils Reading Skills

Statements Mean

Pupils who use mother tongue read better in English 0.6

Pupils who use English read better in English

0.5
Use of mother tongue reading skills play a vital role in pupils
0.7
reading skills in English

Use of mother tongue does not influence reading skills in English 0.4

Use of mother tongue influences reading skills in English 0.6

Table 3 shows that use of mother tongue does not influence pupils reading skills in English

had the least mean of 0.4 while pupils who use mother tongue read better in English, use of L1

reading skills play a vital role in pupils reading skill in English had a mean greater than 0.5.

Results from Table indicate that, most teachers agreed that the use of L1 reading skills

influenced pupils reading skills in the L2. Again, some teachers also agreed that the pupils who

also use English also read better in English. These findings show that reading performance in

English is influenced when teachers use mother tongue. This agrees with Setati et al (2002) who

argues that when a teacher uses mother tongue or code switches in class the pupils may understand

or access meaning at the expense of linguistic grammatical concepts, thus influencing performance

of English. Teachers’ use of mother tongue leads to persistence of errors that come from first
language (mother tongue) shown through direct translation; this has adverse influences

performance of English.

Again, majority 5 (71.4%) teachers also described pupils mother tongue as pupils speak

better since the use mother tongue had been introduced pupils from their homes. Most teachers

also described their pupils reading skills in English as good when teachers use correctly the

appropriate approach and skills in the L1 to transfer the skills acquired into the L2. According to

Chomsky's (1979) universal grammar theory, humans produce language through a deep structure

that enables them to generate and transfer their own grammar to any other language (Lakshmanan,

1994). As people learn languages, they develop certain skills. They naturally transfer the skills

learned in the first language (LI) to the second language (L2). O'Malley and Chamot (1990) define

transfer as the use of previous linguistic or prior skills to assist comprehension or production. This

indicates that while reading or writing in second language, learners transfer their first language

knowledge or skills.

Influence of Mother Tongue on Pupils Speaking Skills

The study sought to find out teachers’ response on whether the language skills used

influence pupils speaking skills. Table 4 summarizes the findings.

Table 4: Teachers’ Response on Influence of Mother Tongue on Pupils Speaking Skills

Reasons Yes No

(f) (%) (f) (%)

Language skills used by teachers influence 6 85.7 1 14.3

pupils speaking skills

 Table 4 shows that 6(85.7%) teachers indicated that the language skills used in the L1

influenced their pupils speaking skills in the L2 while 1 (14.3%) teacher indicated that the language

used in the classroom did not influence their pupils speaking skills in L2.

Results from Table 4 shows that majority 6(85.7%) teacher support that the L1 language

skills influences pupils’ L2 language literacy skills. This according to Kolawole (2002), and Dulay

and Burt (1982) who are of similar view that when teachers use language students do not

understand their students find it difficult to also understand because in most cases English language

teachers in the primary and junior secondary schools resort to the use of mother tongue to teach

(code switching); this leads to poor performance of English.

Table 5: Teachers’ Response to Pupils Speaking Skills

Statements Mean

Pupils who use mother tongue speak better in English 0.7

Pupils who use English speak better in English

0.8
Use of mother tongue speaking skills play a vital role in pupils speaking
0.6
skills in English

Use of mother tongue does not influence speaking skills in English 0.5

Use of mother tongue influences speaking skills in English

0.6
 Table 5 shows that, use of mother tongue influence pupils speaking skills in English, pupils

who use mother tongue speak better in English, use of mother tongue skills play a vital role in

pupils reading skill in English had a mean greater than 0.5.

Results from Table indicate that, most teachers agreed that the use of L1 speaking skills

influenced pupils speaking skills in the L2. Again, some teachers also agreed that the pupils who

also use English also speak better in English. This agrees with Setati et al (2002) who argues that

when a teacher uses mother tongue or code switches in class the pupils may understand or access

meaning at the expense of linguistic grammatical concepts, thus influencing performance of

English. Teachers’ use of mother tongue leads to persistence of errors that come from first

language (mother tongue) shown through direct translation; this has adverse influences

performance of English.

Again, majority 6 (85.7%) teachers also described pupils mother tongue as pupils speak

better since the use mother tongue had been introduced pupils from their homes. Most teachers

also described their pupils speaking skills in English as better when teachers use correctly the

appropriate approach and skills in the L1 to transfer the skills acquired into the L2. Agaian,

according to Chomsky's (1979) universal grammar theory, humans produce language through a

deep structure that enables them to generate and transfer their own grammar to any other language

(Lakshmanan, 1994). As people learn languages, they develop certain skills. They naturally

transfer the skills learned in the first language (LI) to the second language (L2). O'Malley and

Chamot (1990) define transfer as the use of previous linguistic or prior skills to assist

comprehension or production. This indicates that while reading or writing in second language,

learners transfer their first language knowledge or skills.

