NATIONAL LANGUAGES PROMOTE NATIONAL UNITY .

Language plays a very vital role in any human community-school, company, organization, group, home etc. the language of any human society tells a lot about that society therefore, it can be further emphasized that language and any human society are inseparable.

In any human society, language occupies a very important seat, more than it appears to all. The functions of language in any human community include the following; expression of thoughts, political, administration, education, social, religious, legislation and so on.

Human language is both highly diverse—different languages have different ways of achieving the same functional goals—and easily learnable. Any language allows its users to express virtually any thought they can conceptualize.

These traits render human language unique in the biological world. Understanding the biological basis of language is thus both extremely challenging and fundamentally interesting.

Our native language not only allows us to communicate and connect with one another, but it allows us to understand and appreciate the history of our ancestors and our upbringing. It cultivates an appreciation and understanding that is beyond beneficial for children, especially those from diverse familial backgrounds.

All in all, there are many benefits to learning to speak one’s native language. It may appear to more work than benefit at first, but the rewards of eternalizing a people’s dialect through communication are well worthwhile.

The literature on linguistic diversity and language universals, suggesting that an adequate notion of ‘formal universals’ provides a promising way to understand the facts of language acquisition, offering order in the face of the diversity of human languages.

Formal universals are cross-linguistic generalizations, often of an abstract or implicational nature. They derive from cognitive capacities to perceive and process particular types of structures and biological constraints upon integration of the multiple systems involved in language.

Such formal universals can be understood on the model of a general solution to a set of differential equations; each language is one particular solution. An explicit formal conception of human language that embraces both considerable diversity and underlying biological unity is possible, and fully compatible with modern evolutionary theory.

It is obvious from that the language that has held Nigeria together up to date to a great extent has been English language which was passed on to us by our colonial masters and so far it has played that role well. In our official day to day communication it has greatly enhanced the relationship that existed between he various ethnic groups we have here in Nigeria.

An Igbo man who has never been to the western part of the country nor has any understanding of Yoruba will definitely see English as the best means to express his emotion, thought or whatever he has to say in such a situation.

Another area that language has been helpful in keeping us together in Nigeria is in the area of academics, this is because it has to a great extent helped to bridge the gap between the rich and poor, the privileged and the less privileged. Hence we have English as the link between the high-class and the low-class in Nigeria.

In religion the important role played by language can never be overemphasized, in various religious gathering; English has served as the medium of communication hence bringing the people together under the same umbrella.

Language impacts the daily lives of members of any race, creed, and region of the world. Language helps express our feelings, desires, and queries to the world around us. Words, gestures and tone are utilized in union to portray a broad spectrum of emotion.

The unique and diverse methods human beings can use to communicate through written and spoken language is a large part of what allows to harness our innate ability to form lasting bonds with one another; separating mankind from the rest of the animal kingdom.

The importance of communication is often overlooked. Despite our great prowess in communication, misunderstandings and mistranslations are commonplace. It is arrogant to believe that one can travel the world and expect all of mankind to understand his or her native tongue.

In order to travel the world, whether for business or pleasure, a desire and willingness to adapt to new cultures and methods is necessary. Adaptability, of course, includes the ability to communicate with new people in various dialects.

Being unable to communicate in a country is akin to living with a serious impairment; it is very difficult and near impossible, to adapt and get along with new people if there is no way to communicate with one another.

Many religious gathering in Nigeria either makes use of English in carrying out proceedings and his of course has contributed significantly to the peaceful co-existence in our beloved country. Although, we have had various religious disputes and have had one conflict at one time or the other.

However, there is an unfortunate trend in recent times in several countries. English is inflicted upon children and adults in these countries where English is not the national language. Moreover, it is considered as a symbol of elite class and it has become a benchmark to judge the literacy level of an individual.

This unfortunate trend is taking the young generations further away from the national language. Even the competitive exams are held in the English language despite having other national and official languages.

In communities where the culture and native language is endangered, teaching children, who are often more apt at picking up languages, will help protect and restore dying languages. The Native American community, along with other communities around the world that have suffered at the hands of colonialism, continue to face several large hardships .

These include unemployment, substance abuse, and mental health problems. A lot of these stem from a loss of identity and culture, things that were shunned for years under suppressive regimes. By teaching children their native tongues, a sense of identity and belonging is being instilled, simultaneously teaching them to accept and be proud of their heritage and upbringing.

Learning your native language also helps connect you to your ancestors and culture in a way that many other things don’t. For immigrants or children of immigrants, it’s increasingly important to keep some form of connection with one’s heritage, to serve as a continuous reminder of the hardships and challenges that had been overcome to sustain the immigrant lifestyle.

Language also helps foster a sense of belonging. Many children may be struggling to fit in to their communities or their schools. They may feel as though they need to abandon their roots and the cultural differences that set them apart from other kids, but it’s important to teach them how important it is to foster diversity, and how valuable culture is to enriching our society.

For children who are growing up in a different country than they are ethnically from, it can help them feel more connected to their parents and relatives, those who speak the native language, and it can help them feel as though they have some form of ‘home’. This ‘home’ may not be a physical place, but even having the capacity to think in your native language can serve as a reminder that you’re culturally diverse and always have a ‘home’ to escape to.

Additionally, the ability to communicate in multiple languages is becoming more and more important in the increasingly integrated global business community. Communicating directly with new clients and companies in their native language is one of the first steps to founding a lasting, stable international business relationship.

Being able to do this automatically puts any multilingual person miles ahead of his or her peers in the competition for jobs and high-prestige positions. Language is such a key aspect to setting up children for success in their future professional endeavors that high schools across the nation and in almost every Western country require at least two years of a foreign language.

Most institutions offer opportunities to learn a foreign language at even earlier ages. In recent years, psychologists such as Agnes Kovacs have studied the intelligence and mental capacity of young bilingual children in comparison to monolingual children.