The Effect of Mother Tongue as Medium of Communication

Mother tongue. In the context of formal education, the term mother tongue is normally used to refer
to the language a child learned first and usually speaks best. In a very high percentage of cases, the ―first
language a child learns and the ―language a child speaks best‖ are one and the same. One can, of course,
uncover sociolinguistic settings in which these two are not the same. Such cases often involve complex
diglossia due to migration or resettlement.

In the age of globalization, people need to use an international auxiliary language along with their mother tongue to improve communication and foster unity among nations. In India, English is the preferred ‘global’ language and it plays an important role as a ‘library language’ in higher education. Parents and children perceive English as a ‘language of opportunity’ and hanker after English medium education.
Whereas the role of English in employability, international mobility, and in accessing information cannot be denied, its overall role in development is being questioned. There is evidence to show that the widespread craze for learning English and adopting the so-called western life style is stifling local cultures and languages. Furthermore, students face difficulties in studies because they have to learn the subject content through a language they do not know well.
Conversely, countries like China, where English is not much used by the common man, have set examples of higher standards in all fields of human endeavour while preserving their culture, language and identity. Thus, it seems that a bilingual or a multilingual approach might be more effective.