On February 21 (Monday), the world celebrates International Mother Language Day to encourage linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism. In 1999, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) endorsed the notion of celebrating International Mother Language Day.
“UNESCO recognises the value of cultural and linguistic variety in the development of sustainable societies. It aims to preserve variations in cultures and languages that develop tolerance and respect for others as part of its peace mandate”, according to the UN body.
HISTORY OF INTERNATIONAL MOTHER LANGUAGE DAY
According to the UNESCO website, the day was established on Bangladesh’s initiative in 2000 and has been commemorated around the world since then.
UNESCO has raised worry over the loss of languages around the world. According to the report, 40% of the world’s population lacks access to education in a language they speak or comprehend.
As a result, UNESCO chose to commemorate the day as part of its commitment to understanding the value of mother language (or mother tongue), particularly in early childhood education. The celebration of International Mother Language Day is a step toward demonstrating a commitment to the advancement of mother tongue in public life.
THEME FOR 2022
“Using technology for multilingual learning: Challenges and Opportunities,” according to UNESCO, is the theme of the 2022 International Mother Language Day.
In a message on the occasion, UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay remarked, “Technology can help safeguard linguistic diversity by providing new tools. Such instruments, by easing their dissemination and analysis, enable us to record and preserve languages that are sometimes only spoken. Simply put, they turn local dialects into a common heritage. However, because the Internet poses a threat of linguistic uniformization, we must keep in mind that technological advancement will only benefit plurilingualism if we make an effort to ensure that it does “.
Discussions on the possible role of technology in advancing multilingual education and supporting the development of high-quality teaching and learning for all will be held under the 2022 theme.
INDIA’S MOTHER TONGUES
According to census data, India has more than 19,500 languages or dialects spoken as a mother tongue. According to the census, India has 121 languages spoken by 10,000 or more people.
The 121 languages are divided into two categories: languages included in the Indian Constitution’s Eighth Schedule, which includes 22 languages, and languages not included in the Eighth Schedule, which includes 99 languages.
Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Nepali, Oriya, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu, Bodo, Santhali, Maithili, and Dogri are among the scheduled languages listed in the Constitution’s Eighth Schedule.
14 of these languages were included in the Constitution at the outset. Sindhi was added to the list of languages in 1967. Following that, in 1992, three more languages, Konkani, Manipuri, and Nepali, were added.
In 2004, the languages of Bodo, Dogri, Maithili, and Santhali were added.
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