Language learning OR language Imposition
Author: Associate Professor Rozina Jumani
http://xa.yimg.com/kq/groups/14791571/1533473352/name/The+Education+Watch+Part+1.pdf
WE are all aware that learning is an arbitrary act and it
can take place “anywhere,” “anytime,” and at “any pace”, (Shachar & Neumann
2003). Likewise, language learning is also an uninformed, subjective act where
the children are provided the stimulus to communicate in their mother tongue,
also known as the child’s first or native language. Language learning is a
natural process where the child does not face any problems in learning his
mother tongue because his whole environment provides him with the
scaffolding.
Learning a language through his receptive skills, he later
applies his productive skills to communicate in and write that language. Noam Chomsky
in his book Language and Mind (1968) discusses the “innate abilities” of
children’s brains and shares that each human brain has a language acquisition
device (LAD) that enables the learner to learn any language with ease. It is
important to underline that “first language learning is an unconscious learning
process, and usually learnt joyfully where as second language acquisition
requires a conscious effort from the learners to learn a language with all its
complexities, grammar and structures, etc.”
Commenting on the recently announced education policy that
aims to teach all concepts of mathematics, sciences, social studies, etc., in the
English language from grade one onwards, seems a tall claim. Being an
educationist, though I belong to the progressive school of thought and intend
to connect all our students with the global society using the global language,
i.e., English, I am not for distorted learning.
Linguists and educationists, for many years until now, have
been debating over the suitability of instructional language. They confront questions
such as whether the concepts to teach a foreign language since the early years
of learning are right or not. On the
other hand, other linguists and educationists believe that learning during
early years is critical as that is the stage where children comprehend the
concepts based on the stimulus and develop their own patterns of learning,
which usually last forever and guide them throughout their lives. Thus they claim that the meaning might be
lost when teaching children the concepts in a foreign language like they are
taught in the first language (mother tongue). Most of the time the translation
of certain concepts, too, cannot be made available in a second or foreign language. Still all the educators, linguists and
parents can come to one consensus for the sake of the policy about using the
English language from grade one in all schools, rural or urban, across
Pakistan.
We might ignore for a while the private sector as according
to Dr Shahid Siddique, 33 per cent of the education provision is in the hands
of the private sector. They might handle it on their own. Still what will happen
to the remaining 67 per cent students’ population in the government
schools?
According to the official statistics available from the
Ministry of Education’s website, in 2005-2006, there were 137,751 primary
schools, 14,982 middle schools and 9,110 high schools in the public sector. A majority
of them are in the rural areas. Therefore, what will be our strategic
intervention to at least cover the 137,751 primary schools where the curriculum
will be taught in the English language exclusively from next year? How can we
even ensure the approachability of the federal or provincial education
ministries in the rural areas of Pakistan to oversee the effective
implementation of the announced education policy when there are apprehensions
about the state of several government schools operating as ghost schools in the
urban areas where accessibility and monitoring is easily manageable?
We also need to reflect on the following questions prior to
the implementation of the policy to see whether we even have the answers to some
of them. Are we prepared to implement the policy? Do we have enough trained
English language teachers, competent in teaching conceptual knowledge in a
foreign language? Do we have an enabling environment for our children to learn
their conceptual knowledge and skills in a foreign language? What kinds of
resources are required to teach conceptual knowledge in a foreign language, and
do we have enough of them or not? Will conceptual teaching be done through
grammar translation as is done in many government as well as semi-private or
private schools or would other pedagogical methods be explored and the teachers
be equipped accordingly?
These are just a few of the questions that come up in one’s
mind. M o v i n g ahead further for the implementation, we will certainly face more
hardcore realities that we may be unaware of now. We can have various perspectives but who
among us is willing to think out the implementation plan for the announced
policy from the learners’ point of view? Will the policy make our students linguistically
rich?
Despite all deliberations, I still hope that the entire
process of new language learning would become an enriching and enjoyable
process for all our young learners in the main cities or the remote rural
areas. Otherwise, it will be nothing more than a language imposition, which has
its own negative repercussions on children’s personalities as it said in such
cases: “Jack of all trades and master of none”.
http://xa.yimg.com/kq/groups/14791571/1533473352/name/The+Education+Watch+Part+1.pdf
