The Importance of one's Home Language

Native language is a simple, yet formidable and effective tool utilized in our daily lives. It is a critical variable that labels our nationality, a factor part of our master identity, demonstrating who we are, what cultural heritage we are from and how we fit in to our local civilization. Although, in the present day world, most nations, mainly consisting of developing countries, regard English above their home language, emphasizing it as a medium of instruction and enforcing it into modern day education as a tongue that is universally significant, notwithstanding the fact that every individual introduced to their stage of early education may not be completely suitable or comfortable with studying a language completely alien to them.

To begin with, children usually find it tough in the initial phase of schooling, after they are placed in an unknown environment with a group they are not familiar with, they require time to adjust to the situation and native language, in my point of view, can play a great role towards that development. As we all know, learning initially commences at home, before any schooling is carried out, as children are familiarized with basic concepts like eating, walking and some speaking, mostly carried out through their native language. At school, speaking in a language that is common to most children allows them to become more interactive, engaging and participating thoroughly and openly sharing thoughts, answers, suggestions and question in class. The use of native language can bring home experiences to school and I believe it can create an adequate base for a child to progress well academically as well as socially, with more content being understood at a greater meaning. Learners are also able to expand their reading and writing skills at a much faster pace when their own language is used, expressing considerable excitement and motivation towards the subject as they are able to make connections in written texts with those orally spoken to them in their tongue and research shows that pupils who are able to acquire reading and writing at an early stage already have a head-start in education. In terms of teaching, greater value towards home language can also release the burden of having to adapt to a new language for local instructors, who are a majority in most schools around the world, providing them with an already known form of speaking, and permit them to display more freedom, creativity and innovation when presenting educational materials to students (as they already know the language and its rules).

I think learning in one's own language can be much less stressful as it is already naturally spoken to and from them, and, once its fully matured, learning other languages comparatively require much less effort as, for example, we already know the basis that grammar exists and letters are used to make sounds for communication. All we need to do is to absorb and assimilate as well as reinforce the new sounds and grammatical rules, while slowly enhancing our vocabulary through reading and writing. For instance, if the scientific process of photosynthesis is taught to pupils in their own language, translating this data into English will not be a very harsh process if students have a vast block of vocabulary for the language, thus exhibiting the idea that languages are transferrable. Maintaining our native languages will also extend our chances of finding jobs in our own country, along with conserving links and relationships with our family and native community, instead of feeling neglected by our own people. Overall, students who balance English with their own home language tend to have higher academic achievements and larger intellectual level, with the capabilities to spread and promote their cultural heritage globally.

Language Identity: A Good Name

The name Ali, which consists of two meanings, is usually known as a Muslim boy's name. The name in Arabic literally means "elevated" or "noble/excellent", and is historically significant as one of the nephews of Prophet Muhammad(P.B.U.H) is named Ali(R.A). Ali(R.A) was the first child to accept Islam (at the age of 12) during the Prophet's(P.B.U.H) first few years of preaching, he was also Muhammad's(P.B.U.H) son in law (as well as his nephew) and one of the four caliphs of Makkah, being known as one of the greatest warriors during his time and in history.

In the Quran, the name Ali is present in the following ayats:

[And they will be told:] “This [has befallen you] because, whenever the One God was invoked, you denied this truth; whereas, when divinity was ascribed to aught beside Him, you believed [in it]! But all judgment rests with God, the Exalted, the Great!” (Quran 40:12)

We raised him to a high position. (Quran 19:57)

Furthermore, the second meaning of Ali, in American definition, is known as a best friend, or someone that can be relied upon through anything and everything. According to a number of resources, people with the name Ali are usually seen as independent, resourceful, practical and patient. They have general interests in sciences or technical lines, yet lack musical or artistic talents (but can acquire these skills on proficient lines). They are usually critical with small details and work best independently, being somewhat loyal to their friends. Personally, I attempt to be slightly self reliant at times, looking towards how I can decrease my dependence upon my parents and close relatives or friends. I would usually consider sciences above arts, finding them much more intriguing with a greater scope towards mathematical, physical and computer sciences. I can be somewhat particular about insignificant details, yet usually ignore them, and maintain a decent relationship with friends, peers and colleagues.

Overall, I feel as if my name mostly fits my personality well and is a marginally a mirroring image of myself.

Misinterpretation of Islam through Media

Media is one of the most significant aspects in the modern day era, enlightening us about key events or happenings around the world and keeping us updated with the latest discoveries and advances in our society. It provides a great variety of trends to entertain all ages as well as inform the general public and has rapidly developed into a common asset in our daily lives. Nevertheless, as a profit seeking industry, certain details provided are not always highlighted as accurate and are majorly present to magnetize a greater audience, luring them towards false misconceptions and biases, dictating their perspectives.

Throughout history, western media, or media in general, has always targeted specific groups or topics that have come to their attention, whether it was the communists thirty years ago, the Jews eighty years ago, or the blacks even before that. Currently, one of these greatly misrepresented themes is Islam. Although the religion is one of the fastest growing in the west, it is displayed by the media with misleading stereotypes and distort which are not part of Islamic belief. Muslims are characterized with words such as "terrorist", "extremist", "Islamist" and "suicide bomber" by the western media, and Islam is depicted with negativity, being identified as a faith of violence and cruelty, which are completely contradictory terms used to describe this peaceful religion. In fact, according to faithrehearsed.wordpress.com, 64% of British population acquire knowledge about Islam from the media, out of which 91% of the coverage produces pessimistic claims, notifying the fact that a large proportion of people are provided with false information.

