Dear Potential Parents, Groom your Children in the Mother Tongue.

I have seen parents instructing their kids in English from birth, is that the best way to go?

The role of mother tongue in English Language acquisition has been the subject of much debate and controversy. This article tries to put out the role of mother tongue in foreign language teaching. The teacher’s use of mother tongue can influence the learner’s acquisition of the target language. Generally, my own experience of first observing and then teaching English at a primary school proved over usage of mother tongue language in English lessons. In lessons of English that I had a chance to observe, teachers used the mother tongue for all kinds of situations including giving instructions, doing translation or presenting foreign language structures. A student’s primary focus would be to grasp the concepts rather on the translation. It is where he builds his own ideas. This happened mainly because some of the teachers feel that the use of mother tongue has always an active and beneficial role to facilitate foreign language learning.

During the observations and my own teaching I was aware of the fact that the abundant use of mother tongue was in most cases ineffective since it was apparent that pupils did not need to hear mother tongue. In its place, other things to avoid the use of mother tongue should have been used including gestures, facial expressions or visual aids.

With English Language becoming an increasingly sought-after attribute within the workplace, increased migration and co-operation between nations, it has become a requirement to have it in addition to being a specialist within a particular field as well as connecting with the rest of the Ghana. Our system of education only teaches mother tongue at basic school, i.e. primary and JHS. After which one who studies mother tongue language would have to offer it as an elective subject after JHS where as the use of the mother tongue by another diminishes but will use the English throughout. So why don’t you allow your child to ‘master’ the mother tongue language at his/her formative years?

An education with English as the medium of instruction is said to bring about a sense of national integration. In getting greater opportunities people need to be conversant with English thus from SHS and beyond. English would enable the students to connect with the rest of the world and not in his/her formative years. It is said that the younger the pupils are the better they will absorb any foreign language they are ringed by, and they appear to learn the foreign language more easily than adults do. So they should ‘master’ the mother tongue language early not when they become adults and found it difficult. The use of ‘daddy and mummy’ have taken over the local addresses given to parents, and you loved it?

It surprises to see students unable to count and mention the days of the week in the mother tongue.

I don't say do not learn English, and not from the very beginning, but there is enough time to learn English than mother tongue language. Know the English words and its meaning first, then know the grammar, and then go on to learn the whole sentence and paragraphs, and then speak English. It should not be like learn sentences first, then learn grammar, and then meaning of the words.

For example, the thinking that we need English for higher education is because we give higher education in English. That is our own construct because we failed to develop terminology and vocabulary of our own mother tongue, which can suit our mother tongue, because of which we fail to provide higher education in our mother tongue.

A NATION is known or by its very specific modes of living, like its tradition, culture and its own mother languages which they proudly speak in their daily life. All developed and rich countries are using their own languages in every department of life. These countries are getting higher education using their own languages. We have examples of China, France, Russia, America, Germany and many more countries, which proved and showed to the rest of the world their confidence and determination. These nations never hesitate using their languages in the UN. They operate computers and do technological tasks in their mother tongue. But there are countries which do not do so. This is wrong.

So to protect and preserve local languages from extinction, we must groom our wards with mother tongue language. Some educators argue that only those countries where the student’s first language is the language of instruction are likely to achieve the goals of education for all. We now live in a country where speaking and writing of English Language is considered for literacy.

According to researchers, education in the mother tongue helps improve the academic performance of children. Studies have shown that children who had their mother tongue as the medium of instruction in the early years of primary school scored higher in English tests in the JHS, than students who studied most of their subjects in English from primary one. An individual's language has a profound impact on his cognitive processes. Education in the mother tongue is said to make it easier for them to learn a second language. The cognitive ability to learn a new language is higher in formative years of a person. To improve their learning outcomes during primary school mother tongue education enable the kids to easily grasp the course content as they are used to the vocabulary.

It develops the mind through understanding of concepts behind what is being taught.
It is easy to memorize information in the language we are naturalized by, and I believe it remains in our mind for a long time, For instance, if I can describe myself in the mother tongue, there will not be any problem interpreting it into English Language. But if there is no greater pattern of understanding of information so gathered and holding whatever is being taught and memorized, as perfect, which is what exactly happen in education in unknown, unfamiliar language. I also think mother tongue at an early age is important. It brings about easy reflection of what is being taught in class since it is within the learner’s context and vocabulary.

Ideally, the child should have a better mother tongue education and be able to speak his/her mother tongue first before others. Where the parents teach and instruct kids in the same language spoken at home and the community for the first 8 years of their lives, kids develop better language abilities in other languages and even do better in other areas of study.

Language affects thought. Apart from the above, there are important cultural and linguistic reasons why regardless of how good one knows a second language; education in ones mother tongue can significantly improve the mental ability of students. Communicating in any language, one needs his own ideas to convey his point, and medium is to help the other understand. If one does not have a point to convey, there is no point in learning an official language or any other. Basically, not only does thought affect language, but language affects thought. If our children are not educated in their mother tongue, thousands of years of thought processes might end abruptly. There are certain concepts, cultural constructs and even philosophical beliefs that can only be expressed in a child's mother tongue.

Education in mother tongue is the best for a child's intellectual enhancement. There is an importance being placed on local languages in Ghana that is why governments are publishing textbooks to some indigenous languages at the primary level. Being taught in a known language is a key component of quality education for all learners- from the very early stages right through to adulthood. Early education in the mother tongue can prepare children for school and foster foundational skills, such as literacy and critical thinking, which are proven to significantly increase learning later on. Research indicates that having a strong mother tongue foundation leads to a much better understanding of the curriculum as well as a more positive attitude towards school, so it’s vital that children maintain their first language when they begin schooling in a different language. For example, if a child has developed the ability to guess the meaning of a word through its context, these skills are easily transferred when they begin studying in a second language. It is much harder, however, to teach these abstract skills directly through a second language.

It’s also well known that a strong mother tongue foundation equips children with the skills they need to learn additional languages, allowing them to transfer their understanding of the structure of language to several new languages. The intuitive understanding of grammar that develops when children learn their first language can easily be passed on to other languages. Also parents are more likely to participate in their children’s learning. A child comes home with a homework in which case I the father or mother can’t speak the English Language, am I of help to my ward?

The OAU and UNESCO encourage mother tongue language in various societies that is why a resolution passed stated “It is a universally acknowledged principle in modern education that a child should receive instruction both in and through his mother language and this privilege should not be withheld from the African child.  The child should learn to love and respect the mental heritage of his own people, and the natural and necessary expressions of his heritage is the language.  Neglect of the vernacular involves the danger of crippling and destroying the pupil’s productive powers by forcing him to express himself in a language foreign both to himself and to genius of his race.”

It is of prime importance to learn ones mother tongue. So instruction and education should essentially be in regional language alongside teaching of good English. In conclusion, if you want your children to think Ghanaian and to grow in their identity, you must educate them in their mother tongue.