UNITED NATIONS, Sep 09 (APP):The chief of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has reaffirmed support for mother-language-based, multilingual approaches to education, saying that “engaging with both head and mind is a key for effective learning”.
In her message marking International Literacy Day, Audrey Azoulay, director-general of UNECO, pointed out that there are some 7,000 living languages being spoken today, and called them “instruments for communication, engagement in lifelong learning, and participation in society and the world of work”.
“They are also closely linked with distinctive identities, cultures, worldviews and knowledge systems”, she continued. “Embracing linguistic diversity in education and literacy is, therefore, a key part of developing inclusive societies that respects ‘diversity’ and ‘difference’, upholding human dignity”.
With greater mobility and the growing ubiquity of instantaneous communication, multilingualism in daily life has become much more common. It is also being shaped by globalization and digitalization.
