WHY DO TRIBAL CHILDREN NEED MULTILINGUAL EDUCATION?

1. WHY DO TRIBAL CHILDREN NEED MULTILINGUAL EDUCATION? Ajit K Mohanty Jawaharlal Nehru University MLE-OPEPA_UNICEF

2. Educational neglect of languages leading to: • Illiteracy & relapse to illiteracy • Poor educational performance • Subtractive language learning in forced submersion programs • High ‘push-out’ rate • Capability Deprivation & Poverty • Loss of diversity MLE-OPEPA_UNICEF

3. Exclusion of MT from schools is problematic • Children do not learn (capability deprivation, poverty) • Loss of Identity • Weakening of languages (the vicious cycle of disadvantage) • Subtractive language learning (Loss of MT) • Loss of linguistic diversity – Language Death, Murder, Genocide. (Suicide?) • Marginalization, domain shrinkage • Unimplemented (passive) state policies, statutes MLE-OPEPA_UNICEF

4. National Assessment of Achievement at the end of Grade V(NCERT,2004; N=88,271) • STs scored significantly less than others in: • Mathematics • Environmental Studies • Language (L2) • Reading Comprehension • Grammar & Usage MLE-OPEPA_UNICEF

5. Literacy, Drop Out(?) &School Enrollment of STs • Crude Literacy Rate (all age groups) ST=38.41, SC=45.20, Others=54.51 • Effective Literacy Rate (7+ Population) ST=47.10, SC=54.69, Others=68.81 MLE-OPEPA_UNICEF

6. THE VICIOUS CIRCLE OF LANGUAGE DISADVANTAGE MLE-OPEPA_UNICEF

7. Constitutional/statutory/policy Provisions • Indian Constitution (Art. 350A):‘provide adequate facilities for instruction in the mother tongue at the primary stage of education of children belonging to minority groups.’ • The Three Language Policy • Ramamurti Committee Report 1990:minority language medium primary schools in areas with at least 10% minority language speakers; parallel sections; appointment of minority language teachers • NPE (Govt. of India); NCF,2005 (NCERT) Are we honouring our commitments? MLE-OPEPA_UNICEF

8. WHY IS MT NECESSARY FOR QUALITY EDUCATION? • CHILDREN LEARN BETTER IN THEIR LANGUAGE • MT IS MOST COMPLETE/POWERFUL RESOURCE • MT REGULATES CHILD’S THOUGHT (LINKS HER TO FAMILY, COMMUNITY, NATURE & CULTURE) • CHILD MUST MOVE FROM KNOWN TO UNKNOWN, FAMILIAR TO UNFAMILIAR MLE-OPEPA_UNICEF

9. Do children benefit from knowing their mother tongue?What does Research say? • Studies among Konds in Kandhamal district show that Kond children who know Kui are: • More intelligent • Creative • Cognitively better developed • Higher classroom achievers Studies all over the world confirm advantages of learning mother tongues for better education, identity and positive self concept MLE-OPEPA_UNICEF

10. MOTHER TONGUE OF TRIBAL CHILDREN:A resource or burden? • MT + L2 bilinguals perform better on Cognitive, Metacognitive and Academic Achievement measures [The Kond studies, & other Indian studies ] • Inter-group relations in bilingual contact situations characterized by integration MLE-OPEPA_UNICEF

11. Achievement of ST Children in Mother Tongue Medium Schools • Bodo children in Bodo medium schools perform better than the Bodo children in L2 medium schools (Saikia & Mohanty, 2004) • Other Indian studies also show better performance in MT medium schools when SES differences are controlled MLE-OPEPA_UNICEF

12. “ ….. maintaining everybody’s mother tongue(s), while learning additional languages is not only beneficial for the individual but also a prerequisite for ethnic groups and people to maintain themselves as groups which again is a prerequisite for cultural diversity”(TSK, 2000) Colin Baker (2006) Promotion of L1 & culture in classroom is beneficial Oracy & Literacy in L1 easily transfers to L2 Literacy in a minority language is an efficient route to biliteracy MLE-OPEPA_UNICEF

13. Can education remain confined to MT only?“NO” • World is increasingly multilingual • We need different languages to function effectively • Multilinguals are better – intellectually, cognitively, academically & so on • They are more successful in to-days world • India is a multilingual society (we all need multiple languages, regardless of where we are) • Our education must develop multilingual skills MLE-OPEPA_UNICEF

