Last week I read an article in the Daily Express by Orya Maqbool Jan, a famous columnist of Pakistan, in which he emphasized the belief that in the past five thousand years no nation has ever achieved the pinnacle of success and development unless it has adopted its own language as a source of education. Resting his case he further mentioned that we need to translate all the existing knowledge base into Urdu if we want to stand as a developed nation.
My first response to this belief was a mix of respect for his love towards Urdu and disagreement with his point of view that we can’t be creative in any other language except our own, as he had once mentioned in a TV show (Azaan TV). I thought, creativity has nothing to do with language. Language is a tool of communication of thoughts and creativity. You can transfer your creativity into Arabic, Urdu, English, digital codes and graphic animations. After a day or so, I revisited my thought and took interest in reading more. I tried to find answers to my own questions. Is transferring creativity into your own language quicker and into any foreign language slow ? Does it take too much time because first you would have to master that language? Can development at the national level can be achieved by using a second language or not?
What is development? We can define development in different ways. GDP, per capita income, life standard and poverty eradication, are the most commonly used terms to define and explain development. The World Bank in its 1999 World Development Report stated that it is a multidimensional process including major changes in social structures and economic stability. The most attractive and appealing is the explanation of development in economic terms as emphasized by the West, “the path towards maximization of goods and services per head”. This may be easy to measure. However, some authors such as Wiseman Magwa and Davie E. Mustafa, are of the view that development is a multi-dimensional process involving changes in attitudes, structure and institutions in a given society. They hold the view that the needs of societies are different and not identical. I focused on this broad explanation because we are facing social problems, political problems and economic problems altogether. Based on this broad definition, can a second or third language (foreign) bring development to Pakistan? Is it Urdu that can trigger the multidimensional change process for development?
Let’s not consider all the languages and dialects spoken in Pakistan to keep it short and to the point. Urdu is our national language and lingua franca. We have five major languages; Punjabi, Pashto, Sindhi, Saraiki and Balochi. It means Urdu is not the first language or mother tongue of most of the Pakistanis and native Urdu speakers are about 8% of the total population. But a fact about Urdu language is that almost every Pakistani uses it as a second language. If we start systematically, counting indigenous languages, then Urdu is our second language and English third. English is our secondary official language -- dominantly officail. If we talk about language of the masses in Pakistan, definitely it is Urdu. If we were to choose a language for any big national-level change it seems to be Urdu because of the simple fact that it is the most understood and spoken language of the population.
Language can be an aid to development as well as barrier to development. If I stick to the broader definition of development, aforementioned, then English is a barrier to development in Pakistan. It is not the language of the masses. The best way to reach the masses for any social, political and scientific purposes is through the use of the language they easily understand. Concepts and terminologies can be constructed in indigenous languages as well, although it would need a huge and exhaustive effort due to the fact that we haven’t done something like that yet. According to Wolff (1999), the development of a whole country in terms of its economy or political culture hinges on communicative efficiency based on language. Again, it seems Urdu would be efficient in such a case, at least in the case of domestic commerce, product and services, policy matters, administration and politics. If Ufone comes up with commercials in English language, would most of prospective & current customers, the target market, understand the packages they offer? If a school kid in a K.G. class was taught the word, "apple", wouldn’t we need to make him understand first in his native language? His mind would use the native language to identify apple, unless he was brought up with parents who always speak English. If Imran Khan or Nawaz Sharif comes to Chitral or Peshawar and addresses the public in English would that work for them to gain socail and political support?
Molvi Abdul Haq, Baba-e- Urdu, used to emphasize that Urdu is the thing that unites the whole nation. Sometimes, this thing seems to me to be Urdu and Cricket. We have been acting like an emotional nation throughout our history. Projecting English as a language of development doesn’t seem to fit the nation’s affective component of social structure. Joshua A. Fishman, in the World Handbook of Political and Social Indicators and A Cross-Polity Survey, states, “ Linguistically homogenous polities are usually, economically more developed, educationally more advanced, politically more modernized, and ideologically and politically more tranquil and stable."
