One of the most resilient and charismatic benchmarks of leadership was set by an influential automobile executive, who placed unparalleled importance on language and communication. Lee Iacocca was a rare businessman who knew the power and gravity of perhaps even the simplest words in his vocabulary. He once said, “You can have brilliant ideas but if you can’t get them across, your ideas won’t get anywhere.” An inspiration to many, his strength, according to his peers and colleagues, was making direct statements that people could remember. Iacocca attributed it to his school’s debate team where he honed his communication skills.
Such is the power of language; breaks barriers, forges bonds and catapults cognitive development to newer heights.
Numbers and Influence
Statistics pertaining to languages from around the world are often peppered with ‘around’, ‘estimate’ and ‘mostly’. Hence, we shall keep the number game to a minimum and dwell upon the influence of language on man’s cognitive development.
It is estimated that there are around 7000 languages in the world. About 90% of the world population speaks one of the top 100 languages that include Mandarin Chinese, English, Spanish and Hindi, to name a few. India has 22 official languages, and going by estimates, between 1500 and 2000 dialects, adding to the thousands of others around the world. The millions of native speakers, still in touch with their roots, influenced yet not persuaded by universal languages to forget their mother tongues, are keeping these languages alive.
Yet, around 40% of the world's languages are endangered and are facing extinction because they are no longer being passed down to the younger generation. Many of these languages are spoken by smaller communities, dwindling in number to become global citizens, sending some of these native tongues into limbo, which gradually slip into non-existence.
Globalisation, urbanisation, cultural assimilation by minority groups to adapt to a majority culture, displacement of people due to war and migration, and suppression in a few cases lead to the death of a language.
Many of them did not see the light of the day due to lack of language preservation efforts. Millions of children around the world have grown up adapting a new language, alien to their DNA.
Importance of Mother Tongue in Cognitive Development
A language is not just a medium of communication; with it comes a rich tapestry of history, culture, heritage, diversity and stories that embed values, tradition and several practices aboriginal of a land. It fosters a sense of community, carving a path for emotional expression.
It is paramount that children in schools, apart from the common medium of education and communication, learn more than just one language. Learning two or three different languages helps keep active the Broca’s area (responsible for speech production and articulation), and Wernicke’s area (responsible for understanding a language) of the brain. Learning more than one language improves Neuroplasticity (brain or neural plasticity), the ability of the nervous system to adapt to changes, respond to stimuli and learn and remember new things.
Apart from cognitive development in children, multilingual education in schools will help them understand inclusion, facilitates navigating a multilingual society with confidence, and enforces global perspectives, promoting empathy, tolerance and appreciation towards diversity. This broadens their career opportunities, enhancing their diplomatic techniques and gaining a wide access to regional, national and global networking.
Conclusion
Renowned Italian filmmaker Federico Fellini once said that, “A different language is a different vision of life.” He opined through this quote that language was not just a tool of communication but a window to the world, to harbour new perspectives and experience life in unique ways. Let us keep our rich linguistic culture alive and help it flow down from one generation to another.
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