Mother tongue based multilingual education seems the way forward in Pakistan, where diverse ethnic identities lag behind in the rat race in which rats know no language but English
It will be an understatement to say that language is a tool of communication. It is the bearer of one’s identity, a source of empowerment for the people who converse in that language. Mother tongue is called what it is called for a reason; it embeds one’s socio-cultural experiences of the land one belongs to. The government of Pakistan though still seems hesitant in accepting the importance a language has not only for its speakers but for the nation as a whole, who may benefit from a potentially literate labour force, which awaits teaching in a language they can relate to. Over 60 languages are spoken in Pakistan, a nation who is not only the signatory of international covenants on linguistic and ethnic minority rights but also claims to be the caterer of different languages, and in practice dislikes the promotion of mother tongues.
Traditional models of education which bypass, deny or belittle mother tongues create animosity, ambivalence and identity loss on the part of minority language communities because questions of identity, nationhood and power are very closely linked with the language used in schools. Speakers of mother tongues, which are not the same as the national or official languages, are considerably disadvantaged in the educational.
World Bank in its paper on Education for All (2005) declares, “Fifty percent of the world’s out-of-school children live in communities where the language of schooling is rarely, if ever, used at home. This underscores the biggest challenge to achieving Education for All (EFA) - a legacy of non-productive practices that lead to low levels of learning and high levels of dropout and repetition.”
Similarly UNESCO found out in the research called Education in a Multilingual World (2002), “The choice of language is a recurrent challenge in the development of quality education. Speakers of mother tongues, which are not the same as the national language speakers, are often at a considerable disadvantage in the educational system.”
What’s the idea?
Having explained the prevalent scenarios, one may wonder what is mother tongue and what sort of an educational system are we talking about? The idea is simple; the use of mother tongue paired with other languages to pave way for better educated and not-discriminated-against people.
Mother tongue based education means the use of learner’s mother tongue as the medium of instruction. Mother tongue instruction covers both the teaching of and the teaching through this language, while multilingual education usually refers to the use of more than two languages as mediums of instruction in education. In most cases ‘bilingual’ and ‘multilingual’ education are treated as synonyms. Mother tongue based multilingual education (MTB-MLE) refers to the use of mother tongue in education as medium of instruction along with other languages. In it the use of mother tongue in education precedes other languages. The second and third languages are included at a later stage.
The experts and advocates of mother tongue based multilingual education suggest that the learners should be taught in their mother tongue, particularly in the early education stage, because it helps them grow well cognitively by connecting their pre-knowledge and culture with the school environment. Research around the world in this regard suggest that mother tongue based education retains the learners and reduces the rate of drop-outs.
MTB-MLE usually starts in the learners’ early education stage. In the first year graded literacy in mother tongue is introduced. Later, in the second year, second and third languages are introduced orally. In the next stages the use of mother tongue is gradually replaced with a graded use of the second and third languages. But before starting the second and third languages an effective transition is ensured through effective ‘bridging’, which involves a comparison of the second and third languages. The reading and teaching materials are developed incorporating the learners’ culture. The philosophy is the same from easy to difficult, from concrete to abstract and from part to whole and whole to part.
In most of the MTB-MLE programmes around the world, generally the ‘two track’ pedagogical system is used. Focus is shared both on ‘meaning’ and ‘accuracy’. In other words both primer and story tracks go simultaneously.
The two sides of it
The idea of MTB-MLE is easy and appealing but implementation is quite another matter. Apart from the various political and sociolinguistic issues, there are technical aspects which need to be attended to.
In educational discourse language is a determining factor. In Pakistan youth lags behind owing to the language barrier. English is deemed not only the language of power and economy but of the social status. The case is not only with English but also with other languages spoken at various schools. For instance, in Torwali Swat Valley Pakistan, the research says that none of the graduates has got a job in civil services till now. But just 10 km away, in Madyan, a Pashto speaking town, there are scores of doctors, lecturers and civil servants. Why the chasm? Is it because the people of Madyan are smarter than Torwali? The research says that it was the language that played its part; the teachers spoke Pashto and Torwali students were looked down upon. Torwali students felt uneasy and regarded the school environment as ‘alien’, thus the drop outs ratios also increased.
Is multilingual education worth the effort?
Education in one’s own mother tongue can surely do the job. It can ensure quality in education and can bring social integration. It can foster peace by bringing positive changes in attitudes towards minority languages and cultures.
A multilingual education program requires supportive policies; planning and funding in the first place. In the next phase it needs initial language development. When the language is researched and written, the next step is to develop a curriculum with effective transition materials. Along with this training, supervision and administration will be needed; and finally an effective evaluation strategy. A sustainable multilingual education program can be developed by the state.
What about other factors?
There are several concerns one may have regarding the implementation of mother tongue based educational system. One may ask if education in more than one language will threaten national integration? Isn't mother tongue based education is too expensive for the developing countries to afford? Do we have experts for curriculum development?
The reality is that Pakistan seems obsessed with ‘unnatural’ national unity at the expense of killing the diversity of identities and this exclusive policy basically threatens national cohesion. Giving due share to every identity will unify diverse cultures.
As far as the project costs are concerned, it can be easily catered to by efficient resource allocation, by cutting short other useless expenses. Plus there are many INGOs and UN agencies such as UNESCO and UNICEF among others which can help with providing the experts, once the state agrees to implement the system.
Mother tongues thus need their breathing space, not only for the recognition of diverse identities that exist in Pakistan but for a bigger national cause as well. There is a lot to be done on the policy level and all can but hope that the government may take some practical steps for implementing mother tongue based multilingual education programmes.
References:
1. Baker, Colin. 1996. Foundations of bilingual education and bilingualism. Clevedon, England: Multilingual Matters.
2. Cummins, Jim. 2000. Beyond adversarial discourse: searching for common ground in the education of bilingual students. In The politics of multicultural and bilingual education students and teachers caught in the cross fire, edited by Carlos J. Ovando and Peter McLaren, 126-147. Boston: McGraw-Hill.
3. Patrinos, Harry and Eduardo Velez. 1996. Costs and benefits of bilingual education in
4. Guatemala: a partial analysis. (Unpublished research report). Washington D.C.: The World Bank.
5. Constitution of Pakistan, 1973
6. UNESCO Position paper on Multilingual Education, 2003
7. Education in a Multilingual World, UNESCO, 2002: http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0012/001297/129728e.pdf
8. In their own language…Education for all. ((World Bank. 2005).
9. Early Childhood Education, MoE, Pakistan 2007
10. National Education Policy, 2009
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The writer is based in Bahrain, Swat and belongs to Torwali tribe of Dardic origin. He writes for different national dailies of the country. He is a coordinator of an independent organization IBT, Center for Education and Development. He believes in liberal and secular values and studied English literature and Political Science from University of Peshawar. |
