What is Wrong with Prohibiting Children from Using Their Minority Language or Dialect in Education?

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What is Wrong with Prohibiting Children from Using Their Minority Language or Dialect in Education?

Minority dialect refers to the range of language spoken by a specific marginal ethnic group. It represents identity and is used together with a standard variety. Despite having a range of dialects, in mainstream schools, the minority languages remains sidelined. American English is the official classroom language; this is despite the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child postulating that teachers should also teach in minor mother tongues (Ndarahutse, 2011). The failure to use marginal variability does not protect local lingoes, denies children the chance to learn in mother tongues, affects engagement in learning, and minimizes reach of education. 

Barring children from using minority dialect results in educational settings reduces their access to knowledge. Learning does not start at school, but in the learner's home (Kioko, 2015). The start of school is a continuance of education and provides essential alterations to the system of teaching. For example, some students from rural areas have parents with little if any knowledge of any other language but Native American English. This situation puts them at a disadvantage because the government emphasizes the use of American English. As a result, prohibiting the use of mother tongue in schools reduces children reach in education.

The failure to incorporate marginal languages in educational systems maximizes the workload of teachers. Tutors who share the same verbal command with their students face a high burden when forced to use another dialect other than their local lingo. According to Whitehead (2013), various studies reveal that if the teachers and learners are non-native speakers of the language of instructions, they both struggle at the beginning of education. This situation hinders the creativity of instructors and affects learning. However, when they share the same home language, for example, Chicano English, the experience of educators and children is more natural...