University of Reading The feasibility of sustainable Obolo Bilingual Education in Nigeria A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirement for the Degree of Doctor in Philosophy by Maria Johanna Aaron The National Centre for Language and Literacy The Institute of Education University of Reading April 2018 Declaration I confirm that this is my own work, and that the use of all material from other sources has been properly and fully acknowledged. Signed: MARIA J. AARON Date: 18 April 2018 ii Acknowledgements This study was undertaken by the grace of the Almighty who in wonderful ways directed me, arranged for all the necessary provisions, gave me all the wisdom, insight and encouragement needed, and protected and sustained me and all my loved ones, including my supervisor, through all the events of the past five and half years. I dedicate it to Him. I acknowledge with thanks the untiring efforts of my supervisor, Professor Viv Edwards, who faithfully and expertly mentored me through the whole process of the research and the writing of the thesis, despite the physical traumas she experienced during the time. I thank the members and staff of the Obolo Language and Bible Translation Organisation for their hard work and vision, and their encouragement and patience with me when I was absent for the last two years, not available for further training of the education team. I also would like to thank the people who assisted me by making the arrangements for the focus groups and interviews for this research. I specially thank our friend and mentor in our work in Nigeria, Dr. Katy Barnwell, who all through my studies each time made her home available, even when in the last one and half years she too was based in England, and we had to share the house, for longer than expected. I also thank our friend Heather Peterson, who gave us wise counsel and provided a great “cushion” for our stay in the U.K. I also would like to thank the many friends at Goring Free Church who prayed much for me and my studies, and helped me with a serious medical emergency, and in many other ways. I thank HPBC in Detroit, US, ‘t Kruispunt in Rijnsburg, the Netherlands, and ECWA Plateau Church, Nigeria for their continued financial and prayer support for me in my studies. Finally, I acknowledge the loving support of my husband and his belief in me and in this project, even though he had to travel up and down from Nigeria to England countless times, and scale the many obstacles of visas’ red tape. I am also most grateful for the love and patience of our children, and the grandchildren who were growing up while, for long periods, I was absent. iii ABSTRACT Persuaded by research that mother tongue-based bilingual education would offer a more effective and meaningful education for most Nigerian children than is possible with the current mainly English model, and therefore a better basis for human as well as economic development, this case study investigates the feasibility of using Obolo, a minority language of the Niger-Delta area of Nigeria, as a medium of instruction (in addition to English) for education, and seeks for ways to promote it. The theoretical underpinnings for this study are Bourdieu’s Linguistic Capital and Ethnolinguistic vitality theory. This study is constructivist and critical in orientation, and uses focus group interviews with Obolo parents, semi-structured interviews with officials in the State Ministries of Education over education in the area, and participant observation, to arrive at an emic point of view about the value of Obolo/mother tongue and English, especially in relation to education. It was found that education is highly important for Obolo people, and perceived as worthy of great effort and expense on the part of the parents. It is seen as the key to progress, both for individuals and their families, but also for the entire Obolo community. My focus group interviews (with 54 participants) demonstrated that the welfare of the community, identified as a feature of “traditional African communalism”, is very much in the forefront of their thinking, but also that it becomes less prominent with higher levels of education, evidence that Nigerian curriculum and pedagogies are missing this authentically African orientation to life. Findings of this case study confirm the negative attitudes to African indigenous languages, and the rising hegemony of English, the language of economic and social upward mobility, employment and education. Ambivalently, Obolo is also cherished for identity purposes, and for communication within the family and community, though children in cities are increasingly speaking English (only). Applying Ethnolinguistic Vitality theory to the findings on attitudes, it was found iv that Obolo has medium ethnolinguistic vitality, the result of micro language planning at the grassroots level, and the support of a community-owned language development organisation. Ethnolinguistic Vitality theory also helped to explain an observed sudden increase in Obolo interest in the use of their language after grand public occasions celebrating achievements in the development of the language. The researcher informed the research participants of alternative models of education in developed countries, for them to be able to form an informed opinion about Obolo bilingual education. In contrast to most other minority language groups in the Niger-Delta, who prefer English only, over two thirds of the participants discussing this point expressed interest in a continued use of Obolo as medium of instruction up to Primary 6, or even beyond. There is also a desire for the teaching of Obolo as a subject in urban areas. Finally, exploring the importance of these findings, recommendations for the introduction and promotion of bilingual education in the region are offered. Several templates for extensive ‘marketing’ both to Obolo parents and to policy makers are identified, and high profile celebrations of achievements in language development, and tools for the use of the language in IT are recommended. Further, arguments are made for model Obolo bilingual schools, which use and teach Obolo all through Primary and Junior Secondary education education. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements Abstract List of tables List of figures List of abbreviations Chapter 1: Introduction ..................................................................................................... 2 Background ...................................................................................................................... 2 Rationale ................................................................................................................................... 3 Research Aims and Objectives ....................................................................................... 4 Theoretical underpinnings .............................................................................................. 4 Bourdieu: “Linguistic Capital” .............................................................................................. 4 Ethnolinguistic Vitality theory (Giles et al., 1977) .................................................................. 5 Structure of the thesis ...................................................................................................... 6 Chapter 2: Nigeria: history, politics, languages and education ...................................... 9 Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 9 The emergence of Nigeria as a geo-political entity ....................................................... 9 Recent history ................................................................................................................. 12 Obolo ............................................................................................................................... 14 The dependence on fishing .................................................................................................... 15 Infrastructure ......................................................................................................................... 17 Languages ....................................................................................................................... 18 Education ........................................................................................................................ 19 Language in education policies ............................................................................................. 20 “Bilingual education” in Northern Nigeria .......................................................................... 20 vi Education in Obolo ........................................................................................................ 21 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 22 Chapter 3: Research on bilingualism and bilingual education...................................... 24 Introduction .................................................................................................................... 24 Bilingualism and education ........................................................................................... 24 Evidence for effectiveness of Bilingual Education models ......................................... 26 “English Total Reading” test: ..........................................................................................................