The language policy practice in mathematics education in the upper west region of Ghana

Abstract

Using Teacher's Assessment of Language Policy Practices (TAL2P) questionnaire and unstructured interview schedules, 63 randomly selected teachers (39 females, 24 males) from 21 schools within the Lawra District of the Upper West Region of Ghana were examined to determine the extent to which the language policy was practised. The study showed that teachers teach between 30-46% of their mathematics lesson periods in English at the lower primary level. Efforts to use the native language for meaningful mathematics instructions are constrained by teachers' inability to speak the language and the lack of materials in the native language. For children to derive the benefits of the language policy, the study recommends taking teachers linguistic competence into consideration during teacher postings and an urgent provision of text materials in the native languages to serve as resource materials for teachers. African Journal of Educational Studies in Mathematics and Sciences Vol. 2(1) 2004: 27-38