Mother Tongue Essay

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The mother tongue is regarded as a particular language learnt as you grow up, rather than a language learned at school or as an adult (Cambridge Dictionaries Online, 2013). The term mother tongue originates from conception that linguistic skills of a child are improved and shaped by the mother, but it does not mean that the language spoken by the mother would be the fundamental vernacular that the child would learn. In this essay I will argue that the mother tongue of the learners should not be the medium of instruction in all South African schools.
The language used in school instruction is amongst diverse language groups in South Africa. National and international, English is the only language in which the majority of South African parents …show more content…

Mackey (1992:52), ‘a language which lacks a well-established written form cannot be legitimized which in turn imperil the potential status of such a language’. This quote beyond reasonable distrust implies that the non-availability of the developed written forms of the mother tongue languages militates against the mother being the medium of instruction in South African schools. Moreover, it is to the benefit of children to be English dominant, since the opportunities and economic freedom, and deliver a stepping stone into the worldwide arena. If children are taught and instructed in a language that they can easily comprehend, which is English, not the one that they speak or use at home, they have a better chance of academic prowess and success.
It is commonly acknowledged that one of the aims for deprived grades in the National Grade 12 examinations may be embedded in the medium of instruction used in the mainstream of South African schoolrooms (Pluddemann, 2000:48; Heugh, 2002:171; Rod Seth, 2002:97; Beeld, 2004).
All things considered, it is strongly evident that mother tongue as medium of instruction is invaluable and to the advantage of children. There is also an abundance of evidence in disservice of instructing learners in their mother tongue in South African schools, for this reason, there is a shortage of teaching materials and trained South African cadres. On the other hand, it is a recognized fact that English has both material resources, (teaching materials, literature, glossaries, and editors and so on), and material resources (knowledge and

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