The tower of babble: mother tongue and multilingualism in India

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The tower of babble: mother tongue and multilingualism in India

Susheel Kumar Sharma

University of Allahabad, India

Abstract

Since ancient times India has been a multilingual society and languages in India have thrived though at times many races and religions came into conflict. The states in modern India were reorganised on linguistic basis in 1956 yet in contrast to the European notion of one language one nation, majority of the states have more than one official language. The Linguistic Survey of India (LSI) conducted by Grierson between 1866 and 1927 identified 179 languages and 544 dialects. The first post-independence Indian census after (1951) listed 845 languages including dialects. The 1991 Census identified 216 mother tongues were identified while in 2001 their number was 234. The three-language formula devised to maintain the multilingual character of the nation and paying due attention to the importance of mother tongue is widely accepted in the country in imparting the education at primary and secondary levels. However, higher education system in India impedes multilingualism. According the Constitution it is imperative on the "Union to promote the spread of the Hindi language, to develop it so that it may serve as a medium of expression for all the elements of the composite culture of India ... by drawing, wherever necessary or desirable, for its vocabulary, primarily on Sanskrit and secondarily on other languages." However, the books translated into Hindi mainly from English have found favour with neither the students nor the teachers. On the other hand, the predominance of English in various competitive examinations has caused social discontent leading to mass protests and cases have been filed in the High Courts and the Supreme Court against linguistic imperialism of English and Hindi. The governments may channelize the languages but in a democratic set up it is ultimately the will of the people that prevails. Some languages are bound to suffer a heavy casualty both in the short and long runs in the process.

Keywords: language, bilingualism, multi-lingualism, mother tongue, linguistic imperialism, the Constitution, schedule.

Шарма Сушіл Кумар. Балакунська вежа: рідна мова та багатомовність в Індії.

Анотація. Із давніх часів Індія була багатомовним суспільством, і мови в Індії процвітали, хоча й виникали конфлікти серед багатьох рас і релігій. Штати сучасної Індії були реорганізовані на лінгвістичній основі в 1956 році, але на відміну від європейського поняття однієї мови для однієї нації, більшість індійських штатів мають кілька офіційних мов. Лінгвістичне опитування Індії, проведене Грірсоном в 1866-1927 рр., дало змогу виокремити 179 мов та 544 діалектів. Перший індійський перепис після здобуття Індією незалежності (1951 р.) визначив 845 мов, включаючи також діалекти. Переписом 1991 року було визначено 216 рідних мов, тоді як в 2001 році їх кількість становила 234. Тримовна формула, що спрямована на збереження багатомовності нації та приділення належної уваги важливості рідної мови, широко прийнята в країні на рівні надання початкової та середньої освіти. Однак система вищої освіти в Індії перешкоджає багатомовності. Відповідно до Конституції: "Держава має сприяти розповсюдженню мови гінді, розвивати її так, щоб вона могла слугувати засобом вираження для всіх елементів складної культури Індії ..., шляхом залучення, де це необхідно або бажано, її словника, головним чином на санскриті, а далі вже на інших мовах". Проте книги, перекладені на гінді переважно з англійської, не користуються популярністю ні серед студентів, ні серед вчителів. З іншого боку, переважання англійської мови в різних конкурсних іспитах спричинило соціальне невдоволення, яке призвело до масових акцій протесту, а також подання нових справ на розгляд до Вищого та Верховного судів проти мовного імперіалізму англійської та гінді. Влада може визначати мови, проте в умовах демократії переважає думка народу. Незважаючи на це, автор зазначає, що деякі мови приречені зазнати важкої втрати як у короткостроковій, так і в довгостроковій перспективі.

Ключові слова: мова, двомовність, багатомовність, рідна мова, мовний імперіалізм, конституція, графік.

Introduction

About six thousand languages are being used currently in more than two hundred countries of the world. The questions like: "What/Who made so many languages?" and "Why different languages are used by different social groups all over the world?" have no definite answers. According to the Greeks d iversity in speech was brought by the god Hermes and along with it separation and discord ensued; the Bible narrates the story of the "Tower of Babel" (Genesis d d: d--9) to explain the phenomenon of multi-lingualism that led to "disharmony". On the other hand people of some ethnicities like those in North America believe in a Great Deluge that separated people and their speech while those in Africa believe in great famine as the cause of different languages. These discourses/explanations underline the politics of dominance and the natural/geographical intervention as the probable reasons for so much diversity in languages.

