UNIT 1: DEFINITIONS: REGIONAL LANGUAGES AND MOTHER … · 2016-06-24 · UNIT 1: DEFINITIONS: REGIONAL LANGUAGES AND MOTHER TONGUE UNIT STRUCTURE 1.1 Learning Objectives 1.2 Introduction

UNIT 1: DEFINITIONS: REGIONAL LANGUAGESAND MOTHER TONGUE

UNIT STRUCTURE

1.1 Learning Objectives

1.2 Introduction

1.3 What is a Regional Language

1.3.1 Constitutional Provisions

1.3.2 Constitutionally Recognised Languages in India

1.3.3 Regional Languages in the Context of Assam

1.3.4 Regional Languages Vs. Minority Languages

1.4 What is a Mother Tongue

1.4.1 Mother Tongue and the First Language

1.5 The Need and Relevance of Mother Tongue Teaching

1.5.1 Double Disadvantage

1.5.2 Disruption of the Development of the Learning Skills

1.5.3 BICS and CALP

1.5.4 Intergenerational Transmission of Heritage Language

and Culture

1.6 Let us Sum up

1.7 Further Reading

1.8 Answer to Check Your Progress

1.9 Model Questions

1.1 LEARNING OBJECTIVES

After going through this unit, you will able to-

� describe the concept of regional language and mother tongue

� discuss the constitutional provisions for regional languages and

mother tongue

� explain the need and relevance of teaching mother tongue in your

school and

� familiarize yourself with various theoretical underpinnings of the

teaching of mother tongue and its positive effect on the learners.

5Pedagogy of Regional Language and Mother Tongue

1.2 INTRODUCTION

Language plays a pivotal role in the overall development of a person

and the society. It helps people to exchange ideas and information, and to

communicate with the outside world. Even right now when you are going

through these lines, think for a moment, how the language has helped you

to understand what is written here. A transmission of information and idea

from the book to you has been taking place through a specific language

(English, in this case).

Think about your own classroom. While teaching a lesson, you

always use a language both in the spoken and written form to put across

the ideas to the students. And the students also communicate with you

through a specific language to express their views and answer any questions.

Now think about the time that you spend with your family. Don't you

use your language to talk with each of your family members? Imagine a

situation where none of your family members knows a language. Or just

imagine the next morning you find yourself in the planet Mars with some

aliens around you. You do not understand their language at all, neither can

they understand yours. In such a situation will you be able to communicate

even a simple message across to them?

The above situations and examples probably help you to understand

the importance of language in our lives. It is one of the most indispensable

elements in human lives which enables us to communicate, exchange

opinions, information and express our emotions in an effective way.

Language also plays a very crucial role in the teaching-learning

process. As has already been mentioned, in the classroom you always need

to use a particular language in order to teach the lessons in various subjects

like English, Mathematics, Science, Social Science etc. But India being a

multilingual and multi ethnic country, in almost all the classrooms around

the country, there are students from different language backgrounds. Have

you ever wondered whether all the students in your class understand the

language you are using to teach the lessons? Have you ever come across

confused looks mostly among the back benchers who do not seem to

6 Pedagogy of Regional Language and Mother Tongue

Definitions : Regional Languages and Mother TongueUnit 1

understand what is being taught? You must have talked to this set of students

and have tried to understand the root cause of their difficulty in understanding

the lessons. In that process you might have found out that one of the reasons

behind this problem is their difficulty in understanding the language used in

the class. They face this difficulty because that language is different from

the language they use in their homes, with their family members. Just think

about a situation where these students could have been taught the Science,

Mathematics or Social science lessons through their home language or the

language they are most comfortable with. It would have made life a lot easier

for these students to learn these lessons.

But at the same time all your students also need to learn the regional

language, state language and other languages of wider communication.

There is a need to develop their skills to use these languages in various

situations for all types of practical reasons such as doing well in the school

examinations and other academic performances to getting a job or to run a

business. So the question remains - how do you help these learners to

acquire required skills to use these languages in its various forms and

functions.

So in the following sections in this chapter, we will familiarize you

with the concept of mother tongue, first language and regional languages in

the local context. We will also discuss the need and relevance of mother

tongue teaching in our schools. These sections will help you to understand

some of the important issues in the teaching learning process. This in turn

will further empower you to provide better teaching of the mother tongue for

your students. It will be extremely useful for you to keep in mind your own

classroom situation and your students while reading through these sections.

