Language is generally defined as a medium of communication, for expression of thoughts and for exchange of ideas. It is one of the ways of passing on culture and values from one generation to another. This does not mean that one culture is attached to one language. Whereas one language always reflects a particular culture. A person who knows a number of languages will certainly have some, if not complete knowledge of the cultures those languages represent. On the other hand, following a culture does not imply that one has learnt the language too. Here culture refers not only to the practices and traditions but also the primary discourse. It may seem too complicated to understand, but my experience of going through multiple media of instruction in school and at home has enabled me to understand this aspect of language. Herein I will attempt to describe how each of the languages I learnt (or acquired) have helped me shape myself into a person who can readily adapt to various cultures and identities.
I have been exposed to mainly two languages since my birth. First is Bengali which is spoken by my family at home and the other is Hindi which everyone around me spoke in our neighbourhood, in the school and market and in interactions of family members with non-Bengali people.Although I never got formal instruction in Bengali, the fair amount of exposure to the language helped me in acquiring it by the age of two. My mother tried to teach me to read and write Bengali till I was ten, but since her instruction was very occasional, I could not make much progress. I can read a little but am still unable to write Bengali. One reason for this is lack of need as well as motivation. Neither my family environment nor my school ever required me to come in contact with Bengali literature. But this was not the case with the culture that my family brought me up in. The festivals, the rituals and the customs of Bengali culture were always at the centre in spite of the fact that my family has lived in Maharashtra for more than seven decades now. The language helped me in learning the mannerism, the etiquette and the codes of conduct which are specific to Bengali culture. Now when I have come to know the value of literature written in Bengali, I regret not learning to read it. Although it would not have made a large difference to my life, my knowledge of the language and the culture would have enriched a great deal. Thus, Bengali language gave me the identity of being a new member of the Bengali culture even though I was already part of a larger society.
Delpit (2006) says that we acquire our native language by virtue of the exposure we get and the interrelatedness between language and the activities being carried out around us from the time of birth. On the other hand, any second language is ‘learnt’ by memorising the rules and practising it with people. For me, this was not the case in regard to Hindi. I acquired Hindi as I did Bengali by being around people who used it all the time. I was taught to read and write Hindi and unlike Bengali, I learnt it because I had access to Hindi newspapers, books, magazines, etc., which enabled me to practice it regularly. The advantage of learning Hindi was that the literature gave me information about the world, various places, people and cultures. Now information was no more restricted to what people told me and I was free to explore the world through print. Learning to talk in Hindi also widened my circle of acquaintances. I got a new identity as a friend from other children, as a talkative child from neighbours, as an avid reader of comics like Chacha Chaudhary, Champak and Pinki from my parents. I was very happy with this newly found self which also helped me in finding a more dynamic side of me and of the world around me. Purcell-Gates (1995) asserts that learning to read and write requires a print-rich language environment and interaction with people. I was fortunate enough to have this privilege in my pre-school years.
Gradually I was introduced to one more language, English. My elder sister and my mother added some English story books and children’s magazines to my collection of books. First they started with reading stories to me and explaining what they meant. Once I understood, they would ask me to tell the story in my own words. Later I would look at the book and repeat what they said. In this way, I began to read English. They also taught me the alphabet in the same way as it was done in school later, i.e., A for apple, B for ball and so on. To be honest, I gained the reading and writing skills in English as far as I was told word by word what to write and how to read a word (breaking the word into parts and pointing finger at every letter). But, comprehension was still a difficult task and conversing in English was not even thought of as important then. I cannot think of anything new that English added to my identity except the fact that I could read books in one more language.
By the time I was ready to enter school, I had one more language being used around and similar to Hindi. Marathi, the regional language used by Maharashtrian people whom we knew had greatly influenced my family too. Not only did my parents understand Marathi but also learned to speak it. I understood it from the context in which it was being used and made sense of it and could speak few sentences but that was all I knew about Marathi. Till then, I felt no pressure in learning these different languages as there was no requirement to talk in one language or the other.
At the age of five, I got admitted in an English medium school where till primary level, there was only one language subject, English. All other subjects including English were taught using bilingual medium of instruction which were Hindi and English. English was seldom used to explain any lesson, even the topics in English were explained in Hindi. This resulted in lesser and lesser inclination towards learning English in conversation as well as reading it for pleasure. In school, I got the opportunity to know people who spoke various languages like Gujarati, Punjabi, Telugu, Sindhi. There were also people who spoke different dialects of Marathi. From the viewpoint of language, this was more enriching for me than the language subjects being taught in school. As I mentioned earlier, language reflects a particular culture from which it originates and thus I came across various cultures and not just the languages. I realised that in Marathi culture, mother and her brother are considered to be the closest and so the pronouns used to refer to them are the same as are used for friends while in Bengali all the elders (except siblings sometimes) are referred by same respectful pronouns. In English, while someone is going somewhere, he/she will say “I am leaving” while in most of the Indian languages, one says “mai aati hun” (Hindi) or “Mi yete” (Marathi) which literally means “I am coming” or “I will be back”. All these are features of culture and are symbolised through language. I no more belonged to one culture, I had begun to relate myself with each language and the culture it represented.
