Impact of Multilingualism on Yoruba Language Proficiency of Primary School Children in Benin City, Edo State

Children growing up in multilingual environments develop complex language repertoires that may either enhance or constrain their proficiency in individual languages, depending on relative input, status, and instructional support. This study investigates the impact of multilingualism on Yoruba language proficiency among primary school children from Yoruba-speaking homes in Benin City, Edo State, South South Nigeria. Using a mixed-methods design, Yoruba proficiency was assessed through standardised oral production and comprehension tasks administered to 120 children aged eight to twelve years across six primary schools, supplemented by caregiver language use questionnaires and teacher interviews. The study examines how the number of languages present in the child's environment, the relative dominance of Edo and English, and schooling medium affect Yoruba proficiency development. The theoretical framework draws on dynamic systems theory of multilingual acquisition and cross-linguistic influence research. Existing research on Yoruba language acquisition has focused on monolingual and bilingual Yoruba-English contexts in Southwest Nigeria, with children growing up in trilingual Yoruba-Edo-English environments in Edo State receiving no dedicated empirical attention. This study fills that significant acquisition and sociolinguistic gap. Findings are expected to reveal that children in homes with more than two competing languages show lower Yoruba proficiency scores, but that regular intergenerational Yoruba exposure through grandparent contact mediates multilingualism effects. Recommendations will address family language planning strategies and Yoruba language support for minority-community children in Edo State schools. Keywords: multilingualism, Yoruba proficiency, primary school children, Benin City, language acquisition.