The erosion of indigenous languages in Nigeria presents a critical challenge to cultural heritage and educational equity. Despite policy pronouncements, a systematic analysis of the pedagogical frameworks and community-based strategies actually employed within educational systems is lacking. This study aimed to survey and evaluate the specific strategies being utilised for indigenous language maintenance within formal and non-formal educational contexts. Its objectives were to catalogue pedagogical approaches, assess the integration of community praxis, and identify factors correlating with reported effectiveness. A cross-sectional survey was administered to a stratified sample of 450 educators, curriculum planners, and community language advocates across six geopolitical zones. The instrument combined Likert-scale items and open-ended questions to collect quantitative and qualitative data on strategy implementation, perceived outcomes, and barriers. Findings indicate a significant reliance on co-curricular activities (e.g., language clubs, cultural festivals) over formal classroom instruction. A substantial 68% of respondents reported that community elder involvement was the strongest predictor of pupil engagement. However, a dominant theme was the systemic marginalisation of these strategies due to assessment pressures favouring English. The study concludes that while a repertoire of strategies exists, their efficacy is fundamentally constrained by a lack of structural integration into the core curriculum and assessment regime, rendering them peripheral rather than transformative. It is recommended that educational authorities mandate the allocation of dedicated instructional time for indigenous languages within the official timetable. Furthermore, teacher development programmes must be redesigned to equip educators with specific pedagogical content knowledge for language revitalisation. language maintenance, indigenous knowledge, pedagogical frameworks, community praxis, curriculum implementation, Nigeria This paper provides a novel, national-scale dataset mapping the operational disconnect between language policy aspirations and grassroots pedagogical realities, highlighting community praxis as an under-leveraged mechanism for sustainable preservation.
Adebayo et al. (Sat,) studied this question.