“ Assistant professor in English @mehran university of engineering and technology Jamshoro “
International mother languages day 21st Feb!
“Are we in the favor of mother Languages…
Really!!!”???
Shoukat Lohar.
“ Assistant professor in English @mehran university of engineering and technology Jamshoro “
On this auspicious day of mother
languages,
Which is celebrated throughout the world on 21st February. Today The UN,s educational, scientific, and cultural organ UNESCO and other international agencies and groups organize events to highlight the historical significance of mother languages.
In this context, the conferences, seminars, symposiums, rallies, and gatherings are demonstrated to unleash the mother tongue as the greatest medium of language description.
Sadly, speaking the mother languages which are organic treasures for other languages, are highly ignored due to the centralization and monolingual nation of the world.
The world is like a vase full of colorful flowers of diversified cultural heritage. So is with the languages of the world.
According to world Ethnologue “ there are more than seven thousand languages spoken in the world. But due to globalization and McDonaldization of the world, according to David Crystal there 4 percent of languages spoken by 96 percent of the total population of the world “
further, the aggravated is the condition with the mother languages or indigenous languages that these are virulently killed Every other day. According to David Crystal language death occurs every after 14th day.
It’s very heartening and saddening news for the language scholars to ponder over this plight and plan policies and remedies against this atrocity to world mother languages.
The historical background of the day being celebrated in the name of mother languages is full of interest and attention.
. It was in 1952 the then East Pakistan today’s Bangladesh whenever the founder of Pakistan Quaid e Azam delivered a speech in English and stated that Urdu would be the national language of the state. However, due to the heavy procession and protest the Bengali students urged to give Bangla Bhasha as the national language status, in this regard four students were killed when police opened fire.
At that moment the Martyrs monument was erected and the Bengali language was recognized as a national language in 1956. Onwards both Urdu and Bengali languages remained the national languages of Pakistan.
Afterward,
in 1971 the then East Pakistan became Bangladesh in which ethnic discrimination infused power in the movement of the split.
UN,s recognition came into accord in 1990 to recognize international mother languages day throughout the world on 21st February.
What is a mother tongue?
As the saying says, it’s the language the mother speaks to the child, to pacify or play with the child.
That is the first language the child hears or speaks.
An easy test to check a Child’s mother tongue is the language He/She is speaking the most at the age of 3–5.
It’s simple in monolingual societies.
But not always, straightforward in multilingual societies.
A child while speaking a different language at home, studied the region’s lingua franca at School, while the language
heard the most spoken around was the State language which also studied.
This was on top of learning English as the international language and language of technical education.
Now, when one starts going to school and depending on the exposure, the language of the region starts taking hold over the mother tongue if they are different. How much depends on the parents.
Finally, the Litmus test is when one is an adult what language he/she interacts with parents and siblings is what’s usually the mother tongue.
Now in some cases even there maybe 2 languages in the above situation with equal proficiency, that’s when one will usually choose their ethnic language as mother tongue.
What is the mother tongue?
As the word goes, it’s the language the mother speaks to the child, to pacify or play with the child.
That is the first language the child hears or speaks.
An easy test to check a Child’s mother tongue is the language He/She is speaking the most at the age of 3–5.
It’s simple in monolingual societies.
But not always straightforward in multilingual societies.
Now, when one starts going to school and depending on the exposure, the language of the region starts taking hold over the mother tongue if they are different. How much depends on the parents…
Now in some cases even there may be 2 languages in the above situation with equal proficiency, that’s when one will usually choose their ethnic language as mother tongue
In linguistics, we use “mother tongue”, “first language”, and “L1” to refer to the language that we learn before we have learned any other language fully. There seems to be a difference in how our brain handles language when we first learn it, in early childhood, and how it learns later languages, “second languages” or “L2”.
People who do this are called bilingual, or multilingual, in the strict sense of the world.
According to Sapir Whorf language is the ultimate reality of objects. It’s more than a tool of communication.
you talk to [someone] in a language [he or she] understands, that goes to [the person’s] head. If you talk to [somebody] in [his or her] language, that goes to [the] heart.
– Nelson Mandela was well said by this great leader of the African world.
Are we really in the favor of mother languages? If yes then we need to take some honest and true measures.
In the name of fashion or enchantment of the English language, we snatch the linguistic rights of a child. Who is helpless and powerless and can’t resist. We all need to recognize the significance of mother languages in letters and spirits.
Due to the overwhelmed consumerism and commoditization of the world. We are under the boat of neoliberalism and americanization. The enforced divergence towards English has left the languages of the world at the mercy of one language.
According to David Gradole, in the coming century, the world would be semi-monolingualism.
Due to the bulldozing of world culture and heritage, several languages of the world are in danger. Some are extinct and some are in queue to be beheaded.
We need to revitalize the dying languages. The policymakers and governments need to fund to uplift the status of indigenous languages of the world.
The linguistic profile of Pakistan is very rich in regards to languages. There are numerous languages, more than 76 languages are spoken across the country. Urdu as the national language, English as an official language, and Sindhi, Punjabi, Pashto, Balochi, Saraiki are the regional indigenous languages of the country. Amongst them are the Datki, Marwari, Rangri, Shanna,
Hazarvi, Bohri, and numerous other languages as minority groups of languages.
These are the mother languages of the citizens of Pakistan.
Pakistan is a diverse country and there is multilingualism. It’s the beauty of the nation that keeps it united and strengthened.
According to the constitution, the provincial languages are the official languages of the region/provinces.
The Sindhi language has a rich heritage and cultural background. It’s still in the wait of being recognized as the national language of Pakistan. It has its script, live publication, TV channels, and more than five crore Sindhi speaking people according
to recent consensus.
Due to the mushroom growth of private schools and academies Sindhi language has been highly marginalized and ignored.
Owing to the worsened state of the state-run education system parents are forced to get their education through private schooling.
In private schools, the Sindhi language is banned.
This is another kind of genocide of a living language. It’s a live example of linguicism. This practice must be stopped.
Sindhi speaking vocal class must rationalize this burning issue.
The Sindhi-speaking parents must enforce the private-owned academies and schools especially high fee schools to start teaching Sindhi language subjects like that of five or six hours as they do with English or Urdu.
Let there shouldn’t be any mystification of linguistic issues. Who can deny the power and privilege of English, and the status of Urdu as the national language of Pakistan but its provincial languages must not be ignored. Sindhi language must be revived through enforcing the private sector to give this language space and value as it’s the most valuable language of the world.
It’s only power,
politics and ideology which has created differences amongst us. Let us not envoy over multilingual Pakistan. Nature has diversity and there is beauty in diversity.
It’s world mother languages day throughout the world and festivals are organized by the United Nations and other organizations but very sadly no privately owned schools institution has organized any program to mark the recognition of this day.
As most of the private schools teach hatred to the indigenous languages that’s why these schools can’t afford the recognition of the mother languages. In this regard, parents must raise voices and question this disparity
: if schools celebrate the color day, pineapple day, Spider-Man day, fruits day,
Tiger day, ice cream day, meat day,
food day and numerous other unproductive days were upon parents being a pauper to their undue demands and notices.
Government must take mother languages on board. Realizing their significance it must start programs in indigenous revitalizing and enlivening these great sources of inspiration and emotional roots
.
Outstanding
Wonderful