INTEGRATING NIGERIAN ORAL LITERATURE INTO FRENCH CLASS: A BRIDGE BETWEEN INDIGENOUS PRACTICES AND MODERN LANGUAGE TEACHING

Abstract

This study explored how Nigerian oral literature can be meaningfully integrated into the teaching of French as a foreign language to improve students’ linguistic performance and cultural engagement. The research was based on the findings that language learning becomes more effective when rooted in the learner’s immediate environment. Using a classroom-based qualitative approach, the study examined how proverbs, folktales, songs, and idiomatic expressions drawn from Nigerian traditions can be employed to teach key aspects of grammar, vocabulary, and communicative competence in French. The participants were junior school students in a Nigerian French class who engaged in storytelling, translation, and role-play activities. The findings revealed that students demonstrated higher levels of comprehension, confidence, and retention when lessons were connected to familiar cultural materials. Oral narratives and proverbs provided a contextual foundation for grasping grammatical structures such as tense and agreement, while performance-based tasks fostered fluency and collaboration. The study concludes that integrating indigenous oral literature into French pedagogy does not dilute linguistic accuracy but rather strengthens it by grounding the foreign language in the learner’s lived experience. It recommends curriculum reforms, teacher training, and the development of bilingual instructional materials to sustain this culturally responsive approach. This model not only supports linguistic competence but also contributes to the decolonisation of foreign language education in Nigeria.