At the middle school level, Hindi was introduced as a second language subject while at higher secondary level Marathi was introduced as third language. These subjects were taught with the focus on grammar and correct pronunciation. I improved my reading and writing skills in Hindi and learnt the same for Marathi. But, even the teacher who taught Marathi used Hindi as a medium of instruction which made it like any other subject-memorising questions and answers instead of acquiring something new about the language and culture. The textbook of Marathi had a number of poems by eminent Maharashtrian saints like Tukaram, Eknath, Namdev and Dnyaneshwar. These are important features of Marathi culture and provided me with an interesting perspective towards it. Thus, I felt an inclination and belongingness to this culture because of the literature that I read in Marathi.
Medium of instruction in school did not have any impact on my language skills as far as Bengali, Hindi and Marathi are concerned. But when I went for higher education, I realised the importance of English and wished that my school had made efforts to improve our literacy and oral skills in English. My relation with my parents and friends from school never had any relation to what language I speak, while now when I am studying in an institute where the medium of instruction is English and most of the people speak English, I have to be very conscious while picking my words because other languages gave me enough opportunities to develop my communication skills while English did not. I now identify myself as an average user of English although better than what I used to be. Still, this identity does not make me happy and restricts me from expressing my thoughts. It is this transition from an active multilingual person to a mediocre English-speaker which is painful for me. Language till now was one of my strengths but this fear of being wrong affects my social skills too. While culture is an inseparable part of language, over time language becomes an important marker of identity as well. But when I relate myself to several cultures and languages, I feel that I have many identities which often effortlessly take turns as required. To conclude, I feel that any language should not be given so much importance that people who do not know it, are looked down upon at. Medium of instruction in schools should be decided keeping in mind the socio-cultural backgrounds of pupils so that the topic is understood by them. Children should be encouraged by parents to develop literacy skills in their mother-tongue so that in future they can produce and reproduce valuable texts in their language which will be beneficial to the society.
References
Delpit, L. (2006). Other People’s Children: Cultural Conflict in the Classroom (2nd ed.). New York, NY: The New Press
Purcell-Gates, V. (1995). A World Without Print. Other People’s Words: The Cycle of Low Literacy. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Language is generally defined as a medium of communication, for expression of thoughts and for exchange of ideas. It is one of the ways of passing on culture and values from one generation to another. This does not mean that one culture is attached to one language. Whereas one language always reflects a particular culture. A person who knows a number of languages will certainly have some, if not complete knowledge of the cultures those languages represent. On the other hand, following a culture does not imply that one has learnt the language too. Here culture refers not only to the practices and traditions but also the primary discourse. It may seem too complicated to understand, but my experience of going through multiple media of instruction in school and at home has enabled me to understand this aspect of language. Herein I will attempt to describe how each of the languages I learnt (or acquired) have helped me shape myself into a person who can readily adapt to various cultures and identities.
I have been exposed to mainly two languages since my birth. First is Bengali which is spoken by my family at home and the other is Hindi which everyone around me spoke in our neighbourhood, in the school and market and in interactions of family members with non-Bengali people.Although I never got formal instruction in Bengali, the fair amount of exposure to the language helped me in acquiring it by the age of two. My mother tried to teach me to read and write Bengali till I was ten, but since her instruction was very occasional, I could not make much progress. I can read a little but am still unable to write Bengali. One reason for this is lack of need as well as motivation. Neither my family environment nor my school ever required me to come in contact with Bengali literature. But this was not the case with the culture that my family brought me up in. The festivals, the rituals and the customs of Bengali culture were always at the centre in spite of the fact that my family has lived in Maharashtra for more than seven decades now. The language helped me in learning the mannerism, the etiquette and the codes of conduct which are specific to Bengali culture. Now when I have come to know the value of literature written in Bengali, I regret not learning to read it. Although it would not have made a large difference to my life, my knowledge of the language and the culture would have enriched a great deal. Thus, Bengali language gave me the identity of being a new member of the Bengali culture even though I was already part of a larger society.
Delpit (2006) says that we acquire our native language by virtue of the exposure we get and the interrelatedness between language and the activities being carried out around us from the time of birth. On the other hand, any second language is ‘learnt’ by memorising the rules and practising it with people. For me, this was not the case in regard to Hindi. I acquired Hindi as I did Bengali by being around people who used it all the time. I was taught to read and write Hindi and unlike Bengali, I learnt it because I had access to Hindi newspapers, books, magazines, etc., which enabled me to practice it regularly. The advantage of learning Hindi was that the literature gave me information about the world, various places, people and cultures. Now information was no more restricted to what people told me and I was free to explore the world through print. Learning to talk in Hindi also widened my circle of acquaintances. I got a new identity as a friend from other children, as a talkative child from neighbours, as an avid reader of comics like Chacha Chaudhary, Champak and Pinki from my parents. I was very happy with this newly found self which also helped me in finding a more dynamic side of me and of the world around me. Purcell-Gates (1995) asserts that learning to read and write requires a print-rich language environment and interaction with people. I was fortunate enough to have this privilege in my pre-school years.