That will help you get the maximum benefit from this course.

CHECK YOUR PROGRESS


Definitions : Regional Languages and Mother Tongue Unit 1

Q 1: What is the basic function of language in

our lives?

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

Q 2: What is the reason cited here for some of your students not

being able to understand the classroom teaching?

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

1.3 WHAT IS A REGIONAL LANGUAGE

India is a country with many languages spoken by its vast population

right from Kanyakumari to Kashmir and from Rann of Kutch to the far east

in Arunachal Pradesh. Each of these languages is perceived/ considered

by its speakers and also by others in the neighbourhood either as a distinct

language or as a dialect of a related language depending on various factors.

These factors include the number of speakers, the status of the language in

terms of its use in the official matters, availability of written materials in the

language, the store of literary publications, whether that particular language

is used as medium of instruction in the schools or as a language subject

etc. Depending on such criteria, some of these languages are considered

as regional languages, while others are known as minority or small

languages. In most cases the regional languages enjoy a lot of government

patronage for its development in terms of its literature, production of materials

and also in introducing that language both as a subject and also as a medium

of instruction in the school, colleges and even at the University level.

1.3.1 Constitutional Provisions



The Indian Constitution, in the Chapter-II of the Part XVII, deals

with the regional languages of India. In Article 345, it states,

Subject to the provisions of articles 346 and 347, the Legislature of

a State may by law adopt any one or more of the languages in use in

the State or Hindi as the language or languages to be used for all or

any of the official purposes of that State:

Provided that, until the Legislature of the State otherwise

provides by law, the English language shall continue to be used for

those official purposes within the State for which it was being used

immediately before the commencement of this Constitution.

So the Indian constitution has actually provided the respective

states with the power to decide what the official language for the

state should be. Therefore, in the context of Northeast India, we find

different languages being adopted as the official languages of the

respective states. For example Assamese has been considered as

the official language in the state of Assam, while the state of Manipur

has Meitei as the official language. Similarly, there are other languages

which are being used as official languages in different states of India.

1.3.2 Constitutionally Recognised Languages in India

The Indian Constitution has, in its Chapter I and II of the part

XVII, clearly mentioned about the official languages of the country. In

Article 343: Official language of the Union, it has stated Hindi with

Devanagari script as the official language of the nation and has made

the provision for continuous use of English as a subsidiary official

language. In Chapter II of the same part, the Constitution has

empowered the state legislature of each of the states under the Union

government to decide upon the official languages for their state.

The Union government has specified the exact extent to which

and the exact areas where the use of Hindi and English will be used.

It has been determined by provisions in the constitution under the

Official Languages Act, 1963, The official Languages rules, 1976



and statutory instruments made by the Department of Official

languages under these laws.

The Eighth Schedule to the Indian Constitution has enlisted

22 scheduled languages. Inclusion of a language in this list means

that the particular language is entitled for representation in the Official

Language Commission. This Commission was constituted by the

President of India in pursuance to the provisions stated in Article

344 of Indian constitution for dealing with issues of promoting Hindi

as the official language along with other language related issues.

Inclusion of any particular language in this list means that the

government of India will remain responsible for promotion and

development of these languages through all different government

provisions and apparatus. Table 1.1 below provides the names of

the 22 languages listed under this schedule along with its language

families, number of speakers and the states where they are spoken.

Table 1.1: Languages included in the Eighth Schedule of the Indian

Constitution



Himachal



Initially only 14 languages were included in the Constitution. But due

to the growing demand from other language communities, the government

decided to include more number of languages in this list. Accordingly, Sindhi

was included in 1967, whereas Konkani, Manipuri and Nepali were included

in 1992. The more recent inclusions into this list were Dogri, Maithili, Santhali

and Bodo languages in the year 2004.

However, there are demands for including more languages in this

list. At present there are demands for including 38 more languages in the

Eighth Schedule of the Constitution.

CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

Q 3: Which types of language enjoy government

patronage?

.................................................................................................

Q 4: Who has the power to select the official language of an

Indian State as stated in the Indian Constitution?

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

Q 5: How many languages have been listed in the Eighth Schedule

of the Indian Constitution till now?

