Language

planning in India

Background on India languages

LP for national and official languages

LP in edu –Three language formula

Case studies

Outline

Assessment

• INDIA –well known country for its multilingualism

• Although consisting of hundreds of languages only 150 have a sizable speaking population.

• Census recognition- 1,652 languages

Language history in India

• 2001census, 258 million people reported Hindi to be their native language

• Hindi today -most prominent widespread language in India but still it is not the national language

• 2 Major varieties of Hindi spoken; Western Hindi & Eastern Hindi.

Hindi

•

Chart

• Prior to independence, in British India, English was the sole language used for administrative purposes as well as for higher Education purposes

• After Independence in 1947 issues of the national language was taken seriously.

• The major concern -unite the whole of the population.

• Contradictory issues also cropped up that people would not accept one language at the expense of their regional ones which in fact leads to the various linguistic controversies.

Before & After independence

• Fear of losing Their Mother Tongue

• Love for literature( a sense of loyalty for the language)

• Political issues(linguistics feelings exploited during election)

• Psychological issues (emotions : feeling of ethnocentrism)

• Historical causes (reorganization of the States on linguistic lines has provided geographical foundations for sub-nationalism in India.)

CAUSES OF LINGUICISM(CONTROVERSIES)

MAP OF INDIA

• Each state, people speak different languages. In Punjab they speak Punjabi, in Gujrat they speak Gujrati, in Maharashtra, Marathi and among others.

• But it is also remarquable that for example in RAJASTHAN the map did not pointed out any language spoken this is only because the state being bigger with different sub groups , people speak more than one language like

• Some of them are ‘Mewari’, ‘Marwari’, ‘Haroti’, ‘Dhundhari’ and ‘Mewati’ among others.

In the MAP

• Hindustani is a language comprising of what is now known as Hindi and Urdu.

• With the break up into India and Pakistan, the case of Urdu became weaker since most of the Arabic writing population left.

•

• Finally according to the constitution of India it was specified that the official language would be Hindi and English would be removed out by 1965.

Hindustani & English

• This decision was not accepted by everyone stating that Hindi was imposed on them, since many of the regional people speak different from Hindi.

• Hence the parliament passed on the official language Act in 1963 which stated that both English and Hindi shall be use as the language use for official purposes even after 1965.

• And in 1967, another Act was amended that English language shall be in use until a resolution of every state that had not adopted Hindi as its official language to that effect passed by legislature.

Hindustani & English

National language

• After independence in 1947, the government wanted to opt a national language.

• Mahatma Gandhi pointed out five requirements for any language to be accepted as the national language:

1. It should be easy to learn for government officials.

2. It should be capable of serving as a medium of religious, economic, and political intercourse throughout India.

3. It should be the speech of the majority of the inhabitants of India.

4. It should be easy to learn for the whole of the country.

5. In choosing this language, considerations of temporary or passing interests should not count. (Das Gupta 1970, cited in Fasold, 1988)

Debates on the choice of a national language

• The debate was mainly between Hindi, Urdu, and Hindustani (Rao,2008: 65).

• Mahatma Gandhi supported Hindustani (a mixture of both Hindi and Urdu).

• However, after the partition, they focused on making Hindi a national language.

• “Hindi was better placed than Urdu because of its spread throughout north India and its connectivity to the other non-Hindi regional languages like Bengali, Oriya, Marathi, Gujarati, etc, at least in terms of their 'devanagari' origins” (Rao,2008: 65).

Why Hindi cannot become a national Language

• Since India is linguistically divided, the government has failed to make Hindi a national language.

• Because each state has its own language. For e.g, the use of Tamil in South India and Hindi in the north India.

• The government cannot make Hindi a national language, because it is not the mother tongue of all Indians and non-Hindi states would militate against it (Baldridge, 1996).

Why English cannot become a National language

• Although, English is a neutral language, it is not accepted as a national language.

• As quoted from Fasold (1988):

“…the former colonial language is an absolutely atrocious choice as a national language. Nothing could be worse symbol of a new nation’s self-awareness than the language of a country from which it has just achieved independence.” (Fasold, 1988 cited in Baldridge, 1996).

No National language

• As a result of all these controversies India does not have a national language.

• In fact, a national language would divide rather than unify the Indian nation.

• Because it would be difficult to get the population to accept any particular language.

Hindi as official language

• Hindi was chosen as the official language by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.

• Though Hindi was unrelated to the south Indian languages, it was also thought that it would not be entirely foreign to south Indians because of the strong Sanskrit influence it shared with the four main Dravidian languages (Baldridge, 1996).

Why English is the associate official language?

• Hindi cannot be the sole official language, because non-Hindi speakers would militate against it.

• E.g: On the eve of 26 January 1965 students in Madras picketed with cries of "Hindi Imperialism" and "Hindi never, English ever!“

• It was a two month long period of agitation and repression.

• During this time, sixty-six people died-two of which were members of the Dravida MunnetraKazagham (DMK) who committed suicide by self-immolation on the street.

Why English is the associate official language?

