The patient said to me “Bas Wen Chun Mein Kehn Parwa, meh aao wen panun Kashur doctor. If, however, children are forced to switch abruptly or transition too soon from learning in their mother tongue to schooling in a second language, their first language acquisition may be weakened or even lost. Role Of A Mother In Child Development. Mother-tongue is the language that a child learns in his mother’s lap. The study investigated the impact of a mother tongue on the learning abilities of pre-school children in one of the states in Nigeria, the nation of over 200 ethnic groups and more than 400 native languages. The first language or mother tongue plays an important role in sociolinguistics, ... “The origin of the term mother tongue harks back to the notion that linguistic skills of a child are honed by the mother and therefore the language spoken by the mother would be the primary language that the child would learn.” However, this type of culture-specific notion is a misnomer. On this year’s International Mother Tongue Day (21 February), I ask myself if it can prove to be a day as we recognise the role of every stakeholder of our society in encouraging mother tongue? No one can take place of a mother in a child’s life for boosting her growth and development. Fluency and literacy in the mother tongue lay a cognitive and linguistic foundation for learning additional languages. The mother tongue is part of a child’s personal, social and cultural identity. In various households, particularly those of immigrants, some family members such as grandparents and parents do not understand English commonly utilized in different countries. Similarly, learning to read in an L2 is more demanding than becoming literate in the mother tongue. It is this identification we get from speaking our mother tongue that enforces successful social patterns of acting and speaking. It helps the child in his/her mental, moral, and emotional development. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Key words: language-oriented professionals, role of mother tongue, ... theory on the acquisition of the native language, which focuses on the child’s continual brainwork regarding hypotheses (e.g. We use cookies on this website to help operate our site and for analytics and advertising purposes, By continuing to use our services, you are giving us your consent to use cookies. Children also demonstrate an amazing ability to use proper tenses in their speech. Our school administration need to consider carefully the value of mother language-based requirements for school entry. To retain their mother tongue, children whose first language is not the medium of instruction must have: 1. I asked the patient “what happened? A women's life undergoes a major change once her child is born. Addressing the mother tongue language in your family and your environment with your children routinely, and having positive discussions about the role of it – will surely create a huge impact on maintaining its zenith. It is believed that languages act as a bridge for the transfer of skills and knowledge among children. When learning takes place in their mother tongue, children are not limited by language barriers and can operate at their full cognitive level. Watch Queue Queue When children receive formal instruction in their first language throughout primary school and then gradually transition to academic learning in the second language, they learn the second language quickly. After pre-language your child will begin speaking in holophrases, or one-word phrases. Most teachers are from the region and so most of them prefer to use their mother tongue. I have read and agree to the terms & conditions. Engage the community in discussions on mother language use and development – blog, tweet, spread the word in whatever ways work in your community. In order to do so the validity of play in respect of child development must be established; play must be placed within a theoretical framework; an attempt must be made to integrate this knowledge into our child care techniques. Interestingly, there are models of the imperative of the mother tongue as a language of instruction for children in their formative years. But every family that successfully raises children has something in common: the ability of parents, relatives, and other caregivers to work together as a team or “community of care” to raise each child. “The words your mother said to you, as she put you to sleep, will be the same words you will use to put your child to sleep,” points out Faure.