A socio-pragmatic study of the language of instruction in science classrooms: Insights from speech acts theory

Speech acts are performed in classroom discourse, which reveals the intention of teachers about the topics that the students are taught. Also, the language of instruction used to convey these speech acts is pivotal in ensuring a high or appreciable level of mastery of the topics of discussion by the students. This study examined various illocutionary acts used in classroom interactions and assessed the language of instruction used in senior secondary II (SS 2) science classrooms in selected secondary schools in Osun State. The primary data is drawn from the analysis of classroom recordings from six classroom interactions of Senior Secondary School II (SS 2) science classes during Mathematics, Biology, and Physics classes. 6 secondary schools were randomly selected in six local government areas of Osun State. The result showed that eight illocutionary acts were used during the six classroom interactions, including expressive, directive, interrogative, affirmative, denial, vocative, corrective, and commissive, in which expressive was the main illocutionary act used in the classroom interactions. Also, three languages of instruction were used in the classroom interactions, which included English only, Yoruba only, and bilingual instruction. However, English speech acts were mainly used in all the classroom interactions, and sometimes, the bilingual speech acts were also used. It is recommended that English should be complemented with the child’s mother tongue because the use of the bilingual medium of instruction will enhance better understanding and performance of the students in their subjects in ESL classrooms.