• The anti-Hindi agitation stopped only after “the prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s assurance that the use of English as an alternative language would be allowed to continue as long as the non-Hindi speaking people wanted it.” (Rao,2008: 6)

• As a global language, English is perceived as the language of progress and the key to a better life (Meganathan, 2011: 3)

• VIDEO

•Status of Hindi, English and other regional languages – not clear

•3-language formula was implemented by educational advisory bodies and politicians

•To cope with the complex language situation

•To remove inequalities

Three language Formula

The Formula

• The MOE (1966) recommended the 3-

language formula in this manner:

Mother tongue or Regional Language

An Indian language

Hindi

A modern language

English

PROS

• Promotes a multilingual country

• Linguistic diversity

• For example, in a Hindi speaking state,

children would learn a language not spoken in

their area

• Removes inequalities among languages

CONS

• Not really implemented

• For example: The southern states like

Pondicherry and Tamil Nadu and Tripura were

not ready to teach Hindi and Hindi-speaking

States did not include any south Indian

language in their school curriculum.

• Heavy language load in school curriculum

• Compulsory study of three languages varies

CONS...

• For instance, the three-language formula exists only in our curriculum documents and other policy statements

• For example: some states follow a ‘two-language formula’

1. Sanskrit and Arabic learnt as a modern Indian language

2. institutions permit even European languages like French and German in place of Hindi

• Inadequate resources such as :

CONS...

• Provision of language teachers

• The Education Commission (1964-66)

describes it as :

“considerations were more political and social,

than educational”

•S.L. Doshi and D.S. Purohit’s “Social Aspectsof Language: Rajasthan’s multilingualsituation”.

•Rajasthan has no common regional language

•20 different dialects-‘Mewari’, ‘Marwari’,

‘Haroti’, ‘Dhundhari’ and ‘Mewati’

•The case study was carried out with some

school students, college students and parents

in Udaipur city.

First case Study

•Hindi is preferred to the mother tongue as themedium of instruction in schools and colleges

•Fear- if Hindi -the national language

•Their regional languages and their regional cultureswill weaken

•Regional languages should also be encouraged

•The three-language formula

•Implementation of the three- language formula in

Rajasthan raises many questions

•The government could not cater for the regional

languages

•The three -language formula hasn’t been

successfully implemented in the educational system

of Rajasthan.

•Chaise LaDousa’s ‘Language, Nation and Education inNorth India’•The three- language formula is not successfully implemented in the educational system of North India (Banaras).

•Three schools:

i) The first - ‘The Saraswati School’.

ii)The second -a co-educational school-‘The Saraswati School’.

iii) The third is ‘The Seacrest School’.

Second case Study

•These three schools -teach three languages( Hindi,

English and Sanskrit).

•No school offers any of the four southern -based

Dravidian Languages specified by the formula

•Problems that the Indian government encounters while

implementing the three language formula (teachers).

•The Dravidian languages are not taught in schools.

•The formula’s goal is to achieve “national

unity” (LaDousa 2005: 470).

•However, the three- language formula didn’t

serve its purpose.

•The three-language formula has not been

successfully implemented in the educational

system of North India (Banaras).

Assessment of Language planning in India

• No language should be considered inferior or superior toother.

• All languages prevalent in India should be treated as equal.

• Paradoxes in India’s language planning.

• India and Mauritius have parallel linguistic situation.

• The three-language formula (TLF) as a strategy, space wascreated for the study of proximate languages, classicallanguages, and foreign languages.

• As long as the basic spirit of the TLF is maintained, there isno restriction on studying new languages.

• The case studies show that the three- language formula has notbeen successfully implemented in Rajasthan and Banaras.

• The aim of the three-language formula was to unite the peopleof these countries.

• However, the three- language formula wasn’t helpful to thosepeople.

Baldridge, J. (1996). Reconciling Linguistic Diversity: The History and the Future of Language Policy in India.

Ling.upenn.edu. [online] Available at: http://www.ling.upenn.edu/~jason2/papers/natlang.htm [Accessed 27 Mar. 2015].

Buzz, (2014) Outlook Dear Ms Smriti Irani, JFYI: A Note on the Three-Language Formula: Blog. Available from:

<http://www.outlookindia.com/blogs/post/Dear-Ms-Smriti-Irani-JFYI-A-Note-On-The-ThreeLanguage-

Formula/3439/31>

Coleman, H. (2011). Dreams and realities: Developing Countries and the English Language British Council:Paper 4

Language policy in education and the role of English in India: From library language to language of empowerment.

London. [online] pp2-32. Available at

http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/sites/teacheng/files/Z413%20EDB%20Section04_0.pdf [Accessed 27 Mar. 2015].

DOSHI.S.L. and PUROHIT.D.S, (1968). Social Aspects of language: Rajasthan’s Multilingual Situation. Economic and

Political Weekly. 3 (38), 1441-1444.

MEIRENGER, J., (2009). Language planning in India: the influence of English on the educational system and the

media.

LADOUSA.C, (2005). Disparate Markets: Language, Nation, and Education in North India. American Ethnologist. 32

(3), 460-478.

Rao, S. (2008). India's Language Debates and Education of Linguistic Minorities. Economic and Political Weekl,

[online] 43(36), pp.63-69. Available at: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40277928 [Accessed 27 Mar. 2015].

SUBHASH. (2013). Three Language Education Formula in Multilingual India: Problems and Prospects. International J.

Educational Research. 1 (4), 1-9.

Bibliography:

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