Investigating the Epistemological Assumptions of French Language Teaching Methodologies in Nigerian Educational Discourse

Every language teaching methodology embeds epistemological assumptions about the nature of language, the process of learning, and the purpose of language education that are rarely made explicit in Nigerian pedagogical discourse, yet these assumptions have profound consequences for what counts as French language knowledge, who is considered a legitimate French speaker, and what pedagogical practices are legitimated in Nigerian classrooms. This study investigates the epistemological assumptions underlying dominant French language teaching methodologies in Nigerian educational discourse, applying a philosophy of education and critical epistemology framework. A genealogical discourse analysis methodology traces the historical adoption and institutionalisation of major French language teaching methodologies in Nigerian secondary and university education from the colonial period to the present, drawing on archival colonial education records, successive national curriculum documents, teacher training programme syllabi, and contemporary pedagogical research publications. In-depth epistemological interviews with 28 senior French educators explore the tacit epistemological commitments informing their pedagogical choices. Results reveal a persistent native-speaker-normativity epistemology embedded in examination systems, teaching materials, and teacher assessment frameworks that constructs metropolitan French as the legitimate target and positions Nigerian French as inherently deficient. This epistemology was found to conflict with the regional communicative purposes that most Nigerian French learners and educators articulate as their primary motivation. A post-native-speaker epistemology for Nigerian French education is developed, centred on pluricentric, regionally-oriented, and functionally-defined notions of French competence. The study contributes to the philosophy of language education in African contexts. Keywords: epistemology, French language teaching, methodology, native speaker normativity, Nigeria