Education forum
English Language teaching and mother tongue education
Jayatilleke de Silva
The President spelt out his objective of creating a bi-lingual
society and even move on to a tri-lingual one. The objective once
fulfilled would go a long way in creating an integrated Sri Lankan
nation where the unique character of each separate ethnic group will be
preserved while immensely enhancing their mutual interaction and
cohesion.
In this respect teaching of English Language in schools becomes not
only compulsory but also necessary. But how should one set about it?
What should be the optimum relation between mother tongue education and
English Language education? How could the teaching of both these
languages help the student to acquire knowledge better and faster?
International language
Mother tongue education helped a larger mass of students to gain
upward social mobility. File photo |
The UNESCO in its objectives says that the best education suitable
for the 21st Century is multilingual. That means the e knowledge of the
mother tongue, of an international language and a local language which
is not the mother tongue. In the case of Sri Lanka this would mean the
knowledge of English as an international language, of the mother tongue
and of Sinhala or Tamil as an additional local language as the case may
be.
Before discussing the co-relation between mother tongue and English
Language education it is necessary to examine certain myths concerning
mother tongue education.
The first is the myth that indigenous languages are incapable of
expressing modern concepts.
This is a colonial concept that claimed superiority of European
languages over others. However, all human languages are equally able to
express their speakers’ thoughts and can develop new terms and
structures as needed. Leopold Senghor once illustrated this by
translating Einstein’s Theory of Relativity into Wolof, a Senegalese
language. (See Carole Benson: The importance of mother tongue based
schooling for educational quality. UNESCO 2004)
Both Sinhala and Tamil languages have a rich history where advanced
civilizations used them.
The architectural and other wonders of the hydraulic civilization of
ancient Sri Lanka could not have been created without the ability to
express scientific concepts in the local languages. A cursory glance at
world history would show that the East had a higher knowledge of science
and mathematics earlier than the West.
English has to be taught not because it is superior to the national
languages, which is a myth, but because of its utility.
Many countries started using the mother tongue as a medium of
instruction after independence from colonial rule.
Social mobility
They also continued to teach the language of the coloniser. It is a
fact that mother tongue education helped a larger mass of students to
gain upward social mobility and contribute better to the development of
their countries.
More recently attempts were also made to teach children of indigenous
minorities in many developing countries in their local dialects or
languages. It is part of the process of democratising society and
empowering the people.
In this respect it is worthwhile to look at several studies that
dealt with various models of teaching the second language to native
students and their relation to the teaching the language of the
coloniser.
Dorthe Buhmann and Barbara Trudell did a case study of four countries
- Mali, Papua New Guinea, Peru and the United States on mother tongue
based bilingual education. In Mali, just as in Sri Lanka the medium of
instruction in schools prior to independence was French, the language of
the coloniser.
Experimental basis
In 1979, the Government of Mali decided to introduce the mother
tongue as the medium of instruction in Grades 1 to 6 on an experimental
basis. In 1987, a new approach called Convergent pedagogy (Pedagogie
convergente) was introduced, again on an experimental basis. Under the
new approach students begin primary education in the mother tongue and
learn to read and write before they learn French. By the fifth or sixth
grades, half the time they learn in the mother tongue and half the time
in French.
Students in French only schools and Convergent pedagogy schools sit
for the same primary school leaving examination. It was revealed that
children in Pedagogy convergent schoold performed better than those in
French only schools. While those in the former scored 68.57 percent
students in the latter obtained only 52. 34 percent at the seventh grade
entrance examination. (Data supplied by the Ministry of Education, Mali
quoted by Buhmann and Trudell) Children in pedagogy convergent schools
scored higher marks for Mathematics (52.80 and 57.60) at Grade 1 and 2
tests than those in French only schools (35.70 and 40.00).
Writing skills
In Papua New Guinea children follow mother tongue based education in
which reading and writing skills are taught while English is taught as a
second language. Children move on to English medium education beginning
from Grade Three. It was found that three years is not sufficient to
gain fluency in English for students from communities that do not speak
English. Incidentally Papua New Guinea is the most linguistically
divergent country with more than 430 languages. It uses all these
languages in the formal education system.
