Bilingual education in US in its infancy, but growing
"Brazil, with a 'z' or an 's'?" asks a girl. "In Spanish, it's with an 's,' in English with a 'z,'" another kid answers. Just another day in a bilingual…
Education & manifestos
It is heartening to note that the election manifestos of three of the main political parties — the PPP, the PML-N and the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf — not only mention education…
Language report
EARLIER this month, The Citizens Foundation (TCF) released a landmark report on the language of education, probably the first document of its kind in Pakistan. Based on in-depth studies and…
Language and the written word
Speech predates writing. Oral language is the essential language. Technically, the writing of a language is just a graphic representation of said language; and it can never represent all the…
Language puzzles: Part – II
The second half of the programme focused on the plight of native languages and asked if they were dying in Pakistan and what might be done to arrest that. There…
Language myths
A MAJOR debate on education has been sparked by an announcement from Islamabad that a uniform curriculum for the country — from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to Karachi — will be introduced.…
Why English?
A young mother recounted to me her harrowing experience of her daughter’s schooling in Lahore. The child was asked by her teacher to report on her classmates who spoke a…
Forum for language
When we look at the cultural diversity of Pakistan we see a beautiful bouquet of diverse cultures and languages, embedded in the rich history of the ancient Indus Valley, Gandhara…
Linguistic dilemma
We do have a language dilemma on hand, whether we admit it or not. I attend a ceremony at a school of journalism in Buffer Zone in Karachi where 49…
Language of war and peace
Austrian linguistic philosopher Wittgenstein says, “The meaning of a word is its use in the language.” This implies that words do not have intrinsic meanings in language themselves, and they…