Influence of Mother Tongue on Pupils Writing Skills

 The study sought to find out from teachers their response on whether the language skills

used influence pupils writing skills. Table 6 summarizes the findings.

Table 6: Teachers’ Responses on Influence of Mother Tongue on Pupils Writing Skills

Reasons Yes No

(f) (%) (f) (%)

Language skills used by teachers 3 42.9 4 57.1

influence pupils writing skills

Table 6 shows that 3(42.9%) teachers indicated that the language skills used in the L1

influenced their pupils writing skills in the L2 while 4 (57.1%) teachers indicated that the language

used in the classroom failed to influence pupils writing skills in English. The finding shows that

language used by teachers did not influenced pupils’ writing skills in English. Therefore, since the

prevalence of switching language is high as indicated earlier, then these influences reading skills

of pupils of Amamoma Basic School. This is in contrast with Kolawole (2002) who said that the

language that teachers use language used by teachers in classroom influences pupils’ performance

in the English language.

Also, the study further asked questions to find out how the use of L1 influences pupils

writing skills, majority 4 (57.1%) teachers who responded no to the influence of mother tongue on

pupils writing skills argued that use of mother tongue only helped their pupils reading and speaking

skills in the English language. The finding therefore demonstrates that use of mother tongue did

not influence performance of pupils in writing in English.

Table 7: Teachers’ Response to Pupils Writing Skills

 Statements Mean

Pupils who use mother tongue write better in English 0.3

Pupils who use English write better in English

0.8
Use of mother tongue writing skills play a vital role in pupils writing
0.2
skills in English

Use of mother tongue does not influence writing skills in English 0.7

Use of mother tongue influences writing skills in English

0.4

Table 7 shows that, use of mother tongue influence pupils writing skills in English, use of

L1 reading skills play a vital role in pupils writing skills in English had means less than 0.5 while

pupils who use English write better in English and the use of mother tongue does not influences

pupils writing skills had means greater than 0.5.

Results from Table indicate that, most teachers agreed that the use of L1 writing skills

failed to influence pupils writing skills in the L2. Again, some teachers also agreed that the pupils

who also use English write better in English. The result shows that writing performance in English

is influenced when teachers use the skills in L2. This is not in line with Setati et al (2002) who

argue that when a teacher uses mother tongue or code switches in class the pupils may understand

or access meaning at the expense of linguistic grammatical concepts, thus influencing performance

of English.

Again, majority 4 (57.1%) teachers also described pupils mother tongue as it does not

influence writing since writing teacher always fail to introduce writing in the L1. O'Malley and

Chamot (1990) define transfer as the use of previous linguistic or prior skills to assist
comprehension or production. This indicates that while reading or writing in second language,

learners transfer their first language knowledge or skills but teachers of Amamoma Primary School

fail to introduce their pupils to writing in the mother tongue.

Key Findings

The following were the key findings:

The study found out that the use of first literacy language skills influenced pupils reading

skills in the second language and that if teachers are to use it appropriately pupils reading skills

could improve. The use of first language literacy skills is important as it use influence second

language literacy skills of pupils. Reading, speaking and writing in the first language is plays

numerous roles as they help in the transfer of the skills into the second language. Reading in the

second language is largely influenced by pupils’ ability to read better in the second language and

that teacher should use the skills to improve their pupils reading abilities.

The study revealed that speaking skills of pupils in the second language is influenced by

the first language literacy skills and teachers should continuously adopt the first language skills to

improve upon pupils speaking. Speaking skills of pupils in the second language as indicated by

teachers is also influenced by pupils’ abilities to speak well in their first language and that teachers

should use pupils first language appropriately to improve pupils speaking skills.

The study again found out that writing skills in the second language was not influenced in

their first language literacy skills. The ability of pupils to writing better according to teachers in

the first language did not really play a vital role in improving pupils writing skills in the second

language and that teachers who adopt first language writing skills to improve their pupils wring

skills in the second language waste time.

Recommendations

In order to improve pupils second language literacy skills, the study made the following

recommendations;

1. Teachers should be encouraged to use pupils mother tongue to as the foundation to transfer

learning from the first language to the second language.

2. Teachers should be encouraged to adopt appropriately the reading skills in the first

language to transfer into the second language.

3. Speaking skills in the first language should be encouraged by teachers as they serve as the

basis for acquisition of speaking skills in second language.

4. Teachers should be discouraged from wasting time to employ first language writing skills

into the second language writing skills.

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UNIVERSITY OF CAPE COAST

COLLEGE OF EDUCATION STUDIES

DEPARTMENT OF BASIC EDUCATION

Dear Teachers,

This questionnaire is designed to gather information to assist in carrying out this research

which is part of my academic requirements for the programme in Early Childhood Education.

