The term „mother tongue“ in its current use is considered imprecise and subject to various interpretations that are linguistically biased, particularly with regard to bilingual children belonging to ethnic minority groups. Many scientists have given definitions of „mother tongue“ based on the common use of the language, the speaker`s emotional relationship to the language, and even his dominance over the environment. However, all three criteria lack precision. For many children whose mother tongue is different from the language of the environment (the „official“ language), it is questionable which language is their „mother tongue“. Defining what constitutes a native speaker is difficult, and there is no test that can identify you. It is not known whether native speakers are a defined group of people, or whether the concept should be considered a perfect prototype to which real speakers may or may not correspond. [13] A related concept is bilingualism. One definition is that a person is bilingual if he or she speaks two languages equally. Someone who grows up with Spanish and then learns English for four years is only bilingual if they speak both languages equally fluently. Pearl and Lambert were the first to test only „balanced“ bilinguals, that is, a child who is fluent in two languages and feels that neither is his „mother tongue“ because he understands both perfectly. This study revealed that a child`s mother tongue is part of their personal, social and cultural identity.

[3] Another influence of mother tongue is that it provokes reflection and learning of successful social patterns of action and discourse. [clarification needed] [4] Research suggests that even if a non-native speaker can speak fluently in a target language after about two years of immersion, it can take between five and seven years for that child to be at the same level of work as their native peers. [5] Send your questions about language codes to Amy.Maciolek@dpi.wi.gov. School districts must identify the native language of English learners using this list of 3-digit alphabetic codes for languages: ISO table 639-2. Mother tongue is the language or dialect first learned by a person or used for the first time by the parent or guardian with a child. This term is often referred to as the main language. This is a more comprehensive list than the one previously used, which may include languages that are not currently spoken. Districts should identify the language that most accurately describes the language spoken by a student.

For example, instead of using the previous code for Latin American languages, a student`s native language should be identified by the specific language group, such as Portuguese. Detailed information on languages is available on the Ethnologue`s website. Children who grew up with more than one language may have more than one mother tongue and may be bilingual or multilingual. In contrast, a second language is any spoken language other than one`s mother tongue. You can have two or more native languages, i.e. bilingual or even multilingual. The order in which these languages are learned is not necessarily the order of competence. For example, if a French-speaking couple has a child who first learned French but then grew up in an English-speaking country, the child would likely speak English better. A mother tongue, mother tongue, mother tongue, mother tongue or L1 is the first language or dialect to which a person has been exposed from birth[1] or during the critical period.

In some countries, the term mother tongue or mother tongue refers to the language or dialect of the ethnic group rather than the mother tongue. [2] In some countries, such as Kenya, India, Belarus, Ukraine and various countries in East and Central Asia, „mother tongue“ or „mother tongue“ is used to indicate the language of one`s ethnic group both in general and journalistic language („I make no apologies for not learning my mother tongue“) and not in the mother tongue. Also in Singapore, „mother tongue“ refers to the language of one`s own ethnic group, regardless of one`s actual knowledge, and „mother tongue“ refers to English, which was established on the island under the British Empire and is the lingua franca for most Singaporeans after independence because it is used as a language of instruction in public schools and as a working language. USE: Native language is used to meet the requirements of 115.96(1), Wisconsin. Statistics (limited annual number of students fluent in English). Other data elements required by law for this census are already included in WISEdata and include English proficiency, grade level, and age. Native language is also required in the DPI-approved English test pre-identification list file (i.e. ACCESS for ELLs). One of the most widely used definitions of native speakers is that they were born (and) raised in a particular country to speak the language or dialect of that country or region during the critical period of their development. [6] [not specified in citation] The person qualifies as a „native speaker“ of a language by being born in adolescence and immersed in the language, in a family where adults shared a similar language experience to that of the child. [7] Native speakers are considered authoritative on their given language because they have a natural process in relation to the language, as opposed to learning the language later in life.

This is achieved through personal interaction with the language and the speakers of the language. Native speakers will not necessarily know all the grammatical rules of the language, but they will have a good „intuition“ of the rules thanks to their experience with the language. [7] In the context of censuses of the Canadian population, Statistics Canada defines mother tongue as „the first language learned at home in childhood and still understood by the person at the time of the census.“ [8] [unreliable source?] It is quite possible that the first language learned is no longer the dominant language of a speaker. These include young immigrant children whose families have moved to a new language environment, as well as people who learned their mother tongue at home as a young child (not the language of the majority of the community) who have partially or completely lost the language they originally acquired (see language wear). According to Ivan Illich, the term „mother tongue“ was first used by Catholic monks to refer to a particular language that they used instead of Latin when they „spoke from the pulpit.“ That is, the „Holy Mother of the Church“ introduced this term and the colonies inherited it from Christianity as part of colonialism. [9] [10] J.