PROPOSAL FOR REVIEW OF THE CURRICULUM ON PHONICS IN LAGOS STATE
BY ADEDAYO ADEMIPADA
Phonics, according to Cambridge Dictionary (… Google), is a method of teaching people to read, by learning the sounds that letters represent.
It is a method of teaching, reading and writing of the English Language by developing learners’ phonemic awareness -- the ability to hear, identify and manipulate phonemes -- in order to teach the correspondence between these sounds and the spelling patterns (graphemes) that represent them.

Significance of Phonics in Lagos State Educational Curriculum

Phonics is the mandatory, foundational step for every child towards reading, writing effectively and efficiently in order to achieve his/her goal of becoming a better and total child. Moreover, the importance of teaching phonics has made it easier for the pupils to decode letters easily, into their respective sounds, a skill that is essential for them to read unfamiliar words by themselves unaided. This decoding ability is a crucial element in reading success.

The current trends in the teaching of phonics in Lagos State
Lagos, being a cosmopolitan state has birthed different models by both foreign authors and indigenous ones as a result of the popularity of phonics across the world, being the easier way of making the pupils to learn how to read and write without constraints.

The foreign authors have designed their books on phonics reflecting their foreign curriculum which is not the same as the Lagos State Curriculum.


Ideally, before an author or publisher of any sort can write a textbook for any speech community or country, the curriculum or scheme of work of such a country should be a guide or academic inspirational book that will guide such a writer towards making an effective book for the pupils of such a state. But in this case, the foreign authors have written their books using their home country’s models, such as:





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These sounds are taught in a specific order (not Alphabetically), which is a bit complicated for an average teacher of any institution in Nigeria to operate with, unless the teacher is trained by the foreign authors or their designated teachers on Nigerian soil, before he or she can fit in to teach the pupils.
Besides, indigenous authors have taken up different sides. While some groups believed that English Language, being the language of the British, once there is a change in their curriculum, it must be adopted the way it is designed because of its colonial influence on Nigeria populace, but to other groups, they went as far as renaming their own concept, which is called “Diction”, using phonetics symbols as its own parameter to teach phonics in the various schools they have access to, and also creating their own version of scheme of work, making it look superior to the one created by Lagos State Government. At this point, it must be emphasized that the inspectorate unit concerned with this subject matter, need to be sensitive, courageous and extra vigilant in checkmating the excesses highlighted in this discourse.
Moreover, there are smaller groups that have sprung up as a result of their own views towards phonics in Lagos State. They are of the opinion that once they have training coupled with their background in the university they graduated from, whether as English experts or not, they can as well make an input in the teaching and learning process of English Language.
With the afore-stated postulations of all these groups in Lagos State, there may be more confusion if these authors are not checked.
Also, the Foreign authors have come up again with another version of writing called cursive handwriting or Nelson handwriting as a result of standardizing their model of phonics, while the indigenous authors are of the view that any form of handwriting can be used, but the implication is that the influence of the writing pattern is affecting the pupils when they are about to use other textbooks such as Mathematical skills, Social habit, Sciences etc. written by other authors because most of the other authors were old generation authors whose books were up to date, but the “FONTS” used were different from the phonics authors.
My Intervention
My view as an English Language teacher is that Phonics is the best way of teaching a child to grasp any letter sound easily along with any object that matches it. But on the subject of handwriting, I would strongly suggest that Lagos State Government should maintain the initial alphabetical order of English Language and incorporate the additional 16 characters (digraphs) such as: sh, ch, ng, er, ue , oi , ou, th/th oo oo etc. which will replace the old alphabetical order.
Also, the alphabetical characters should be stated out, so that any teacher or students of any disciplines that have passed through the University or College of Education would have been familiar with the latest trend here posited and the knowledge acquired overtime would be beneficial to the pupils and indeed the larger community for a more vivacious and salutary impartation of the knowledge.

If Lagos State Government intends to adopt any pattern that will do substantial justice to this subject matter/discourse, I would strongly suggest that they use my model – “TRADITIONAL HANDWRITING” –in contra—distinction to the cursive handwriting which is in use in most of the public Primary Schools and highly notable Private Schools in Lagos State.

See below my model has strongly posited:
TRADITIONAL MODEL HANDWRITING
Model for writing in Nigeria Nursery Schools



For in-depth understanding and meaningful appreciation of my point, it must be stated for the records that the old teachers and virtually everybody are used to these handwriting pattern only that the pronunciation aspect is what government should embark upon by using media houses as a platform to reach millions of Lagosian so that everybody will be informed on the newest trend of teaching and learning in the Nursery Education department.

Also, Lagos State Government should, as a matter of urgency, reach out to the Curriculum Department of higher institutions multi-facetedly, particularly the Nursery and Primary Education Department (NPE) so that they can upgrade their course contents to accommodate the new trend in order for the teachers being trained to be aware of the trend and adapt as much as possible to it.
Finally, Lagos State Government as a case study, should work out some modalities for other agencies and ministries to be co-opted into the scheme so that the burden will not be too much for the schools, while parents as stakeholders in this project will be enjoined to be supporters of this new trend which accommodates the old order that parents are used to, to wit I also subscribe to in addition to the needful traditional handwriting which is the basis of my discourse.
LONG LIVE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA
LONG LIVE LAGOS STATE GOVERNMENT
LONG LIVE ALIMOSHO LOCAL GOVERNMENT.

This event is slated for 7th December, 2019 at St. Lawrence Nursery and Primary School at exactly 12:00pm

ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Nigeria is blessed with highly conscientious, intelligent, patriotic, and visionary leaders in the various spectrum. It is remarkable to state for the records that we have rare breeds like ADEDAYO ADEMIPADA who graduated from Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education in the year 2004-2005 Academic Session and proceeded to Ekiti State University in search of more knowledge in English Language where he also graduated in the year 2012 cumulating in the finished product that we have in our midst today. He has taken the tenuous but honourable root to attain this lofty and admirable direction to achieve the status of not just being an author of books, researcher and elegant scholar of the English Language particularly on phonics with special inclination in domestication of Phonics in Nigeria schools.
Tel: 08062991534, 08098324709