"What comes first: language or thought?" is a riddle that remains unsolved like the riddle as to what came first - a hen or an egg. However, there is no disagreement on the fact that language is a wonderful creation the use of which grants one the status of being human and distinguishes one from vegetative state. All languages are capable enough of meeting the requirements of a social group where they have originated though they also become the instruments of oppression/expression in the hands of institutions wielding/professing educational, economic, political and religious power. Each social group/institution keeps on updating its language by way of adding/disusing vocabulary items and modifying syntactical structures to meet its current requirements which lead to modernization of a language. If a group and its language fail to meet the current challenges both of them either lose their significance or get wiped out. The disciplines of Anthropology and Historical Linguistics are full of examples to prove the veracity of the above statements. linguistic india dialects

Language is an important tool not only for the purpose of communication among the members of a gregarious group but also to form bonds among the members of a family and a society. It is also a vital tool to understand the world around us and for forging and maintaining friendly, cultural and economic tie-ups. John Stuart Mill says, "Language is the light of the mind." (Dictionary, d997:d28) The linguist Edward Sapir maintains that language is not only a vehicle for the expression of thoughts, perceptions, sentiments, and values characteristic of a community but it also represents a fundamental expression of social identity. Sapir says, the mere fact of a common speech serves as a peculiar potent symbol of the social solidarity of those who speak the language" (Qtd by Farinde, 2007:157). Benjamin Whorf has noted that language shapes one's thoughts and emotions besides determining one's perception of reality. He writes: "We cut nature up, organize it into concepts, and ascribe significances as we do, largely because we are parties to an agreement to organize it in this way - an agreement that holds throughout our speech community and is codified in the patterns ~ir~**r °f our language." (Whorf, 1940:229-31, 247-8.) One's mother tongue is an essential component in shaping and giving a person one's identity; it is not only a social need but also a psychological need. If one is not able to use it for a long time one becomes emotionally dry; it may turn one into a psycho or may lead one to madness. Therefore, one craves to use one's mother tongue when one goes to an alien land where one's language is not used and insists on preserving it. One's language is the most important part of one's being though it is equally important to learn other languages besides one's own if one wishes to expand one's mental and other horizons and wishes to learn about other people, their problems and perspectives and cultures and explore the world for economic, educational, political and religious purposes. Every normal child knows his/her mother tongues well (listening and speaking skills) when s/he is sent to a school at the age of three or four for becoming literate (reading and writing skills), learning some skill and becoming proficient in some subject in order to render his/her services to his/her family, society, country and humanity at large. These objectives are achievable both by formal and informal education. The higher goal of liberating oneself (sa vidya ya vimuktaye1) is not an achievable objective in the present system of education being practised at the behest of the different governments all over the world. Still all governments have to impart education and language planning is one of the key issues in the field. In Indian context "Language" is both could be a means of communication (of knowledge in a particular discipline) and a subject matter (in itself). Since most of the Indian leaders, who participated in the freedom struggle during late 19th and early 20th century had been trained in Europe/USA the Indian state was shaped on European models by them. Solutions to many Indian problematic social issues cropping up owing a to a curious history and its colonial interpretation in many areas were derived out of the existing European models. Issues like education and languages had been independent of the political/ government interference before the arrival of the European colonisers in India but the situation had changed by the time they left. The British left a strong burden of educational system/institutions imparting education in English which were patronised by the Government both directly (in terms of grants) and indirectly (in terms of recognition).

