Functional Language: A Panacea for Effective Implementation of the Primary School Social Studies Curriculum

This paper focuses on what constitutes functional language of instruction with a view to determining the extent at which it influences effective teaching delivery by Social Studies teacher and the attainment of Social Studies curriculum objectives. Two hypotheses were formulated based on research questions on significant relationship between and among identified variables viz- a-viz teachers knowledge of core- concepts, academic qualification, students’ academic performance, attainment of curriculum objectives and the functional language. The study employed quasi- experimental design, 20 Social Studies teachers and 200 students were selected from Junior Secondary Schools in Ojo Local Government area of Lagos state. Close- ended questionnaire constructed for teachers contains 20 statement items on a 4 – point likert rating scale and validated with a reliability co- efficient of 0.58. Achievement test was also constructed for the students and data was analysed using F - Test and pearson product moment correlation (PPMC). The finding reveals that: teachers’ knowledge of core- concepts and academic qualifications has nothing to do with the use of functional language and vice- versa. The implication of this was deeply discussed. It was therefore recommended that, to attain Social Studies curriculum objectives, there is the need by the teachers to have knowledge of liberal arts, language education and the acquisition of appropriate diction, which implies the use of functional language; and there is a symbolic relationship between students’ academic performance and the use of functional language in the teaching and learning of Social Studies.