Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-45l2p Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-29T21:58:48.071Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Multilingualism and Education in South Asia: Resolving Policy/Practice Dilemmas

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 November 2013

Suresh Canagarajah  and
Hina Ashraf
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This article focuses on the multilingual educational policies in India and Pakistan in the light of challenges in implementation and everyday communicative practices. The challenges these countries face in the context of the contrasting forces of globalization and nationalism are common to those of the other communities in this region. Both India and Pakistan have adopted versions of a tripartite language formula, in which the dominant national language—Urdu in Pakistan, and Hindi in India—along with a regional language and English are to be taught in primary and secondary schools. Such a policy is aimed at accommodating diverse imperatives, such as providing access to schooling to everyone regardless of their mother tongues, developing national identity through competence in a common language, and tapping into transnational economic resources through English. However, this well-intentioned policy has generated other tensions. There are inadequate resources for teaching all three languages in all regions and social levels. Certain dominant languages enjoy more currency and upset the multilingual balance. Furthermore, as people integrate English into their repertoires in recognition of the better-paid employment opportunities and communication media associated with globalization, language practices are becoming more hybrid. To resolve such tensions between policy and practice, some scholars propose a plurilingual model indigenous to the region. Rather than compartmentalizing languages and demanding equal competencies in each of them, such a model would allow for functional competencies in complementary languages for different purposes and social domains, without neglecting mother-tongue maintenance.

Type
SECTION C: LANGUAGE POLICY AND EDUCATION IN MULTILINGUAL REGIONS
Information
Annual Review of Applied Linguistics , Volume 33 , March 2013 , pp. 258 - 285
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Canagarajah, A. S. (2009). The plurilingual tradition and the English language in South Asia. AILA Review, 22, 5–22.

This article on the plurilingual traditions of South Asia delineates the assimilation of English into its linguistic repertoire. The author distinguished plurilingual practices from other forms of multilingual communication. He argued that plurilingual competence is highly fluid and variable, and relies on interaction strategies. For communication, speakers borrow different codes from the local linguistic repertoire. The plurilingual orientation is presented as traditional to the ecology of this region and demanding a functional rather than hierarchical distribution of languages.

Khubchandani, L. (2008). Language policy and education in the Indian subcontinent. In May, S. & Hornberger, N. (Eds.), Language Policy and Political Issues in Education, Encyclopedia of Language and Education (2nd ed., vol. 1, pp. 369–381). New York, NY: Springer.

This chapter is an attempt to provide an overview of the language and education policies and literacy practices in South Asia, particularly India. It focuses on the multilingualism of the region and the pluralistic social and pedagogical practices of the people. Khubchandani critiqued language policies in this region (including the three-language formula) for not addressing the pluralistic practices and tendencies of the people. This limitation has resulted in a stratified education system where the hegemony of English is unchecked. He recommended a pluralistic model for education planning that appreciates the linguistic diversity and language varieties of the region in place of a system that conserves the hegemony of a few dominant languages.

Mansoor, S., Sikandar, A., Hussain, N., & Ahsan, N. (Eds.). (2009). Emerging issues in TEFL: Challenges for South Asia. Karachi, Pakistan: Oxford University Press.

This collection of essays presents the complexity of language planning in bi- and multilingual countries. The chapters were written by some of the leading English language teaching (ELT) practitioners in South Asia who promote scaffolding practices in the classrooms where English for some is a second language and for many foreign. The book covers a wide range of topics, including language planning in higher education, classroom practices, and teacher education.

Mohanty, A. K. (2010a). Languages, inequality, and marginalization: Implications of the double divide in Indian multilingualism. International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 2010, 131–154.

This article focuses on the power differences and inequality engendered by the language policies in India. As a result, many dominant languages are relegated from social and economic domains to home domains and in-group communication. Mohanty argued that children from a very early age become aware of the double divide based on English/vernacular and vernacular/minority languages.

Rahman, T. (2011). From Hindi to Urdu: A social and political history. Karachi, Pakistan: Oxford University Press.

Rahman traced the history of the linguae francae of the subcontinent, Urdu and Hindi. The book helps understand the “Indian language,” a collection of mutually intelligible dialects that for centuries were representative of the cultural synthesis of this region. It traces its linguistic ancestry and social growth from the 13th to the 18th century. It then presents its development into two separate languages, as the political identity of the Indian Muslims (Urdu) and Indian Hindus (Hindi) solidified from the 19th century onwards.