14. Why must Indian Education be Multilingual? • Mother Tongue + Languages for regional/national communication + LWC • MT → Regional Language → National Language → English • Meaningful participation in the wider democratic, socio-political, economic system • Empowerment MLE-OPEPA_UNICEF

15. MULTILINGUALISM is forALL MLE-OPEPA_UNICEF

16. Mother Tongue or/and Multilingual Education? • Multilingualism as an Educational Goal • Functional/Communicative competence in languages • Positive identification with all language groups and cultures MLE-OPEPA_UNICEF

17. How do we develop multilingualism in education? THROUGH MULTILINGUAL EDUCATION (MLE) What is MLE? - Use of multiple languages as media of instruction. Mother Tongue Based MLE develops competence in MT & builds other languages on the MT foundation MLE-OPEPA_UNICEF

18. What is the best form of MLE? One that starts with MT (L1) & then develops L2, L3 & so on…., additively. Additive vrs.Subtractive language learning MLE-OPEPA_UNICEF

19. When is learning L2/L3 additive or subtractive? We need to understand: • HOW ARE LANGUAGES ORGANISED IN OUR MIND?; • WHAT IS THE NATURE OF LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY?; • WHAT IS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN L1 (MT) & PROFICIENCY IN L2 (L3 etc)? MLE-OPEPA_UNICEF

20. LANGUAGES IN OUR MIND:The ‘CUP’ or the ‘SUP’? • Do languages occupy separate space (like different balloons) in our mind competing with each other, so that more space for L1 means less for L2, L3? “NO” MLE-OPEPA_UNICEF

21. LANGUAGES IN OUR MIND • We have one common proficiency for all our languages with different input/output mechanisms in each language. [it is like one large piece of iceberg in water with multiple visible tips] MLE-OPEPA_UNICEF

22. Nature of Language Proficiency • CHILDREN’S LANGUAGE DEVELOPS AT TWO LEVELS • Language for immediate communication- contextual, simple, less demanding: BICS(Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills) • Language for higher level mental activity, for thinking, regulation, planning, cognitive & academic activities: CALP (Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency) MLE-OPEPA_UNICEF

23. Rationale forMT based Multilingual Education • Language Proficiency • BICS & CALP (L1↔L2) • BICS → Effective Instruction(3-5 yrs) → CALP • Empowerment through education in MT MLE-OPEPA_UNICEF

24. Common misconceptions about Languages in Education • Time-on-task (“the more the better”) • Early start (“the earlier the better”) • Immersion (“children learn to swim”) • Balance effect theory (“inflating one balloon leaves little space for another”) MLE-OPEPA_UNICEF

25. Relationship between L1(MT) & other languages (L2/L3 etc) • L1 → L2 (lower level) Negative/Subtractive Effect • L1 → L2 (moderate level) Neither Negative Nor Positive Effect • L1 → L2 (higher level) Positive Transfer from L1 to L2 (L2 is learnt faster/better) MLE-OPEPA_UNICEF

26. MODELS OF LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENTIN SCHOOLING • The Submersion/Subtractive Model L1 → school entry → L2 → (-ve transfer) → L1 & L2 (BICS) (inadequate) • The Multilingual/Additive Model L1(BICS) → school entry → L1(CALP) → (+ve transfer & motivation) → L2(BICS & CALP) → L1 & L2 (adequate)(foundation for multilingual development) MLE-OPEPA_UNICEF

27. Multilingual Education forthe Tribal MT Children Effective Instruction in MT Medium (at least for 3-5 years) ↓ MT + L2 (both as MI) ↓ L3 (& other languages) ↓ High Multilingual Proficiency MLE-OPEPA_UNICEF

28. What are our choices? LINGUISTIC GENOCIDE IN EDUCATION OR MULTILINGUALISM FOR ALL? MLE-OPEPA_UNICEF

29. Mother Tongue to Multilingualism for AllORMT vs. Maj. Languages vs. English? MLE-OPEPA_UNICEF

30. Do arguments/research findings inform/influence policy? “No” “The question then is whether the action needs to be done by the same people who do the persuading. I believe it is necessary.”(TSK,2000, p.667) MLE-OPEPA_UNICEF