International Journal of Research e-ISSN: 2348-6848 p-ISSN: 2348-795X Available at https://edupediapublications.org/journals Volume 05 Issue 04 February 2018

Multilingualism in Rumica Afzal & Shaista Afzal 1Department of English, University of Kashmir, Hazratbal Srinagar-190006, J & K, India 2Department of Political Science, Lovely Professional University, Jalandhar-144402, Punjab, India

Abstract Key words: Multilingualism, Heterogeneity, Linguistic, Indian language. Multilingualism is a gift to India. Multilingualism means using several Introduction different languages. A multi-lingual person The term multilingualism which is the center can speak two or more than two languages of attention of this paper is derived from two very well. In terms of heterogeneity, Latin words namely “multi” that means multilingualism can be explained properly many and “lingua” that means language. .Five language families in India marked its Thus multilingualism is referred to as the linguistic heterogeneity. The multilingualism capability of a speaker to articulate himself in India is multidimensional and intricate. or herself in numerous languages with equal There are many changes in every single and native like proficiency language on the basis of caste, religion, (Bussmann,1996). However, it has been gender, occupation, age etc. An individual comprehended in both the written and verbal may use different style of language at communicative practices that proficiency in different places .It is present in the life of all one language frequently tends to dominate citizens. Indian multilingualism became in a multilingual set up as compared to the unique because of its dynamic relationship others. Multilingualism can also be regarded of its language. The present work is an as the co-existence of a number of languages attempt to find out the nature of within a society (Lyons,1981). These multilingualism in India. It also aims to look languages can be official or unofficial, into the different aspects of Indian native or foreign and national or multilingualism arising due to the high international. diversity of Indian societies. There is an old saying, “A man who knows two languages is equivalent to two men”.

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This is because a person who can speak Heterogeneity on account of language, many languages can articulate with people which supposes importance for the present from those language backgrounds easily and study, becomes obvious from the census hence have a wider social life and easily fit report. Census of 1961 reported 1652 in a new place. Therefore, multilingualism mother tongues of various language groups. suggests a lot of autonomy to an individual, Five language families in India describes and is a benefit in terms of acceptance into a linguistic heterogeneity. different language culture. If an immigrant Every society has linguistic diversity .This is can articulate the language of the natives, he not the end of diversities present in India. or she is considered a member of the native There are many other diversities like community, although tentatively. This diversity of food habits, dressing ,religion acceptance offers a sense of security to the and region etc. because of all these diversity individual and hence becomes very ,India is multilingual. The multilingualism important for his / her wellbeing. In reality, of India is multidimensional and intricate. It the world itself has now entered a phase of is present in all citizens. It became unique globalization where the phenomenon of because of its dynamic relationship of Indian bilingualism / multilingualism has become language. Inspite of its linguistic diversity, an additional value. Globalization has communication is conducted easily improved the value of multilingualism. (Saba, 2013). Heterogeneity is the best term to explain Indian multilingualism. Multilingualism in India Multilingualism in India is a creation of its The Indian society has different social history and a manifestation of its diverse groups which are of varying shape and size, cultures. India is said to be a socio-linguistic and perform different functions. This giant and the nerve system of this giant is heterogeneity makes Indian society unique multilingual. According to Li Wei (Wei, in itself. It can be seen at various levels such 2000), “Language is a human faculty: it as geography, religion, caste (there are as coevolves with us” and monolingualism, many as 6000 castes in India), ethnicity, which even in normal circumstances is a culture, languages, scripts, etc. rare phenomenon, is beyond imagination in

