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French Language Education in Nigeria

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CHAPTER 8

French Language Education in Nigeria

Professor Grace Chibiko Offorma

Department Of Arts Education

t'niversity Of Nigeria

JIlsukka

.In this chapter, the author explains the key concepts in the Iidr­
lllefore tracing the development of French language educaooe •
. • igeria. The content also shows the essence of French language m
Itigeria and the efforts made by the Government and FI"l:DIdI
IIlanguage professional association to promote French languap;r
leaching in Nigeria. Language plays dual roles in most fOll"lllal
'mucation settings. Language features as a subject in the schooi
Iwrriculum, for example French education, Mathemabcs
education, Biology education, and as a medium of instruction ..
IIIhe school. Thus, language education and language in edUGid_
:Rpresent the two functions. Language education in Nigeria and
iiDdeed in the entire African countries was a consequence of
eolonisation. The official language spoken in each African n.atX.
lias its origin in the language of the colonial masters. The
,arolonists introduced their languages to serve as a means of
Immmunication and as a medium of propagation of their religiorL
lin Nigeria, the official language is English, introduced bv the
British, but we will soon see why French was introduced in a
.-Jtish colony, Nigeria.

Concepts

Education is the process of transferring the cultural values from

one generation to another generation. It is a life-long process that
ig1ves training to individuals to empower them to survive in their
s.ciety, A good education trains an individual to develop mentallv.
:hvsically, socially and emotionally. These behaviours fall under
139
 1III11l11MIIIJlIR'IIIII1\~U
French Language Education in Nigeri.:

I-"I~
the cognitive, affective and psychomotor domains. Am
educational practice that falls short of any of these behaviours is a
dysfunctional one and should not be encouraged, because the
essence of education is to produce functional members of a
society.
,I I.
'''''I~I.1IlIlJlli
~--\I
"'be: '1IlmI

Language is a form or style of expression. Expression can

be verbal or non-verbal (Offorrna, 2009). Thus we have verbal and
non-verbal language. It is a system of signs and symbols and rules
for using them, which convey thoughts, feelings and information.
That is why each language has its lexis and structure, stylistics.
orthography and phonology. Language is made up of words, their
pronunciation, and the methods of combining them, used and
understood by a language community, for example, Igbo
language, Hausa language, Yoruba language, English language
and French language. These have their peculiarities because thev
developed from different cultural milieus.
French language education is therefore the training of
individuals to acquire the four language skills in French. It deals
with facilitation of the learning of the language of the French
people. The facilitation is done by a person who is well grounded
in the listening, speaking, reading and writing skills of the
language, the French teacher. This implies that a French language
teacher must be proficient in the four language skills to be able to
facilitate the learning of the language.
The language competences required for proficiency in
French language or any other language is call communicative
competence. Communicative competence is the essence of
learning any language. Language serves as a medium for
understanding ideas expressed by another person and also for one
to be understood by others. It is an exchange between the speaker
or writer and the interlocutor. So language learning is not just a
linguistic exercise but also learning of the culture of the people
and so it requires both oral and written comprehension and
expression (Njoku, 2004).

Raison d'etre of French Language Education in Nigeria

6rKII
At the dawn of independence, the Nigerian Government realised
that Nigeria is a 'linguistic Island surrounded by 'French Seas' ­ b.'''J.e
I Mi,
francophone countries. Geographically, Nigeria is supposed to be
a French speaking country, hut for the influence of colonization. .~-
I'; IMimwl!\\
All the Nigerian neighbours are francophone, Cameroun in the
CMi" IF:
140
 JF'--::.fessor Grace Chibiko 0fforma