Peru practises what is called a bilingual intercultrural education
approach. Children learn the mother tongue during their early years of
schooling and learn Spanish as a second language till it becomes the
medium of instruction at a later stage.
A special characteristic of this approach is the introduction of
elements from other cultures, especially indigenous ones into the
curriculum.
Rural students
An evaluation carried out by Lopez and Super in the year 2000 showed
an improvement in the overall academic performance, greater ability in
solving mathematical problems, greater assurance in speaking Spanish,
greater self-esteem among students, fewer disparities among boys and
girls and between urban and rural students and more active participation
of students in the learning process. (Lopez and Super: Intercultural
Bilingual Education in Latin America: balance and Perspectives)
The situation in the United States is less relevant to Sri Lanka as
there the objective is to assimilate the minority immigrant
nationalities into national life. Overall it has been found that
bilingual education gives academic achievements superior to those given
by monolingual education systems. The standard of achievement in the
foreign language in bilingual schools is equal to or greater than that
of monolingual schools. Further bilingual education improves the mother
tongue learning skills too.
Even financially bilingual education is more cost effective than
monolingual education. However all these hold good only if there is
adequate teacher training and study aids are made available. What more,
Government policies and community response are also factors that are
vital for the success in any project.
Sri Lanka could learn from international experience since it has
already the political will to pursue bilingual education.
As we see it
When it comes to education all problems seem to be concentrated in
the public sector. Is this the reality? Perhaps public and media
attention is less focused on the private sector, even on other issues
such as corruption and transparency.
Children should not be discriminated when being admitted to Year
One classes. ANCL library photo |
We cannot agree. The private sector is also duty bound to do a clean
job of work. The corruption in the public sector is very often the
result of private sector inducement. In the case of education the
private sector is also bound by social responsibility. Education of
children cannot be reduced to a business concern, though the reality may
be so in many an instance.
The weaknesses in public sector education are exploited by the
private sector to their advantage. For example when the Ministry of
Education took upon its shoulders the task of admitting Year One
children to all schools and made a mess of it with children waiting for
admission past January many parents were forced to admit their children
to fee levying private schools. Simultaneously there was a marked
increase in admission fees. The trend continues though facilities
provided are no longer commensurate with the fees levied. Classrooms are
packed to capacity with over forty students in some instances. Nor is
the quality of education guaranteed. Over the years these schools,
including the so-called prestigious ones are practising a highly
discriminatory policy in admitting children to Nursery or Year One
classes.
In the selection process children with educated parents or those
belonging to prestigious vocations are given preference over others
whose parents are not so educated. Thus the children are discriminated
for no fault of their own.
Former President of India
Dr. Abdul Kalaam |
The practice is based on a wrong premise, not substantiated by
scientific research or data that children from poor families are less
capable of achieving excellence in education. Had this practice been
practised in the State sector we would not have most of the qualified
academics, professionals and intellectuals.
Many famous personalities that made outstanding contributions to
society have sprung from among the poor, both here and abroad. Dr. Abdul
Kalaam who rose to eminence as India’s foremost nuclear and rocket
scientist and later as President of India had his humble beginnings in
the fishing community of Tiruvanathapuram in Tamil Nadu.
There are even instances of this unjust practice creeping into the
State sector. It is sad to see the teacher community quietly acquiescing
to or even assisting this practice.
Nor have the academia or the professionals raised a murmur of
protest. Perhaps the practice guarantees them an advantage over their
less fortunate citizens. No wonder since in the open market economy even
conscience is a commodity that could be purchased for money.
The Guru
Expansion of education in Sri Lanka - Part II:
Higher education should cater to modern labour market
Ven. Dr. T. Dhammaratana
Continued from last week
As a result, many developing nations began to change their existing
methods of governing, international relations, planning and strategies
of development. The education system also got adjusted in accordance
with the highest requirement of the nations and the global market.
These rapid changes systematically began to take place in different
countries. Some countries were badly affected and others got adjusted to
the new trends. It is worth to note here, several leading Universities
in European countries, changed their directions of education system,
syllabuses and courses according to the
Education should ensure better job opportunities for the younger
generation. File photo |
demands of the global market.