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a context such as India where English has most Indians still live in rural areas and in coexisted with indigenous languages over a small towns with different linguistic, long period. In fact, the magnitude of religious and cultural practices. (Saraf, multilingualism in India has made scholars 2014) The Indian constitution recognizes wonder about how communication happens twenty two official languages. and and how social cohesion is maintained English are used by the Union Government (Annamalai, 2001). “Indian multilingualism of India for official purposes. Tamil and is huge in size, having 1620 mother tongues were designated "classical reduced to 200 languages…. With the languages" by the Indian government in population of many of minorities larger than 2004 and 2005. The number of dialects in European countries”(Annamalai, 2001) India is as high as 1,652. India does not have Since time immemorial, India has been a a mother tongue, it has mother tongues. multilingual country. Through more than Does India have a national language? four millennia of known history, the Presumably, it does, and it is Hindi. How it linguistic families which co-existed together came to become a national language is have continuously interacted with each other described by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar who was and achieved a pan Indian character which is the Chairman of the Drafting Committee unique in itself, firstly, in the matter of when the Draft was sentence structure and, secondly, in the being considered, on the issue of adopting number of shared items of vocabulary Hindi as the National language: "...There (Prasad, 1979) norm. India houses about 1.1 was no article which proved more billion people with a population growth rate controversial than Article 115 which deals of 1.6 per cent a year. As per Census 2001, with the question. No article produced more India is administratively organized into 35 opposition. No article more heat. After a entities, each as big as many independent prolonged discussion when the question was nations. There are 28 States and seven put, the vote was 78 against 78. The tie Union Territories, broadly set up on the could not be resolved. After a long time linguistic principle. Currently, India has 51 when the question was put to the party Cities, 384 Urban Agglomerates and 5161 meeting the result was 77 against 78 for Towns (2843 in 1951) in India. However, Hindi. Hindi won its place as a national

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language by one vote. I am stating these names at different stages. They are better facts from my personal knowledge. ..." known as the Scheduled languages now”.. (Ambedkar,1989) By 1960s, 87.13 per cent of Indians spoke As of today, the Indian constitution languages previously included in the8th identifies 22 major in Schedule of the Indian Constitution. India what is known as “the 8th Schedule” of the today has 92.07 per cent schools at the Constitution. They also occur to be the primary stage teaching through mother major literary languages in India, with a tongue, and the rural and urban comparison substantial volume of writing in them. They shows 92.39 per cent schools in rural areas include, besides Sanskrit, the following 21 and 90.39 per cent school in urban areas modern Indian languages: Assamese, teach through mother tongue. At the Upper Bangla, Bodo, Dogri, Gujarati, Hindi, Primary stage 91.34 per cent teach through Kashmiri, , Konkani, Maithili, mother tongue which consists of 92.71 per , Manipuri, Marathi, Nepali, cent in rural areas and 87.37 per cent in Oriya, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu, Santali, urban areas. 12.14% at the primary stage, Sindhi, and . Originally, only 14 14.47% schools at upper primary and languages were included in the 8th Schedule 18.53% at the secondary stage have two or of the Indian constitution. Bodo, Dogri, more media of instruction. It is also Konkani, Maithili, Manipuri, Nepali, Santali interesting to note that 91.95% of schools in and Sindhi were recognized later. The first the country at the primary stage teach two or , Pt. Jawaharlal more languages. With regard to number of Nehru had made this comment about the languages taught 90.61% of schools at the recognition of languages: “The makers of upper primary stage follow three language our Constitution were wise in lying down formula (i.e. at least three languages are that all the 13 or 14 languages’ were to be taught), 84.86% of schools follow the national languages. There is no question of formula at the secondary stage (NCERT, anyone language being more a national 2007). Forty seven languages are used as language than the others. The languages media of instruction in schools and forty one listed in this Schedule had acquired different languages are taught or used in schools

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(Srinivasa,2008). Multilingualism is of languages used in schools in 1973 constitutive of Indian diversity. (NCERT ,1975) was 67; the number came Multilingualism in education refers to the down to 41 in 1993 (Srinivasa, 2008). While use of two or more languages as medium of the promise of education through / in the instruction (UNESCO,2003). Researches mother tongue of the child is made time and have shown that there is a highly positive again, we notice that within a period of relationship between bilingualism / twenty years at least 25 languages were multilingualism, cognitive flexibility, and thrown out of the school system. This means scholastic achievement(Peal and Lambert children whose mother tongues are these 1962).Bilingual children not only have languages would have to suffer the trouble control over several different languages but of studying in a language which is not theirs. they are also academically more creative and This only adds to what Amartya Sen calls socially more tolerant (NCERT,2005). compounded disadvantage of those who are Language teaching requires to be already disadvantaged. multilingual not only in terms of the number Language families (genetic variation): of languages presented to children but also India is home to five major language in terms of evolving strategies that would families of the world :Indo Aryan, use the multilingual classroom as a resource. Dravidian, Austro Asiatic, Tibeto Burman Children will receive multilingual education and Andamanese. Earlier there were only from the beginning. In the non-Hindi four identified language families but new speaking states, children learn Hindi. In the researchs added Andamanese to it. case of Hindi speaking states, children learn Indo Aryan: It is the largest language a language not spoken in their area. Sanskrit family .It includes 21 languages. Among may also be studied as Modern Indian these, 15 have been renowned by the Language in addition to these languages. At constitution as scheduled languages .The later stages, study of classical and foreign indo Aryan languages basically includes the languages may be introduced (NCF, 2005). northern and central region of India. The number of languages taught or used in Indian schools had been reduced during the Dravidian: It is the second largest language period between 1973 and 1993. The number family . It includes 17 languages .Among