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

1.3.3 Regional Languages in The Context of Assam

The previous section /sub-sections (1.3, 1.3.1 and 1.3.2)

might have given you an idea about the regional language in general

and also in the context of Indian Constitution. Keeping that discussion

in mind, let us now consider the issue of regional languages in the12 Pedagogy of Regional Language and Mother Tongue


specific context of our state Assam. If you go back to the Table 1 in

the 1.3.2 you will notice that the word Assam in the column under

the heading of 'States' is shown in bold. This is to draw your attention

to the number of languages in the Eight Schedule which are spoken

in Assam. So how many of these languages do you find in the list?

We are sure that you will find three such languages namely

Assamese, Bodo and Bengali.

Assamese is the state language in the state of Assam. It is

spoken by around 13 million people in the state. It has a rich body of

literature and reading materials. It belongs to the Indo Aryan language

group and has a rich heritage of written literature in various genres

such as stories, novels, dramas, songs, poems, histories, ballads,

folk songs etc. It is used both as a medium of instruction and also

as a subject of study at schools, colleges and at the university level.

As a result, there is a large number of study materials published in

this language. Hence Assamese has been aptly included as one of

the major languages in to the Eighth Schedule and also is considered

as one of major regional languages in India.

Bodo, on the other hand belongs to the Tibeto-Burman

language family. At present there are around 1.4 million speakers of

Bodo language who are spread across the lower Assam on the North

bank of River Brahmaputra. It is one of the oldest ethnic languages

spoken in the state of Assam. It has been included into the Eighth

Schedule of Indian constitution comparatively recently, i.e. in the year

2004. As a result, now this language is also used both as a subject

and as a medium of instruction in the schools under the Bodoland

Territorial Council formed in the year 2003. This language also has a

rich heritage of published written materials and it expresses the

cultural and traditional characteristics of the Bodo community in the

North east India. The Bengali language enjoys official status in some

districts of the Barak Valley.

Apart from these two languages, there are many other

languages also which are spoken by a sizable number of people in



Assam. These are Rabha, Mishing, Khasi, Garo, Tiwa etc. But these

languages are yet to get recognition by the Constitution of India.

1.3.4 Regional Languages Vs. Minority Languages

Reading through the previous sections, you must have got a

fair idea about the nature and function of the regional languages

both in the larger context of India and also in the specific context of

Assam. We mentioned at the end of the previous section that there

is a large group of languages in Assam used by speakers in varied

numbers (from as small as a few thousands to comparatively larger

numbers in lakhs) as their mother tongues. Most of these languages

are spoken by people belonging to the various ethnic groups in the

state. Some of these languages are Mishing, Singpho, Tangsa, Nocte,

Tai Phake, Tai Khamyang, Tai Turung, Tai Khamti, Tai Aiton, Garo,

and many more. These languages are used by their speakers mostly

in their homes with their family members and also within the

community. But beyond that, there is no scope for using these

languages as the number of speakers of these languages is

comparatively smaller than those of the regional languages. Hence

this set of languages are referred to as minority languages and the

speaker communities are known as minority language communities.

If we compare these minority languages to the regional or

the official languages in India, we can identify three basic areas of

difference viz. number of speakers, domains language use,

availability of written literature.

Number of speakers

As has already been discussed, comparatively small number

of speakers use most of these minority languages. For example,

the speakers of languages like Singpho, Tai Aiton, Turung, Khamti,

Phake, Khamyang etc., who use the respective languages as mother

tongues, are limited to numbers that range within 50 and10,000 at

the most. In most cases, unfortunately, the number of these language

speakers is gradually decreasing for a host of factors such as



influence of major languages, shifting of ethnic population for

economic and social security, educational needs etc. In contrast,

the regional languages are much healthier in terms of the number of

speakers. For example, the number of speakers of the Assamese

language has been recorded at around 13 million.

Domains of language use

If we consider the use of the minority languages that we have

been discussing, we will see that the speakers use most of these

languages in the home domain and at best within the community.

There is hardly any scope for using these languages beyond these

two domains. In some areas, such ethnic languages are partially

used in markets. There are very few minority languages which are

used in the schools even as a subject. None of these languages are

used for official purposes in Assam or elsewhere in India. The regional

languages, on the other hand, are used in a varied number of domains.

For example, just think about the Assamese language. Apart from

being used as the mother tongue or the first language by the native

speakers, it is also used as a lingua franca by various sections of

people in the state. It is used both as a subject and also as a medium

of instruction in the schools, colleges and universities. It is also used

for official work and is extensively used at different levels in the daily

life by almost all people in the state.