CAst, Chad in the north-east, Niger in the North-west, and the

&.epublic of Benin in the west. So for Nigeria to live in harmony
and peace with her neighbours, and these are attained thrcc.~E:"~_
effective communication, there is need for a common medium of
expression. And that language is French.
Some parts of Nigeria such as Ogun, Oyo, Kwara, Cross
ltlver, Borno, Gongola, Kano and Sokoto areas have identical
Olltural leanings with parts of the francophone neighbours. The
main difference found in these francophone and Anglophone
lKighbours is in the official languages of the two parties. This is a
mnsequence of colonization. The co-existence of Nigeria and
.ese countries revolves around economic, political and cultural
C1changes. Therefore, there is need for Nigerians to learn and
:Ilpeak French.
Nigeria is also a member of two regional organizations: the
.AI rican Union (AU) and the Economic Community of West
African States (ECOWAS). These bodies were inaugurated in
,19';'3 and 1976 respectively, to promote unity and solidarity
ong African States and to promote progress and development
the member states. The treaty that established ECOWAS has as
of the major aims, the intention to unite and govern the
oomic affairs of its member states. They also agreed to
ote trade, co-operation, better relations, self-reliance and
ogress among their members.
To achieve the above objectives, all nations must
erstand one another's language and culture. Most ECOWAS
:\U member states are francophonc countries and French is
of the official languages used in their conferences and
tings. Thus, its study needs to be encouraged by all
.glophone countries for effective communication and cordial
Mationship among them.
French is also one of the six official languages of the
t' nited Nations Organization (UN 0) and her various agencies.
Other languages include English, Russian, Spanish, German and
Portuguese. For Nigeria to participate effectively in the discourses
of the international organization and maintain her position in the
international circle, French language becomes a significant subject
in the school curriculum.
Today, we live in a polyglot world which, in terms of
communication and interaction, is becoming smaller and smaller
each day. There are more and more political, economic,
educational, cultural, social, scientific and technological
exchanges, whereby people from different countries come
141
 French Language Education in Niger.,~

together to discuss issues, solve problems, share ideas and plan Io­
the future. Language is an important medium through which
these enterprises can be achieved. Therefore, a cultivation of the
language used by the bodies is necessary (Offorrna, 1990).
There are French industries in Nigeria and the employers
need people who have a working knowledge of French for the
development of their market abroad. Even Engineers and other
scientists are advised to learn French language to equip them well
to appreciate, appraise and apply French scientific and
technological achievements.
The Addis-Ababa Conference on Education and the
Yaounde Conference of 1961 recommended that Anglophone
Africa introduces French as a core subject in its school system and
francophonc Africa, English, as a second European language, as a
means of communication and understanding between the people
of these two linguistic sectors. This is important for Africa; more
so as no African language is yet developed to meet this purpose.
'The two most developed African languages are Hausa and
Swahili, and they are just spoken in West and East Africa
respectively.

Introduction of French Language in Schools

The option of the language to be taught in schools was

determined by some factors. According to Obanya, (1998: 1), these
variables include:
• The historical experience of colonialism
• Political evolution after attainment of independence
• The socio-linguistic contours of each country and
• The strength of linguistic and educational lobbies in vanous
countries.

These factors play some roles in the introduction of French

language in Nigerian schools. Nigeria gained her independence in
1960, but before then, French had been introduced in some
schools in 1859. French was introduced in the Church Missionary
Society (CMS) Secondary School, the first secondary school
founded in Lagos (Adelekan, 1983), It was only after
independence that mere interest in French teaching and learning
started but these were in a perfunctory manner. The most popular
and common academic language in the secondary school then was
Latin. Anyone who called himself or herself a scholar, especially
142
 if:r~(essor Grace Chibiko OJJorma

