The Role of Socio-Economic Status in Mother Tongue Education in Early Childhood: The Igbo Example

摘要

The aim of this paper is to x-rays the Role of Socio-Economic Status in Mother Tongue Education in Early Childhood. To this effect, the concept of mother tongue, its importance and roles of socio-economic status of parents were all examined. The relationship between socio-economic statuses of parents in the acquisition of the Igbo orthography at all levels of development of the child was highlighted. The research showed that children whose parents are socially and economically handicapped perform poorly in their language education. The study adopted Vygotsky (1978) theory that states that the child’s language development is rooted in their society, culture and history. The paper was able to find out that the socio-economic status of parents affects the child’s early childhood education. It therefore suggests among other things that parents should provide opportunities that facilitate rapid development of the mother tongue literacy development of their children.