FYI, this item from the Nigerian News Source "The Tide Online" wasseen on the lgpolicy-list. Don
How English threatens indigenous languages Sunday, Jul 8, 2007 http://www.thetidenews.com/article.aspx?qrDate=07/08/2007&qrTitle=How%20English%20threatens%20indigenous%20languages&qrColumn=SUNDAY%20EXTRA Language is a cultural tool for the easy identification of a people and should be allowed to be learnt from birth to adulthood for the promotion of a people's culture and tradition." This was the remark made by Dr. Daniel Ogum, Acting Dean, Faculty of Languages, Rivers State College of Education, Port Harcourt in his office while chatting with us on language as a living organism in the society. The Acting Dean stated that language education has been an area of great interest for the college and that was why the department of Nigerian languages was established in the college to encourage the teaching and learning of Nigerian languages including Rivers State indigenous languages. Dr. Ogum, who is a doctorate degree holder in language education, spoke on the position of English language in Nigeria, saying that it is threatening other indigenous languages because it is the official language of communication. Hear him: "Virtually, everybody in every circumstance tries to accommodate the use of English language and the indigenous languages are threatened in terms of career opportunities. The English language is dangling like the sword of Damocles, because the better English you speak, the more you uphold your social-economic status in the society." The don also revealed that the government has sufficiently shown interest in the development of our Nigerian languages with the establishment of the Nigerian Institute of Languages (NILAN) and other language centres across the country. He further stated that the national policy on education and the language policy of the country have made it necessary for a Nigerian child to learn the three national languages Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba for the first three years of their primary education as a language for their immediate environment. The dean also stated that apart from the three national languages, there is also need to recognise other ethnic indigenous languages. His words: "Linguistically speaking, all languages are equal, we must have the feeling that our local languages must not die, otherwise they will commit linguistic suicide and the limit of the national languages to three major ethnic languages may cause language imperialism. There is the need for the child to grow up with the language of his mother tongue to give him a view of what he is, whom he is, before thinking of external perspective." Speaking on the recognition and promotion of Rivers indigenous language, the dean said that a proposal is in motion to the academic board of the college for the approval of the teaching of Rivers State indigenous languages as part of the general studies course as a requirement for a student to graduate. Hear him: "we have a very good 60 seater language laboratory which is one of the best among the higher institutions in the country. I am glad to tell you that a machinery has been set in motion to accommodate the teaching and learning of Rivers State indigenous languages as general studies course and a requirement for graduation. This is aimed at making graduands to study at least one Rivers indigenous language as a cultural identity of the Rivers people." Proffering solutions to the realisation of the dream in studying our indigenous languages, he said there is the need to recognise the fact that teachers should be trained sufficiently to take care of the teaching of our children using well developed orthographies of the local languages. The Erema born academic, also advised that people should pursue the local language study with interest and devotion as to meet up the challenges of acquiring the languages. According to him, this is the only way we can compete with advanced countries like America, China, Germany, Russia, Japan that use their indigenous languages as official languages of communication in their various countries. On the low academic performance of students in schools, he attributed it to the idea of mass promotion and feels that it is affecting our students at the higher level of their academic studies. He blamed it to the current federal government millennium development goals where the country hopes to make every child literate. His words: "In the older days, there were rooms for competition among students. Dropouts were awarded the S.75 certificate and certificate then was reverenced and people struggled very hard to get them because they were passport for one's life. But today, the springing up of other examination boards like NECO, makes the students lazy because they have an alternative way of getting a school certificate result apart from WAEC." On proliferation of schools, he welcomed the idea, stating that it will address the problem of population explosion in the country. He also feels that public schools are not expanding as to take care of the population increase in the society. He thanked the administration of the former Governor of Rivers State Dr Peter Odili for ensuring a qualitative system of education in Rivers State. He cited examples with the Army Day Msodel Primary School, the Rumueme Girls Secondary School as some of the schools with a refocus in terms of good learning environment. He called on the government to invest more on education and to make all public schools to be model schools. He commended the provost of the Rivers State College of Education, Prof Addison Wokocha, for ensuring an era of infrastructural revolution with the fund provided by the Rivers State Government. Commenting on the present Governor of Rivers State, Sir Celestine Omehia he has this to say: "Omehia is very active in the act of governance being a former commissioner of education, senior special assistant on religious matters, a Christian gentleman, a barrister should be given support to rule by Rivers people." Yahoo! 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