Presentation

The following was originally published November 21, 2008 at http://heatherv.edublogs.org/2008/11/22/mother-tongue-matters/ In international school communities, our families are often transient, frequently changing country locations, consequently changing schools. Many of these globetrotting parents have become accustomed to the international schools’ revolving door, and actually find comfort in the English language at international schools as being perhaps the one constant in their lives. In many cases, this has created varying perceptions by children and parents about the status and usefulness of the mother tongue. Many new families in international communities, particularly those with children in the early childhood years, have come to international schools with conflicting attitudes and uncertainties about the value and importance of learning the mother tongue, when their lives are so internationally based, and their own experiences show evidence of the English language holding global clout. Such uncertainty and ambiguity regarding language are further reinforced when other families in similar situations, and within the same community, view mother tongue as less of a priority, and the learning of English and assimilation in the school environment as a more prevailing priority. Within in my own experiences of working with international families, I have found parents to be genuinely interested in doing what is best for their children. But often they do believe English is best as a result of their global experiences, and misconceptions about international schools expecting a specific level of English for entrance. With these confusions and mixed-messages, a deep concern remains regarding the importance of educating our international parents, particularly in the vulnerable early childhood years, about the cognitive and emotional significance and delicacy of the mother tongue. Fostering the mother tongue is far more necessary than many parents, students, and even general educators may think. Learning the mother tongue has both cognitive and emotional value, both of which strongly and directly affect student learning. Language is the product of culture and identity, and the mother tongue specifically ties people to their ethnicity, traditions, ways of life, and individuality. If the mother tongue is lost, children are deeply at risk for losing their sense of identity, culture, and reflection of themselves. Studies have shown the loss or failure to develop the mother tongue has potential negative long-term consequences on children’s emotional development, as well as on the dynamics of the family. Family relations can become quite strained when children, parents, and grandparents do not have a common language among them, limiting the communication and creating destructive barriers within the family unit, while also depleting the wisdom of the ages passed down from generations within a culture. From an academic standpoint, research has long since shown that the level of development of a child’s mother tongue is a strong predictor of English, or additional language, development because skills transfer across languages, regardless of how different the family language may be from the language of instruction. One small example to highlight the influence of information transfer is the skill of telling time. If children know how to tell time in their native language, they understand the //concept// of telling time, and will simply need to obtain new vocabulary or labels for an intellectual skill that has already been acquired. When this idea and thought process is applied across the curriculum, it becomes clear the more a child knows and is enriched in his/her mother tongue, the easier it is for the child to obtain the school’s target language because the concepts and background knowledge are firmly in place for the child to connect with. Research supports this idea, indicating a direct correlation between the mother tongue, cognitive processes, and academic language learning. So what are the implications here, and how can this information impact student learning for linguistically diverse children? International schools need to act upon parents’ keen interest and quest for student learning related information by utilizing the authority to implement, publicize and empower families with mother tongue expectations for linguistically diverse families in the community. By setting a standard and expectation, a clear message of value for the mother tongue is sent. For many parents, knowledge regarding skill transfer, or the power of mother tongue is new or unheard of. Of course this is normal and almost expected, much the same way a general educator may not be fluent with civil procedure protocols the way a legal professional is. With this in mind, there is a strong likelihood if parents are provided with information regarding best practices for their language-learning children they will both comply and support the school’s linguistic suggestions (“If you build it they will come”, Field of Dreams, 1989). When I first began conducting the [|Mother Tongue Matters] workshop to share information regarding mother tongue relevance, many parents expressed feelings of inspiration, concern regarding practices they had already implemented, and confusion about what steps to take to best support their child. At this time, I created a [|Language Action Plan] to help families get started on their journey toward a happy, healthy, and educationally sounds path in language learning and success. One of the key components of the Language Action Plan is the idea of creating a Family Language Strategy Plan. The [|Family Language Strategy Plan] is a guide with ideas of how to handle mother tongue language at home when the school environment offers English as the academic language. It also provides plans and examples for families with more than one language in their household. The most important aspect of implementing a family language plan is remaining consistent and firm with it. Parents need to be informed that when implementing a family language plan, everyone who is affected will need to be a part of the decision-making process and execution of the plan. Additionally, it is rarely a smooth transition with overnight success. Creating this into a habit takes time, consistency, and perseverance, and will not become routine without these key components. It is important to remind families that when implementing a plan, and experiences of hardships and power struggles with children (And adults in the family) become apparent as a result of the changes, it is very normal to feel concerned, question the reliability and validity, and want to give up. But the valuable point to remember is all the benefits to be gained for everyone involved, and the research that stands behind supporting children in balancing languages. It will pay off!! As educators and administrators, we also need to embrace parent concerns and encourage their questions. In today’s diverse world, by empowering children with their native language as well as additional languages, we are inviting multiple intellectual resources into our schools and global society while shaping unique, dynamic identities of the future. The mother tongue DOES matter!