The system could not be overthrown overnight though the nationalist fervour and a clamour to develop Indian identity after independence necessitated having fresh look at the related issue of education and language. With the emergence of new disciplines of Sociology of Languages (Basil, 1971, Fishman, 1972, Giglioli, 1972, Penalosa, 1981), Sociolinguistics (Gumperz & Hymes, 1972, Hymes, 1974, Trudgil, 2000, Chambers, 2009) and Language Planning (Haugen, 1966, Lewis, 1972, Jernudd, 1982, Mansor, 2005) and the emphasis of the United Nations since 1950's on imparting education in mother tongue further livened up the debates regarding the issues of Mother Tongue and Multilingualism in India as several new dimensions were added to them at the International level. The area is quite fascinating for further researches in psycho-linguistics and cognitive sciences as traditionally almost every Indian is a multi-lingual. Because different areas of brain are used in using different languages an Indian's reactions and perspectives on social and political issues are largely different.

Methods

In order to understand the matrix of Mother Tongue and Multilingualism in India a theoretical study of the language planning policies and practices with reference to Mother Tongues and Multi-lingualism has been undertaken. The data available at different sources in public domain has been used to corroborate the study. A comparative approach has been followed to analyse the actual practice of the multi-lingualism and use of mother tongue in the education system. The observations on the data of actual practice have been compared and contrasted with a view to see its import on the larger goal of the development of a civilization. The limitation of the study is the data drawn from secondary sources (mainly from the agencies involved in the process) as it is not possible for an individual to collect the data because of the enormous size of the country which is almost of the size of Europe, and a huge population of 382 persons per sq km (totalling to 17.86 % of the total world population) yet the findings are not likely to change with the corrections in the data at micro-level.

1. The Study

It is in the modern formal system that the first conflict regarding languages starts - if education should be imparted in one's mother tongue or in an alien language. All over the world, except in developing countries (=backward in the development of science and technology and imparting modern education i.e. education developed in the West/colonisers), all education from primary language to higher education is provided in their national language which is also mother tongue in most of the cases. In British and American schools/universities it is English, in France French, in Germany German, in Japan Japanese and the like. Even the (former) communist countries like China, Russia (former USSR), Poland, Ukraine, Czech and Slovak Republics (former Czechoslovakia), Vietnam and the like promote the use of one language to promote nationhood, equality and comradeship. This historical reality leads to a logical derivation that the knowledge of modern science can be acquired in any language because it is a methodology and not parroting a subject/knowledge. If one acquires scientific temperament one can make scientific advancements independently as has been done in Germany, Russia, Japan and China.

A person thinks in one's mother tongue and can come up with innovative ideas to solve the problems around one. Developing countries will always remain in the third world group unless they make discoveries and inventions to make a leap into the scientifically/technologically developed economic world. Researches in science/technology are always a matter of time unlike the literary works which are unique products of a combination of their times and artists; scientific innovations take place in some places earlier than at some others but philosophical/literary productions remain unique. This timing is of utmost value as the early invention in the field of science and technology gives one an edge over others and it makes all the difference. Language of one's thought is very vital for an innovation for one thinks best in one's mother tongue. Developing countries are likely to be in the same situation if the medium of instruction is not changed at their higher education institutions.

It is a well known fact that the modern education system in India is the brainchild the British. They created municipality schools for the commoners (mostly located in impecunious and scruffy localities) and elite institutions (like Rajkumar Colleges) which were located in posh and elite areas for the education of sons and relatives of the Feudatory class, who donated funds. A parallel education system in the form of Mission Schools/ Colleges was started by the churches as a missionary activity with a dual purpose in mind: mainly to convert the heathens into believers and secondly to cater to needs of the children of British and Anglo-Indian officials serving in India. All these formal activities largely took place in English and it gave birth to a new "class of persons Indian in blood and colour, but English in tastes, in opinions, in morals and in intellect." (Macaulay, 1835) This class of persons were to be the agents of change (not the innovators themselves) in the country: "To that class we may leave it to refine the vernacular dialects of the country, to enrich those dialects with terms of science borrowed from the Western nomenclature, and to ender them by degrees fit vehicles for conveying knowledge to the great mass of the population." (Macaulay, 1835) Even in the postindependence era the pattern of education has virtually remained the same and a derivative of the Western Epistemology as is evident from the lists of prescribed reading and recommended books in various courses. Since these books are in English, learning English becomes obligatory for a University degree which in turn is imperative for a government job. English, therefore, continues to be at the helm of affairs and enjoys the status of the language of the social elites; the process starts a chain reaction to promote the need of the English language. This is a situation not only in India but in almost all the countries that have a colonial past. Because of this situation there has been a debate whether education should be provided in mother tongue (MT) or in an alien language.

