Articles and letters may be edited for the purposes of clarity and space. They are published in good faith with a view to enlightening all the stakeholders. However, the contents of these writings may not necessarily match the views of the newspaper.
Is language a barrier in learning?
Benjamin Lee Whorf rightly said, “Language shapes the way we think and determines what we can think about”. We as humans express feelings of joys and sorrows through language. Its sublimity lies in the flow of ideas. Undoubtedly, language bears enormous significance in the lives of all and sundry. It has pivotal role to play. However, the weightiest feature of language is genesis of thoughts. It is only language that helps our mind towards thought process.
Noam Chomsky, a renowned linguist, reveals worth of language in the wake of thought process. He claims, every human mind possess a universal set of grammar on which human mind works. According to Chomsky, mind has an abstract system, which has potential to create ideas. This abstract system of grammar is known to us as competence. Contrary to it, this abstract system turns to concrete via performance. Hence competence and performance are different. A person may be good at competence but his performance may not be good.
In Pakistan, education system lags far behind. It imposes obstacles in learning process by adopting English as mandatory source of conveying ideas. Owing to this, students face multifarious challenges. Moreover, in our education system, teachers pressurise school children. They strictly ask students to communicate in English language. Though it’s fundamental right of every child to learn in his/her mother tongue.
FAROOQUE PANHWAR
Islamabad
Avoid tea whiteners
Nowadays, tea whiteners are being used widely. They have won hearts of many Pakistanis because of their higher shelf life, taste, aroma and price. However, Supreme Court of Pakistan declared them unfit for human consumption.
They are packed with high calories with minimal nutritional benefits. According to a study, the fat content in tea whiteners is 23.06-29.03%, which is much higher than that of dairy milk. Moreover, tea whiteners have high amounts of sugar and harmful chemicals in them. Thus their regular usage will damage our body systems. People should prefer consuming dairy milk and stay away from tea whiteners.
AMNA FAISAL JAVERI
Karachi
Vaping in teens
Vaping has gained popularity among teens. Adolescents are influenced to perceive vaping as a ‘cool thing’. Despite being less harmful than traditional cigarettes, the irony is that parents think these e-cigarettes are kid-friendly, which does not mean they are safe for children. Besides having attractive flavours and toxic chemicals, electronic cigarettes also contain nicotine, which is addictive.
The Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that vaping with nicotine could permanently affect brain development in people under 25. A few adverse effects of vaping include lung damage, increased blood pressure, memory problems, and depression. It has been suggested those teens who vape are more likely to smoke in their later years. It is a peak time for parents to realise that their kids only need to inhale clean air and nothing else.
AMNA FAISAL
Karachi
Dangerous bridge
Through column of your newspaper I wish to draw attention of relevant authorities towards unbearable condition of Absor Bridge for last many years. Recently, it was refurbished but due to low quality infrastructure has broken again. As it is a major link that connects Absor to other part of city therefore in present poor condition vehicles are passing over it, which can also result in loss of lives if it collapses.
It is my humble request to government and authorities to take immediate step to reconstruct the bridge with quality infrastructure so that public could safely use it.
ZAINAB ALIAHMED
Turbat, Balochistan
Illiteracy
The reason behind success of developing countries is their higher education rate. One of the reasons why our country lags behind is rising rate of illiteracy. Current literacy rate of Pakistan is about 59% which means that 41% of our population is still uneducated. Illiteracy causes irreparable damages to our society. The future generation is our asset and if they do not get proper education, it is a huge loss for us as a society. Uneducated people have to face a lot of difficulties in their life.
The first and most difficult thing is to find a good job that provides you with a handsome salary. Uneducated people have to work hard just to earn some pennies. Uneducated people have fewer chances of getting employed and earning a good salary that eventually becomes a cause of homelessness. People find it easy to just snatch some money rather than working hard. Most of the issues in our society are due to illiteracy hence it is not only government’s duty to reduce illiteracy but as responsible citizen we are also duty bound to take part in solving this issue.Government should try to make schooling less expensive so that everyone can afford it. They should try to distribute rewards among deserving students, help poor children by giving them scholarships. Apart from that, government should also organise some teaching programmes for parents to inform them about importance of education and why they should educate their children The illiteracy rate is still very high in our country and we should try to lower it so that we can raise our standard of living and our country can progress towards a better society.
AMINA AYUB
Lahore
