YOUTUBE AND SECOND LIFE FOR INDIGENOUS LANGUAGE LEARNING: AWARENESS AND USAGE IN TERTIARY EDUCATION IN NIGERIA

Purpose: This paper examined awareness and usage of YouTube and Second Life in indigenous language learning in tertiary education in Nigeria. Methodology: The study anchored on socio-cultural constructivism and adopted the survey research design. The population of the study was two-fold. The first component comprised of 52 Nigeria Certificate in Education students from five Federal Colleges of Education, who registered for the language acculturation programme at the National Institute for Nigerian Languages (NINLAN) in 2018. The second part of the population included ten lecturers of Nigerian languages in NINLAN. Since the study was focused on learning, and the population of students was manageable, the census sampling technique was applied. Thus, all 52 students were involved in the survey. Based on a representation of the three major Nigerian languages, the purposive sampling technique aided the selection of three lecturers: one each for Igbo, Hausa and Yoruba. Out of which, two lecturers were available at the time of the study. Quantitative data were collated from the students via a self-administered questionnaire, while the interview method was used to elicit qualitative data from the lecturers. Quantitative data were analysed using simple percentages, Chi-squared test and Fisher’s exact test. Findings: Findings showed a significant awareness of YouTube, but its usage for indigenous language learning was insignificant. Compared to YouTube, the awareness of Second Life was lower and it was not used for indigenous language learning. Unique contribution to theory, practice and policy: The study recommended that tertiary education; particularly language teacher education should incorporate Web 2.0 channels such as YouTube and Second Life into traditional classroom pedagogy to bridge resource gaps in indigenous language learning.