REFERENCES

Advani, S. (2008). Schooling and the national imagination: Education, English, and the Indian modern. New Delhi, India: Oxford.Google Scholar
Aly, J. H. (2007). Education in Pakistan: A White Paper Revised. Document to debate and finalize the National Education Policy could be treated as a description. Retrieved from http://planipolis.iiep.unesco.org/upload/Pakistan/Pakistan%20National%20Education%20Policy%20Review%20WhitePaper.pdfGoogle Scholar
Annamalai, E. (2001). Managing multilingualism in India: Political and linguistic manifestations. New Delhi, India: Sage.Google Scholar
Asadullah, M. N. (2009). Returns to private and public education in Bangladesh and Pakistan: A comparative analysis. Journal of Asian Economics, 20, 77–86.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ashraf, H. (2006). A study of English language learning as an element affecting the social capital of the people of Pakistan (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). National University of Modern Languages, Islamabad, Pakistan.Google Scholar
Ashraf, H. (2008). The language of schooling and social capital in Pakistan. NUML Research Magazine, 1: pp. 73–89.Google Scholar
Atkinson, D. (Ed.). (2011). Alternative approaches to second language acquisition. Abingdon, UK: Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blommeart, J. (2010). The sociolinguistics of globalization. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Canagarajah, A. S. (2009). The plurilingual tradition and the English language in South Asia. AILA Review, 22, 5–22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Canagarajah, A. S. (2013). Translingual practice: Global Englishes and cosmopolitan relations. London, UK: Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chand, V. (2011). Elite positionings towards Hindi: Language policies, political stances, and language competence in India. Journal of Sociolinguistics, 15, 6–35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Department of Higher Education. (n.d.). Overview. Retrieved from http://mhrd.gov.in/leoverGoogle Scholar
Cowie, C. (2007). The accents of outsourcing: The meanings of “neutral” in the call centre industry. World Englishes, 26, 316–30.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Firth, A., & Wagner, J. (2007). Second/foreign language learning as a social accomplishment: Elaborations on a reconceptualized SLA. The Modern Language Journal, 91, 798–817.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Garcia, O. (2009). Bilingual education in the 21st century: A global perspective. Oxford, UK: Wiley-Blackwell.Google Scholar
Giri, R. A. (2009). English in Nepalese education: An analysis of theoretical and contextual issues for the development of its policy guidelines (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Monash University, Clayton, Australia.Google Scholar
Gulzar (2010). Code-switching: Awareness about its utility in bilingual classrooms. Bulletin of Education and Research, 32, 23–44.Google Scholar
Hakim, L. (2010). Analysis of marked and unmarked code choices by Pakistani bilingual students in the aural mode (Unpublished master's thesis). National University of Modern Languages, Islamabad, Pakistan.Google Scholar
Hornberger, N. (Ed.). (2003). Continua of biliteracy: An ecological framework for educational policy, research, and practice in multilingual settings. Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jalal, Z. K. (2004). Language policy in Pakistan. In Mansoor, S., Meraj, S., & Tahir, A. (Eds.), Language policy, planning, & practice: A South Asian perspective (pp. 23–26). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Khubchandani, L. (1997). Revisualizing boundaries: A plurilingual ethos. New Delhi, India: Sage.Google Scholar
Khubchandani, L. (2008). Language policy and education in the Indian subcontinent. In May, S. & Hornberger, N. (Eds.), Language Policy and political issues in education, Encyclopedia of language and education (2nd ed., vol. 1, pp. 369–381). New York, NY: Springer.Google Scholar
Kingdon, G. G. (2007). The progress of school education in India (Report no. GPRG-WPS-071). Economic & Social Research Council. Retrieved from http://www.gprg.org/pubs/workingpapers/pdfs/gprg-wps-071.pdfGoogle Scholar
Lewis, M. P., Simons, G. F., & Fennig, C. D. (Eds.). (2013). Ethnologue: Languages of the World (17th ed.). Dallas, TX: SIL International. Statistical summaries. Retrieved from http://www.ethnologue.com/ethno_docs/distribution.asp?by=country#7Google Scholar
Mallikarjun, B. (2001). Languages in the school curriculum: Challenges of the new millennium. Language in India, 1 (4). Retrieved from http://www.languageinindia.com/junjulaug2001/school.htmlGoogle Scholar