Availability of written literature

Most of the minority languages are oral. In other words, many

of these languages are still in spoken form only; but there is no system

to write it down. In some cases like the Singphos, and the Tais, they

have their own ways of writing their languages. But still there are a

lot of other small ethnic languages which are yet to develop a written

system. As a result, there is very little written literature in these

languages which can be used by the future generation to learn these

languages. Availability of written literature plays one of the crucial

roles in sustaining a language among its native speakers and also

among other language speakers. In case of regional languages like



Assamese, Bodo, Bengali, Manipuri etc, there is a comparatively

large body of written literature relating to various fields of knowledge.

Since these languages are also used for educational purposes, it

becomes imperative to produce appropriate written literature available

for learners.

CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

Q 6: How many languages spoken in Assam are

listed in the Eight Schedule of the Indian

constitution and what are these?

................................................................................................

Q 7: What are the main areas of difference between a regional/

official language and a minority language as cited here?

................................................................................................

................................................................................................

1.4 WHAT IS A MOTHER TONGUE

India being a multilingual country, we often come across terms such

as 'mother tongue' 'first language', 'second language' etc. In order to

understand the significance of these different labels, we need to know what

they refer to. There are several explanations for these labels.

For example, a mother tongue can be referred to as the language

that a child grows up speaking. Think about your own childhood. In which

language did you start meaningful communication with your parents and

other close relatives? Hence, the language that you first spoke is normally

referred to as your mother tongue.

Mother tongue is also generally related to the ethnic identity of an

individual. For example, for an Assamese person, his/ her mother tongue is

Assamese. Similarly, for a person belonging to the Bodo community, his/

her mother tongue will be Bodo as long as he/she communicates in this

language.

These are some of the simple ways of defining or understanding a



mother tongue of an individual. At the same time, there are complicated

issues relating to the definition of mother tongue. Quite often, defining the

mother tongue of a particular individual is not so simple. For example, just

imagine the following situation.

A child belonging to a minority language community like the Singpho

grows up in a completely Assamese language environment right from day

one. This is because before the child is born, his/ her parents shifted from

the village with a Singpho speaking environment to a town area where they

have assimilated into the dominant Assamese language and culture for many

years. So after birth their child naturally picked up the Assamese language

and has started speaking it fluently with no trace of Singpho language. Now

in this situation, what will be the mother tongue of the child -.Singpho or

Assamese? Just think about it for a moment.

Even though ethnically that particular child belongs to the Singpho

community, he has started all kinds of communication in Assamese.

Therefore, from that point of view, the mother tongue of the child would be

Assamese rather than Singpho.

1.4.1 Mother Tongue and the First Language

'First Language' is another term which is often used as a

synonym of the 'Mother Tongue' of a particular person. It is also

defined as the language that a child uses for the first time in life. It

also refers to a particular language that the child can use fluently.

From this perspective, this term is almost the same as the term

Mother Tongue. But at the same time, there are exceptions. There

are situations where a person belonging to a minority language

community can hardly communicate in the language of his/ her

parents. This is because the language has already lost its speakers

substantially. As a result, he/she has grown up speaking the state

language or the dominant language. In this case the first language

of that person can be the state language in which he/ she can fluently

express himself/ herself, whereas the mother tongue can be his/her

parents' language as it signifies the ethnic identity.



CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

Q 8: Fill in the blanks

a) Mother tongue is also generally related

to the ...................... of an individual.

b) ‘First Language’ is another term which is often used as a

....................... to the ........................ of a particular person.

1.5 THE NEED AND RELEVANCE OF MOTHER

TONGUE TEACHING

After having discussed briefly the concepts of regional language and

mother tongue in the previous sections, we shall now discuss the need and

relevance of mother tongue teaching for the children of minority language

communities.

Since 1990s, there has been a growing concern among

educationists, psychologists, linguists and experts from other fields of

knowledge regarding the lack of mother tongue teaching for the children all

over the world and its consequences. This concern has led to a concerted

effort at the international level for creating awareness about the benefit of

mother tongue teaching especially for the children of minority language

communities all over the world. Researchers have investigated into the

aspects of mother tongue teaching and its impact on the learning capability

of children belonging to minority language communities.

Such scientific research has established the fact that the best

medium of learning for the child is his/her mother tongue or the language

that he/she is most familiar and comfortable with. Scientific evidence has

shown that children starting their education through their mother tongue

first and then transitioning or moving on to the other languages are much

more academically proficient than those who begin education through their

second or third language. Based on such research findings, we will

discuss the need and relevance of mother tongue teaching in our schools

in the following sections.

