The language is the learning
The IB sees language as more than just a way of communicating. Carol Inugai-Dixon, language and learning manager, and Andrew Flory, subject area manager, groups 1&2 (languages), explain:
We see the world in three dimensions only because we have different views of the same scene from each eye. The same applies to language: having two linguistic perspectives enhances our depth of understanding of the world.
All IB students are expected to be learning in at least two languages by the age of seven, to aid developing intercultural understanding. But transforming the mission statement into action means valuing each student’s linguistic heritage and language profile and ensuring schools address mother tongue entitlement. The importance of mother tongue to identity, self esteem, cognitive ability and, ultimately, academic success is well established and reflected in the continuing growth of opportunities for students to study and use mother tongue in all three programmes.
All IB students are expected to be learning in at least two languages by the age of seven, to aid developing intercultural understanding
There is an organization-wide recognition that language is not simply instrumental but in many ways is the learning itself: a sense that language cannot be seen as simply a way of communicating. The IB recognizes in its standards and practices that many students access its programmes in a language other than their mother tongue and that this is to be celebrated and supported throughout the continuum.
The appointment of a language and learning manager is alerting schools to their responsibilities and supporting them by creating a system of professional development to promote and enable best practice. Schools are now given guidance on developing a language policy. Every school now has an opportunity to consider and plan its language policy in a way that truly reflects the mission of the IB, recognizing that the programmes are about valuing what a student brings and building on that to create a holistic, transformative education.
Q &A
Strong views on the importance of mother tongue entitlement have made Professor Tove Skutnabb-Kangas – guest researcher at the Department of Languages and Culture, University of Roskilde, Denmark – and her husband Prof Robert Phillipson, research professor at Copenhagen Business School’s Department of English, among the world’s most respected linguists. IB World asked them to explain their position
IB World: Why is it so important for students to learn in their mother tongue?
Tove It is incredibly important for indigenous peoples and linguistic minorities (IMs), including the deaf, to be able to use their own language as the main teaching language. Most linguistic majorities take this right for granted. Today’s IM education is organized against solid research evidence about how best to reach high levels of bilingualism or multilingualism and how to enable these children to achieve academically.
Are we in danger of permanently losing certain languages?
Tove Optimistic estimates say that half of today’s almost 7,000 spoken languages may be lost or extremely endangered (not being learned by children) by 2100. Most sign languages are seriously endangered.
What can teachers do to help?
Tove Teachers need to be aware of the myths around multilingualism. Many teachers believe that the earlier IM children start learning a dominant language, and the more they have of it in school, the better the results. But solid research shows that the more years an IM child has of education through the medium of the first language, the better they become not only in their own language and general achievement but also in the dominant language. Forcing a child to learn a dominant language at the cost of the mother tongue is linguistic genocide and a crime against humanity.
Is the pre-eminence of English a necessary evil in a globalized world?
Robert Any language can serve noble or foul purposes. English has done both in the past, and continues to do so. Obviously it makes sense in the modern world to be proficient in English. But bilingualism or preferably trilingualism is increasingly expected for senior employment in the business world, the media, higher education and research. Schools have a role to play in guiding their students towards an understanding of why multilingualism is important.
