Background: Children who grow up learning more than one language can build ties across communities and feel connected to their cultures. Nigeria, being a multilingual nation, designates English as its official language – used in government, education, commerce, and communication. The dominance and impact of the official language on indigenous languages, such as the Igbo language, is of great concern to Igbo scholars and stakeholders, who consistently express their worries about the negligence and lack of transmission of the language. While some policies direct the teaching of Igbo in the early years, these are not effectively implemented. This neglect and negative attitudes towards Igbo have a profound influence on communication choices made by parents in the home, classroom, and social settings. The situation is even more worrisome when children are not exposed to Igbo during their early education.

Aims: This study aims to describe the language experience of preschool-aged Igbo-English bilingual children 2–5 years old. Specifically, the study identifies what language(s) an Igbo child understands or speaks and determines if Igbo parents engage and interact with their children in their indigenous language.

Method: Data was gathered from Awka South local government area of Anambra State, involving 40 families. Parents who have preschool-aged children who are in their early childhood care development were purposively selected from the Awka metropolis. The study adapted the Canadian Questionnaire of use and exposure of bilingual preschool-aged children to the socio-cultural context of the study. The data was analysed based on the language exposure and proficiency of the children in Igbo and English, in addition to gaining insights into the parents’ perspectives, aspirations, and prospects for language exposure and use. Ethics approval for the study was received from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Ethics Board (HaSSREB), Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, in addition to attaching a letter of consent to the questionnaire.

Results: Preliminary findings indicate that English language has a much greater impact on language use than the Igbo language due to the amount of exposure to the language. The study also reveals the dominant use of English in preschool, inconsistent language use at home, dominant English language use in the community, the lack of early exposure to Igbo, and the lack of determination of parents, as part of the factors militating against the learning of Igbo language.

Conclusions: The family and community as agents of socialisation have a crucial and/or pivotal role to play in language transmission, preservation and use. This implies that all stakeholders, including parents, teachers, and the government, have a crucial role in promoting early language literacy. The research will contribute to raising the consciousness of parents and teachers about the transmission of the language to children through exposure, improving poor attitudes towards speaking the indigenous language, and increasing public awareness of the importance of early language acquisition.

Implications for children and families: Ensuring the survival of Igbo begins at home. By speaking Igbo with your child, you are not only supporting the language but also helping your child maintain connections with their culture and have the benefits of multilingual language development.

Implications for practitioners: : As a practitioner, you have an important role to play in supporting the learning of Igbo and English in young children. You can emphasise the importance of growing up multilingual to help parents feel more confident in sharing their languages with their children.

Key words: families’ voices, Indigenous voices, early literacy, education, government, communication

This presentation relates to the following United Nations Sustainable Development Goals:

• SDG 4: Quality Education