Abstract:

This study investigated the effectiveness of mother tongue–based instruction as an approach to enhancing senior secondary school students’ interest in geometry, with a focus on circle geometry in Nsukka Local Government Area, Enugu State, Nigeria. Grounded in culturally responsive teaching principles, the study explored how the use of the learners’ first language (Igbo) could stimulate interest and engagement in mathematics learning. A true experimental pretest–posttest control group design was adopted, involving 80 students randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. The experimental group received geometry instruction in Igbo using culturally familiar contexts and examples, while the control group was taught in English using conventional instructional methods. Data were collected using a validated Geometry Interest Inventory to measure students’ levels of interest in geometry. Descriptive and inferential statistical techniques were used to analyse the data. The findings indicated that students exposed to mother tongue–based instruction demonstrated higher levels of interest in geometry than those taught through the conventional English medium. Female students also showed higher interest in geometry than their male counterparts, although no interaction effect was observed between instructional method and gender. The study concludes that mother tongue–based instruction is a powerful pedagogical approach for stimulating students’ interest in geometry and recommends that indigenous languages be integrated into mathematics classrooms to promote engagement, equity, and positive learning dispositions, particularly in multilingual learning environments.

Keywords:

Culturally responsive teaching, geometry, Igbo language, mother tongue instruction, secondary school mathematics.