Degree in a Language Other than Ones Mother Tongue - Article Example

Pursuing a degree in a language other than one’s mother tongue can be quite challenging. There could be some advantages and some problems related to this. However, the level of dedication and sincerity from the part of the student will be the crucial factor that would decide success in such an endeavor. Since all college degrees demands a specific amount of effort from the students to overcome the stumbling blocks on their way and to get comfortable with the subjects of their choice, the efforts involved in the proposition mentioned above cannot be considered an issue of dire constraint. If one is able to identify the advantages and problems involved in studying for a degree in a foreign/second language, it would be easy to confront and tackle them. When the entire coursework one has to read and comprehend for the degree is in a language other than one’s mother tongue, it calls for an extra effort to see to it that everything is properly understood. It is definitely going to be tougher task than reading study materials in one’s own language. One has to assume that the student will be tested to have basic proficiency in the medium of instruction in which the degree is to be studied. However, a basic proficiency in the language may not be sufficient to follow different registers of the language. A degree course will necessarily feature a lot of specialist vocabulary that the student is supposed to pick up fast. For a foreign user of the language, it may take double the time to pick up such specialist words, since their explanations will also demand a working level knowledge of the language. This may in fact lead to initial hiccups which would dissuade many students from continuing the course. They may feel left out from the group of students who are more proficient and at ease in the medium of instruction. The problem mentioned above can in fact be overcome and turned into a benefit if the student is willing to dedicate quality time in enhancing her/his knowledge in the language simultaneously with the work done for the degree course. At least two dictionaries could be used to meet the challenges of the new language – one dictionary that gives explanations of the words in the new language to the students mother tongue, and another dictionary that gives simple explanations of the words in the new language in that language itself. Moreover, one should also secure books that deal with the key words in one’s areas of study for the degree. By focusing on building the word power on a daily basis, foreign language students could easily keep up with the performance of the students for whom the medium of instruction is their mother tongue. They can think of honing up their listening skills as well, by being extremely diligent I their classes. Moreover, they could make use of the audio-visual and electronic media to listen to speech-based educative programs. A conscious effort to attain competence in the foreign language will thereby equip the students to perform well in studies and at the same time make their learning experience twice as beneficial with their new language acquisition. Interaction with the classmates may be limited at the early phase of studies for foreign speakers of the language. Even if they are certified to have the necessary proficiency to speak in the language of instruction, real-life communication may not be very effective. This may affect their relationship with their peers and teachers. If there is a lack of effective communication among peers, it may have a very negative influence on the students, since a major part of the learning process and internalization takes place through peer-group discussions. A student who is unable to express very well in the language of instruction may have trouble regarding peer-group discussions and for the same reasons have a serious disadvantage in the curriculum. Likewise, if the instructions given by the teachers are not clear to these students, they will not be able to do their level’s best in their assignments and exams. One could perhaps take this difficult situation as an opportunity to improve one’s inter-personal relations and communicative skills. Learning a new language through effective communication tasks can in itself be a rewarding experience. If the student could approach this situation positively, it would be possible to learn much more with the help of peers and teachers. If s/he is always willing to experiment and learn through conversations, there is no doubt that the peers will be enthusiastic to be of help and the students pleased to provide some extra advice and help. The coursework for the degree can thus be turned into a multiple learning experience, with the possibility of developing one’s skills every day and widening one’s horizons of knowledge without considering it a Herculean task. One will also have to face the biggest challenge of performing well in the written examination. It is not an easy task to write well in a language which not one’s mother tongue. It is one thing to learn the grammar and syntactical patterns of a new language along with some basic vocabulary, but an entirely different thing to be able to write fluently in that language about a specialist subject. The teachers may be a bit liberal in class/internal written assignments if they know such students personally, but for a public examination where their identity could not be revealed, inadequate linguistic competence may be mistaken as the student’s laxity. This could cause great worry to the students whose time spent on learning the subjects of their specialization may not simply be enough to get good grades for their course. If one could change the perspective to the brighter side of this issue, one could see that this could also be a blessing in disguise as in the other two cases. One can take their student years as an opportunity to gain maximum proficiency in the language of instruction. They could start written communication with their peers and teachers. When they are given written assignments, they could take it as a challenge instead of seeking some easy way out. And they can use all the information and wisdom they have gained regarding the language through their reading, listening and speaking skills to enhance their writing skills. For those who are interested in creative writing, this could be the golden opportunity to use the new language for their artistic expressions. Effective translation works from one’s mother tongue to the new language and vice versa can be done occasionally to make the learning process an individually fulfilling experience. The most important challenge many students face in a situation where they have to study for a degree in a language other than their mother tongue is lack of proper motivation. In many cases, the choice may not be made by the students as they are just trapped in a new situation. Their parents might have migrated to another country for better career/life prospects, and the children might have been left with no choice but to accompany them and study in the new country, in an entirely different system. In such cases, the students may fail to convince themselves the necessity to pursue a course in a language in which they are not comfortable. This may lead to resistance and they may even drop out of college. There could be some cases where the students happen to be bilingual from their childhood. In such cases, the proficiency in the new language may be near to perfection. Such students will not face any major difficulty in pursuing a course in the new language. But for all those who are forced to learn a new language out of sheer necessity and not left with enough life situations where they could not practice that language, such a proposition can be damaging. Effective counseling regarding the benefits of learning the new language and studying for a course in that language may motivate them. It is in fact proven that students who are proficient in more than one language have an edge over their peers. They could be more analytical by nature and capable of understanding new concepts faster. Moreover, linguistic proficiency and competence can have direct positive impact on their performance in subjects like Mathematics. More than just developing a basic knowledge base in a particular subject, the entire experience could be turned into a very active and enjoyable process of developing linguistic, communicative inter-personal skills along with the degree coursework. Read More