m: for iim the Arts in the secondary school was a student of Latin,

"­
IDi:h IImemorising grammar and vocabulary and translating a language
Imhat was rarely spoken. The traditional method of language
l\IIeaching was in vogue then.
The very first challenge to French, teaching was' production
\Iill competent teachers to teach the subject at the secondary school
, Illevel. It was then felt that the Nigerian Universities could save the
,Mtuation. Therefore, the University of Nigeria, Nsukka' and the
to niversity of Ibadan, Ibadan started a pilot course in French in
[962. One of the objectives. of the pilot programme was to
!produce teachers who would implement the French curriculum in
. me secondary schools. Candidates, who had no knowledge of
french at all were admitted into the Department of French and
mey were taught through the means of audio-visual method in
weir first year. The second year programme was mainly literature
and courses on French civilization. In the third year, the students
\\IIIiere sent to Dakar For summer vacation courses. This is what
translated to the Year Abroad in all the Nigerian U ni versity Foreign
Languages Programmes, today. It is known as the Immersion
• ethod. It is the best way to learn a language. The learner is
immersed in the language environment, where he/she lives with
"the native speakers of the language and learns the language
naturally, through listening and imitating the owners of the
language in their natural setting. Graduation is in the fourth year.
Majority of the grad nates were not trained to teach French
like their expatriate counterparts who volunteered to teach the
subject in secondary schools since they were also not trained to
teach the language, let alone, in a third language situation. The
situation was improved greatly with the establishment of
Departments of Education and French in universities and
Advanced Teachers' Colleges, now Colleges of Education, to
produce teachers of French. But then the attrition of the teachers
in the classrooms posed another serious problem in teaching the
subject, (Obanya, 1974; Tornlins, 1974). These found out that
most schools had no teacher of French; the teaching was irregular;
the teachers came and went. This frustrated both the students and
the school administrators.
French language curriculum content at the time was
foreign - oriented, reflecting the content and examination modes
of the Cambridge Overseas Examination. The examiners
themselves noted and expressed the unsuitability of the course
content upon which the examinations were based. The
examinations focused on translation, the Nigerian child in this
143
 11I1ttmUJJ!ir.'.liI!IIIIIl' ,~
French Language Education in Niger»

situation faced the problem whereby he/she was required n 111!D1."I~

translate from one language to the other and none was his/he I~
I~'o(
mother tongue. Furthermore, he/she was not proficient in any at
the two languages- English or French. .d!Pm
lfr
There was then the need for French curriculum innovation
to enable the learners benefit from the language instructions .'lhe ,~
Nigerian Association of French Teachers (NAFT), in collaboration ~IP""I'

with her sister bodies in Ghana and Sierra Leone met to produce a
new syllabus for the West African Examination Council (WAEC·.
This was to be used in West African Countries (Brann, 1970). The
new syllabus and the examination based on it de-emphasised
grammar-translation approach and stressed the four language
skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing; it insisted on orao
before literacy. Thus oral examination became compulsory. The
two were weighted on fifty-fifty basis. Objective testing was also
introduced and the course content was based on African context
instead of on materials based on French environment which was
alien to the learners.
Five years later, Obanya (1974) sought the opinion of
teachers of French on the suitability or otherwise of the new
syllabus. The teachers all had a consensus of opinion that the
problem of curriculum content and methods of examination has
been solved. Emphasis then had to change from writing to both
writing and speaking with more emphasis on oral work and the
teachers of French had to employ more effective methods such as
direct, audio-visual and audio lingual methods. This situation
poses some problem of resources since these methods call for use
of varied materials to make teaching effective.
The first concerted effort to promote the learning and
teaching of French was made at the tertiary level, with the famous
"Madame Thibault method". The method succeeded in J'aising the
level of awareness in learners of the immense possibilities of the
French language, but this interest was not sustained. At the
secondary level, more up-to-date syllabuses have been developed
and more suitable materials prepared in some cases, but there has
also been a severe shortage of competent teachers and motivation CIlIJ!P1
has been low in learners .' I'he result is that the number of speakers iIIn8iD
of French is very few. .~

The Federal Government of Nigeria (I 981) recognised the a,A

significance of French language in the school curriculum, but IfIIIIlIImlll
categorized French and Arabic as language options at both the 'am
Junior and Senior Secondary School levels. According to -1m
Awobuluyi (I998), no specific prescriptions were made in the :aBII1JlI

