Introduction

Today, most of countries in the world have adopted ways other than indigenous languages to set up their

own curriculum and other educational purposes, English is the dominant language of those. The mother

tongue is the one used for general purposes for communication between people of the same community. It

becomes easier for the masses of the public to understand something when that is conveyed to them in

their mother tongue i.e. the language they spoke from childhood. The same concept can be used for

learning and study purposes. If information is provided to students in their native language instead of a

non-native or foreign language, there is a better chance of finding it. It is true that students learn a lot

when they are taught in their home language. According to a survey of more than a thousand primary

school children, there is a 26 percent increase in the number of these children when things are taught in

their mother tongue.

Teachers may find active students who are enthusiastic with brilliant skills and at the same time might

encounter learners who are physically present but mentally are absent. Such lack of attention, lack of

understandability, and confusion can be caused by several factors such as students’ economic status,

emotional status, and cultural background (Baharudin, & Luster, 1998; Battle, & Lewis, 2002).These

days, the main language used for teaching and other educational purposes worldwide is English.

Approximately 70% of the world's countries make up the English language curriculum. In United

Kingdom, more than 12 percent of total school population having native language other than English is

being taught in English (https://www.loc.gov/law/help/non-native-education/uk.php). The effect of

using foreign languages in teaching and learning is low for tertiary students. However, children who come

to school have only one language i.e. their mother tongue experiences a great deal of difficulty in

understanding their new languages. Such students may face difficult hiccups in study. Early education is

always proven to be essential for the development of children. At that time when they encounter cognitive

problems, the learning process can be disrupted and students may experience problems with the progress

of their higher education.

Of course, early learning does not begin at school; it actually starts at home in the language spoken at

home and in the community. Every process from diet to reading is taught at home. Children learn the

words at home in the language spoken by their mothers and fathers and speak to them. Therefore, it is not

wrong to say that no home language can substitute for any level of learning. Despite the fact that the start

of the school is a continuation of this course, it likewise produces some significant changes in the way

they train. The school system creates and manages content and delivery of a pre-prepared curriculum

where the child is learning the experience.

When they start school, children find themselves in a new body state. The classroom is new, most of the

students in the class are strangers, the authorities (teacher) center is also a stranger. The systematic

approach to learning is also new. If, in addition to these things, there is a subtle change in the language of

communication, the situation can be much more complicated. Indeed, it can adversely affect a child's

development. However, by using the home language of the students, schools can help children adapt to a

new environment and disrupt their schooling with the information it brings home.

Second, by using the learners’ home language, learners are more likely to engage in the learning process.

The interactive learner-centred approach – recommended by all educationalists – thrives in an

environment where learners are sufficiently proficient in the language of instruction. It allows learners to

make suggestions, ask questions, answer questions and create and communicate new knowledge with

enthusiasm. It gives learners confidence and helps to affirm their cultural identity. This in turn has a

positive impact on the way learners see the relevance of school to their lives.

For instance, when we take example of primary level education in US, where English language is used for

academic purposes, pupils come from different communities and ethnicities for which English is not their

first language (most of them use French and Spanish as their first languages). They receive their primary

and secondary education in languages that are second or third languages to them. Consequently, they

face problems in comprehending conceptual ideas and the process of their cognitive development slows
down. Research indicates that the cognitive development and comprehension abilities of the students

who are given the basic primary education in the native language are better than the ones who are given

the basic primary education in the second or third language.

Another problem that is faced by children in primary level educational institutes where bilingual

teaching system is adopted or where teaching language is other than home language is that much of

children’s time is wasted in learning a new language which time otherwise could be used for other

important learning activities. For example when children are admitted in schools where teaching

language used is other than their native one, they spend a lot of time (sometimes years) to understand

the basics of this language and ultimately much of their time is lost on this process and ‘real learning’ of

pupils cannot start.

