Showing posts with label Languages. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Languages. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
21st February - International Mother Language Day
Speaking and taking pride in one’s mother tongue is of utmost importance. It is sad observance when preference is given to speaking international languages like English, French or German and feeling low to express oneself in one’s own native language. Like many other countries that were once ruled by the British, some people consider it prestigious to speak or write the English language at the expense of local languages. Even some many intellectuals and men of letter are prejudiced to the teaching of local languages, particularly the formative periods in our basic schools. And that is the reason that even after six decades of independence, the lcal languages schools are looked down upon by a small but powerful community brought up in English medium schools.
I visited Iran sometime ago and found use of Persian more than any international language. Even bank cheques were in Persian and the entire computer network of banks and business outfits was based on Persian language. Translating a foreign language in one’s mother tongue makes it richer and adds new words to its vocabulary.
On the contrary we have the habit of inserting English words as it is into our mother tongue Urdu or whatever regional language we speak. This is depriving our languages from flourishing, expanding and progressive. For example in Persian a university is Danishgah, but it is sad to observe Wafaqi Urdu University as we have failed to find a suitable word for university in Urdu. Likewise the German Autobahnen has been translated as utoban in Persian. We still call Supreme Court as Supreme Court in Urdu and Election Commission as Election Commission. This is an easy way out for our linguistic experts, but for the development of Urdu, we need to take pains to make to more exhaustive and meaningful.
Likewise listening to news in any regional language gives an impression as these are being spoken in Urdu or English. Sadar-e-Mammlekat is spoken as it is in Punjabi and so is Wazeer-e-Azam. Even these days there is an increasing trend to incorporate Indian Urdu into Pakistani Urdu. Suddenly we find “darmian (in between) to be replaced by “beech”, Ibtada (beginning) replaced by “shroowat,” and many more such insertions. And our drama writers, considered to be the pillar of Urdu and its progress have succumbed to this onslaught and have replaced our own Urdu with alien words.
Unless one takes pride in one’s indigenous language (s), on is unable to understand one’s culture, traditions and folk heritage. It is through the language that the folktales, similes, proverbs and other literary forms of the society are conveyed to teach societal morals and values and eventually socialize the individual. More reliance and preference to foreign languages is taking a heavy toll on the development and maturing of the mother tongues spoken in different parts of the world. Rather in some cases a large number of languages are on the verge of extinction and people are gradually shifting to new trends and started to forget their own traditional languages.
Mother tongue is also important in the upbringing and development of the children. As a child matures, his/her language develops and, through language, the child gains an attachment to one’s culture and traditions. Unless one is brought up listening to the folklores of one’s own area in its original dialect, one cannot grasp the richness of one’s language. Linguistic experts are of the opinion that the most suitable language for teaching basic concepts to children is the mother tongue. Dr Tariq Rehman, a learned scholar writes, “The 21st of February reminds us that, despite this inequality of power between our mother tongues and the languages of power (referring to English as it is the language of government officials, technocrats, military, elite and the rich), we must not give up hope. We must be conscious of the significance of our mother tongues, which give us identity; which are repositories of culture and which, in the final analysis, make us what we are. If we start speaking other languages and forget our own, we would not be ‘we’, we would be clones of an alien people; we would be aliens to ourselves.”
There are people who read own culture from books in English rather than reading the actual text in which these were originally written. This trend is dangerous as this blocks the true understanding of one’s heritage. There is thus a need to make an endeavour to promote the dissemination of one’s mother tongue, as this would encourage linguistic diversity and multilingual education, besides developing awareness of linguistic and cultural traditions. Such efforts can induce solidarity based on understanding, tolerance and dialogue the world over.
The theme this year too stresses on the use of information technology and media to promote indigenous languages and safeguard these from pollution and sidelining lest these become extinct at the cost of foreign languages. I do hope that instead of holding seminars once a year on this day, concerted efforts are put in by all concerned to promote own indigenous languages and enrich these for the sake of their future and expansion, rather than extinction.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Education and Development: Urdu, English and Pakistan
By Pervaiz Munir Alvi
Pakistan is blessed with number of beautiful regional languages and language-based local sub-cultures. This diversification along with many other regional nuances and historical developments has given Pakistan its colorful and interesting overall national culture. On lingual side, in addition to its regional languages, Pakistan also has Urdu as its national language and English as an official language.
