Guiding Question Reflection

My guiding question: How is English taught, viewed, and integrated in a post-colonial setting while preserving the many diverse, native languages of India?

On my first day in India I heard something that stuck with me throughout my trip and still resonates with me now: “India is a thousand nations in one.” It is a country where the food, traditions, clothing, and language change depending on where you are. In Delhi the people dressed differently, spoke a different language, ate different foods, and had different laws than in Ahmedabad, a two hour flight away. In Delhi, the language is Hindi, whereas in Ahmedabad, Gujarati is spoken. These are just two of the many diverse languages spoken throughout this vast nation.

India has no official language, but 22 officially recognized languages, including English. On India’s physical bank notes, you will find 17 languages written. There are so many languages and dialects spoken in India that the exact number is unknown. It is estimated that there are anywhere from 1,500 to around 20,000 languages and dialects spoken throughout the country. In schools, children are speaking their mother tongue while also learning Hindi, English, and oftentimes other languages too. India even has several classical languages, including Tamil, one of the oldest languages in the world still spoken today. In my opinion, learning one of these many diverse languages seems like an incredible opportunity for the youth of India. So why does entry into an English-medium school seem to overshadow all of that?

In India, English is viewed as a pertinent skill for landing a decent job, going to university, and climbing the social ladder. English is often correlated with higher levels of education and a higher social status. This view partly stems from a colonial narrative perpetuated by British poet, Lord Thomas B. Macaulay, who aimed to replace traditional schooling with a more westernized approach, specifically by integrating English into schooling in the mid 1800s. Many schools that we observed were teaching entire subjects, particularly STEM classes, in English.

From my experiences in India, when we were working in and touring the private and better-funded schools, the level of English was higher amongst the students. When working in the schools that served the more marginalized communities, the level of English was almost non-existent. This unfortunately feeds into the narrative that a higher level of English is equal to higher social status. Because of these beliefs about English and the status that it brings, there is a huge push in the country for learning English as well as other languages such as Spanish and French. However, there is not a huge push by parents for learning languages like Telugu, Tamil, Punjabi, Gujarati, and the smaller diverse languages of India.

India’s National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 has pushed for a sort of nationalization of India’s curriculum which, depending on how one looks at it, could threaten the diversity of India. The NEP 2020 recommends the use of the regional mother tongue up to 5th grade to build foundational skills and social language. The NEP 2020 was also modified to incorporate the three-language model stating that students should learn three languages with at least two of them being Indian languages. Meaning, if you go to a school in Gujarat, you will likely be studying Gujarati, Hindi, and English or Sanskrit. On paper, this national curriculum policy on language is India’s way of preserving the languages of this vast country; however this can also be viewed as a way of nationalizing education and making English and Hindi the primary dominant languages of India.

Whatever your views on the NEP 2020, the facts remain simple. Dominant languages like Hindi and English are not threatened by extinction while many of India’s other languages are. There are around 200 languages that are endangered, with over 250 languages being lost in the last 50-60 years. Unfortunately, the push for multilingualism is less focused on saving endangered languages, and more focused on students getting into English-medium schools to have a better chance at top universities and lucrative careers. It is also no secret that English is creeping its way into the languages of India. At any given point you might be listening to a conversation in Hindi where several English words are snuck in throughout. I was really curious about the use of English words in an entirely unrelated language and I was informed that this was a change that happened in the last ten years or so. In another ten years how many words in a Hindi conversation will be in English?

There is much work to be done on the preservation of India’s diverse languages while still preparing students for life in a globalized society. I believe that for a prominent shift to occur, change must happen within India and its societal views. Essentially, the views on linguistic diversity need to change before meaningful change can be implemented across the country. I know that while, in India, English is important to social status and increased employability, learning the native languages is crucial for understanding one's culture, identity, and history.