LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 14:6 June 2014
ISSN 1930-2940

Managing Editor: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.
Editors: B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
         Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D.
         B. A. Sharada, Ph.D.
         A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D.
         Lakhan Gusain, Ph.D.
         Jennifer Marie Bayer, Ph.D.
         S. M. Ravichandran, Ph.D.
         G. Baskaran, Ph.D.
         L. Ramamoorthy, Ph.D.
         C. Subburaman, Ph.D. (Economics)
Assistant Managing Editor: Swarna Thirumalai, M.A.

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Language Text Books for Border Areas of Multilingual India -
Issues Related to Learning, and Strategies for Evaluation and Rectification

Dr. Sam Mohan Lal

Interwoven to Form More Than 100 National and International Borders

Among the multilingual countries of the world it is a blessing in disguise that India tops the list and it has more than 400 active languages to interact with and 22 official languages which are recognized by the Constitution of India as official languages of India. These languages are included in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution of India. This means that in these 22 languages there are textbooks, well developed written literature, and there is a State (province) in the Indian Union where one of these scheduled languages is spoken and it is the official language of that state. For instance, Tamil is one of the scheduled languages of India and it is also the official state language of the state of Tamil Nadu. All these states are closely interwoven to form more than 100 national and international borders.

This geographical reality makes a good number of people in India to know more than one language to interact with the immediate neighboring states and even across the international borders.

Language Is a Natural Source

From various platforms often we discuss the natural resources of the nations which are the major contributors for the growth of any country. But, many of us ignore or do not give serious thought to the issues of languages. We need to recognize that it is the multilingual and multicultural resources of the country which are the primary roots to support and explore the other natural resources of a nation. This is possible only if there is linguistic, ethnolinguistic and cultural harmony and active cooperation between the different linguistic communities of the country. We could utilize the potentiality of multilingualism to build the other natural resources of the country. This is possible only if there is a systematic effort to learn other’s language and culture. This effort can be more successful if proper textbooks, teaching methodologies and testing strategies are developed at the school level especially in the border areas of the country.

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D.
Professor-cum-Deputy Director (Retired)
Former Visiting Professor, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Central Institute of Indian Languages
Mysore 570006
Karnataka
India
sammohanlal@gmail.com
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