Influence of early grade learner’s mother tongue (twi) on the English language usage (transliteration) a case of Onwe community preschools in the Ejisu municipality of the Ashanti Region

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to investigate the influence of mother tongue on early grade children’s performance in the English language as far as transliteration is concerned in Onwe Community basic preschools. The study used a descriptive survey design which used both quantitative and qualitative approaches to collect the data. The participants included headteachers, early grade teachers and early grade learners from five Onwe basic preschools. Data was collected using questionnaires for the headteachers and pre-preschool teachers while interviews and observation were used for pre-preschool learners. Data was analyzed using percentages and frequencies and presented in tables and charts. The study revealed that the most frequently committed errors was the error of transliteration which formed the basis of the study, followed by error of tenses, wrong-pronoun-use errors, spelling errors, subject verb agreement, article errors, omission, preposition errors, wrong-word usage, addition errors. The implications of this study to the improvement of English language as a second language of early grade learners studying English are discussed. Key words; Transliteration, descriptive survey design