Topic > Foreign Language vs. Native Language in Pakistan

Despite Urdu being the national dialect of Pakistan, however, English is the dialect formally used by all private and government authorities. In Pakistan, English language skills are considered useful for students in seeking a high-class job. In competent life, the basic language is clearly English. This research is done to say that a child should be introduced to the second language that is English in the critical period or not? And what kind of schools are suitable for a child's language knowledge. Furthermore, we also tried to find out which language should be the medium of instruction at the regional level. In light of the results collected through the questionnaire and meetings with teachers, the study finds that the early approach to the English language seems counterproductive since the majority of students show poor knowledge of the English language. In countries like Pakistan, where English is not the primary language, many guardians and groups trust that their children will begin their education by going "straight to English" and ignoring the native language. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The inspiration driving this is to focus on their financial prudence and improve the career prospects of their younger ages. For young students, the use of the primary language in the early stages of education promotes a superior understanding of the content of the educational module and a more motivating state of mind towards school. Similarly, using students' home language at school reduces the burden on teachers, particularly when the educator speaks the neighboring language well, as is the case in most country schools in multilingual settings. Research has shown that in learning circumstances where both the educator and the student are non-local clients of the language of direction, the teacher struggles just as much as the students, especially early in school. But when teaching begins in the home language of educators and students, the experience becomes more natural and friendly for everyone. Therefore, the educator can be more inventive and creative in planning materials and methodologies, promoting better learning outcomes. There is a famous saying by Jack Edwards that goes “What is a nation without a native language?” The mother tongue is the identity of the nation. Only those nations emerge as a prosperous nation in history that preferred their own language over any other language in the world. It is important for the individual to master the native language before learning any other language because an individual thinks in his native language and then translates his thoughts into any other language. Many theorists are of the opinion that mother tongue is the best medium for instruction rather than English or any other language. Max von Sydow said regarding the importance of the native language: "I think English is a fantastic, rich and musical language, but obviously the native language is the most important for an actor." Keeping the importance of mother tongue for an individual and for building a nation, the best medium of instruction for an individual's initial education is the mother tongue of the child. The stronger the children's native language, the easier it will be for them to learn new languages. Children who have a solid foundation in their native language also develop better literacy skills in the other languages ​​they learn. When parents and other important adults have time to discuss and read in the child's native language and thus help expand the child's vocabulary,the child will be better prepared when he starts kindergarten or school and will be able to learn new languages ​​easily. Transferring children's knowledge and skills across languages. Skills learned in the native language will transfer to other languages ​​learned at school as long as all languages ​​are supported. Despite too many advantages of mother tongue as a medium of instruction, the government of Pakistan has failed to establish a mother tongue based education policy in the country. Due to too many professional advantages of English language, parents prefer English language schools over Urdu language schools because English is used more in the professional life of an individual and this is the main reason why English is considered the key to an individual's prosperity and intelligence is also judged by his or her knowledge of English. An individual who speaks the English language more fluently but has poor technical skills is considered more intelligent than one who is not very good at English but has good technical skills. For the following reasons, parents are more interested in teaching English to their children rather than Urdu or native language. In our research, we will highlight the medium of education in Pakistan. But our main concern is what students think about language policy in Pakistan's education and what should be the medium of education in Pakistan, whether it should be English, Urdu or any other regional language. For the construction of the future language in politics, we made use of the precious advice of teachers from various universities. Keeping in view the students and teachers of various universities, we will conclude what should be the medium of education in Pakistan so that we can prosper in the field of education. Below are the main questions from our research that we asked students on a social media platform. Which language do you consider most important in an individual's professional life? Is it better to teach English in elementary school? The study finds that early English medium appears to be counterproductive as most students do not have proficiency in English as well as Urdu. Do you support this argument?The linguistic expert supports the idea that the best medium for a child's early education is the child's native language. Do you agree with this argument? In your opinion Punjabi should be the medium of instruction in primary schools of Punjab just as Sindhi and Pashto are the medium of instruction in primary schools of their respective provinces? What is the most appropriate age for teach a foreign language to students? Are you satisfied with the performance of so-called low-cost English medium schools? What type of school is best for students' language proficiency level? What should be the medium of instruction at the regional level? How many languages ​​should there be do you teach students students? Language Policy of Pakistan Pakistan is a multilingual country with six major languages ​​and over fifty-nine small languages. Urdu is the national language of Pakistan, the native language of 7.57% of the entire population, and the official language of Pakistan is English. Many people in rural areas can't even understand English, but the most used language in Pakistani offices is English. The most spoken language is Punjabi with 44.15 speakers. However, the importance of regional languages ​​is always compromised because the languages ​​of the power-government sectors, business sector, media, education etc. they are English and Urdu. Pakistan's policy has favored