Oriental Studies
For instance, many universities are even ready to close down their
prestigious departments of Oriental Studies and Human Sciences, which
brought the highest distinction to their nations in the past several
centuries.
As a result, several new subjects were introduced to the universities
in order to create better chances for the younger generation.
The courses are made in accordance with different levels of education
categories to give access to employment opportunities. Among them
polytechnic schools, technical colleges, adult and vocational training
institutes, professional training academies were introduced by in
addition to local universities. It’s inevitable that Sri Lanka cannot
continue its same education system by creating thousands of Bachelors
degrees on Arts every academic year, if there is no demand for such
degrees in the job market.
According to the United Nations Development Program Report in 2006,
Sri Lanka has achieved 92.3 percent literary rate, which is considered
the highest in South East Asia. Despite such a high literary rate and
free education up to the tertiary level, many young Sri Lankans find
themselves unprepared for the challenges of the modern labour market.
As a result, many of them are unable to pass strict university
entrance exams and even those who successfully complete their university
education have failed in their professional carrier due to lack of
professional skills and experience.
In order to achieve this, students shall be given at least six months
of industrial training in an institution before completing their
university education. This is one reason that many young people leave
the country to find professional opportunities and economic security in
a foreign land.
This practice leads to losing the labour force and it has badly
affected many developing countries including Sri Lanka and some describe
this situation as brain drain or culture of immigration to Western
countries.
Even though Sri Lanka opened 19 State Universities, the intake is
limited. As a result, students are compelled to find some private
institutes or foreign affiliated private universities, which are not
fully recognized. At the end, students passing out from such academic
institutions fail to secure professional opportunities.
Unemployment rate
The youth unemployment rate in Sri Lanka is as high as many other
countries in the world. During the stint at a University, students are
not given an opportunity for practical training but only the theoretical
knowledge which has little opportunity in the professional field. The
Sri Lankan issue should be analyzed in several dimensions.
Poor skills but high theoretical knowledge they receive is holding
them back in immediately getting involved with the existing work force.
Because of this situation, employers prefer to offer job opportunities
to youth who pass out from private institutes or foreign affiliated
recognized Universities than local State universities.
Job seekers
Since professional skills are more countable in terms of work, if job
seekers are not provided with the latest modern skills they will be left
unemployed.
In addition, the poor knowledge of English or any other international
language becomes a major barrier behind the youth unemployment problem.
Today, in a globalized society, English has become an important factor
in achieving a good professional opportunity not only in a foreign land
but also at home.
Therefore, many Sri Lankan youth have failed to compete in the world
market and they have little hope in building a bright future.
It is also worth to note that in Sri Lanka, as a custom the majority
of youth who passed out from Universities wish that the Government has
an obligation to create job opportunities for them. That is one of the
reasons many youth are demanding the Government to offer them job
opportunities.
Unemployed graduates
In such a situation, unemployed graduates unnecessarily lose many
years to begin a carrier. In Western countries the labour market is
opened to both the Government and private sector.
Therefore, Sri Lanka also must encourage the private sector to create
more job opportunities, for that, the Government must play an important
role by encouraging private entrepreneurs.
With regard to higher education in Sri Lanka, it is important to note
that it is an extraordinary opportunity given to all citizens in the
country to obtain higher education free of charge, as adopted by
universal franchise of education in Ceylon in 1931.
Since then, several hundreds and thousands of citizens in Sri Lanka
benefited from this golden opportunity to build their future and to
become citizens of the global society. But unfortunately unrest and
violence prevailing in Sri Lankan Universities disturb its progress.
Noble objectives
If student demands are for national interest, the Government must
find out immediate solutions and if those are for petty political
advantage, such people should not be given opportunity to degrade the
noble objectives of our parents and grandparents who initiated such a
golden opportunity for the interest of the entire nation.
According to the latest statistics, higher education has achieved
considerable results in Sri Lanka being a developing nation.
It has done a lot and remains a lot to develop it especially in
higher scientific research in science and technology and other areas of
academic interest.
In a recent keynote speech on the occasion of launching the World
Bank’s report on Sri Lanka Higher Education Sector in July 2009, Higher
Education Minister Prof. Wiswa Warnapala very clearly underlined the
achievements and challenges of higher education in Sri Lanka.
To be continued |