Many reporters who cover the Muslim world usually possess none or very little knowledge or background on Islamic history, creating numerous costly mistakes, such as the typical misconstruction towards the idea of Jihad as being used as an excuse for carrying out ferocious acts to gain power and control or inflict Islamic teachings upon others. However, in Islam Jihad means “the struggle in the path of God” or “holy war” and there are two types of Jihad. There is the greater Jihad which is the struggle within oneself to gain righteousness and purity in Islam, yet this concept has been corrupted by the media and used by terrorist groups to gain power over others. The second type of Jihad, being the lesser Jihad, is equivalent to the Christian doctrine of Just war. Nonetheless, an important factor usually forgotten is that this type of Jihad only relates to situations where an individual or group is enduring aggression or oppression, therefore it is seen as a rule of self-defense, and self-defense only, as every Muslim should be allowed to defend themselves or their possession. On the other hand, through errors in interpretation the media sees it as an act of aggression, which is the complete opposite of its actual meaning, as Allah dislikes those who cause aggression.

Western Media also argues that women are not provided equal rights within Islam and are, for example, forced to wear a veil. In contrast to this Islam allows women to have the right to be educated as well as participate in political, economic and social activities, creating upwards mobility within their community. They are also authorized the right to inherit property, take charge of their belongings and even vote, something which was discounted in the US until 1919. An example of this can be the fact that the Prophet’s (PBUH) first wife Khadija (May Allah (swt) have mercy on her) was a businesswoman to whom the Prophet was a worker for, yet he never objected to this. The veil is used to help protect women and let them remain in chastity, it is not an obligation, but a choice, and if a woman decides not to wear it, that is between her and Allah. Unfortunately, many cultural beliefs are regarded above Islamic teachings, such as in Saudi Arabia, where it is compulsory for women to wear abbayyas (floor length veils), though this is ignored by the western media, who aim the blame at the Muslim Community as a whole, instead of analyzing specific customs followed by certain countries that ignore the religion’s principles.

Lastly, extremism is a vast topic touched upon by the western media as they centrally focus on a small scale (about 0.1% of all Muslims) of extremists in Islam, disregarding the remaining population and result in naming all Muslims as “extremists”. Individuals like Anjem Choudary are looked upon and disappointingly demote the name of Islam. This ignorance by the media is greatly underlined as Islam strictly prohibits any form of extremism, as the Prophet (PBUH) said "Those persons who go to extremes (in practicing their religion) were cursed (by God)".

Overall, the media creates countless statements or conclusions, most of which are biased or based on incorrect facts, revealing many wrong perceptions about Islam to the public, consisting of, not only the non-Muslim population, but also Muslims who are not greatly aware of the concepts of the faith. Thus we should question the credibility of media along with the various insights and opinions it conveys. In addition to this, as I mentioned previously, Islam is rapidly growing in the western community, and as it progresses, the misunderstandings throughout the region may gradually decrease as a considerable number of people may come to learn about the religion and a more positive approach will be looked upon its true beliefs.

About the Author

Hello, and welcome to the English Language and Literature Blog. I am Ali Awan, a Language and Literature student part of the English community of the IB and writer of this blog. Language is spoken and utilized around the world for various reasons, and it is important to learn to analyze and understand the different ways in which language is represented in our daily lives. This is just a snapshot of why I decided to enroll myself within this course as well as the purpose behind the creation of this blog, although before I carry on, I should provide some background details about myself.

Born on the 13th of August 2000, I was brought up in the city of Karachi, Pakistan for the first 4-5 years of my life. I soon moved to the UAE with my parents, which is where I currently stand, and throughout these 11 years (in the UAE), I have found some great individuals, including friends, peers, teachers and family who have had a significant effect on my development up till this point. Personally, I enjoy following and taking part in the game of cricket, which is cherished as a popular sport within our nation, and have found computer programming, which is a very recent interest, to my liking, thus looking forward to blossom this hobby into a future career. As for this year, I look forward to the exciting, yet rigorous framework of the IB Diploma, aiming to score the highest points and produce the best of outcomes I am capable of, for each of my subjects, keeping intentions close to the core of the Diploma, which is a requirement, presenting 3 vital points to the overall score. In future terms, I would consider the acceptance to a top tier university, and work upwards to a competitive position in job circumstances, as a programmer.

A programming quote that inflicts emphasis upon well

structured planning and the amount of work and effort

it saves later on during the actual process. 

Referring back to the first paragraph, language is a major component of communication. Without language there would be no street signs, no names for objects or people and no code for programmers to write. Programming itself consists of numerous languages used for a variety of distinct purposes and situations, as most of those languages primarily contain English or Latin words, such as “document. writeln” or “console.log”. Reading comprehension, group work discussions and inductive reasoning are also other key skills applied during software development and are therefore well distributed throughout the language and literature curriculum. Hence it is crucial to study language as it plays valuable roles in most cases nowadays. Language barriers are seen as one of the downsides of learning one specific language, yet with the help of modern day technology, many people are able to access and grasp many languages with ease, and small gadgets like google translate can further elaborate on these issues. Overall, I think this course will display many insights and allow me to gain enough experience to prepare myself for university and professional life ahead, and this blog will be a productive way to record my progress and keep up to date with the subject along the way.