Gradually I was introduced to one more language, English. My elder sister and my mother added some English story books and children’s magazines to my collection of books. First they started with reading stories to me and explaining what they meant. Once I understood, they would ask me to tell the story in my own words. Later I would look at the book and repeat what they said. In this way, I began to read English. They also taught me the alphabet in the same way as it was done in school later, i.e., A for apple, B for ball and so on. To be honest, I gained the reading and writing skills in English as far as I was told word by word what to write and how to read a word (breaking the word into parts and pointing finger at every letter). But, comprehension was still a difficult task and conversing in English was not even thought of as important then. I cannot think of anything new that English added to my identity except the fact that I could read books in one more language.
By the time I was ready to enter school, I had one more language being used around and similar to Hindi. Marathi, the regional language used by Maharashtrian people whom we knew had greatly influenced my family too. Not only did my parents understand Marathi but also learned to speak it. I understood it from the context in which it was being used and made sense of it and could speak few sentences but that was all I knew about Marathi. Till then, I felt no pressure in learning these different languages as there was no requirement to talk in one language or the other.
At the age of five, I got admitted in an English medium school where till primary level, there was only one language subject, English. All other subjects including English were taught using bilingual medium of instruction which were Hindi and English. English was seldom used to explain any lesson, even the topics in English were explained in Hindi. This resulted in lesser and lesser inclination towards learning English in conversation as well as reading it for pleasure. In school, I got the opportunity to know people who spoke various languages like Gujarati, Punjabi, Telugu, Sindhi. There were also people who spoke different dialects of Marathi. From the viewpoint of language, this was more enriching for me than the language subjects being taught in school. As I mentioned earlier, language reflects a particular culture from which it originates and thus I came across various cultures and not just the languages. I realised that in Marathi culture, mother and her brother are considered to be the closest and so the pronouns used to refer to them are the same as are used for friends while in Bengali all the elders (except siblings sometimes) are referred by same respectful pronouns. In English, while someone is going somewhere, he/she will say “I am leaving” while in most of the Indian languages, one says “mai aati hun” (Hindi) or “Mi yete” (Marathi) which literally means “I am coming” or “I will be back”. All these are features of culture and are symbolised through language. I no more belonged to one culture, I had begun to relate myself with each language and the culture it represented.
At the middle school level, Hindi was introduced as a second language subject while at higher secondary level Marathi was introduced as third language. These subjects were taught with the focus on grammar and correct pronunciation. I improved my reading and writing skills in Hindi and learnt the same for Marathi. But, even the teacher who taught Marathi used Hindi as a medium of instruction which made it like any other subject-memorising questions and answers instead of acquiring something new about the language and culture. The textbook of Marathi had a number of poems by eminent Maharashtrian saints like Tukaram, Eknath, Namdev and Dnyaneshwar. These are important features of Marathi culture and provided me with an interesting perspective towards it. Thus, I felt an inclination and belongingness to this culture because of the literature that I read in Marathi.
Medium of instruction in school did not have any impact on my language skills as far as Bengali, Hindi and Marathi are concerned. But when I went for higher education, I realised the importance of English and wished that my school had made efforts to improve our literacy and oral skills in English. My relation with my parents and friends from school never had any relation to what language I speak, while now when I am studying in an institute where the medium of instruction is English and most of the people speak English, I have to be very conscious while picking my words because other languages gave me enough opportunities to develop my communication skills while English did not. I now identify myself as an average user of English although better than what I used to be. Still, this identity does not make me happy and restricts me from expressing my thoughts. It is this transition from an active multilingual person to a mediocre English-speaker which is painful for me. Language till now was one of my strengths but this fear of being wrong affects my social skills too. While culture is an inseparable part of language, over time language becomes an important marker of identity as well. But when I relate myself to several cultures and languages, I feel that I have many identities which often effortlessly take turns as required. To conclude, I feel that any language should not be given so much importance that people who do not know it, are looked down upon at. Medium of instruction in schools should be decided keeping in mind the socio-cultural backgrounds of pupils so that the topic is understood by them. Children should be encouraged by parents to develop literacy skills in their mother-tongue so that in future they can produce and reproduce valuable texts in their language which will be beneficial to the society.
References
Delpit, L. (2006). Other People’s Children: Cultural Conflict in the Classroom (2nd ed.). New York, NY: The New Press
Purcell-Gates, V. (1995). A World Without Print. Other People’s Words: The Cycle of Low Literacy. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
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