The Powerful Benefits Of Teaching Your Child Their Mother Tongue

The New Education Policy (NEP) 2020 contains a host of ideas and proposals about the future of education in India, but there was one paragraph that caught everyone's attention.

'Wherever possible, the medium of instruction until at least Grade 5, but preferably till Grade 8 and beyond, will be the home language/mother tongue/local language/regional language. Thereafter, the home/local language shall continue to be taught as a language wherever possible.'

A Bengali married to a Telugu-speaking person, living in Kannada-speaking Bengaluru, and raising an English-speaking middle-schooler, might be stumped by home language and medium of instruction. For the rest of us, this is the more pressing parental problem—do we speak our mother tongue at home to retain our cultural moorings, or do we converse in English with our kids to make them future-ready? Let's hear from a couple of parents:

More people are moving out of their home states for work, and families are becoming increasingly nuclear, especially in cities. Language is no longer a barrier to marriage, with English or Hindi serving as the link. Whether it's a deliberate or unconscious choice, whether the drive comes from a parent or a child, there's no denying that urban households are witnessing a shift away from the mother tongue toward the growing use of English and Hindi in everyday life. What are the consequences?

Language is so much more than names and labels. It's the expression of a way of thinking and, ultimately, of a way of life. According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), every two weeks a language disappears, taking with it an entire cultural and intellectual heritage. Think of all the maasis, buas, chaachis, tais, and maamis who will be reduced to the horrifyingly egalitarian English term, aunt. On a serious note, think of children growing up divorced from the language, values, and culture of their ancestors.

Let's try to reframe some of our concerns about language. Instead of setting English and native tongues against each other, how about giving each their space and time? Let us look at what we gain by learning one or more native tongues, along with English or Hindi.

Benefits of Being Multilingual

Multiple studies have consistently established that children exposed to or speaking two or more languages have some advantages over their monolingual peers:

• Executive functions: According to an article titled Explaining Individual Differences in Executive Functions Performance in Multilinguals: The Impact of Code-Switching and Alternating Between Multicultural Identity Styles published in the October 2020 issue of Frontiers in Psychology, constantly juggling different languages and contexts makes multilinguals good at completing tasks by focusing on and prioritizing necessary details and ignoring or avoiding distractions. This also makes multilinguals adept at multitasking. Their memory and attention are quite good, and studies have shown that lifelong multilingualism can help delay the onset of Alzheimer's and dementia.
• Communication: According to an article published in Psychological Science (July 2015), multilinguals are very sensitive to a speaker's language, tone, and non-verbal cues. They can easily understand the other person's perspective and respond appropriately.
• Problem-solving and conflict resolution: Because they observe and understand which language different family members use while communicating with each other, multilinguals are good at mediating and problem-solving.
• Learning languages: Multilinguals are better at learning new languages. Early exposure to multiple languages arms them with effective learning strategies to grasp the grammar and vocabulary of any new language.
• Diverse employment and networking opportunities: While most parents believe that proficiency in English enhances one's job prospects, few realize that knowledge of native languages opens up a wide range of connections and work options. For example:
• Local language can enable journalists to explore more sources of information
• Educators form reassuring bonds with students
• Doctors communicate better with patients and their kin
• Customer service operators convey information clearly to clients.

Further, several regional administrative departments, NGOs and research organizations expect aspirants to be fluent in a particular native language.

Importance of learning the mother tongue

We must encourage our young children to learn the native language over other languages so that they:

• Develop a positive self-identity that embraces and cherishes their cultural heritage.
• Forge deep bonds with their family and community.
• Learn concepts and other languages well by progressing from the familiar to the unfamiliar—children transfer learning skills and strategies they have learned in their native language, to another language.
• Have a strong foundation for their cognitive development, as children can learn their mother tongue remarkably fast.

Only by showing our willingness to stay connected to our roots can we expect the same from our kids. So, let's start embracing our mother tongue(s) ourselves!