EFFECT OF MOTHER TONGUE ON LANGUAGE ACQUISITION AMONG CHILDREN WITH LEARNING DISABILITY IN OTANA INTEGRATED SCHOOL JOS NORTH, PLATEAU STATE

Abstract

This study examined the effect of mother tongue on language acquisition among children with learning disability in Otana Integrated School, Jos North, Plateau State. The study investigate whether mother tongue have effect on language acquisition among children with learning disability in Otana Integrated School, three research question were generated for the study and data collected for the testing the assumption were analyzed by the use of simple percentage in order to obtain responses to the questionnaire items were formulated for pupils to find out the effect of mother tongue on language acquisition among children with learning disability, the population of the study comprises of fifty six pupils and four facilitators, ten pupils were drawn from each class and two facilitators as well. The findings revealed that mother tongue have effect on the acquisition of language among children with learning disability. Based on the findings, it was generally accepted that in teaching and learning processes, the mother tongue of the child is of utmost importance. For one thing, it categorizes a large part of the child's environment, that is, it has names for most of the objects, actions, ideas, attributes and so on that are so important to him, as well as to any society. Government and non- governmental organization should encourage students, parent and teachers to teach children with learning disability in their mother tongue, especially when things are complicated for them to assimilate or understand.