English as ‘mother’ tongue

Employing the English language as the preferred medium of education in a society such as ours is counter-productive

 Medium of instruction plays a vital role in the educational progression of the learners. Extensive research by educational psychologists like Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky emphasizes the close link between mother tongue and emotional and cognitive development in children. When learning is disseminated in the mother tongue/first language, it’s easier for the learners to grasp the concepts and build their own intellectual skills. UNESCO also recognises that children perform better if early education is in their first/native language.

Education in the vernacular language empowers the learners by increasing their prospects of understanding and assimilating the knowledge. The quality of education is improved as the learners can concentrate on the subject matter rather than struggling to familiarize themselves with an alien language. Their creativity and critical thinking abilities are enhanced and it becomes easier for them to express themselves effectively.

Teaching young children in a foreign language which they are unable to comprehend is tantamount to psychological torture. The children are unable to appreciate the content of the lesson because of the language barrier and lose their interest. It dampens their natural curiosity of to explore and learn and makes them feel stupid.

Teaching young children in a foreign language which they are unable to comprehend is tantamount to psychological torture. The children are unable to appreciate the content of the lesson because of the language barrier and lose their interest. It dampens their natural curiosity of to explore and learn and makes them feel stupid. It adds a burden on them by compelling them to grapple with new concepts in a language they don’t understand.

As a result, if any learning takes place, it is surface learning through repetition and memorization. Teaching in an alien language promotes ‘rote’ learning and kills the much needed creative thinking and critical reasoning skills which are considered to be a vital aspect of modern curriculum.

In most parts of the world basic learning for children is in their first language. However in Pakistan we are so obsessed with English that we consider it as an efficacious solution to all our problems.

As a result, if any learning takes place, it is surface learning through repetition and memorization. Teaching in an alien language promotes ‘rote’ learning and kills the much needed creative thinking and critical reasoning skills which are considered to be a vital aspect of modern curriculum.

In 2010-2011, the government of Punjab declared about 60,000 government schools in the province as ‘English medium’. Lately, the PTI government in KPK has followed suit by announcing a phased-in conversion to English medium, in sharp contrast to their education policy unveiled in February 2013 in which they vowed to make native language/Urdu the medium of instruction.

The quality of teaching and learning in the schools cannot be improved only by switching the medium of instruction unless the necessary pre-requisite structural and pedagogical arrangements are made. The weakness in this kind of plan is that teachers are required to teach in a language they are neither well versed in nor do they have the required training to teach in. It is like throwing all the students and teachers at the deeper end – immersing them in a quagmire to fend for themselves.

Reviewing student performance over 25 years (1981-2005) Khalid and Khan discovered some striking information: ‘Students who got through all other subjects but failed in English were 54 percent at secondary, 60 percent at higher secondary and 70 percent at graduate level’.

This data reveals that a large number of students in Pakistan have good knowledge of other subjects but are weak in English. What would be the rate of passing and more importantly, the level of learning, if all the subjects are taught in English is anybody’s guess. This data also highlights the fact that there is something seriously and inherently wrong with the way English is taught and assessed in the educational institutions.

This data reveals that a large number of students in Pakistan have good knowledge of other subjects but are weak in English. What would be the rate of passing and more importantly, the level of learning, if all the subjects are taught in English is anybody’s guess.

The government of Punjab under the Punjab Education and English Language Initiative (PEELI) aims to provide high quality education in English to all the children enrolled in primary and middle schools in Punjab by 2018.

However, according to the PEELI report, the English language skills of the faculty teaching in these schools are a serious cause of concern. The language skills of the teachers in 18 districts of Punjab were tested in 2008 using British Council’s language testing system. The result was not encouraging.

The report says: ‘The level of English of those teachers who completed the test is very low, both in public and private schools. 62 per cent of private school teachers and 56 per cent of government school teachers registered scores in the Aptis test that places them in the CEFR level of AO. This means they lack even the basic knowledge of English, including the ability to understand and use familiar everyday expressions and simple phrases. In all, 94 per cent of teachers in English medium schools have only pre-intermediate level English or lower’.

The report further comments that: ‘These findings are obviously most relevant to English instruction, and suggest that Punjab’s teachers are ill-equipped to deliver the new English medium policy, but they may also point to deficiencies in the overall teaching quality.

‘If teachers are incapable of instructing their pupils in English, this is likely to have a dual effect – first by preventing children from becoming proficient in English, and second by impeding their learning of content in other subjects’.

No one can deny the importance of English language in the modern world. English is a language of international communication, transnational trade and commerce and academic research. But why can’t we just teach/learn English as a second language? Why do we insist on adopting English as the medium of instruction and teach all subjects in English in our country?

The quality of teaching and learning in the schools cannot be improved only by switching the medium of instruction unless the necessary pre-requisite structural and pedagogical arrangements are made.

This scribe is of the opinion that instead of changing the entire curriculum to English we need to revamp the English curriculum. English should be taught as a second language with special emphasis on receptive skills like reading and listening (with comprehension), and expressive skills like writing and speaking. We can borrow ideas from other countries and tailor them to our needs.

Schools can invest in technology and employ qualified teachers to teach English online. This way teachers living in big cities of Pakistan or abroad can teach children even in remote villages. A similar experiment called ‘granny cloud’ has been successfully tried in India where retired school teachers nicknamed ‘grannies’ living in the UK are teaching English to groups of school children in Indian villages on Skype.

Similarly, instead of arranging six-day or 12-day crash courses for all the teachers like the Punjab government did (assuming language can be learned in such a short span of time), only English teachers should be trained in TESOL (Teaching English to the Speakers of Other Languages) and TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language).

If all the students are taught English effectively in schools as a compulsory language for 10 years, their chances of becoming proficient in the language will be greatly enhanced by the time they graduate from school and get admission in college. Moreover, they’ll not be compelled to cram other subjects by rote and will be able to learn them with better appreciation.