India, English, and Education
I've recently found Google News to be a great source for ongoing language policy debates. This article struck me as concisely describing an important point regarding language education policy, namely that English = important on a global scale.
From the article:
Unfortunately, I can't quite comment on what Kumari is arguing for or against because I'm not exactly sure what happened to which schools, nor am I clear on what the current language policy is. My best guess (which is precisely that, a guess) is that there were two kinds of schools in Karnataka, one where predominantly poorer students went where they were taught only in their native Kannada and one where the more affluent students were taught in only English. If true, that would certainly be a case of the government unequally and unfairly treating their citizens by socioeconomic status.
But what seems to lurk behind Kumari's comments is a kind of anti-Kannada/local/heritage, pro-English/cosmopolitan/business undercurrent. Perhaps I've simply read too many screeds against multilingual language policies in education and am thus jaded, but I get the distinct feeling that Kumari is claiming Kannada is worth less than English in an absolute sense, rather than in some specific instance of language use.
But as for the actual point of English = important, it's crucial to realize that that equation only holds up in certain arena. I'm a native English speaker, but drop me off around one of the schools where only Kannada is taught and I can't even order a double-double (although there are probably other factors in play). The point is, excellence in Kannada is an important skill too, and it is unwise to wholly abandon its instruction. English is certainly vital to those who wish to enter a more international lifestyle, but for those who are happy in Karnataka, English-only education deprives them of the skills they need.
The solution, as always, is two-way bilingual education. The kids - rich and poor - deserve to be fluent and accomplished in their local tongue AND have the opportunities that English affords. Apparently, the administrators in this part of India think the same way that they do in the US where they believe that language is a zero-sum game.
Quoth a wise advisor of mine "well it's NOT".
From the article:
[Federation of Unaided Schools] president K S Kumari told reporters here that it is unfair to deprive lakhs of children from studying the universal language [] English.Clearly English is not a "universal" language. If it were, there'd be no debate about who gets to learn it. But what he means - which is rather different than what he says - is dead on. English is important, and it is a shibboleth of sorts to international business and politics. And being proficient in those areas is certainly a good predictor of future success and upward mobility.
Unfortunately, I can't quite comment on what Kumari is arguing for or against because I'm not exactly sure what happened to which schools, nor am I clear on what the current language policy is. My best guess (which is precisely that, a guess) is that there were two kinds of schools in Karnataka, one where predominantly poorer students went where they were taught only in their native Kannada and one where the more affluent students were taught in only English. If true, that would certainly be a case of the government unequally and unfairly treating their citizens by socioeconomic status.
But what seems to lurk behind Kumari's comments is a kind of anti-Kannada/local/heritage, pro-English/cosmopolitan/business undercurrent. Perhaps I've simply read too many screeds against multilingual language policies in education and am thus jaded, but I get the distinct feeling that Kumari is claiming Kannada is worth less than English in an absolute sense, rather than in some specific instance of language use.
But as for the actual point of English = important, it's crucial to realize that that equation only holds up in certain arena. I'm a native English speaker, but drop me off around one of the schools where only Kannada is taught and I can't even order a double-double (although there are probably other factors in play). The point is, excellence in Kannada is an important skill too, and it is unwise to wholly abandon its instruction. English is certainly vital to those who wish to enter a more international lifestyle, but for those who are happy in Karnataka, English-only education deprives them of the skills they need.
The solution, as always, is two-way bilingual education. The kids - rich and poor - deserve to be fluent and accomplished in their local tongue AND have the opportunities that English affords. Apparently, the administrators in this part of India think the same way that they do in the US where they believe that language is a zero-sum game.
Quoth a wise advisor of mine "well it's NOT".
posted by Dave at 4:51 PM
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