Correlation among Mother Tongue, Socio-Economic Status and Social Studies Students’ Academic Performance in Delta State

This research investigated the effect of mother tongue (Urhobo Language) on the academic performance of Social Studies students in junior secondary schools in Delta State. The study focused on one independent variable, Urhobo language instruction, while academic performance served as the dependent variable, and socioeconomic status was examined as a moderating variable. A quasi-experimental before-test after-test control group design with a 2x2 matrix structure was employed. The population comprised eighty thousand, nine hundred and twelve students of social studies in Delta State during the 2023/2024 academic session, from which 100 students were selected using multistage, purposive, and random sampling techniques. One school was utilized as the experimental group, receiving instruction in Urhobo, while the other group was taught in English. Data were collected using the Social Studies Mother Tongue Test (SSMTT), which had a reliability coefficient of 0.89. The questions raised in the research were answered with descriptive statistics, while hypotheses were analyzed with a t-test at a 0.05 level of significance. Using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software. The findings revealed that students taught Social Studies in Urhobo performed remarkably better than those taught in English, demonstrating that mother-tongue instruction enhances comprehension, retention, and engagement. Additionally, socioeconomic status did not moderate the relationship between language of instruction and academic performance, suggesting that language familiarity is more influential than financial status. The study recommends policy initiatives that encourage the use of mother tongue for social studies instruction and good parental support for mother-tongue learning. These findings contribute to educational research by reinforcing the cognitive advantages of incorporating mother-tongue into social studies instruction and its potential to improve learning outcomes across socioeconomic groups.