Nature of the language: If we try to look for one of the defining characteristics that are common to all languages; we all can certainly agree to the term “mutability”, the ability to acquire change. Language is immensely mutable in nature. Even within the life span of a person the changes in the language, more specifically the speech patterns that he or she uses from infancy to old age changes to a certain extent. Then the language spoken by a group or population constantly acquires changes over the generations. The ease with which language mutates or acquires change is amazing. The 2001 census reporting that there are 1652 mother tongues within India further proves the extent of the mutability of the language if viewed from the perspective of evolution. If we juxtapose evolution of human beings with the evolution of languages it would not be very difficult to find the reasons for the existence of such a huge variety of languages. As human beings moved from their region of origin to outwards across the world in different directions and lived for generations in seclusion from other groups, their language acquired a distinct character from others. Longer the period of isolation more distinct would become the language of the groups from each other. Language is more like a fluid which could take any shape, color or taste depending on the culture of the speakers. Dynamics of a particular group with regard to its language is the tendency towards consolidating the language and giving relative stability to its nature so as to transmit important life skills acquired during the generation in the form of customs and rituals to the next generation. This was usually coded into different forms of songs before the print era to carry it to the next generation. Migration to the new places would demand for the inclusion of different flora and fauna, different terrain and climate, different life skills needed for survival etc into the available vocabulary. Then the encounter of other groups and exchange of life skills, practices and tools also forced the changes in the language of the group. So language always seems to be under the influence of two opposing forces. While certain factors force the language to consolidate in to a distinct one and remain the same, the others compel it to change to accommodate the changing realities. The emergence of print and print related technology and now the information technology has made the two opposing forces even more powerful. Hence the pace of mutation that the languages are undergoing during present times is faster than ever before. Sticking to the central theme of “language under the influence of opposing forces” let us have a look at the practice of multilingualism in the society.
Multilingualism in Society: The revolution in the transport and communication technology has enabled the increased movement of people and exchange of ideas. Communities of people are coming across each other’s culture like never before. Societies have become terribly interdependent for their existence. This has given rise to a large number of people who can mediate between groups of populations of different languages. This mediator group of population is decently proficient in more than one language. Multilingual speakers have now outnumbered the monolingual speakers in the world population as per G. Richard Tucker(1999) .The practice of multilingualism across the groups of population is not always homogeneous. Some speak their own language at home and within their community while using altogether different language when interacting with the other community members. Some spontaneously switch between different languages based on the situations and needs. Some use a blend of two or three languages to communicate across the groups. Within a particular language there are different speech patterns giving rise to different dialects. Two speakers with two completely different languages may speak to each other in their own language while understanding the other person to converse in real-time. An instance like a single speaker answering different reporters of the media and a vegetable vendor dealing with customers in multiple languages are not uncommon in these days. Then there are instances where a group’s written and spoken language varies to a great extent. The same language is spoken and written differently depending on the occasion and purpose. In Karnataka the speaker who uses Hyderabadi Kannada in informal occasions uses a completely different administrative Kannada language while dealing with the state agencies. There are instances where a child uses completely different languages with each like parents, friends, teachers and general population outside the house like shopkeepers, vendors, peddlers etc. Parents too are seen to use a particular language while speaking to their children and some other language to converse with the elders. These heterogeneous practices of multilingualism both inside and outside of one’s home pose direct challenge to the idea of having mother tongue as a medium of instruction in schools. Migration and immigration of population seeking occupation and livelihood has brought people with different languages to stay in the same region or place. Then there are a category of people who never stay in the same place for more than one or two years because of their profession or occupation. A classroom in schools located in such places will certainly have children with different mother tongues. School settings in such locations where a single teacher is given the responsibility of 30 to 90 students of same grade or across the grades with multiple mother tongues complicates the problem even more. Overall the nature of multilingualism in the society that we have seen till now is directly reflected in classrooms too.
Negotiating the Medium of Instruction- Union education ministry of India in consultation with the states formulated the three language formula. As per this formula every child will be taught three languages. First language will be mother tongue or the regional language of the child. The second and third language will be either Hindi or English in non-Hindi speaking states whereas in Hindi speaking states it will be either English or some other Indian language. Usually first language is also a medium of instruction while the other two languages are studied just like any other discipline but starting at around 3rd or 5th grade. With respect to first language, in most cases regional language and mother tongue are not the same. In some cases regional language and mother tongue may be very similar with each other with slight variations and in others the variations may be in the range of moderate to extreme. With respect to tribal groups regional language and mother tongue vary extremely with each other whereas the variation is moderate in the case of rural population. With regard to semi urban and urban; the language of the native population is close to the standard regional language. If we take into account the immigrant population the situation is different altogether. In spite of the these variations in the mother tongue at ground level the school curriculum and teaching learning material is offered only in the standard regional language by the state.
A language is a means for communication, thinking and learning. Language, thinking and learning are inextricably linked with each other (Dhir Jhingran). A language shapes and negotiates the identity of a person and a group. A language also represents the culture of the group. A child forced to study in a language other than its mother tongue will get cognitively impaired. It can trigger the low self-esteem and low self-confidence in his or her personality. Children with deprived socio-economic background who have little exposure to school language and culture outside the school feel completely alienated. Life at school makes no sense to them. They find it difficult to relate the transactions in school to that of their life in home and their community. Boredom and frustration come to rule their world in the school. Hence medium of instruction used in schools can have far reaching consequences in the lives of children.
