TEACHING PHYSICAL SCIENCES IN THE MOTHER TONGUE: THE CASE OF KIRUNDI

Abstract

In this article, we study the feasibility and effectiveness of teaching physics in kirundi, the mother tongue in Burundi where physics is taught in French. Two techniques were adopted to conduct this study: a survey questionnaire was submitted to 25 secondary school teachers and an experimentation session where a physics lesson in French and the same lesson in Kirundi were given in two different classes to compare the results. The results of the survey
and the success of the lesson taught show that the teaching of physical sciences in kirundi is feasible and more effective than that in a foreign language both in urban centers and in areas far from the centers.