Multilinguality, education and harmony

Abstract

Language conceptualised as multilinguality is constitutive of being human and may be a potential site for negotiating conflict and exploring paths of harmony in education. In various domains of activity, most people would rather see ‘a language’ as a homogeneous, pure and standard pairing of a lexicon and syntax. There is substantial evidence to show that human linguistic behaviour is marked by fluidity rather than rigid compartmentalisation. More and more scholars working on the interface between language, education and social justice have started looking at the fluid nature of language. In recent years, several proposals have also been made for pedagogies rooted in multilinguality. This paper attempts to contribute to the discourse of conceptualising ‘language’ and ‘multilingualism’ in alternative ways; it also examines how this alternative conceptualisation can become a resource in education.

Keywords:

• multilinguality
• ‘a language’
• justice
• education
• pedagogy
• peace

Notes

1. Heller (1999) originally used this the term parallel monolingualism in reference to a view of bilingualism as two separate language systems.

2. Both Plato's Problem and Orwell's Problem were formulated by Chomsky (1986). Plato's Problem refers to the mysterious yet universal phenomenon of language acquisition. How come, Chomsky asks, given so little a child acquires so much? This is Plato's Problem.

3. Orwell's Problem (Chomsky, 1986) refers to the equally mysterious situation where though we know so much about our world, yet we can predict so little. How come then, given so much, we know so little.

4. Though we are now into the fifth post-RtE year, the general school education situation in India has only deteriorated in terms of access, retention and quality of education for children on the margins, in particular the minorities and those with a disability. In fact, several post-RtE studies have shown that the achievement levels of Class 4 children do not even match what is expected of Class 2 children.

5. The Eighth Schedule of the Constitution, called simply ‘Languages’, was created to accommodate the aspirations of the speakers of some of the major languages of India. It consisted of 13 languages in the beginning; today it has 22. Many applications are pending for inclusion of different languages.

6. Thanks are due to Kay McCormick and Kathleen Heugh for reading through earlier drafts of this paper and making many useful suggestions. Most of their suggestions, and those of anonymous reviewers, have been incorporated. The usual disclaimers apply.