Due to various political consequences the nation or state is continuously in the pursuit of a consolidated identity for all its citizens that can stand strong against the social, cultural, political and economic dominance or dangers posed by other nations or states. Pursuit of a common language and education for all its citizens is part of the greater agenda of pursuing a consolidated identity. In the process of social integration regional identities are gradually wiped out and diverse cultures are homogenized. The nature of consolidated identity is mostly close to the dominant indigenous cultures. This is also because individuals of dominant cultures are in a position to bargain hard. Trying to impose Hindi as national language was one such attempt. Then regional identities resisted the move and bargained for three language formula. These regional identities themselves were again the dominant among the many others in the same region. The clash between dominant and other identities will continue. The ultimate goal is social integration for peace and harmony. To achieve this dominant identity has to become more inclusive and accommodative in nature or else either the whole effort towards social integration backfires. Instead of integrating the various social groups and communities; the very means used will nurture disintegration in the society. Keeping in mind the higher goal of bringing about social integration how do we tackle the problem of medium of instruction? For me the word ‘negotiation’ seems to be the most appropriate one to indicate the manner in which the issue of medium of instruction has to be solved. Negotiation involves settling the issues with concerned groups and individuals through consultation, deliberation and discussion rather than through force or authority. Mutual respect is a basic necessity for any productive negotiation. What are the possible ways for negotiating the medium of instruction in diverse classroom environment?
Facilitating the environment for negotiation the medium of instruction- This should be multidimensional intervention targeting all the stakeholders at various points both in terms of structural and functional changes.
Teacher Recruitment:Currently teachers in all the states are recruited based on their merit in the teacher eligibility tests. One who has the highest merit will be given the first chance to choose the location where he or she will be working as a teacher. This is mostly a temporary relief of working in one’s preferred location because very soon they may have to face the transfer orders. Once in every two or three year teachers are transferred to some other location. This leaves very little time for a teacher to get acquainted with the local culture of the students of his or her school. If the culture is very different from theirs then the time required to establish any meaningful relationships with the community members is even more insufficient. Taking into account diverse linguistic and cultural aspects of the population, state should consider recruiting a teacher for lifetime for a particular location. This also brings in commitment on the part of the teacher towards the community that he or she serving. Strong and cordial relations with the community members nurtures mutual trust, respect and understanding. Only in such cases teachers will be in a position to modify and improve the state prescribed curriculum to suit the local cultural and linguistic needs. Recruiting the teacher for a life time for a particular location also increases the accountability of the teacher. It makes enough provision for facilitating an environment for negotiating the medium of instruction.
Teacher training: Teacher training institutions should strive towards sensitizing the teachers regarding the diverse cultural and linguistic aspects of the society. Curriculum should instill deep interest and respect towards varied linguistic and cultural diversity among the teacher trainees. Making them realize that no culture is superior or inferior and that every culture has been in a particular place to meet the wide ranging demands of Human life in a very limited context of space and time goes a very long way towards changing the perspective of teachers in the way they view communities with different cultural practices. Every culture has its share of vice and virtue. Glorifying the vice over the virtues of a particular culture serves no purpose for a teacher. His or her job is to pick the best practices in the native culture and her own that can be exchanged for the good of both. It is also the responsibility of the teacher to educate the children regarding the superstitions of native culture. This has to be done with lot of patience and care by establishing mutual respect and trust with the children and the community members rather than through force or authority. Teachers have to be trained both philosophically and practically to acquire these soft skills needed for their profession.
NCERT, SCERTs, DIETs, BRCs and CRCs: These state administrative and curriculum agencies should do more than just giving out suggestions, guidelines and materials for teachers and schools. They should encourage the teachers and schools to report their experiences and pedagogical practices. A provision has to be made for a common platform like state run magazine, newsletter or tabloids exclusively meant for teaching community where teachers can publish their work, opinions, suggestions and discuss the various issues encountered by them in their profession. This should aid the state agencies in arriving at more inclusive policies and practices regarding the school and curriculum. In this way the exchange of information becomes more frequent and effective. The functioning of these agencies will gradually come to be sync with the demands of diverse linguistic and cultural needs.
Classroom discourse and transactions: Classroom discourse should be abundant with references to the native culture. It should be a mutual meaning making process. This is possible only if the teacher is adept with the native culture. Any teacher who is interested in the native culture sees her students as resources of native culture and knowledge rather than just passive beings that are there to receive information from her. Classroom discourse then becomes a means through which teacher and students are in the constant process of cultural exchange. Spoken and written language used during the classroom discourse is just a small but a very significant part of this broader cultural exchange. For a teacher living among the native community members over the years it is not a difficult task to learn the native language. Even in a classroom with children coming from multiple language backgrounds, a teacher’s eagerness to learn from them and trying to make use of their languages capabilities to bring in multicultural understanding among all the students enhances the learning opportunities rather than being a hindrance. Teacher should actively modify or restructure the state prescribed curriculum to accommodate the native culture. The teacher along with students should work towards building all the teaching and learning materials in native languages based on the need. A conscious effort should be made by the teacher to use whatever bit of native language that she has learnt while encouraging her students to converse both in native and state prescribed languages. In case of less proficiency in native language the teacher should make use of multiple teaching methods and types of resources to convey the meaning. I believe that there is enough scope for practicing the above strategies in the classroom within the system of trilingual formula followed currently. The teaching learning materials prepared collaboratively with students should be preserved and shared with others. State agencies should take an active role in collecting such resources from teachers and preserving them for future requirements in the feasible manner. This enables for them to be shared with other teachers and also for improvements.
References
http://www.cal.org/resources/Digest/digestglobal.html
Hundreds of home languages by Dhir Jhingran
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