144
 ·I/Il1rtUl!r~iS01· Grace Chibiko OJfarm.a

I~icy document under reference for language education at the

iary level of education, it being felt, presumably, that the
ice of subjects at that level will necessarily be determined by
choice alread y made at the primary and secondary levels.
He noted that although French and Arabic were elective
~ects on the Secondary School Curriculum, both Junior and
ior, the Government is fully aware of the problems that are
to attend the teaching of both languages in the nation's
;;"acls, seeing that they are foreign languages for which pupils
_!l not readily find models to interact with on a daily basis.
To attempt to solve this and other problems pertaining to
erich teaching and learning and environmental factors, in 1981,
University of Ibadan, in collaboration with the Oyo State
~~istry of Education embarked on a practical and inexpensive in­
.ice course for" untrained teachers of French in the state school
. r!:em. The course was held every Saturday for a period of two
rs for nine (9) months. The trainees were exposed to the
owing contents of the training programme: lesson planning,
paring visual materials, testing, text book analysis and various
hing activities. At the end of the course, an examination was
". "en and certificates of achievement awarded to them. The
rience was worthwhile and positive and gave the otherwise
rained teachers some 'tricks to the trade'.
In 1984, the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, started a long
acation programme for Nigeria Certificate in Education (NCE.)
'tll!2Chers of French. This has been on up to date. The essence was
' . help in upgrading the teachers and exposing them to more
aperiences in the teaching of French. Today, some other
'iDstitutions of higher learning have French language and
: Iiileratures in their undergraduate programmes. The students
.' IlWtain B.A. Ed/ French at the end of the programme.
The Nigerian Government established two special language
~illages, in 1991, one for Arabic in the North-East of the country,
:<Il'.nd the other for French in the South-West, whereby the learners
1C'.n over some periods ranging from six (6) months to one year
Ie.':l.ioy full immersion in the two language milieus. Today, all
,Ur~J:!tutions of higher learning send their students for their 'Year
.ili_,::,road Programme', which is in the third year of the B.A. French,
llt_-\.ED/French or second year of NCE /French programme. The
IlProducts of these programmes teach French at the secondary and
1F':":mary school levels. The creation of the Language Villages was
Ii: promote production of French speaking Nigerians by creating
ili.':-. enabling francophone environment in an Anglo speaking

115
 French Language Education in Nigeru:

Nigeria, where French language is only spoken in the classroom

The French Language Village is at Badagry, Lagos.

French Teaching Today

The Nigerian Language Policy which encourages the teaching of

the three major Nigerian languages has also encouraged the
teaching of French in Nigeria by upgrading French to the status
of core curriculum from its elective position. This was approved
during the General Sani Abacha's regime in 1998. The revised
policy stated that French should be a core subject at the senior
primary and junior secondary school levels (FRN, 2004). The
essence of this innovation was to facilitate communication between
Nigerians, her francophone neighbours and other French
speaking nations of the world. English and French are the two
major global languages used as communication media during the
international organizations and agencies' conferences, meetings
and other endeavours.
The 9-year Basic curriculum in French has been developed
and installed in schools for implementation. The curriculum is
very rich and if the contents are well implemented, most
Nigerians in the near future will be speaking French. In general
the curriculum pays attention to the attainment of the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs), and the critical elements of the
National Economic Empowerment Strategies (NEEDS), (FRI\.
2007: iii). But it has been observed that the proficiency attained in
French language by the teachers is very low and that invariably
affects the learners" achievement in French. Some of the
challenges facing the teaching and learning of French include:
• lack of models to interact with on daily basis;
• lack of instructional resources;
• parental attitude to the language;
• inadequate supply of qualified teachers;
• nonchalant attitudes of school heads, who should see to the
effective implementation of the policy;
• curriculum problem at the tertiary level whereby French is
combined with other subjects such as English, Social Studies:
Igbo etc (Adehayo, 1998); and
• lack of funds.

