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Celebrating mother tongue languages

18 February, 2013 – Ukarumpa, Papua New Guinea – Written by Tim Scott

“Multilingualism is a source of strength and opportunity for humanity. It embodies our cultural diversity and encourages the exchange of views, the renewal of ideas and the broadening of our capacity to imagine.” – Irina Bokova, UNESCO Director General

In 1999, February 21st was designated as International Mother Language Day (IMLD) and has been celebrated around the world ever since. The focus of the day was to highlight the importance of and promote multilingual education. More and more countries are seeing the value of their linguistic diversity and the importance of mother tongue education. (More information on this day can be found at www.unesco.org)

“Languages are the most powerful instruments of preserving and developing our tangible and intangible heritage. All moves to promote the dissemination of mother tongues will serve not only to encourage linguistic diversity and multilingual education but also to develop fuller awareness of linguistic and cultural traditions throughout the world and to inspire solidarity based on understanding, tolerance and dialogue.” quoted from the UN web site, www.un.org/en/events/motherlanguageday.

SIL-PNG (also known as “Summer Institute of Linguistics” in Papua New Guinea) is involved in many efforts across the country with language communities and relevant institutions in order to increase their capacity to carry out sustainable language-based development for the benefit of those communities. There is great value in the use of vernacular which creates opportunity for language and culture preservation, so that the unique contributions of Papua New Guinean languages to community identity and well-being will not be lost. SIL-PNG recognises its role in increasing the

capacity of language communities to carry out sustainable language-based development and in contributing to the ever-expanding body of knowledge regarding the world’s languages and cultures. Language development in Papua New Guinea is seen as a means to increase the level of education, the standard of living for rural people and the wider economic development of the nation. However, many language communities have not had the opportunity to develop orthographies or document language analysis. SIL-PNG seeks to work with such communities on language development, strengthening their use of vernacular and promoting a positive view of their cultures.