Connect With Yourself & Your Own: Matru Bhasha

Connect With Yourself & Your Own: Matru Bhasha

Had you ever thought that there would be a day to commemorate the mother language? Well, International Mother Language Day is a 19-year-old celebration that has been observed since February, 2000. The objective of this day is to promote linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism.

Languages having complex implications for identity, communication, social integration, education and development, are of inevitable strategic importance for people and the planet. Yet, due to globalization processes, they are increasinglyunder the red zone (threat zone), or disappearing altogether. When these languages fade, so does the world's rich tapestry of cultural diversity. Opportunities, traditions, memory, unique modes of thinking and expression — valuable resources for ensuring a better future — are also lost. Not just this, UN also mentions on its website for events that at least 43% of the estimated 6000 languages spoken in the world are endangered. Linguistic diversity is increasingly threatened as more and more languages disappear. Globally 40 per cent of the population does not have access to an education in a language they speak or understand. Nevertheless, progress is being made in mother tongue-based multilingual education with growing understanding of its importance, particularly in early schooling, and more commitment to its development in public life.

Considering India’s situation, where the existence of the country is based on multi-ethnic societies, linguistic variations are likely to take place. With 780 languages, India stands as the country with world's second highest number of languages, after Papua New Guinea, which has 839 languages.

Languages spoken in India belong to several language families, the major ones being the Indo-Aryan languages (spoken by 78.05% of Indians) and the Dravidian languages (spoken by 19.64% of Indians). Languages spoken by the remaining 2.31% of the population belong to the Austroasiatic, Sino-Tibetan, Tai-Kadai, and a few other minor language families and isolates. Not just this, while going through Wikipedia, one will also get to know that a constitutional amendment, The Official Languages Act, 1963, allowed for the continuation of English in the Indian government indefinitely until legislation decides to change it. The forms of numerals to be used for the official purposes of the Union were supposed to be the international form of Indian numeralsthat are distinct from the numerals used in most English-speaking countries. Despite of different misconceptions, Hindi is not the national language of India. The Constitution of India does not give any language the status of national language.

The Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution has listed 22 different languages that are referred to as scheduled languages and given recognition, status and official encouragement. In addition, the Government of India has awarded the distinction of classical language to Kannada, Malayalam, Odia, Sanskrit, Tamil and Telugu. Classical language status is given to languages which have a rich heritage and independent nature. According to the 2001 Census of India, our country has 122 major languages and 1599 other languages. However, figures from other sources vary, primarily due to differences in definition of the terms "language" and "dialect". The 2001 Census recorded 30 languages, which were spoken by more than a million native speakers and 122 which were spoken by more than 10,000 people. Two contact languages have played an important role in the history of India: Persian and English.Persian was the court language during the Mughal period in India.

It reigned as an administrative language for several centuries until the era of British colonization. English continues to be an important language in India. It is used in higher education and in some areas of the Indian government. Hindi, the most commonly spoken language in India today, serves as the lingua franca across much of North and Central India. However, there have been anti-Hindi agitations in South India, most notably in the state of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Maharashtra, West Bengal, Assam, Punjab and other non-Hindi regions have also started to voice concerns about Hindi.

According to UN only a few hundred languages have genuinely been given a place in education systems and the public domain, and less than a hundred are used in the digital world.Languages are the most powerful instruments of preserving and developing our tangible and intangible heritage. All moves to promote the dissemination of mother tongues will serve not only to encourage linguistic diversity and multilingual education but also to develop fuller awareness of linguistic and cultural traditions throughout the world and to inspire solidarity based on understanding, tolerance and dialogue.

UN also mentions that every two weeks a language disappears taking with it an entire cultural and intellectual heritage.

Mother Tongue (known as “Matru Bhasha” in Hindi) is the language that connects a child with his or her parents. What is Mother tongue?

Mother Tongue, also known as the first language, native language, or mother/father/parent tongue is a language that any person is been exposed to from birth or within the critical period. It is also known as arterial language or L1. For your reference, the critical period hypothesis states that the first few years of a person’s life is the crucial time in which an individual can acquire a first language if presented with adequate stimuli. If language input does not occur until after this time, the individual will never achieve a full command of language, especially grammatical systems.

However, the concept of mother tongue also varies geographically. In some countries, this term refers to the language of one's ethnic group rather than one's first language. Children brought up speaking more than one language can have more than one native language, and be bilingual or multilingual.

According to Ivan Illich, the term "mother tongue" was first used by Catholic monks to designate a particular language they used, instead of Latin, when they are "speaking from the pulpit". That is, the "holy mother the Church" introduced this term and colonies inherited it from Christianity as a part of colonialism.

Multilingual and multicultural societies exist through their languages which transmit and preserve traditional knowledge and cultures in a sustainable way.

Definition of "Native Language" (also considered as Mother Language) varies according to different factors like origin, etc. Let’s see how these definitions vary.

Who is a “native speaker”?

The articlepublished by the Asian EFLJournal,“The Native Speaker: An Achievable Model?” states that there are six general principles that relate to the definition of "native speaker". These principles, according to the study, are typically accepted by language experts across the scientific field. A native speaker is defined according to the guidelines as this:

Let us move further to understand the importance of the native language. What is the significance of Mother Language?

The first language or Mother Language of a child is actually part of the personal, social and cultural identity. It also brings about the reflection and learning of successful social patterns of acting and speaking, and basically responsible for differentiating the linguistic competence of acting.

Many researchers and others argue that there is no such thing as "native speaker" or a "mother tongue;" hence, it is important to comprehend the key terms to have a better understanding of what it means to be a "non-native" speaker and the implications that can have on one's life. Research studies suggest that while a non-native speaker may develop fluency in a targeted language after about two years of immersion, it can actually take somewhere between five and seven years for that child to be on the same working level as their native speaking counterparts. That has implications on the education of non-native speakers.

The topic of native speaker also indicates at the definition of bilingualism. One definition is that a person is bilingual by being equally proficient in both languages. A person who grows up speaking English, and begins learning Spanish for four years is not necessarily bilingual unless he or she can speak both the languages with equal fluency. Fluency matters! Pearl and Lambert were the first to test only “balanced” bilinguals—that is, a child who is completely fluent in two languages and feel that neither is their “native” language because they grasp the two so perfectly. This study found the following: balanced bilinguals perform significantly better in tasks that require flexibility (they constantly shift between the two known languages depending on the situation/requires constant juggling), more aware of arbitrary nature of language and also that balanced bilinguals choose word associations based on logical rather than phonetic preferences.

In a study, “Challenges and Strategies for Multilingual Education in India” by Subhashini Rajasekaran and Rajesh Kumar, one of the challenges of implementation of multi-language is discussed i.e. retaining purity. “We spoke to six primary and middle school teachers about the maintenance of purity of language, their teaching strategies and their students’ language abilities. The following response sums up their views and concerns:The (English) language ability of students is not very great. They think in their mother tongue and then translate … if they can’t get a word they use from Kutchi, Gujarati, Hindi, etc. Mixing is natural. But it is fine only when children slip into another language and get back to English easily. For others, it’s a big no-no as it hampers the development of (the weak) language. When English, only English. If speaking Hindi, only Hindi. Only then I can say that a child is good in a language!”

While being fluent in the language that connects the world with you and enhances opportunities is critical and imperative, at the same time not getting detached from the mother tongue is equally important. However, speaking in mother tongue is way more comforting and makes one feel loved. This year, on the occasion of International Mother Language Day on 21st February, 2019, speak with your family members in your mother tongue, and observe the reactions. One feels connected with the other, who understands it.