Kindly respond honestly by ticking the appropriate responses to the questions or information

needed. Your responses and information in the questionnaire will be confidential and anonymous.

So please do not write your name or the name of your school anywhere in the questionnaire.

Thank you very much.

 Teachers’ questionnaire

Section A: Personal Information

Please respond to the following questions

1. Your gender (tick), Male ( ) Female ( )

2. Duration of teaching, 1-5 ( ) 6-10 ( ) 11-15 ( ) 16-20 ( ) 21-25 ( ) 25 and above ( )

3. Class: Nusery ( ) KG 1 ( ) KG2 ( ) P1 ( ) P2 ( ) P3 ( )

Section A: How does the use of the first language literacy skills influence pupils reading skills in

the second language?

1. In your own opinion, does use of mother tongue (L1) influence pupils reading skills? Yes ( )

No ( )

2. If yes, explain how use of mother tongue (L1) influence pupils reading skills?

………………………………………………………………………………………

3. To what extent do you agree with the following statements? Tick appropriately

Statement Strongly Agree Undecided Disagree Strongly

agree disagree

i) Pupils who use mother

tongue read better in

English

ii) Pupils who use English read

better in English

iii) Use of mother tongue helps

pupils to read correctly in English
 iv) Use of mother tongue reading
skills play a vital role in pupils
reading skills in English

iii) Use of mother tongue

does not influence

reading skills in English

iv) Use of mother tongue

influences reading skills

in English

4. How will you describe your pupils mother tongue reading skills?

……………………………………………………………………………………………………..

5. How will you describe your pupils reading skills in English?

……………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Section B: How does the use of the first language literacy skills influence pupils speaking skills

in the second-language?

1. In your own opinion, does use of mother tongue(L1) influence pupils speaking skills? Yes ( )

No ( )

2. If yes, explain how use of mother tongue(L1) influence pupils speaking skills?

………………………………………………………………………………………

3. To what extent do you agree with the following statements? Tick appropriately
 Statement Strongly Agree Undecided Disagree Strongly

agree disagree

i) Pupils who use mother

tongue speak well in

English

ii) Pupils who use English well in

English

iii) Use of mother tongue helps

pupils to speak correctly in English

iv) Use of mother tongue speaking

skills play a vital role in pupils
speaking skills in English

iii) Use of mother tongue

does not influence

speaking skills in English

iv) Use of mother tongue

influences speaking skills

in English

4. How will you describe your pupils mother tongue speaking skills?

……………………………………………………………………………………………………..

5. How will you describe your pupils speaking skills in English?

……………………………………………………………………………………………………..
SECTION C: How does the use of the first language literacy skills influence pupils writing skills

in the second-language?

1. In your own opinion, does use of mother tongue (L1) influence pupils writing skills? Yes ( )

No ( )

2. If yes, explain how use of mother tongue(L1) influence pupils writing skills?

………………………………………………………………………………………

3. To what extent do you agree with the following statements? Tick appropriately

Statement Strongly Agree Undecided Disagree Strongly

agree disagree

i) Pupils who use mother

tongue write well in

English

ii) Pupils who use English well

write well in English

iii) Use of mother tongue helps

pupils to write clearly in English

iv) Use of mother tongue writing

skills play a vital role in pupils
writing skills in English

iii) Use of mother tongue

does not influence

writing skills in English

 iv) Use of mother tongue

influences writing skills

in English

4. How will you describe your pupils mother tongue writing skills?

……………………………………………………………………………………………………..

5. How will you describe your pupils writing skills in English?

……………………………………………………………………………………………………..

UNIVERSITY OF CAPE COAST

COLLEGE OF EDUCATION STUDIES

DEPARTMENT OF BASIC EDUCATION

Observation Guide

1. Every task is connected with the previous one in L1 and L2?

………………………………………………………………………………………………
2. Teacher speaks more than the pupils in L1?
………………………………………………………………………………………………
3. Teacher speaks more than the pupils in L2?
………………………………………………………………………………………………
4. Is the lesson receptive (reading, listening)?
………………………………………………………………………………………………
5. Is the lesson productive (writing, speaking)?
………………………………………………………………………………………………
6. Teacher provides an appropriate setting that strongly supports the teaching of the
language?
………………………………………………………………………………………………
7. Teacher primarily uses English to explain the activities?
………………………………………………………………………………………………
8. Pupils use English for asking questions or for clarification?
………………………………………………………………………………………………
9. Themes used allow the pupils to be interested in practicing language skills?
………………………………………………………………………………………………
10. Teacher integrates the four skills in L1?
………………………………………………………………………………………………