If we take example of United States, where a very large number of people are residing who have their

native language other than English. Spanish is language of 37 million US citizens while 3 million are

speakers of Chinese. Still there are 1.3 million who speak French. Such people are called as ‘language

minority students’ when they study in national institutions. There are also a million international

students who are present in USA institutions for the sake of study (https://www.iie.org/Why-

IIE/Announcements/2019/11/Number-of-International-Students-in-the-United-States-Hits-All-Time-

High). The reason why there are such a large number of non-English speakers in the country is

immigration. Immigration has influenced much the demography of United States. Most of these people

come across with English for their study purposes when they get admitted in a school. This factor than

affect the academic achievements of these students according to a research, English monolingual

students perform better than their bilingual peers(Tovar-García and Alòsi Font, 2016). As immigrant

language minorities settle into their adopted communities, schools must provide programs and curricula

to deal with the unique pedagogical needs of this growing population (Chapa & de la Rosa, 2004;
Wortham, Murillo, & Hamann, 2002). For ESL( English as a second language) students and others

perceived to be at risk, educators may focus on graduation even when students themselves have higher

educational expectations, inadvertently limiting access to academically rigorous courses (Callahan &

Gándara, 2004; Schiller & Muller, 2000).

Similarly, in United Kingdom, there are a number of non-English languages which are native languages

for people but surely are not used in classrooms for teaching students. Almost 5 percent of British

population speaks non-English languages in their homes, but they are compelled to learn in English

when they go to schools (http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/european_languages/countries/uk.shtml).

They are taught using English language that influences their studies to a considerable extent. English

language coursework may also take space in a student’s schedule normally reserved for electives, an

umbrella under which advanced science and social science courses often fall. Restricting curricular

options hampers not only academic development but also exposure to mainstream peers (Muller &

Wilkinson, 2010).

Now, using a language other than home language for teaching has also some positive impacts on

students’ learning outcomes. Students, who are exposed to a new language in their early or higher

education, have a great chance of learning new ideas and things. Second language learning and identity

construction is an important area of research (Canagarajah, 1999). Although after much toiling, once a

student is able to understand a new language that is usually a major language of the world (i.e. English),

he/she has far more chance to explore things and do research as a far greater quantity of literature that

may proved to be useful for him/her became available. Learning a new language specially English is itself

an achievement worth importance as it has become almost impossible for a student to complete higher

education without knowing English. Language is used as a tool by the learners to shape their
conversations; but, side by side, they negotiate their sense of who they are and how they view

relationships with the world (Norton, 2000).

The effect of using English as a language of teaching for students who had other languages as home

language was also observed during a research conducted by Cambridge Scholars. These researchers

were set to observe the impact of home language reading on English proficiency particularly in rural

settings. Asfaha et al. (2009) analyzed home language and English reading of 254 fourth grade pupils

randomly selected from schools with different languages and scripts and found that English reading

proficiency and home language comprehension significantly predicted home language reading in

English. Walter and Benson (2012) compared reading test scores of grade 3 pupils in rural schools in

Eritrea (where the language of instruction was in home language) with pupils in grades 3–6 in rural

primary schools in Cameroon (where the medium of instruction in the schools was in the English). They

found that the grade 3 Eritrean pupils performed at levels comparable to the grade 6 pupils in

Cameroon. The effect of home language writing competence on English proficiency in this context is less

documented. However, Shin et al. (2015) have examined this relationship in a longitudinal study of

grade 2 and 3 Malawi pupils following a curricular programme with home language (Chichewa) medium

of instruction in order to measure evidence of the interaction between Chichewa and English literacy

development. They conclude that across the two grades, ‘Chichewa reading emerged as the most

powerful predictor of English writing’. There is a lot of research on impact of different factors like

intelligence on student’s academic achievements. But there is a very limited research on observing

impact of using non-native languages for teaching students. The purpose of current study is to explore

influence of difference in home language and taught language on the academic achievements and

activities of students.