Fate of the Indigenous Languages: Is there a superior language?

Language is one carrier of the cultural symbols and meanings of groups and so plays a crucial role in constructing social identities. Language gives meaning to concepts, especially when one excels in the knowledge of the historical roots of it. History has proved that students who acquire sufficient proficiency in mother-tongue enjoy ‘an increased awareness of the nature of emotions, greater flexibility in understanding of the  the historical roots and increased sensitivity to interpersonal realtionships.

Indigenous people who don’t speak English as a first language face enormous pressure to switch to speaking English only. Nigeria faces acute langauge crisis (even though elsewhere in the world multilingualism is common, and affords social and intellectual advantages).

Things that currently make it hard are that:

• All government services are delivered in English as the default
• Interpreters and translations are often not available, or only available for serious court cases and serious medical problems
• Schools mostly operate in English with inadequate attention to the language needs of the children.

“Mama does not speak that (language) to me” : The study explored the experiences of young black African preschoolers as well as their parents’ perceptions towards their mother tongue. It investigated the factors that influence black African parents to prefer English over their indigenous language. The paper also explores how aspects such as cultural and social capital affect parental choice of schools. The study’s findings show that there is much sociocultural influence on language acquisition and cognition. Parental choice of schools and how they socialise their children determine the kind of education their children have and this includes medium of instruction.

The children preferred English to IsiXhosa and parental goals of education supported this as they fostered the English language. Yet one of the aspects captured by the article is how aspects such as cultural capital affect parental choice of the indigent parents. Learning a second language might not be simply seen as a pedagogic issue; it can also be perceived as a political issue, and children from a young age become passive participants in a political process.

“If we were to conduct our teaching and our research in our own language, we would be much further ahead.” Many students find it difficult to express themselves in English: “But when you come down to their level, believe you me, you realize that they have potential.”