Mother, Mother Tongue, and Language Endangerment Process: An Exploratory Study

Abstract

—There is no denying fact that many languages of the world are vanishing at an irrepressible pace, and the status quo of many indigenous languages in Pakistan is an accurate mirror to this reality. According to a UNESCO report, around 27 languages in Pakistan are in the danger zone. There are many causative factors behind this situation. One important factor can be the parents, not teaching their local languages to their young ones. This paper attempts to analyse the role of parents and especially mothers in the transmission and preservation of languages. The key aim is to locate whether or not; the mothers in Pakistani society are promoting their local or native dialects. For this purpose, a survey research is conducted. The tool of the study is a questionnaire that is disseminated to a sample population of mothers. The responses collected from a population sample (comprising of almost 270 mothers) exposes the fact that at present a great number of mothers and especially educated mothers tend to emphasize the learning of Urdu (for general communication) and English (for educational purposes) among their children rather than their native dialects. The situation is worse with the Punjabi language. This is alarming and demands certain actions on the part of the government to familiarize the public with the importance of their native languages. The paper suggests the formulation of policies besides the broadcasting of some awareness programs for the common public, to avoid a heritage of ‘zombie languages’.