Introduction
Human Resource
Development (HRD) is concerned with the learning and enhancement of
individuals, of groups, of organizations, of communities, of nations and of the
entire world. The economic, political, social, environmental, cultural as well
as spiritual aspect are included when we plan the development of Human
Resources. In order to accelerate economic and social development, including
education, in south asian countries SAARC provides a very useful platform for
working together in a spirit of friendship, trust and understanding. Human
Resource Development is one of the five core areas of cooperation agreed upon
by the member countries.The
theme of this paper can be better highlighted by the story of some young
agricultural engineers and their experiences on one of their first field trips.
These young indian experts graduated from one of the universities in America
and were ready to implement new farming technologies in various areas of south Asian
countries. On the very first day of their job they came to terms with one issue
which had apparently been neglected in the course of their training: language,
the most important tool of communication. In spite of all the academic
knowledge and theories about sharing information of new technologies with the south
Asian people, apparently nobody ever thought that, the majority of these people
could not communicate in their
acquired language of education. The
story illustrates quite well the cursory attention that has often been given to
the language issue in south Asia’s development discourse. It is assumed (by
Intellectuals & thinkers) that any language can be used effectively to
launch any MNC’s product . Though
English is playing a significant role but in the rural and backward areas it fails
to deliver because people are illiterate and the language is incapable of
expressing all the technical expressions that are inherent in many academic
fields. In such cases, where entrepreneurs and consumers both suffer, a link
language is required in which a common consumer can understand the utility of a
product easily which is helpful for their better life.
Relation between
language and development
When we talk about
development, language plays a vital role as it affects every part of global
development and hence deserves requisite attention. This paper assesses and
tries to decide the role of link languages in Human Resource Development of
SAARC countries in terms of local lingual identity crises and its effects on
human resources. Languages affect human resources in the most intimate manner.
If a country wants to enhance it’s development it has to concentrate on human
resources and basic requirements. Languages
are the essential medium in which the ability to communicate across cultures
develops. Only when one has a knowledge
of several languages, it enables one to
perceive new horizons , to think globally and to increase our understanding of
ourselves and our neighbours. If there is a common language then both consumers
and producers communicate and understand each other’s views, Languages are thus
the very lifeline of globalization .Today the global economy is dependent
on a language in which one community
communicates. If we talk about SAARC countries their gross development rate is
low because language is playing a negative role in the economy. In these countries
English is being used as a link language. If we
talk about English speakers, it is
merely spoken by 20% of the population {about 35% can understand} but the rest
of the consumers are unable to speak and understand English. They are able to
communicate properly in their local language only. Moreover in rural or
backward areas the percentage of English knowing consumers is even less due to
illiteracy. So if we talk about development we cannot ignore this point. Global market needs to strategize
and launch their products in local languages or in an effective link language
to boost the market.
Multilingualism
and Multiculturalism
In SAARC countries many languages are
spoken which express the culture of a county. I think there should be a
language policy which aims to make children speak two languages (fluency not
requisite) other than their mother tongue by the end of their compulsory
education. By this type of policy SAARC countries can promote peace and
development as a community through effective association of knowledge and experience of multiple
languages and cultures. Through this
they can understand the need of the market with regard to their tradition,
taste and lifestyle. Higher education
can also play a big role in this. Universities can run special courses
regarding languages which can be fruitful in human resource development.
Demand
for proper language skills
In the giant wave of globalization,
there has been a rapid upsurge in the number of English speakers. Currently
there are 400 million native speakers of English, and there is a much large
figure of 1.5 billion speakers who use English on a daily basis as their second
or third language. When we talk about SAARC countries the largest spoken language
in this region is Hindi; it’s speakers numbering almost 422 million. The second
largest spoken language is Bengali with about 210 million speakers. Urdu is
also a major language spoken in the subcontinent, especially in Pakistan, and
is similar linguistically to Hindi; Hindi and Urdu together make up Hindustani.
Other languages of this region fall into a few major linguistic groups: the
Dravidian and the Indo Aryan languages. Hence a large part of population speaks
and understands Hindi properly in this region. Many dialects exist in this
region but we can link all the people by a common thread that is link language
only. If we train human power in
standard Hindi they can be used as a good resource person. Now a days MNCs need
to launch their products in a local market. They are hiring call centres for
this; if a large part of human is trained in Hindi the economic growth will
naturally get a boost. Hindi skills required for use in a global society can
not be developed through learning Hindi grammar, vocabulary, and by reading
literature only. In order to develop student’s Hindi skills one should assign
various projects and crash courses because there is a requirement of the
standard Hindi with effective communication skills. This is the only way by which
students can experience various forms of Hindi in a multicultural society and
can grow as independent learners in the future.
Economy
and language
South Asia is the poorest region in
the world after Sub –Sahara Africa. According to UN’s multidimensional poverty
index, just over a quarter of the world’s MPI poor people live in Africa while
a half live in South Asia. Sri Lanka has the highest GDP per capita in this
region (US Dollar 1.97 billion) and
makes up almost 82% of the South Asian economy. It is the 10th
largest in nominal terms and 3rd largest in purchasing power
adjusted exchange rates. India also has so many local dialects but has adopted
Hindi as an official language. SAARC countries and their people should adopt
Hindi as a link language because it is the need of global market and it can
provide employment to young people of SAARC countries . They should also
have high level education and specialization cultivated in wide range of fields
and have the ability to develop relationships with others by overcoming
language differences. If development involves the appropriate transformation of
the socio-cultural, political and economic system of a society and if language is seen as a repository and a
tool for expression and communication of these very socio-cultural, political
and economic systems of a society than it goes without saying that
conceptualization and implementation of this social transformation can only be
achieved through the use of the mother tongues or the languages indigenous to
the society.
Hence
I think the local language will become a supportive hand in the local market in
the era of globalization . Hindi is spoken and
understood very well not only in India but also in other SAARC countries like
Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Afghanistan. It is derived from Indo
Aryan language and most languages of this region belong to this family so there
are many similarities among them. Hence it could well become the link and
official language of SAARC. Thus This paper focuses on the relationship between
language and economic development and offers a specific proposal for addressing
issues of local language policy and planning in south Asian countries.
References:
1.
http://www.censusindia.gov.in/Census_Data_2012/Census_data_finder/HH_Series/Availability_of_assets.htm
2.Census of India. 2012. Retrieved 3
14, 2012, from
http://www.censusindia.gov.in:http://www.censusindia.gov.in/Census_Data_2001/Census_data_finder/H_Series/Number_of_household.htm
3.Globalization.1996.Retrieved314,2012,from
www.bized.co.uk:http://www.bized.co.uk/search/node/globalizationHaspelmath,
M. 2007.
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