Language, Teaching and Attrition: A Study on Selected Teachers Who Left the Profession

Abstract

Nigeria is a country with over 520 different languages, the multitude nature of languages is making instructions so difficult in Schools, particularly in North-Central Nigeria where they have students with different language background attending the same school. The difficulty of smooth teaching in this kind of situation is leading to attrition among teachers. This study examines the situation of selected teachers in Niger State, Nigeria, who left the teaching profession as a result of difficulty in teaching their students, whom they said cannot efficiently understand the official language of instruction (English). The teachers highlighted their main reason of leaving the profession which is mainly associated with language problem among students, they added that, the massive failure of students in the final examination has a link with the student’s inability to understand what the teachers are teaching because of their poor background in English language. The paper recommends the use of one major local language (Hausa) in teaching the students, this will make learning easy and students will efficiently comprehend instructions from their teachers, which may go a long way in reducing attrition.