The students focus more on the subjects combined with French

and neglect French especially at the Colleges of Education.
]46
WlC:ltIlIIt1cn in Nigeria Professor Grace Chibiko Ofjorma

he classroom. French is spoken only in the classroom; there is lack of

reinforcement outside the school. Therefore, the students are
starved of a conducive and enabling environment to practise what
is learnt in the school. Some parents do not understand why their
children should study French. For them, the only employment for
'IE" reaching of
graduates of French is teaching. But that is not true, as there are
::)uraged the many job opportunities for such graduates There is dearth of
to the status instructional resources. The Communicative teaching method
Ii\l";as approved
demands a lot of instructional resources for effective
The revised implementation of the curriculum. Modern gadgets such as
3l!: the senior
televisions connected to Satellite for students to access French
~004). The
channels to listen to good models, taped cassettes, multi media
iLtion between projectors, DVDs, films in French, computers and so on are
![ner French lacking in the French classrooms. These are needed to facilitate
: are the two the teaching and learning of French language. There are not
ia during the enough teachers to implement the policy of compulsory French
::e:s. meetings language teaching at the senior primary and junior secondary
levels. Since many students do not opt for French at the secondary
en developed school, very few candidates apply for French. This vicious circle
::.Jlrriculum is will continue unless the policy is fully and effectively
rented, most implemented. The head teachers are also a clog in the wheel of
:: In general progress of French teaching in Nigeria. Many of them do not
~ Millennium
understand the reason for making this subject compulsory. An
aents of the enthusiastic school head should strive to get qualified teachers for
[DS), (FRN 1
effective implementation of all the subjects in the school
:. attained in curriculum. Most of them lay emphasis on only Mathematics and
;.4[ invariably
English.
Jlme of the
Most of the innovations in the teaching of French have
include: been possible because of the push by the Nigerian Association of
French Teachers (~AFT). The innovations were geared towards
the solution of some of the problems experienced in the teaching
and learning of French. The professional body saw to the
inclusion of audio-oral component in the evaluation of students in
French. That is why in the Senior Secondary School Examination
d see to the (SSSE) oral skills are evaluated through dictation, oral
comprehension and oral expression. The essence is to find out the
'Ii French is students' oral proficiency in the language. Today, both written
cial Studies, and oral skills must be learnt for one to claim to be educated in
the language and so teachers are expected to emphasise the skills
in their teaching.

'., .th French

147
 French Language Education in Nigt"""Jlw

Prospects of French Language in Nigeria

French Language Education in Nigeria has bright prospects. First

of all, the geographical position of Nigeria makes it imperative for
all Nigerians to speak French. Effective communication promotes
understanding, peace and harmony. And so, if Nigerians
uEdeifscc2:nd French, there will be effective communication with
her francophone neighbours. One way of achieving this is by
teaching the language in schools. Though it is a core curriculum
at both the primary and junior secondary school, the inadequacy
of teachers hampers the effective implementation of this policy.
The world today is polyglot and requires effective
communication. Language is a medium of communication and
French and English language are the two major global languages
used today by international organizations and agencies in their
meetings, conferences, workshops, seminars and other
endeavours. Nigeria belongs to most of the global organizations
and also has affiliations with some of the agencies. Nigeria stands
to gain a lot from these relationships. There are economic,
political, educational, technological and social values accruing
from these and so Nigerians must learn and speak French
language. I believe that was why the Federal Government
promoted French from optional to Core curriculum at primary
and junior secondary school. If this compulsory status can be
extended to the Senior Secondary School, the teacher training
institutions will be fed with more candidates to be trained as
teachers and the persisting problem of inadequacy of teachers will
be solved.
Globalization is the current focus of every government,
institution and agencies. The use of common language in trade,
tourism, diplomacy, technology and science remains a very strong
reason for Nigerians to learn French. The trend today calls for the
teaching and learning of French language to be taken seriously.
Interactions are becoming inevitable among nations,
organizations, agencies and institutions of the world and these
warrant a great need for learning and understanding more than
one foreign and international language. Some institutions of
higher learning have introduced Chinese language in their
curriculum for the sake of globalization.
According to Kuborta (1998) and Kirkpatrick and Zhichang
(2004), Japan and China adhere strictly to the implementation of
their policy on foreign language, by ensuring that one foreign

148
Professor Grace Chibiko Offorma

language is effectively taught at the primary and secondary

schools. The Nigerian Government has recognized the essence of
French and so changed the policy to promote the language, The
major setback is on the implementation as not many teachers has
been trained to teach the language. Most of the ones trained
especially at the Nigeria Certificate in Education (NCE) level are
not competent; most cannot speak intelligible French.