There are a number of factors in the teaching-learning process which



are directly influenced by the choice of language (home language/first

language/ mother tongue versus other languages) as the medium of

instruction used in the schools.

1.5.1 Double Disadvantage

In order to understand the phrase 'Double disadvantage', think

about your classroom situation. In most of the schools we have

multilingual classes. In other words, there are students from different

language backgrounds, whose mother tongue is different from the

medium of instruction used in the schools. Have you not come

across students who are very quiet in the class or who often give a

blank stare irrespective of whatever you teach? You must have come

across students who, in spite of your sincere efforts, find it hard to

understand even a simple concept while studying science,

mathematics, social studies etc. While there may be different

possible reasons behind it, one very common reason is that those

students actually find it difficult to follow what you are saying in the

classroom as classroom instruction. Because the language used

as the medium of instruction is different from their mother tongue or

from the language that they are most familiar with.

As a result, these students face two challenges in the

classroom. First, they struggle to understand the language in which

the teacher is teaching. Second, it is challenging for them to

understand the contents, i.e. the educational concepts and lessons,

because the language is unfamiliar to them. These two challenges

are known as double disadvantage. These challenges really hinder

the understanding of the learners and discourage them from enjoying

the class. As a result, these groups of students gradually stop coming

to the class as they often perform poorly in the class test and other

assessments they are put through.



1.5.2

A challenging environment as discussed in the previous

section discourages the learners from developing their learning skills.

When we talk about learning skills, we refer to the six stages of

learning skills a learner needs to develop so that she/he can learn

new concepts and knowledge. The following table presents these

six stages, which are also known as Bloom's Taxonomy.

Table 2: Bloom's taxonomy

Description

This is the highest and most abstract skills and

it enables the learner to bring in his knowledge

and skills and form new knowledge out of it. It

involves critical thinking and the ability to analyse.

This skill enables the learner to think critically.

The learner should be able to make judgement

on the given concept.

This is a more abstract skill which requires the

learners to see patterns and compare and

contrast. The learner should be able to break a

whole into pieces and understand the structure.

In other words this skill enables the learners to

analyse any given context and then look at the

essential components embedded into the whole.

This skill requires the learners to use what is

taught. This is possible only if the learner

understands well what is taught. With a better

and correct understanding he/ she will be able

to apply the same in a different context or

situation.

This skill requires the learner to understand what

is taught and then to construct meaning out of it.

He/she should be able to exemplify, classify or

explain what is taught.

This is the simplest skill which enables the

learners to recall what is taught. In other words

this is what is called rote memorization

Abstract

Concrete

Skills

Synthesize

Evaluate

Analyse

Apply

Understand

Remember



These six skills, which start off with a fairly simple skill like

remembering and advances towards more complex and abstract

skills like analysing, evaluating and finally synthesizing, needs to be

systematically developed among the learners. But if the learners

find it difficult even to understand the classroom instruction, then it

is never going to be easy for these learners to develop the higher

learning and cognitive skills like evaluating or synthesizing. The use

of a language other than the mother tongue of the learners thus

seriously disrupts this development of learning and cognitive skills.

This results in the academic failures of the learners from the minority

language communities and subsequent school dropouts at a higher

rate.

Such a progressive development of learning and cognitive

skills as shown above is possible only if the teaching-learning in the

classroom is done through the mother tongue of the learners. The

use of the mother tongue will help the learners to follow the classroom

instruction with understanding. It will also encourage them to

participate in the classroom interaction more actively and that will

further develop their analysing, evaluating and other complex skills.

Therefore, it is very important that the learners are provided with the

opportunity to learn through their mother tongue.

1.5.3 BICS and CALP

In Section 1.5.1 we discussed the 'double disadvantage' that

the learners suffer from, when taught through a language different

from their mother tongue. While going through that section the

following question might have come to your mind.

In my school, I have seen that learners from different language

backgrounds are comfortable communicating with their fellow

students in the language of classroom transaction, even though the

language of classroom transaction is different from their mother

tongues. They do not seem to face any problem at that point. So

how is it that the same language hinders the learning ability of the



learners in the classroom?

In order to understand your observation and the subsequent

question on this issue, let us discuss two important concepts

proposed by the renowned educationist Jim Cummins.

