Essential Question: How
does language impact your life and future?
Dubai is for architects, as India is for ESL teachers! This is
my analogy that describes my elation with learning how India manages their
multi-lingual country. Language impacts every aspect of a person’s life. The
power and complexity of the numerous languages in India is ever present. During
my first day of training (given by The Teacher Foundation), I copied a quote,
“Language is the single divisive factor in Indian school education!” Wow, this
was certainly true for the ten schools I visited and for the teachers and
people I spoke to. Language, I should
say English, affected everything!
There are 22 modern languages in India, 1,796 rationalized
languages, and 1,576 mother tongues.
There are 3,592 newspapers published in 35 different languages along with
radio broadcast in 146 languages and dialects. (Source: Ministry of Human Resource Development, Govt. of
India http://www.education.nic.in/language_new/Lg_Bur_website.pdf)
India is
a linguist’s haven, not to mention an overwhelming job for teachers! The
diversity of languages in India goes hand in hand with the diversity of its’
people. Each state has it’s own official language. In the short time I was in
India, it was my impression that the majority of students stay within their
state throughout their schooling. However, I spoke with several parents who
were not from the state they were currently living in, therefore they often did
not speak the state language. For example, my host teacher grew up north of New
Delhi and learned Hindi in her home and at school, but she now lives in Pune
located in the state of Mathrastra. This state’s official language is Marathi.
If this scenario is true in say 15% to 25% of homes, you can envision the
obstacles this creates for teachers trying to communicate with students,
parents, and even each other.
The Ministry of Human Resource Development, says their language policy is intended to encourage
the citizens to use their mother tongue, but the stated goal of the policy is,
“…to help all languages to develop into fit vehicles of communication at their
designated areas of use, irrespective of their nature or status like major,
minor, or tribal languages. The policy is accommodative and ever-evolving,
through mutual adjustment, consensus, and judicial processes.” ( Source: http://www.education.nic.in/language_new/lang_overview.asp )
Britain’s
rule brought yet another language upon the subcontinent’s population. So like
it or not, the Indians were forced to add this new language to their repertory.
The visionary Indians decided to keep English as one of their official
languages after independence from the British in 1947. I believe this was a
brilliant decision, because English was more or less the only “common language”
people had to communicate nationwide. The downside is, in my view, is that
English has become the gatekeeper to upward mobility. For example, if you don’t
know English you can’t get into university and therefore your employment
opportunities are limited. Now that wouldn’t be an issue if every child learned
English, like I use to think happened, ahem, before I traveled to India! The
reality is basically only the private schools instruct students in English. The
government schools may have an English teacher, however she (almost all the
teachers I met were female, except for the P.E. teachers) may be the only
English teacher for the whole school of 1,500+ students, therefore students may
only receive approximately 30 minutes of English instruction one or two times
per week. So right away, if you have money and can afford private schooling for
your children they will have the opportunity to learn English and hence will have
the prerequisite language to apply to university. But, if you cannot pay
tuition fees, chances are your children will not be as proficient as they need
to be to compete with the children who learn English in private schools, unless
you can pay for after school tutoring. So again, the rich get richer and the
poor stay poor; the divide between the economic classes continues. I was struck
by a quote written on the entrance sign to the University of Pune, which is
touted as the Oxford of the East and one of India's premier Universities,
“We shall do better than no
one else can.” Gosh, but how can all Indians do better if their destiny is
predetermined by language? This is just one of the lingering questions I have.
I was in
awe when I visited a private 1st through 10th grade
English medium school, which meant the language of instruction was English. The
school taught Sanskrit as a second language and also required students to learn
Marathi and Hindi. The students read, wrote, listened and spoke in four languages.
Another lingering question, how are the majority of students in the USA (who
are monolingual) going to compete for international jobs with their
multilingual Indian peers?
To
address my essential question, how does language impact your life and future?
Well, it seems in India, at least on the surface, that English has a direct
correlation to your future. If you don’t know English you will probably not
pass the entrance examinations into university or if you do pass the exams, you
will be unsuccessful in class since English is the language of instruction.
Obviously this has a trickle down affect on determining the type of job a
person is qualified for and hence the salary they can earn, which will then
govern where they can afford to live, and whom they will be eligible to marry.
Talk about language impacting your life!
Some of
my big take aways at our debrief session in New Delhi were:
Things
are too complex to understand in two weeks!
In
general, in the U.S. we value equality and we try to provide education to
all. In India there is a striking
polarity of society where economic status determines mobility and having a good
command of English is indispensable. It appears that the design of Indian
society perpetuates this separation. Hence another question I have is, will
India evolve to provide equal education to all? If so, how?
In
conclusion, I am extremely hesitate
to make generalizations since I was not in India long enough to understand
everything I heard, saw, and experienced without formulating a biased
perspective. Visiting for two weeks just opened my eyes to the multiple
challenges India faces due to its 3,000+ languages. I now have many more
questions then I did before leaving the United States.