Mansoor, S. (2004). The status and role of regional languages in higher education in Pakistan. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 25, 333–353.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mansoor, S. (2005). Language planning in higher education: A case study of Pakistan. Karachi, Pakistan: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Mansoor, S., Sikandar, A., Hussain, N., & Ahsan, N. (Eds.). (2009). Emerging issues in TEFL: Challenges for South Asia. Karachi, Pakistan: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Mignolo, W. D. (2000). Local histories/global designs: Coloniality, subaltern knowledges, and border thinking. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Mohanty, A. (2006). Multilingualism of the unequals and the predicaments of education in India: Mother tongue or other tongue? In Skutnabb-Kangas, T. & Garcia, O. (Eds.), Imagining multilingual schools (pp. 262–283). Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mohanty, A. K. (2010a). Languages, inequality, and marginalization: Implications of the double divide in Indian multilingualism. International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 2010, 131–154.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mohanty, A. M. (2010b). Overcoming the language barrier for tribal children: MLE in Andhra Pradesh and Orissa, India. In Skutnabb-Kangas, T., Phillipson, R., Mohanty, A., & Panda, M. (Eds.), Multilingual education for social justice: Globalizing the local (pp. 278–291). New Delhi, India: BlackSwan.Google Scholar
Myers-Scotton, C. (1993). Elite closure as a powerful language strategy: The African case. International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 103, 149–163.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nurmela, I., Awasthi, L., & Skutnabb-Kangas, T. (2010). Enhancing quality education for all in Nepal through indigenised MLE: The challenge to teach in over a hundred languages. In Heugh, K. & Skutnabb-Kangas, T. (Eds.), Multilingual education works: From the periphery to the centre (pp. 176–203). New Delhi, India: Orient BlackSwan.Google Scholar
Pakistan. (2009). National Education Policy (NEP). Ministry of Education. Islamabad, Pakistan: Government of Pakistan.Google Scholar
Pandit, P. B. (1979). Perspectives on sociolinguistics in India. In Wurm, W. M. (Ed.), Language and society: Anthropological issues. The Hague, the Netherlands: Mouton.Google Scholar
Rahman, Tania. (2010). A multilingual language-in-education policy for indigenous minorities in Bangladesh: Challenges and possibilities. Current Issues in Language Planning, 11, 341–359.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rahman, Tariq. (2002). Language, ideology and power: Language learning among the Muslims of Pakistan and North India. Karachi, Pakistan: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Rahman, Tariq. (2005). Reasons for rage: Reflections on the education system of Pakistan with special reference to English. In Hathaway, R. M. (Ed.), Education reform in Pakistan: Building for the future (pp. 87–106). Washington, DC: Woodrow Wilson.Google Scholar
Rahman, Tariq. (2008). Language policy and education in Pakistan. In May, S. & Hornberger, N. (Ed.), Language Policy and Political Issues in Education, Encyclopedia of Language and Education, (2nd ed., vol. 1, pp. 383–392). New York, NY: Springer.Google Scholar
Rahman, Tariq. (2009). Language ideology, identity and the commodification of language in the call centers of Pakistan. Language in Society, 38, 233–258.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rahman, Tariq. (2011). From Hindi to Urdu: A social and political history. Karachi, Pakistan: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Ramanathan, V. (2005). Ambiguities about English: Ideologies and critical practice in vernacular-medium settings in Gujarat, India. Journal of Language, Identity, and Education, 4, 45–65.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ramanathan, V. (2006). The vernacularization of English: Crossing global currents to redress West-based TESOL. Postcolonial Approaches to TESOL [Special issue]. Critical Inquiry in Language Studies, 3, 131–146.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ramanathan, V. (2012). Rethinking discourses around the English-Cosmopolitan co-relation: Scenes from formal and non-formal domains. In Martin-Jones, M., Blackledge, A., & Creese, A.. (Eds.), Handbook of Multilingualism (pp. 66–82) London, UK: Routledge.Google Scholar
Shamim, F. (2008.) Trends, issues, and challenges in English language education in Pakistan. Asia Pacific Journal of Education, 28, 235–249.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shamim, F. (2011). English as the language for development in Pakistan: Issues, challenges, and possible solutions. In Coleman, H. (Ed.), Dreams and realities: Developing countries and the English language (pp. 291–310). London, UK: British Council.Google Scholar
Shamim, F. and Allen, P. (2000). Activity types and patterns of interaction in language classrooms in Pakistan (Unpublished research report). Karachi: Institute for Educational Development, Aga Khan University.Google Scholar
Skutnabb-Kangas, T. (2009). The stakes: Linguistic diversity, linguistic human rights and mother-tongue-based multilingual education - or linguistic genocide, crimes against humanity and an even faster destruction of biodiversity and our planet. Keynote presentation at the Bamako International Forum on Multilingualism, Bamako, Mali, 19–21 January, 2009.Google Scholar
Vaish, V. (2008). Biliteracy and globalization: English language education in India. Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters.CrossRefGoogle Scholar