By Ayo Arowojolu
An eminent expert in the area of Communication and Teaching English as a Second Language, Prof. Helen Bodunde has lamented the hangover effect of what she called wrong foundation in Nigeria’s education system.
Delivering the 91st Inaugural Lecture of the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB), the scholar summarized that such wrong foundation manifests in the learning of language currently pervading the three levels of education in Nigeria, namely, Primary, Secondary and Tertiary tiers.
The Lecture was titled: “Eliminating the Avoidable Gulf Between Knowledge and Development”.
Bodunde, a professor in the Department of Communication and General Studies at the Institution, reeled out a number of constraints to learning capable of providing knowledge for development purposes, expressing pain in the defeatist assumption that English being a foreign language must be difficult.
Such constraints she said included, unfriendly learning environment, lack of resources and resourcefulness, acute underfunding of language course and nonchalant attitude of learners, all of which inhibit bridging the gap between knowledge and development.
As a solutions strategy, she canvassed that the language of education must be revisited to review transitional bilingual education while teacher development at all levels should be more intensive in such a way that language teachers’ competence will not be in doubt.
She also advocated that Contrastive Analysis should be a compulsory course for language teachers in training at all levels while listening skill should be taught at all levels of education to students.
Prof. Bodunde also made a case for all institutions of learning to establish language laboratories as a way of promoting language learning in order to ensure Socio-Economic development and promotion of healthy life and environment.
Such language laboratories should be powered by electricity in electronic and face-to-face classrooms to drive the media resources for learning.
She however said such laboratories should be small size classrooms in learning environment as she said large class size is a bane to studying language.
“Language laboratories promote language learning. All institutions should establish the laboratory for the use of students and staff. This could provide prophylactic and curative treatments”, she suggested.
