TEACHERS’ PERCEPTION OF YORUBA LANGUAGE AS AN INSTRUMENT OF MORAL EDUCATION IN SOUTH-WEST, NIGERIA

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine “Teachers’ Perception of Yoruba Language as an Instrument of Moral Education in South-West, Nigeria”.The study sample was made up of one thousand and two hundred purposively sampled Yoruba teachers in South-West, Nigeria; one hundred and seventy (170) males and one hundred and thirty (130) femalesYoruba teachers inOndo, Oyo, Osun, Lagos, Ogun and Ekiti. The instrument used for the data collection was a 10-item researcher-designed questionnaire. The instrument was divided into two sections: Sections A and B. Section A requested demographic data of the respondents, while section B contained a 10-item researcher-designed questionnaire titled “Teachers’ Perception of Yoruba Language as an Instrument of Moral Education in South-West, Nigeria”. The data collected were analysed using percentage to describe the demographic data of the respondents. Research Question 1 was answered using mean scores, while Research Questions 2 and 3 which correspond with Hypothesis 1 and 2 were answered and tested using t-test statistics, all at 0.05 level of significance. The study’s findings revealed proverbs like Sùúrù baba ìwà embrace the virtues of patience, the taboos in the Yoruba language serve as an instrument in combating crimes and corruption, and there is no significant difference in the teachers’ perception of Yoruba language as an instrument of moral education on the basis of gender and qualification.It was, therefore, recommended that teachers should emphasise the importance of home language through their daily instruction in class to learners and express their commitment to teaching the Yoruba language, among others.