Language can be an aid to development as well as barrier to development. If I stick to the broader definition of development, aforementioned, then English is a barrier to development in Pakistan. It is not the language of the masses. The best way to reach the masses for any social, political and scientific purposes is through the use of the language they easily understand. Concepts and terminologies can be constructed in indigenous languages as well, although it would need a huge and exhaustive effort due to the fact that we haven’t done something like that yet. According to Wolff (1999), the development of a whole country in terms of its economy or political culture hinges on communicative efficiency based on language. Again, it seems Urdu would be efficient in such a case, at least in the case of domestic commerce, product and services, policy matters, administration and politics. If Ufone comes up with commercials in English language, would most of prospective & current customers, the target market, understand the packages they offer? If a school kid in a K.G. class was taught the word, "apple", wouldn’t we need to make him understand first in his native language? His mind would use the native language to identify apple, unless he was brought up with parents who always speak English. If Imran Khan or Nawaz Sharif comes to Chitral or Peshawar and addresses the public in English would that work for them to gain socail and political support?
Molvi Abdul Haq, Baba-e- Urdu, used to emphasize that Urdu is the thing that unites the whole nation. Sometimes, this thing seems to me to be Urdu and Cricket. We have been acting like an emotional nation throughout our history. Projecting English as a language of development doesn’t seem to fit the nation’s affective component of social structure. Joshua A. Fishman, in the World Handbook of Political and Social Indicators and A Cross-Polity Survey, states, “ Linguistically homogenous polities are usually, economically more developed, educationally more advanced, politically more modernized, and ideologically and politically more tranquil and stable."
Kishe (2003) holds the idea that there seems to be a correlation in Africa between underdevelopment and the use of a foreign language as the official language of a given country. Can we hold this theory for Pakistan, in Asia? After all, according to World Bank statistics, the nominal GDP of Pakistan in 2010 was 174,799 million USD, not very different from South Africa’s 363,704 million USD--even worse. In this same continent called Asia, Japan and China have Japanese and Chinese respectively as their official and national languages and their economies are booming. Is Urdu the missing link to our socio-economic development? Do all the stake holders of development in Pakistan understand English fully?
There are also benefits associated with learning a secondary language, in our case, English or any other. For example, increased cognitive abilities, higher job opportunities, greater access to research-based knowledge, cultural awareness and higher scores in standardized international tests. I would never say no to learning a second or third language whether it is English or Arabic. Usually it has been noticed that English in our country is associated with elites and bureaucracy. This is also one of the reasons we opt for English because, humans, rational egoists, first think of themselves and their families. Every young man will go for English unless there is a change in the system, to bring linguistic homogeneity in education system in Pakistan.
On a national level scenario -- mass scale development, participation of masses and effective and quick flow of information throughout Pakistan, Urdu seems to be the best option. All alone, Urdu, too, can’t bring about miracle if we are not committed to be honest, moderate, tolerant and responsible citizens of Pakistan.
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Thank you for sharing it with me Atta. I'm honoured. I read your blog. It is a really well-researched article. I am not aware of how development or economic progress is related to use of language. Personally, I believe we have failed as a nation to transform knowledge into Urdu. I mean, we in our universities are dependent on foreign books written in English language. So, our dependency on English is somewhat necessary specially at higher education level. However, I think we need to work on translating research works into Urdu. Federal Urdu University was formed for this purpose but if you visit their website, you will find everything in English. Students of elite English medium schools do not know how to write in Urdu these days. We must work for giving Urdu its rightful place. It is a beautiful language and I take pride in calling it my language. I can express myself way better in Urdu than in English or Punjabi (although Punjabi is my mother tongue). Urdu must prosper and steps should be taken for its uplift. We should not hope that governments will do something about it. Government forms bureaucratic institutes that do not help such causes. I support people like Orya Maqbool Jan who want to do something for it.
ReplyDeleteI agree with evidences in the favor of Urdu language. There is no doubt we should have worked to translate knowledge in this language easy to understand and express. At this point if we take example of China that might help. They are teaching in their own language but trying hard to learn English. Soon China will be the biggest English spoken country. This is the reason they are spreading world over and not limited to China. Sometimes we cannot go towards absolute solution because of circumstances. At this time we need "Compromise". We can teach till Matriculation by using Urdu and English terminologies embedded in it like it is happening now a days. Along with this there is a separate book of Urdu that gives excellence in Urdu. This is all is because we do not have higher education material translated in Urdu. Side by side we should keep on translating knowledge and books in Urdu. Hopefully a day will come when we shall have all necessary material in Urdu only then we can convert whole education system in Urdu language.
ReplyDeleteDear Humayun: Yes, you are right. Most of Pakistani can express themselves easily in Urdu. That's why it is an effective and efficient means of communication for Pakistanis.
ReplyDeleteDear Javed: I agree with you. I like your idea of learning English as a side language and keep on translating the knowledge base into Urdu as we go along.