The first one is known as Basic Interpersonal Communicative

Skills (BICS). BICS refers to the ability of a child to communicate

with his/her friends, peers in the second language provided he/ she

is sufficiently exposed to the second language environment.

According to Cummins, it takes 1-3 years for a language learner to

develop BICS. This means such a child will be able to express his/

her basic feelings, needs etc through the second language. It is

comparatively a cognitively less demanding skill. But this skill should

not be mistaken for a higher grade of proficiency in the second

language learning for the same child. This is where Cummins has

talked about Cognitive and Academic Language Proficiency (CALP).

CALP is a cognitively more demanding language skill which needs

to be developed for attaining academic proficiency. It refers to the

manipulation of language skills at a more abstract level. It enables

the learner to think, analyse critically and then infer or produce new

knowledge which eventually helps him/her to perform better in the

academic pursuit. According to research by Cummins, it takes 5 to

7 years for a young learner with a strong mother tongue foundation

to acquire CALP in second language. But for a learner without a

strong mother tongue foundation, it takes 7 to 10 years to acquire

the same in the second language.

Therefore in order to help the learners acquire CALP for a

better performance in the second language or the language of the

school, mother tongue teaching should be promoted in the schools.

Research all over the world has come up with some effective

strategies and tools for teaching of literacy skills and other educational

concepts through the mother tongue of the learners. We will discuss

some of these strategies in the subsequent units.



1.5.4 Intergenerational Transmission of Heritage

Language and Culture

One of the serious challenges that the human race is facing

of late is the extinction of languages at a fast pace. This extinction

has been so rapid that it has been estimated that by the end of this

century, the human kind will lose almost half of the total number of

around 7000 spoken languages today in the globe. Apart from the

loss of language, it has other serious implications. One of them is

the extinction of a vast storehouse of traditional knowledge related

to the history of mankind, culture, indigenous life, society, agriculture,

indigenous way of co-existence with nature etc. One main reason

for this extinction is the gradual decline in the number of speakers of

minority languages. With the passing of time, more and more

speakers of such ethnic languages are embracing the modernity by

way of assimilating into the dominant language and culture. As a

result, the trend of passing on the language and other related

knowledge from one generation to the other in a community has

been affected considerably. The blocking of this intergenerational

transmission of the heritage language and culture in the community

has resulted in the eventual loss of the language and culture in many

instances around the world.

In this kind of a worrying situation, the teaching of mother

tongue in the schools can be an effective way of preventing such

language loss. The use of the learners' language in the school will

encourage the learners to learn their own language. In this process,

the elders in the community can also be engaged in the teaching-

learning process in various ways so that they can transfer their

linguistic and cultural knowledge to their children. This can be done

through various strategies which can be included in the curriculum.

Such strategies will help the learners not only to acquire educational

concepts and basic literacy skills, but also to maintain their mother

tongue and culture.



CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

Q 9: Fill in the blanks

a) Scientific research has established the

fact that the best medium of .............. for child is through his/her

..................... or the language that he/she is most familiar and

comfortable with.

Q 10: How many stages are there in Bloom’s Taxonomy?

.................................................................................................

1.6 LET US SUM UP

� Language plays one of the most pivotal roles in the overall development

of a person and the society. It helps people to exchange ideas and

information, and to communicate with the outside world.

� In many cases learners from a different language background do not

perform well in the school just because they find it difficult to follow the

classroom transaction done through a language different from their

mother tongues.

� The regional languages enjoy a lot of government patronage for its

development in terms of its literature, production of materials and also

in introducing that language both as a subject and as a medium of

instruction in the schools, colleges and university level.

� The Indian Constitution, in the Chapter-II of the Part XVII, deals with

the regional languages of India.

� The Indian Constitution has, in its Chapter I and II of the part XVII,

clearly mentioned about the official languages of the country.

� In Article 343: Official language of the Union, the Constitution has stated

Hindi with Devanagari script as the official language of the nation and

has made provision for continuous use of English as a subsidiary

official language.



� In Chapter II of the same part, the constitution has empowered the

state legislature of each of the states under the Union government to

decide upon the official languages for their state.

� The Eighth Schedule of the Indian constitution has listed 22 scheduled

languages. Inclusion of a language into this list means that the particular

language is entitled to representation in the Official Language

Commission.

� Assamese, Bodo and Bengali are the three languages spoken in

Assam that are included in the Eighth Schedule of the Indian

constitution.

