Mother Tongue and Performance of Junior Secondary School Students in English Language; Past, Present and Future

The Poor performance of students in English Language in our secondary schools has been traced to their poor reading and comprehension. This could be attributed to non - provision of children's needs. Many parents do not buy textbooks for their children to practice what they have been taught at home. Uncaring attitude of students to their learning of English Language as a second language also contributes to their poor performance students do not stay in the classrooms for many periods. Also government's promises to provide textbooks to students are not always fulfilled. Large number of students in the classroom is another problem of poor performance of students in English Language. At times, students cannot take down what they are taught under this poor condition. Insufficient numbers of qualified English language teachers in Government Schools also lead to poor performance of students in English Language. There are not enough chairs and desks in the classroom for easy learning and writing for the students and incentives are not provided for the teachers of English Language to make them committed. This paper therefore seeks to explore the mother's tongue and the performance of Junior Secondary School students in English Language from the past,