Conclusion and Recommendations

French language education in Nigeria has waded through many

troubled waters since its introduction in the Nigerian school
system. Today some progress has been made by recognizing the
language as Nigeria's second foreign language and promoting it
from an optional to a core curriculum at the primary and Junior
Secondary school levels. The implementation of this policy has not
been effective, mainly due to inadequate teachers in terms of
quality and quantity, among other challenges. The Nigerian
Government has a lot to benefit from the language if it is well
taught in the schools. For Nigeria to derive maximum benefits
from French education and for effective implementation of the
curriculum the following are recommended:
The National Commission for Colleges of Education
(:-';CCE) should revisit her Minimum Standards in terms of French
Language. French should be made a double major as people who
studied it in that mode have been found to be more proficient in
the language. The single major mode which allows combination
with other subjects or languages, has contributed to the poor
quality teachers produced by the Colleges of Education. The
attention of the students is divided as they have to study the
second subject. Most of the time French is even neglected and
more attention paid to the second subject. For example, most NeE
students write their projects in the second subject and very few
write theirs in French. But if French is a double major, they will
not have that choice.
The core curriculum status of French language teaching
and learning should be extended to the Senior Secondary School.
This would give the students an opportunity to have more contact
with the language and so learn it. Unfortunately, the new senior
secondary school curriculum that was to be implemented from
September 2011 does not make provision for French to be a
compulsory subject; it is one of the twelve subjects in the field of

149

 French Language Education in Nigeria ,,;;.... .', :'5'J G''11IJl~111 'i

Humanities. We sllg~est that the next review exercise should look . \·.~·obulu'Vi
POOiC"l
1<~he ~'~,attis ofs~r».¥_}I~Il?Jects.an~e~sure t?at relevan.ce serves. ~s a
EdIlMJliI::1U
~tt~~~ ,t? ,the reviewers as N Igena IS hoping to attain the Vision
J~jf.Q,20.
;1;11" Since French has been recognized as Nigeria's second
i
Brann, eM
(official) foreign language, news and official publications should Ahliwc
be in both the English and French languages. This will create an :\ S.
opportunity for French learners to still maintain contact with the lIB';
language outside the classroom. The Anglophone environment is
an issue in the study of french in Nigeria, as the learners have no federal Itiq
other contact with the language outside the classroom. On May 29, ~a
2011, the Nigerian Television Authority broadcast the Inaugural CoD
Presidential Address, by President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, the
current president of Nigeria. in both English and French, maybe Federal k
because there were francophone Presidents in attendance. That is ~I
what it should always be for bilingualism to thrive in Nigeria and Glow
for the nation to stand to benefit immensely from that.
Federal and State Ministries of Education should pay equal federal iii
attention to the teaching and learning of French in all the schools FTICll

by providing enough resources (materials and further training of EJclImw

teachers) for effective implementation of the French Curriculum.
The issue of focusing on the 'Pilot Schools' should be revisited as Federal Ii
Nigeria owes her children equal educational opportunities to FJle~

attain the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). EJ«iIIl

There is therefore the need for national commitment to
French language education in Nigeria if the nation and Nigerians Federal I
want to remain relevant in this age of globalization and fast F1'!le

changing world. We cannot pretend that bilingualism is valueless Ite.tt

in this 21 sr century.
KirkpalriiC
;J8(C
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~II[

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productivity enhancement in Nigeria: Issues and KuOOu.,
Em:
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or~
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Adelekan, P.A. (1983). Proposed methods of teaching French 10

Sjolu.j
liitfrir'"
Nigeria. Abeokuta: The Government Printer.
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150
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-,~'\c,!:)Uluyi, O. (1998). Language education in Nigeria: theory.

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,:mn, C.M.B. (1970). French in secondary schools in Anglophone

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 French Language Education in Nigeria

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