In today’s globalised world, more than ever, it is important to be able to communicate in multiple languages; however, that does not mean that one should forget about his or her mother tongue, experts say.
Mother tongue is the language that a child gets to hear after birth and helps give a definite shape to our feelings and thoughts.
Experts believe that learning in the mother tongue is crucial for improving a child’s critical thinking skills, second language learning, and literacy skills.
Ifeoma Esiri, the coordinator of Zaccheus Onumba Dibiaezue Memorial Libraries (ZODML) speaking on the need for basic school children to teach in their local languages, said it is regrettable that many Nigerian children cannot neither read and write nor effectively communicate in their indigenous languages.
“It’s a pity that a lot of our children can only speak and communicate in English. Nigeria must have systems in place to teach her children how to read and write in their local languages,” she said.
Language, arguably is the life-wire of human communication. It is a vital tool to human society. When one knows a language, he will be able to recognise, understand and produce new sentences.
It is a medium by which thoughts are conveyed from person to person, and from place to place.
Hence, education stakeholders argue that the teacher and pupils must belong to the same speech community, especially at the basic education cadre for them to be able to understand and effectively comprehend teaching message.
Elizabeth Ohaka, an educationist, with specialisation in early childhood education believes there is a great need for teaching the first level of education in a child’s mother tongue.
She explained that teaching children in a child’s mother tongue brings about a better understanding of concepts while making adaptation easier for such a pupil.
She affirmed that this should start from the preschool stage because creativity and expertise start with an understanding of the concepts behind the subject involved.
Ohaka, who is also a certified UK Jolly Phonics trainer, cited China as a good example of countries where children are taught in their mother tongue right from their early childhood education.
“Learning is a partnership cum a relationship activity. It is something that must be concretised and must be authentic. Learning is environmental and is much more than simply an academic exercise. It involves the conscious and the unconscious,” she noted.
The debate for mother tongue usage in Nigerian basic schools was initiated by Babs Fafunwa, a one-time Nigerian minister for education.
In 1975, he advocated that the language of instruction in the nation’s primary schools should be in the native language, after observing that many children finished primary education with no proficiency in either English or their native language.
Vincent Brian, a professor of language at King’s College, University of London, believes that the two major concepts involved in literacy (teaching and learning) are autonomous and ideological.
The first deals with the universal skill or aptitude of being able to learn. The second sees literacy as a social construct that takes on complex, cultural, and ideological meanings in different specific settings.
Some experts believe the need for a mother tongue in teaching young children is hinged on the fact that communication and language saturate our lives as community- beings.
Hence, they argue that the mother tongue enables the children being taught to have the ability to build up critical thinking and analytical skills at a younger age.
Aduke Gomez, the author of Iya Alaro Saves The Day speaking on the essence of writing books that depict a child’s culture said it is important to understand how things are done where a child is from.
You’ve to be intentional about your culture, you’re not born knowing your history. You have to be told about your culture and history,” she said.
