The Source Book On Sikhism

Chapter Fifty-Seven

Implications of Not Teaching Panjabi to Sikh Children of Canada*

Dr. S.S. Sodhi

Registered Psychologist

Human beings do not live in the objective world alone, nor alone in the world of social activity as ordinarily understood, but are very much at the mercy of the particular language which has become the medium of expression for their society. It is quite an illusion to imagine that one adjusts to reality essentially without the use of language and that language is merely an incidental means of solving specific problems of communication or reflection. The fact of the matter is that the "real world" is to a large extent unconsciously built up on the language habits of the group... We see and hear and otherwise experience very largely as we do because the language habits of our community predispose certain choices of interpretation. Edward Sapir

Language is a species-specific behaviour - exclusively a human phenomenon. B.L. Whorf, who takes a cultural reactivistic approach to define the role of native language, asserts that social and cultural patterns of a society determine the language styles. He further states that perceptions of the real world are largely shaped by language and consequently that “The worlds in which different societies live are distinct worlds”.

Jean Piaget extends this point of view still further by suggesting that language is the means by which thought is socialized, and, through socialization, made logical.

It is felt that native language is the single most important influence upon the development of our thought processes and perceptions of the world, and different linguistic systems lead inevitably to different ways of thinking.

Language acquisition is a social necessity and a fundamental factor in the growth of individuality. Our native language enables us to express our needs, desires and emotions to significant persons in our environment.

Dr. W. Penfield, in his famous book Speech and Brain Mechanisms, points out that the child’s brain has a specialized capacity for learning languages - a capacity that decreases with the passage of years.

He argues that during the first few years of a child’s life, his brain develops “language units”, complex neuronal records of what he hears and repeats. These units interconnect with other nerve cells concerned with motor activity, thinking and cognition. In other words, it is believed that children have a biological predisposition for language learning and process of language acquisition takes place through maturation and learning.

Further to support to Penfield’s ideas come from the works of Dr. Lambert of McGill University, Montreal.

Dr. Lambert and his associates have found that the children with the most favourable attitude towards their own ethnic group experience the least amount of difficulty in learning the language of their parents. Hence the attitudinal variable and identification are significant in language learning.

The above discussion leads us to formulate the following major points about language learning:

1. Child’s brain is specialized to the task of language learning. This specialization begins to fall off after the age of nine.

2. Direct method of language learning is the correct method. It is based on the procedure by which the child can develop socio-historically by showing identification with a significant person in his environment.

3. The translation method of language learning involves a new neurophysiological process and hence causes interference.

4. Social attitudes, identification factors and process of modelling are deeply involved in learning the ethnic language.