Mother Language Day

Writer: Dinah Amankwah                                                                                                                                        Source: Graphic Online

Keka keka kraka! (Dropping sound)
Nsu susͻ dan do. (Rain drums on roofs)
Nnoma nyina guan guan; (All birds flee for shelter;)
Waka ͻpεtε ara nko. (except the Vulture)
Nanso Nyame abͻ no yie. (But God has wonderfully created it.)
W’ama n’ataban akεse (He gave it huge wings)
Otum dze bor nsu biara (with which it braves all types of rain)

Tomorrow, Tuesday February 21, is International Mother Language Day. Since 2000, the United Nations Education Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) has fulfilled its mandate to use the day to promote indigenous languages.
It is a day meant for all language users to pay attention to the mother tongue or first language for its crucial, diverse role in communication, education and cultural and linguistic diversity for harmonious co-existence. The day highlights all languages as equal avenues of intelligible communication and preservation of global heritage.

The theme for 2023, Multilingual education – a necessity to transform education, places itself directly in the centre of Ghana’s linguistic dilemma. Increasingly, nationals are shying away from indigenous languages, even as educational standard also furiously spirals downwards. The message is clear: We must give indigenous languages their rightful place in education to raise practical human capital. Attitudinal change is critical.

Twice, I have heard friends slight Twi for not possessing an extensive vocabulary as English. They argue that one word in Twi could refer to two concepts, whereas English would use two autonomous words. However, what my friends see as a limitation, I perceive as intricacy.

The Akan ethnolinguistic groups – Akuapem, Akyem, Asante, Bono, Fante, Kwawu, Ahanta, Wassa – use mutually intelligible varieties of Twi and Fante dialects. The language is spoken by about 44 per cent of Ghanaians, being the predominant language of the Ashanti, Bono, Central, Eastern and Western regions, and can be studied up to the master’s degree.

The other seven Ghanaian languages do not have such high number of users; yet, they all collectively propagate the legitimate worldview of Ghanaian society.

Sound systems

Each Ghanaian language has distinctive sound systems, extensive vocabulary, formal, informal, figurative and idiomatic stock expressions, which enable users to study the complex universe. I shift focus to Akan.

As a teaching/learning vessel, Akan sounds and orthography – alphabets, words, phrases and sentences, culminate in sophisticated universal thought processes. It matches English in arbitrary rules, which rules proficient first speakers of Akan can transfer to English language learning to facilitate second language acquisition.

UNESCO advocates teaching children in the mother tongue or first language since they grasp content better in the home language. Other languages can be added later. Akan is a versatile teaching/learning channel. The Fante nursery rhyme above exemplifies the sophistication of the language.

The short piece can be used to teach sounds, vocabulary, facts of nature, to mention three. Children can dance to the rhythm. The first line represents the drumming sound of heavy rain on roofs. The second line explains the source of the sound for the child. Sound and poem will resonate with the child every time it rains – lifelong learning.

The third line states a simple fact about birds to elevate the subject matter, vultures. Urbanisation has driven away the giant birds, but in the 80s and 90s when their habitat was not threatened, it was a common sight to see vultures drenched yet standing resolutely in torrential rains, in markets and rubbish dumps.

The last three lines bring in the creationist perspective, pinpointing that the strong bird did not come by chance. It was specially designed by an intelligent creator. The pragmatic poem is light years away from the repulsive religious parody which currently characterises classroom interaction. Instead, the practical poem aids young learners to observe their surroundings, associate action with sound, link objects and behaviour, invoking critical origination into the bargain.

Indeed, when language is appreciated for its ability to aid users in intelligible communication and cogent behaviour, it rises above categorisation. When a language is appreciated, its culture is also respected. Therefore, cultivating equal respect for all languages implies dignity and tolerance for cultures and worldviews.

Bangladesh initiated the idea of International Mother Language Day; in 1999, at the UNESCO General Conference, the idea got international endorsement. Despite the promotion, current statistics indicate that every two weeks, an indigenous language is lost. The languages lose speakers. Ghanaian languages face that dilemma.

Currently, many Ghanaians slight indigenous languages because they erroneously believe that English has more sophistication. Ironically, they do not strive to achieve proficiency in the language. Rather, they waste time cultivating strangulated English accent, which propels them for scorn.

English communication across the country tends to be a harrowing experience, for academic work, as well for social interaction. Loose grasp engenders poor spelling, limited vocabulary and porous sentence construction, which all distort meaning, detracting heavily from intelligible communication. Ironically, if such poor users of English had a firm grasp of the mother tongue, they would handle English better.

When a colleague asked me why I communicate well in English, I responded: “It’s because I learnt my mother tongue first. My very first conversation occurred in Asante Twi. My childhood memories of rebuke, recommendation, games, folk tales, bedtime stories and indulgence, all float in Twi, which foundation has made me a capable communicator.

On International Mother Language Day, each of us should promise ourselves to speak the mother tongue the entire day. If that is a tall promise, target Tuesday morning, 5 a.m. -12 p.m., or at least, for one hour e.g. 7-8 a.m. or 2-3 p.m., communicate in the mother tongue only. Conversing exclusively in the mother language can be as challenging as it can be fun!

Beyond the day, however, let us endeavour to learn/speak the mother language, and read indigenous books for broad perspectives and social cohesion.

The writer is a Snr Lecturer, Language and Communication Skills, Takoradi Technical University, Takoradi.