� If we compare the minority languages to the regional or the official

languages in India, we can identify three basic areas of difference viz.

number of speakers, domains language use, availability of written

literature.

� Mother tongue is also generally related to the ethnic identity of an

individual.

� Learners from a language background different from the language of

instruction often suffer from the double disadvantage in the classroom.

� There are six cognitive skills or learning stages according to Bloom's

taxonomy which need to be acquired by the learners. In order to help

learners acquire these skills, the learners should be provided with a

favourable learning condition where the teaching-learning process

takes place through the mother tongue of the learners.

� Basic Interpersonal Communicative Skills (BICS). BICS refers to the

ability of a child to communicate with his/her friends, peers in the second

language provided he/ she is sufficiently exposed to the second

language environment

� CALP refers to the manipulation of language skills at a more abstract

level enabling the learner to think, analyse critically and then infer or

produce new knowledge which eventually helps him/her to perform

better in the academic pursuit.

� One of the serious challenges that the human kind is facing of late is

the extinction of languages at a fast pace. This extinction has been so



rapid that it has estimated that by the end of this century the human

kind will lose almost half of the total number of around 7000 spoken

languages today in the globe.

� One of the main reasons behind this extinction is the gradual decline

in the number of speakers of minority languages.

� Teaching of mother tongue in the schools can be an effective way of

preventing language loss.

1.7 FURTHER READING

1) Dutcher, N. (2004). Expanding Educational Opportunity in

Linguistically Diverse Societies. Washington DC: Center for Applied

Linguistics.

2) Jhingran, D. (2005). Language Disadvantage: the Learning Challenge

in Primary Education. New Delhi: APH Publishing Corporation.

3) Kosonen, K., Young, C., & Malone, S. (2007). Promoting Literacy in

Multilingual Settings . Bangkok: UNESCO Asia-Pacific Regional

Bureau for Education.

1.8 ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR

PROGRESS

Ans to Q No 1: Language plays one of the most pivotal roles in the overall

development of a person and his society. The basic function of

language is to help people to exchange ideas and information, and to

communicate with the outside world.

Ans to Q No 2: This is because the students do not understand the language

through which the classroom transaction takes place. In other words,

the medium of instruction in the school is different from their mother

tongue.



Ans to Q No 3: Regional languages enjoy government patronage for the

development and promotion of the language development in terms of

its literature, production of materials and also in introducing that

language both as a subject and also as a medium of instruction in the

school, colleges and even at the University level.

Ans to Q No 4: The Indian constitution has provided the respective states

with the power to decide upon the official language for the state.

Ans to Q No 5: 22

Ans to Q No 6: 3. These are Assamese, Bodo and Bengali

Ans to Q No 7: The main areas of difference between the regional/ official

language and the minority languages are 1) Number of speakers, 2)

Domains of language use, 3) Availability of written literature

Ans to Q No 8: a) ethnic identity

b) synonym, Mother tongue

Ans to Q No 9: a) learning, mother tongue

Ans to Q No 10: Six

1.9 MODEL QUESTIONS

A. Very Short Questions

Q 1: In which year was the Bodo language included in the Eighth Schedule

of the Indian Constitution?

Q 2: What are the stages mentioned in Bloom's Taxonomy?

Q 3: What are the full forms of BICS and CALP?

B. Short Questions (Answer in about 100-150 words)

Q 1: What is the importance of language in the life of a human being?

Q 2: What kind of role does language play in the teaching learning process?

Q 3: How would you describe a regional language in the context of India?

Q 4: State briefly about the constitutional provisions for regional languages

in India.

Q 5: What do you understand by the term 'Mother tongue'?



Q 6: What are six stages of Bloom's taxonomy? Elaborate the significance

of this taxonomy.

Q 7: Why is it important to sustain the intergenerational transmission of

language and culture?

C. Long Questions (Answer in about 300-500 words)

Q 1: Discuss the concept of regional language and minority languages in

the context of India.

Q 2: Discuss the constitutional provisions for regional languages and the

Eighth schedule of in the Indian constitution.

Q 3: State your concept of Mother tongue and first language.

Q 4: Discuss and elaborate on the need and relevance of mother tongue

teaching in schools.

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UNIT 1: DEFINITIONS: REGIONAL LANGUAGES AND MOTHER … · 2016-06-24 · UNIT 1: DEFINITIONS: REGIONAL LANGUAGES AND MOTHER TONGUE UNIT STRUCTURE 1.1 Learning Objectives 1.2 Introduction