these two languages ​​at the expense of others. It also led to English becoming a symbol of classsuperior, of refinement and power. People who speak their regional language say an individual who speaks Punjabi is considered illiterate. This is one of the reasons why parents prefer to teach English to their children as English is considered the key to prosperity, power and success. The context and methodology The main aim of our research is to find the answer to our question that whether a child should learn his mother tongue first and then exposed to any other language or whether a child should learn his mother tongue and any other language foreign at the same time. For this purpose, we conducted our research in 7 low-cost schools of Karachi (Haq Foundation School, CSS Grammar School, Aligarh Schooling System, Usman Public School, City Grammar School, AIMS School, IMAM Montessori School) and one government school of Bahawalpur (Govt .Islamia Girls School). We created the Google form consisting of some questions regarding the research and asked students from NUST and other universities including NED-UET Karachi, IST, COMSATS and few other renowned universities of Pakistan to fill the form. We also asked the students' parents what type of school they prefer. Our school system is divided into four categories: elite private English medium schools, non-elite private English medium schools, low-paying English medium schools and government Urdu medium schools. According to the survey, most students currently study in private schools at low fees due to their economical fee structure. This is why we conducted our research in low-cost schools and interviewed teachers at those schools. 4 school principals participated in the interview and almost 150 students expressed their opinion on the medium of instruction via the Google form. Students are pioneers of the future and pillars of the nation. You can never hope for a successful country if there are no educated people and politicians for better education. That's why it is very important in which medium they want to study. For this purpose, we asked students from different universities to fill in the Google form which consists of some questions regarding our research and this form is filled in by students from many universities including NUST and NED. When students were asked to express their opinion regarding most important language in an individual's professional life, the vast majority of students chose English because English is the official language of Pakistan and English is used in business sectors and governmental more than any other language. However, some students from Sindh also responded that Sindhi is used more than Urdu and even more than English in government offices, that's why Sindhi language also plays a vital role in an individual's professional life, especially when the individual It belongs to Sindh. The following graph illustrates student responses. When we asked students what was the optimal age for a child to be exposed to English. Most of the students responded that at nursery level students should learn Urdu only then at primary level students should be exposed to English and they should learn English and Urdu simultaneously. According to linguistic experts, English medium education seems to be counterproductive as most of the students students are not proficient in English and their native language when we asked the students that if they agreed with this topic we would get mixed answers . Some students said that it depends on the student's intelligence whether he can handle the two languages ​​at the same time orless, but most students support this argument. According to research, most of Pakistan's students are enrolled in low-cost English medium school. When we asked students whether they were satisfied with the performance of these type schools. The students responded that they attend so-called English medium schools, where teachers do not know English and the language teaching method of English teachers is not up to par. They asked the students to memorize the question instead of speaking English. When we ask students what type of school is best for students' language proficiency. Students of different universities are of the opinion that although elite private English medium schools are expensive, the teaching methodology of these types of schools is better than any other schools in Pakistan. The most important question of our research is what should be the medium of teaching education for the child's early schooling. When we asked the students, most of the students responded in favor of English and almost the same amount of students responded in favor of Urdu and relatively few students responded in favor of the regional language of that language. This is also an important question: how many languages ​​should a child be taught during his early childhood? The following graph illustrates student responses. When we asked students what strategy should be adopted for students' language proficiency. Most students responded that the best strategy for an individual's language proficiency is for the student to first gain proficiency in his or her native language (L1) and then be exposed to other languages ​​(L2) also known as additive bilingualism.” of the teacher represents a fundamental difference in the Language Futures approach. While the teacher may be an expert linguist with a deep understanding of how languages ​​are learned, and therefore the strategies to use to support this, in the Language Futures class he or she will not be the expert in all or even any of the languages. chosen by the students. When we asked school principals why they do not teach regional language to students (such as Sindhi in Sindh), most of the principals replied that we do not have competent teachers who can teach regional language to students and that it is extremely difficult for schools to find such teachers. When we asked the principals of some non-elite private English medium schools about the performance of their school, one of the school principals (IMAM Montessori School) of that school said: But the reality is totally opposite to this topic. The study finds that students in non-elite private English-medium schools and low-paying English-medium schools are not as good in English as they are in their native language because they never learn to speak English or express themselves in English. The answers he writes in English are copied or memorized from the book. When we asked what was the optimal time when schools should start teaching English to students, the principal of CSS Grammar School said that, but the principal of Adamjee Government Science College (Dr. Naseem Haider) gave us a totally opposite idea answer to the same question;When we asked what should be the medium of instruction in schools. The principal of Government Islamia College responded that;The following is a brief account of the opinions of the principals and teachers of different colleges and the reasons given for the choices they make regarding language policy;Students can learn their mother tongue at home They. the language is only applicable.