Bilingualism in the English of tertiary students: A sine-qua-non for mentorship and entrepreneurial development

Abstract

Effects of Bilingualism on the English of Tertiary Students as a mentorship and entrepreneurial tool were investigated. The term bilingualism is the use of two languages (repertoire) of an individual or a speech community. An important feature of bilingualism is that it is a consequence of language in contact which deals with the direct or indirect influence of one language on the other. Five research questions were used to investigate the effects of Bilingualism on the English of tertiary students. A total of three hundred students from two tertiary institutions were used. Fifty percent (50%) and above is regarded as a pass mark proving the effects of bilingualism on the English of tertiary students. The selected tertiary institutions are run by the State and Federal Governments. The data interpretation proved that bilingualism has overriding positive mentorship and entrepreneurial influence on students’ development. These benefits include enhancing and enriching the students’ language experiences/structure, offering insights and opportunities for developing cognitive skills, enhancing ability to interact in both languages, transfer concepts from one language to the other and a means of cultural transmission. Based on these findings, recommendations such as encouraging parents to maintain bilingualism at home and schools, language teachers to emphasis areas of difficulty and interference, more emphasis to be made by textbook writers, syllabus designers, curriculum planners, provision of instructional materials and financial assistance by the government were made to enhance proficiency.

Keywords: Bilingualism, Mentorship, Entrepreneurial development, English, Tertiary Students, Sine-qua-non.