Cultural Diversity and Heritage at Stake

"The mother language is dear to each one of us. It is in the mother tongue that we utter our first words and express individual thoughts best. It is the foundation upon which all human beings develop their personality from the moment they draw their first breath, and which supports them throughout their lives".

These are the words of Mr. Koïchiro Matsuura, Director-General of UNESCO, on the occasion of the International Motjer Language Day.

"It is the medium for learning respect for oneself, one's history and one's culture and, above all, for others and their differences".

World heritage dissappearing

According to UN's education, science and culture organization more than 50 percent of world's 6 thousand languages are likely to die out.

Less than a quarter of all languages in the world are used in education and in cyberspace and most of them are used only occasionally.

Only a few hundred languages have genuinely been given pride of place in the education system and in the public domain and less than a hundred are used in the digital world.

All these aspects threaten the multilingualism of the world.

Children's interests

In her article written for bianet, Havva Sayar quotes a research study which found out that children who firstly get education in their mother language have more chance to succeed as well as learn another language in the future.

Furthermore, forcing the child into an education in a dominant language in the society that's different than his mother language results in marginalization and a feeling of refusal.

Education in mother languages is mostly discussed in relation to the Kurdish issue; it's one of the eminent cultural demands of Kurds in Turkey.

"If edcucation in one's mother language helps our children to better prosper and succeed at school, why can't we give them this opportunity?" asks Havva Sayar at the end of her article. (EÜ)