Keeping voices alive this International Mother Language Day

Do you speak a second language – or even multiple languages? Does your family use different languages at home? Have you lost proficiency in a language you once spoke? Is the language of your childhood the one you feel most fluent in now?  

February 21 is International Mother Language Day. Originally an initiative of Bangladesh, it commemorates the day in 1952 when five Bangladeshi students were killed while protesting for the right to speak their language, Bangla (in what was then known as East Pakistan). Their names were Abdus Salam, Abul Barkat, Rafiq Uddin Ahmed, Abdul Jabbar, and Shafiur Rahman. 

Born from the struggle for linguistic rights, International Mother Language Day has evolved into a global call to celebrate linguistic diversity and promote multilingual education. 

In Australia, it offers a moment to honour the rich tapestry of cultures and languages that form the bedrock of our multicultural communities and identities. It can also help us reflect on how colonial power frameworks inform how languages and modes of communication are legitimated and valued. 

Speaking of identity…  

The term ‘mother language’ typically refers to the language people first hear and speak in early childhood. However, the term can be contentious. Multi-lingual households, fluid language journeys and the gendered nature of the term itself mean it is complicated. 

Mother languages – or first languages, parent languages, native languages, or L1 – are more than communication tools. They are the medium through which we carry identity, cultural history, traditions, and memories. They are how knowledge is passed down and cultures are preserved. 

Ongoing efforts to revitalise language sit alongside a monolingual mindset that frames dominant modes of communication. In Australia, English continues to be the only legitimised national language, and is the formal language of education, government and policy. 

While a lingua franca that can be understood across the nation is necessary, we also need to be mindful about what and who we are removing when we focus on only one way of speaking, hearing, reading and writing. 

Unique codes for thinking and feeling 

Former International Students Officer at UTS, Raghav Motani (Hindi), describes a loss of fundamental parts of himself when he only has English. “There are certain words that you can only find in Hindi that communicate what you really want to say. Because English, at some point, it does become very difficult to just express those words. And there’s always going to be a gap between your emotions in Hindi and the English words.” 

Dr Anne Casey (Irish), an award-winning poet and academic in the UTS School of Communications, says “when I speak Irish, I feel the earth of Ireland. I feel the sea, the waves, you know. I can almost smell it. It really brings back the country vividly to me.” 

“It’s not just the words,” says Dr Lachlan McDaniel (Wiradjuri), Associate Dean (Research) at UTS Jumbunna. “It’s not having a different name for ‘bread’ or ‘dad’ … it’s that there are cultural concepts that are embedded in the way that these words sound like or in the way a sentence is structured. There are philosophies underneath languages. And so, it is important to try and keep these languages as active as possible.” 

Speaking back: the quest for language revival

Before British colonisation, over 250 languages and 800 dialects were spoken in Australia. Now, 123 Indigenous languages are recorded as spoken in Australia. 109 of them are considered endangered, and all are under threat. 

Globally, a language disappears every two weeks – taking with it an entire cultural and intellectual heritage. UNESCO estimates that of the 8,324 existing languages (spoken or signed), around 7,000 are still in use but only a few hundred languages have genuinely been given a place in education systems and the public domain. And less than a hundred are used in the digital world. 

But language loss is not irreversible. Across Australia, there are many efforts to revive and preserve First Nations languages, including the 50 words project, Gambay First Languages map, Living First Language Platform, Gurray – and many more, including projects to revive dormant languages. Often these are facilitated by emerging technologies and digital connectedness. 

Dr McDaniel says “that’s perhaps the greatest misconception; that once a language is deemed to be lost, that's like a biological extinction … it’s like the Tasmanian Tiger … and that once it's gone, it's gone, and that’s finite. 

“Really, the way that we should be looking at Indigenous languages in Australia, and across the world as a whole, is that they go into a state of dormancy, they go to sleep. They still exist, they exist outside of people, they exist in documents … they exist in Country, in the sounds of Country.” 

Language as belonging 

International Mother Language Day gives us pause to reflect on the importance of language, with its complex implications for identity, education, and social integration. 

It is also a reminder to advocate for the importance of speaking our languages, and with this, create a sustainable way for multilingual and multicultural communities to thrive. Like the students who protested for their right to speak Bangla, this is a struggle against extinction. 

Tofa Amanda Moors-Mailei (Samoan), Education Strategist at UTS Jumbunna, also points towards the renewed support of language education. “There's this real resurgence in places like Australia, and New Zealand, of all Pacific languages, because communities in the diaspora are wanting to connect with their culture in ways that are really meaningful to them. And obviously, language is one of them.” 

Language is a touchstone in how we imagine ourselves, our relationships, and the world around us. Words are how we bring things into existence and make them known and knowable for ourselves and others. 

Words are our names, what we pass on to future generations, and how we know where the boundaries, limitations and possibilities lie. And language is more than just words – it’s a connective thread that brings into place who we are and what we can become.  

On this International Mother Language Day, take the time to reflect on your mother language. 

May it bring you a sense of belonging, or open you to many ways of belonging that sustain multilingual and multicultural communities.