[lg policy] Can the educational policy on Ghanaian languages become a reality?

Harold Schiffman hfsclpp at gmail.com
Sat Dec 24 15:50:50 UTC 2016 

 Can the educational policy on Ghanaian languages become a reality? Enoch
A. Adibuer 23 December 2016
[image: The use of mother tongue with children prepares them for the smooth
acquisition of literacy in second language at a later stage in their
schooling]
<http://www.graphic.com.gh/news/general-news/can-the-educational-policy-on-ghanaian-languages-become-a-reality.html>

The use of mother tongue with children prepares them for the smooth
acquisition of literacy in second language at a later stage in their
schooling

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Language is “a body of words and the systems for their use which is common
to a people who may be of the same community, nation, geographical area,
culture or tradition”.

Since God speaks and will want His children to hear, understand and act
accordingly, He gave humankind ‘language’ as the tool for communication.
This also makes it possible for man to communicate with his fellow
humankind conveniently.

At Babel, it ceased to be a language, but languages (Genesis 11:9). It was
here that the first tower was built. This tells you that the proper use of
language can aid development.

The late South African President Nelson Mandela said: “If you talk to
someone in the language he understands, it goes into his head but if you
talk to him in the language he speaks, it goes to his heart”.

“Local languages constitute the majority of languages spoken across our
world in the field of science. They are also the most endangered. Excluding
languages means excluding those who speak them from their fundamental human
right to scientific knowledge,” The Director General, UNESCO, Irina Bokova

*Mother tongue*

UNESCO advocates for mother tongue instruction in a bilingual or
multilingual education approach in early years because of its importance in
creating a strong foundation for learning: the use of mother tongue with
your children at home or in pre-school prepares them for the smooth
acquisition of literacy in their mother tongue and eventually, the
acquisition of the second (perhaps national) language at a later stage in
their schooling.

The position of UNESCO towards multilingual education is strengthened as
part of its efforts to promote global citizenship education.

UNESCO defines bilingual and multilingual education as “the use of two or
more languages as mediums of instruction”. The organisation adopted the
term ‘multilingual education’ in 1999 to refer to the use of at least three
languages in education: the mother tongue; a regional or national language
and an international language.

The importance of mother tongue and mother tongue instruction in early
years of schooling is emphasised in the findings of studies, research and
reports such as the annual UNESCO EFA Global Monitoring Report.

It is in line with this that UNESCO declared a particular day of the year
(February 21, every year) to be celebrated as an International Mother
Language Day with its appropriate themes.

Ghana celebrates this day, particularly the institutions that promote the
development of the indigenous languages such as the University of Education
- Winneba, the Bureau of Ghana Languages (BGL), the Bible Society of Ghana
and Ghana Institute of Languages and Bible Translation (GILLBT). Even
though this is done yearly, it is done somewhat on the quiet.

*Suggestions*

If we want the Language Policy to work as expected, then it is time:

   1. The Ghana Education Service (GES) collaborates with these
   institutions to create the awareness of the importance of the local
   language through the celebration of the day;
   2. The BGL – the only government institution that is established to
   develop and publish literature in the local languages for use in
   educational institutions and by the general public – gets directly involved
   in all decisions to be arrived at in terms of material development since
   that is why they exist;
   3. The BGL is brought directly under the Ministry of Education (as
   before) since the direct beneficiaries of its products are mainly pupils
   and students;
   4. The government resources the BGL, which has professional language
   experts who work with language committees
   5. At least a local or Ghanaian language must be studied at the senior
   high school level in the first two years (apart from the junior high school
   (JHS), upper and lower primary levels).

We can dream as a nation to become the next ‘America’, the next ‘Malaysia’,
the next ‘Korea’, the next ‘Germany’, the next ‘Japan’ and a few. But we
must know that the first ‘America’, the first ‘Malaysia’, the first
‘Korea’, the first ‘Germany’ and the first ‘Japan’ got to where they are
now by first developing their own languages which were very much useful as
basic tools for development.

UNESCO, an International Organisation, knew this, hence its policy and
annual global celebrations as far as the mother language is concerned. Note
that language is part of culture: once our languages are gone, our culture
is gone. Also, the real and natural identity of a person is his/her
language. It is,therefore, a fact that one’s identity is lost once he/she
does not understand or speak his/her native language and as expected. An
alien on his/her own native soil and yet independent? Give it a thought.

http://www.graphic.com.gh/news/general-news/can-the-educational-policy-on-ghanaian-languages-become-a-reality.html


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