When Mother-tongue Education is not Preferred

Abstract

In some language situations primary education in the mother tongue may not be desirable. A number of factors may militate against education in the mother tongue: (1) difficulty in determining the mother tongue. This is especially a problem in multilingual settings where children grow up with multiple mother tongues; (2) definition of 'a language'. Mother tongues may be deemed to be the standard variety; and (3) social and ethnic divisiveness of mother tongue education. In multilingual settings the maintenance of social cohesiveness may be of more importance than the benefitof mother-tongue education.Where patterns of language use are linked to social class, mother-tongue education could further diminish access to power structures by underprivileged groups. Ideological issues can be resolved only in the context of the particular social and political situation. There is no general rule that primary education should be in the mother tongue.