LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 17:6 June 2017
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.
         G. Baskaran, Ph.D.
         L. Ramamoorthy, Ph.D.
         C. Subburaman, Ph.D. (Economics)
         N. Nadaraja Pillai, Ph.D.
         Renuga Devi, Ph.D.
         Soibam Rebika Devi, M.Sc., Ph.D.
Assistant Managing Editor: Swarna Thirumalai, M.A.

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Substandard Status of Hindi in Competitive Examinations in India:
Cause and Remedy

Sandeep Kumar Sharma, Ph.D. Scholar & Dr. Sweta Sinha
Indian Institute of Technology Patna, India

Abstract

In India, from the competitive examinations’ point of view, Hindi and other Indian languages are placed at a substandard position in the curriculum because marks obtained in the Indian language paper is not included in the determination of the final merit list and is only considered for qualifying to enter the competition. Language policies and planning helped English to become as a dominant and hegemony language over and above all Indian languages. This process obstructed and affected the growth and quality of indigenous languages in the field of education. After independence from the British Rule, it was because of various changes in the socioeconomic development and education of science and technology, English evolved and established itself as a standard language in different streams of education. Candidates who apply for jobs may be asked to qualify in Hindi or other Indian languages to enter the main examinations in popular employment examinations. The same system seems to be followed for admission to many educational institutes across India. Because of this Hindi curriculum remains unchanged and teachers do not get opportunity to improve their teaching quality. As a result the role of teacher in imparting knowledge and language use is reduced. To break this vicious cycle in the existing system, the status of Hindi and other Indian languages should be changed in a way that can provide the teachers with ample opportunities to teach and improve. For the improvement of Hindi in the existing educational system the competitive examinations must include the marks obtained in the Indian language papers so as to attract serious attitude. It is not easy to change the attitude of the learners right away; however, with remedial steps the change can at least be initiated.

Keywords: Hindi evaluation system, Indian language status, teaching and learning of Indian languages, language policy

1. Introduction

Many languages are spoken in India. The official language of the Indian Union is Hindi with English as the associate official language for the Central Government, along with twenty more languages in various states of India. Hindi has the largest number of speakers in India (Census, 2001). Despite having a majority of speakers it has less prestige in comparison to English language in general. India has over half of its population below the age of 25 and more than 65% below 35, and some 41 % below 18. These young people just do not bother to care enough to assert their linguistic allegiance and their loyalty is driven by job market. (Das 2014) Behind the flourishing of English language is its widespread acceptance in the prevalent system of Indian education. Kumar (2009) tries to examine the socio- cultural and multilingual realities of post- independence investigating Hindi in the context of these realities. Through his book, he investigates the functional use of Hindi in various domains. However, it will not be incorrect to say that in India, English is accepted as a medium of instruction in different streams of education. In this context the improvement of Hindi language and its acceptance as a medium of instruction at all the levels of education will change the perception about Hindi and will also help maintain its prestige in different sectors of private and government institutions.

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

Sandeep Kumar Sharma
Ph.D. Scholar
skvpsharma@gmail.com

Dr. Sweta Sinha
Assistant Professor of Linguistics
apna1982@gmail.com

Department of Humanities and Social Sciences,
Block 6, Floor 5, Room No. 519/6,
Indian Institute of Technology Patna
Patna 801103
Bihar
India

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