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Letter from a reader
in response to the article on mother tongue as a
tool for basic grades
Dear
E. Ablorh-Odjidja,
Thank you. The logic that goes thus: "since we have
too many ethnic languages we better give them all up
and adopt a foreign language to unite us" may sound
attractive but not to people who have been dwelling
on this ideological area for a longer time. A child
learns best during the formative stages in the
language engrained in his/her language faculty. Even
adults adopt ideas better, put them to use better if
taught or thought up in those most effective of
languages: the first language; the language that
they began learning while still in the womb. Some
think that the first language is actually stored in
a different section of the brain and is never lost
easily. I have seen old people forget the learned
languages as they got older but never the language
they were born with. African toddlers are proud of
their mother tongue in their early years and think
it's the best language until they are old enough to
think it's inferior. Our kids begin seeing that we
are backward in relation to other world communities;
so they begin associating our languages with
inferiority and backwardness; indigenous religions
too are shunned. But first language still is the
best tool of learning and thinking. Creativity and
inventiveness is attained most often and effectively
in mother tongue because that's the language that is
lodged in the deepest most efficient part of our
brains. The modern African is deprived of this
capacity because of the cacophony of foreign
languages that interrupt the thought process.
You are wondering about my speciality. I am an
Egyptologist trained in Kenya (Coptic Centre), South
Africa (University of South Africa, doctorate in
Near Eastern Studies), and Germany (Humboldt
University for practicals in Egyptology). My earlier
degrees were in the area of business (University of
Nairobi, Chartered Institute of Purchasing and
Supply). I ditched these and took up Egyptology as
you have seen.
I learnt the dead languages and scripts of ancient
Egypt and I was exposed to the working of the
African brain before political and social, mental
colonization by forces from outside burst in. The
African of old Egypt adopted Greek, then Arabic as
he mixed with the colonisers and his own language
was suppressed. As he lost the language it went
along with his proven capacity for creativity. This
most creative of the human race isn't active now but
perhaps going back to mother tongue may take us to
where we were before.
I come from that part of Kenya where 85% of world
beaters in long races hail from. I have spoken to
many of them and they tell me that they "use mother
tongue" when running. It so appears that they excel
here because running does not require a foreign
language in order to execute. Now suppose all school
subjects were learnt in the first language. I
believe this would produce world beaters in other
areas too from here and elsewhere in Africa.
Kenya is intending to reintroduce instruction in
mother tongue up to class four. Where learners are
mixed ethnically, such as in cosmopolitan areas,
Kiswahili will be used as mother tongue. English
will be used as language of instruction from class 5
but it will be learned from Class 1 as a subject. In
East Africa we have a unifying language called
Kiswahili but it is mother tongue only to a tiny
minority. Kids in cosmopolitan areas acquire near
mother tongue command of Kiswahili and it's next
best for such kids. This last paragraph means to
address your concern.
From a reader, PhD
September 06, 2014
To
read the response:
More
The related article:
When political correctness is sold as mother tongue
for education reforms
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