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these , 4 are scheduled languages . These with people within one’s own state. This languages are usually spoken in southern means one is totally isolating oneself from part of India, exception of kurukh which is other regions and other languages. A student spoken in the Gumla district of . who has learnt only his/her mother tongue cannot obtain knowledge regarding the other Austro-Asiatic :This family includes 14 regions and languages unless it is translated languages which can be separated into into his/her own language. His/her education groups :Khmer-Nicobarese and Munda . thus becomes very limited. The Three Tibeto-Burman: It consists of 66 Language Formula (TFL) which emerged as languages . It has three main sub branches a political consensus on languages in school :Tibeto-Himalayan,North – ,Assam- education was a strategy (not a policy) to Burmese. accommodate at least three languages with in the ten years of schooling Andamanese: This language is spoken by (Pattanayak,1986).The All India Council for the people of Andaman and Nicobar islands Education recommended the adoption of the .It is divided into two parts :Great Three Language Formula in Sept. 1956 Andamanese ,Ongan(Wikipedia,retrieved (Mallikarjun,2002). According to this 02/09/2009). formula, every child has to learn the following: 1 The mother tongue or the regional language; 2. The

of the union or the associate official language of the Union so long as it exists (official language of the union is Hindi and Three language formula its associate official language is English); 3. India is a country of several languages. Modern Indian language or a foreign Therefore, one needs to know more than one language, not covered under (1) & (2) above language if he/she wants to interact with and other than that used as the medium of people from different parts of the country. If instruction. one knows only his/her mother tongue The First Language (L1): he/she will only be capable to communicate

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The language that we learn from our to gain knowledge from all possible source childhood is generally spoken by our and share the same with others. Therefore, parents, family members and the other the learner needs to learn the second people around us. This is known as our first language (L2) which in our country usually language or L1. Since this is the language is either Hindi or English. The second we know best and utilize commonly, the language is learn intentionally and government decided that the medium of deliberately for a specific purpose i.e., to instruction at primary stage should be one’s gather information and acquire knowledge. own regional language. Being a teacher we (subhas,2013). might have experienced that at the primary The Third Language (L3): stage most of the instruction takes place We might ask what happens in a case where only through the regional language or the learner’s first language is Hindi and through the children’s mother tongue. First second language is English and neither of language is obtained naturally, through this can help him/her in certain situations. interacting with family members and friends For instance, child’s mother tongue is Khasi without much formal instruction. But even and he/she learns English as his/her second though, we may communicate efficiently in language. When he/she goes to a village in our first language, most of us do not have a he/she may not be in a position to complete knowledge of all the sounds and speak to people either in his/her first letters of the language or its grammar. This language (Khasi) or second language is because we attain it informally. Therefore (English). Because people of that village in formal instruction in the first language is Bihar may not be knowing either Khasi or provided in the School.(subhas,2013) English. In such cases, communications or interaction with other people becomes difficult, and may even be impossible at The Second Language (L2): times. This is where third language (L3) has One of the purposes of education is to a significant role to play. (subhas,2013). expose the learner to different situations and The spirit of the three-language formula thus develop such ability which enables him/her offers Hindi, English, and Indian languages,

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rather a south Indian language for the Hindi- scenario completely unique . It talks about speaking States, and a regional language, language variation on the basis of caste Hindi, and English for the non-Hindi- ,tribe, races, region ,script etc. So this speaking States. The underline merit of this diversity and heterogeneity makes the formula in the promotion of multilingualism people of India multilingual. Actually is hardly questionable and best represents various policies have been framed for the the multilingual character of the nation enhancement and maintenance of diversity (Kachru, 1997). But this formula has been and multilingualism. It is natural for human observed more in the violate than in the being to learn or to use several languages at observance. The Hindi-speaking States the same time. Infact ,in many speech operate largely with Hindi, English, and communities it is common practice to use Sanskrit, whereas the non-Hindi-speaking mixed codes in several domains of activity. States, particularly , operate Multilingualism rather than monolingualism through a two language formula, that is, is the norm. The sooner we recognize the Tamil and English. importance of the multilingualism , the better for us. Conclusion

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