Also the large gap between the achievements of MT schools and English medium schools in terms of proficiency in English has led to the democratic demand of "uniform education". The related corollary is if the innovations and the discoveries that the civilization is proud of will ever be made by a person who does not work in his/her mother tongue and who works with a second language. If one tries to verify Macaulay's tall claims of developing "intellect" through English (the second language) by way of the contribution of the products of even the best Public Schools (like Doon School, Dehradun, Mayo College, Ajmer, Woodstock School, Mussoorie and Scindia School, Gwalior and the like) and the Rajkumar Colleges) one realises that it is almost insignificant to mention. They just appear on the scene when one tries to locate the most expensive schools in India as their graduates do not have any discovery, innovation, patent or path breaking research to their credit in the fields of science, technology and medicine or the related areas. Nor do they seem to be contributing significantly in the fields of Humanities, Social Sciences and Commerce. We of course value Gandhi and Nehru for their intellectual contribution and building of the nation but for both of them English was the second language. However, Gandhi, the imitator of the British/ English, is neither valued nor revered. Gandhi could become the leader of the masses and was able to connect with them and their culture because of his solid foundations in his mother tongue. On the other hand it is also true that Gandhi would not been Gandhi without his English education. Gandhi's greatness is an example of the greatness generated out of the hybridity in English was grafted to his MT Guajarati.

Language learning is a simple process as well as a complex one. It is ss simple a process that every child with srdinary/nsrmal abilities is able ts learn the language being used around one. But it turns out to be a complex one if an alien language is to be learnt in unrealistic situations by a young one or when an adult wants to learn a new language. Therefore, the teaching materials, methods and strategies of L1 and L2 users are different. Sven different evaluation parameters, strategies and methods are required to judge one ' s performance in these languages. UNESCO has encouraged mother tongue instruction in primary education since 1953 (UNESCO, 1953) and UNESCO highlights the advantages of mother tongue education right from the start: children are more likely to enrol and succeed in school and UNESCO highlights the advantages of mother tongue education right from the start: children are more likely to enrol and succeed in school. (Kosonen, 2005) Oliver Stegen, a German linguist also holds the same view though with certain reservations: "Every child should receive basic education in the language which s/he is most familiar with. ...

Once a solid foundation is laid in the child's first language, the child can expand her experience and learn more even through other languages spoken in her wider environment. Mother tongue education is not the answer to everything. Teaching methods and students' environments have to be taken into account also. ... In the same way that biodiversity is important for the balance of life on our planet, language diversity is important for the balance of cultures." (Stegen) Gandhi also believed that one may find succour only in one's mother tongue. He was of the opinion that not only primary but also higher and technical education should be provided in one's MT. (Gandhi) It has been observed that the students in "total immersion" system become dull and that they just to cram up the material without involving any creative skills as compared to the ones in L1 or bilingual schools. (author's personal experience); it has also been reported that the children in multilingual education tend to develop better thinking skills compared to their monolingual peers. (Bialystok, 2001; Cummins, 2000; King & Mackey, 2007) The Indian education system is truly multilingual in its character and it does not ignore the importance of mother tongue in teaching and learning at the primary and secondary level. The three-language formula2 widely accepted in the country aims at developing and strengthening the multilingual character of the nation; in some cases (linguistically minority groups) this formula becomes a four-language formula as they have to learn their mother tongue, the dominant regional language, English and Hindi. Various public agencies run schools in bi-lingual and multilingual schools to cater to the needs of various linguistic communities. However, higher education system in India impedes multilingualism. Though most of the Indian universities have both English and local languages as media of instruction yet the quality of graduates opting for an Indian

The Tower of Babble: Mother Tonaue and Multilingualism in India has been a dearth of sufficient number of high quality text-books and reference materials keeping pace with times in the Indian languages. The following data regarding academic/research journals culled from the official website of University Grants Commission3 clearly indicates that most of the academicians do not take their mother tongues seriously at higher education level.

Table 1.