Normally having a singular national language would generate a cohesive nation capable of conducting open dialog on any subject of national importance. Also having a singular official language will open doors of opportunity equally to all regardless of their own regional language.
But in Pakistan that is not the case. During a time of any region-based national controversy Pakistanis from various parts of the country are just not capable of opening up an amicable national dialog. Also not all graduating students have equal opportunities of advancement in their chosen fields. This lack of open and free communication between people of various parts of the country contributes towards regional tensions and misunderstandings. The lack of equal opportunities of advancement creates resentment. There is need to understand reasons behind these national deficits.
While the regional languages of Pakistan are centuries old and are rooted in the soil of their respective areas, Urdu is a relatively younger language that had initially emerged more as a necessity than as a result of an organic process. Similarly Pakistan inherited English from its latest colonial past and has retained it for the convenience of the officialdom. However both Urdu and English have been under-utilized in Pakistan as tools for mass communication, national integration and economic advancement.
The birth of Urdu coincides with the arrival of Muslims in the area. Muslims of Arab origin first arrived in Southern Pakistan in the eighth century. Later in the eleventh and consecutive centuries arrived Muslims of neighboring Persia and Turkic Central Asia. Each one of these three new arriving groups brought their own languages and cultures with them. The result was that not only most of the locals converted to the religion of the new arrivals, they also took in many words and phrases of the languages of the new comers into their own regional languages. Urdu language and Pakistani culture is a direct result of this synthesis that took place over a prolonged historical period.
Muslim rulers held their courts first in Arabic, then in Turkish and finally in Persian language while Urdu over the period developed as a non-official language in the shadow of other three consecutive official languages. However the end of a central Muslim authority in the beginning of the eighteenth century also saw the end of Persian as the official language. For the next one hundred years, in the absence of a central authority, each local government conducted its official business in a language it saw fit. Things however changed when in the mid nineteenth century British took over the areas that would later constitute Pakistan. British installed English as the official language while encouraged use of Urdu as a medium of instruction for the Muslims. At the independence of Pakistan in 1947, while the official business continued to be held in English, Urdu was adopted as the national language of the new state.
Today each region of Pakistan, at various levels, operates in three and sometimes in four languages. First each region has its own regional language as language of every day communication; then Urdu as the language of instructions in official schools and English as language of official business and language of instruction in the private schools; and finally Arabic as language of learning and performing Islamic religious rituals. One would imagine that after sixty years of official patronage of Urdu and English all Pakistanis, regardless of their own regional language, would be able to communicate with each other freely in one or two languages; all educated Pakistanis will have equal opportunities of learning and advancement. But that is not the case.
The main reason for this deficit is the lack of universally available education and unequal educational systems. Since at the national level only two-thirds of the children enter school and only half of them reach middle school level, the possibility of the entire nation learning Urdu and being able to communicate with each other at the national level is only limited. Also since instructions in English are available to only lucky few, not every student is able to enter into the fields of science, technology and administration which have created further economic stratification and social alienation. It is to be realized that members of a nation who are not able to freely communicate with each other are unable to develop a national dialog and forge a national thought on any subject of national significance. Also not being able to function effectively in the official language of the country virtually shuts down all doors of personal and economic advancements for most.
Not being able to read, write or even speak ones national language is a national tragedy. To have doors of opportunity open to select few is unjust. And that in essence is one of the many problems of Pakistan.
About the author: Pervaiz Munir Alvi was born and raised in Pakistan. After graduating from Government College, Lahore (now Government College University) with a Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) degree he proceeded to the USA for further studies. He received his Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in Civil Engineering and Master of Science (M.S.) in GeoTechnical Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Mr. Alvi resides and works in the USA as a consulting GeoTechnical Engineer. He has compiled his essays, short stories and poetry which provide an in-depth insight of his mindset, aspirations and concerns.
