 Two
in one - twice the fun!
Knowing more than one language or in other words, being bilingual can
change one's whole life positively. As my first column of the New Year,
I decided to reserve this space for bilingualism, which is a very useful
topic for a country like Sri Lanka in consideration of its past, present
and future.
Once upon a time, Sri Lankan politicians decided a process of
assimilation everything into Sinhalese will gain them survival in their
political careers. Assimilation would be far better than killing
speakers of other languages, but it is a process of members of dominant
cultures simply changes others to be more like them. The majority wants
the minority to speak the former's language, celebrate their holidays,
and adopt their practices. If they do not assimilate, they are judged
and discriminated against, which further fuels racism.
 If someone intends to create a peaceful society without hidden flames
of racism, it can be done through helping people gain multicultural and
linguistic awareness. This realization can be achieved by implementing
bilingual education.
Providing better educational opportunities for minority language
speakers can help reduce socioeconomic and educational gaps between
minority and majority students. Exposing speakers of the majority
language to a new language and culture can in still a heightened
appreciation for diversity. And, teaching students each other's
languages can integrate two cultures and enhance tolerance for
respective cultures.
Because each student would be in an equal situation, presumably
bullying and discrimination would decrease. As students learn alongside
others from various backgrounds, they will be exposed to cultural
differences at a younger age. Instead of using racism and discrimination
to avoid the other cultures, they will learn the others' uniqueness and
the others' languages. Bilingual education can diminish racism early in
life in classrooms and later in life in the outside world. Gradually,
the bilingual education process can ultimately create a more unified
nation and world.
Throughout history, racism has had an impact on different cultures
all over the world. Since the development of societies, people formed
their identities from an imperialistic culture. Racism was fuelled
through the need to gain power. Each culture in ancient history was a
monoculture that was isolated with no knowledge of others. Monocultures
do not appreciate the value of other cultures-creating the notion that
one's own culture was superior. So, bondage to the own culture is an
innate attribute of the mankind.
Bilingual education can lead to this "social change." By learning
another language, students are automatically exposed to other cultures
and gain curiosity about travel, food, history, and culture. In turn,
ethnocentric attitudes can decline, which then can decrease racism.
In 1864, the government of United State of America passed a law
mandating that no school in the U.S. could teach in a American Indian's
native language. They were sent to boarding schools and punished if they
were caught speaking the native language. There is a great deal of
evidence in the United States of languages dying out due to the
dominance of English; the U.S. is often referred to as a "graveyard" for
foreign language.
While assimilation is a form of racism, helping non speakers to speak
majority language in a country is beneficial. Due to the prevalence of
Sinhalese used in Sri Lanka, it is hard to survive in this country
without knowing Sinhalese. The ability to speak the majority language is
valuable as it can present many more opportunities.
However, the majority language must be taught to non speakers in a
manner that does not belittle or marginalize them.
This can be achieved through a more effective structure of bilingual
education. Remember; two languages - twice the choice. |
