In
Ndrahutse’s (2011) article entitled “Speaking up for the mother tongue”, she
asserts that 'English language skills' are beneficial only in the short-run and
it carries unexpected ‘negative consequences’ in the long-run for the
non-educated and survival of racial distinctiveness. The ‘negative
consequences’ are the growing disparity between the educated and non-educated,
social problems that will arise because of this disparity and restricting more
people towards contribution to ‘larger development aims’. The difficulty faced
in learning languages in schools still prevails in many countries. Many efforts
have been made to promote “mother tongue-based multilingual education projects”
across school systems in an attempt to preserve and develop their unique
cultural distinctiveness and at the same time encourage people to learn
internationally recognized languages for economic and social purposes. Ndrahutse
also points out that “mother tongue-based multilingual education projects” fail
because people do not see the need of preserving cultural distinctiveness.
Ndrahutse lastly asserts that teachers, education and finance ministries should
work together to emphasize the need to learn both Mother Tongue and English
language and improve education standards.
In
this increasingly globalized world, the exchange of culture and mobility
undeniably pose a serious threat towards preserving cultural distinctiveness. I
personally agree with Ndrahutse that Mother Tongue should be given more
attention. However, I felt that the 'English language skills' that she
discussed in this article mainly focused on the 'negative consequences' that
prioritizing English encompasses. It could be discussed more positively. Therefore,
while Mother Tongue language should be given more priority, English should not
be totally credited for threatening the survival of racial distinctiveness and
I hope that a country rich in racial diversity like Singapore, would uphold its
unique feature of bilingualism.
I
agree with Ndrahutse that we should ‘speak up for the mother tongue’ and her
claim that “mother tongue-based multilingual education projects” fails mainly
because its importance is not well understood. Learning mother tongue language
is important because it preserves the unique cultural identity and the language
itself. However, in this globalised world, cultural distinctiveness had been
slowly eroding because only ‘prestigious languages’ such as English are
prioritized. In the case of a bilingual
nation such as Singapore, even though mother tongue remains a compulsory
language in primary and secondary school, her priority is more inclined towards
English. This is evident in the difference in theimportance of English and
mother tongue grades. It is important to pass English and less important to
pass mother tongue. In fact, unlike English, passing mother tongue is not a
prerequisite to enter tertiary institutions. It is hence important to ‘speak up
for the mother tongue’ in Singapore because being bilingual is a distinct
feature of our nation and we should work towards a more balanced bilingual
education by inculcating the importance of mother tongue.
However,
I disagree that ‘English language skills’ are only beneficial in the short-run
and it carries ‘negative consequences’ in the long-run. English is a universal
language and it has both short-term and long-term benefits. As mentioned by
Ndrahutse, it is true that English is beneficial for economic opportunities.
Many jobs require ‘English language skills’ and it is beneficial for those who
are climbing up the social ladder by acquiring a better job overseas. It is not
necessarily fully harmful in the long-run. In the article, Ndrahutse mentions
that ‘English language skills’ would widen the gap between the educated and
non-educated which would cause social problems. I personally think otherwise. I
believe that learning a common language would improve social problems because
many social problems arise due to misunderstanding between people with
different backgrounds. Besides being able to better understand each other,
learning English allows people of different backgrounds to have something in
common. In the case of Singapore, I believe that English is important for social
harmony in the long-run especially when it is a country filled with diverse
racial and cultural identities. Without a common language, there will be a
greater social gap between different racial group. Hence, I agree to a small
extent that ‘English language skills’ would only bring harm in the long run.
In
conclusion, this article brought up a social problem that prevails in many
countries today. It definitely did its part in promoting the importance of
mother tongue. I personally think that both English and mother tongue should be
given equal priority as they are equally important. I hope that Singapore will
continue to work hard towards a bilingual nation and inculcate the importance
of our racial identity and distinctiveness to the younger generations.
Bibliography
Susy Ndrahutse, ‘Speaking
for the mother tongue’, Guardian Weekly
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