LANGUAGE IN INDIA

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Volume 24:3 March 2024
ISSN 1930-2940

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“Multi-Competence” of the Inter-State Migrant Students of India:
A Comparative Study between Bangla, Hindi, English and Telugu in Terms of Phonology

Tuntun Santra, M.A. (Osmania Univ.), PGCTE (EFLU)

Abstract

In this study, the “multi-competence” of the inter-state migrant students of India who deal with four languages at the same time will be explored. The typological distance and the possible language transfer between Bangla, English, Hindi, and Telugu in terms of segmental and supra-segmental features will be tried to examine. According to the New Education Policy 2020, three-language formula has been adopted in schools of India. Generally, most of the states have taken English, Hindi and the regional language of the respective states to implement the three-language formula in schools. But people who move from one state to another learn their L4 as the third language in schools. For example, when one socioeconomically privileged Bengali moves to Telangana whose mother tongue is Bangla, he/she learns English as L1, Hindi as L2 and Telugu as L3. Here in this paper, along with English and Hindi, Bangla and Telugu have been chosen for this study as the mother tongue of the author is Bangla and the author is a resident of Telangana. This study is relevant for all the inter-state migrant students whose mother tongue is not Hindi or English. These students learn three languages in a formal set up in school in addition to their mother tongue. To learn a language, we need to acquire multiple subsystems of that language, for example, its phonology, vocabulary, writing system, grammar etc. In this study, the phonological differences of Bangla, English, Hindi, and Telugu will be discussed to understand the varied knowledge of the Indian inter-state migrant students.

Keywords: Multi-competence, Inter-state migrant, phonology, Typological distance, Language transfer, Interlanguage

1. Introduction

India is a multilingual country, and it is India’s multilingualism that holds the country together amongst colossal linguistic differences. Abram de Swan argued that languages form a global constellation and they are found in a hierarchy, namely peripheral, central, super-central and hyper-central. Among total 780 languages, Hindi and English are the two super-central languages in India. There are 22 central languages, such as Bengali, Telugu, Marathi etc. and the rest are peripheral languages. According to Swaan “English is the only hyper-central language that holds the entire world language system together” (Swaan. 2001, p.17).

Speakers of peripheral and central languages learn super-central languages as these languages are placed in a higher level in the hierarchy. It is necessary to understand the hierarchy of languages to understand the choice of first, second or third language on the part of the students. The socioeconomically privileged group always choose English as their first language as it is a hyper-central language.

According to the New Education Policy 2020, three-language formula has been adopted in schools which was first implemented by the Indira Gandhi Government in the National Education policy,1968. Education is a state subject, so things play out differently in Hindi belt and non-Hindi belt. Generally, most of the states have taken English, Hindi, and the regional language of the respective states to implement the three-language formula in schools. Internal migrant students of India who relocate from one state to another end up being a linguistic minority in their own country. These students learn their L4 as their L3 in school. For example, when one socioeconomically privileged Bengali moves to Telangana where learning Telugu is mandatory, learns English as L1 most of the time, Hindi as L2 and Telugu as L3. In most of the cases these students do not know how to read and write their mother tongue as there is no opportunity to learn their mother tongue in a formal set up in school. These students use their mother tongue in their communication with family members and friends. So, the internal migrant students deal with four languages at the same time from a very young age up to class 8.

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

Tuntun Santra, M.A. (Osmania Univ.), PGCTE (EFLU)
tuntunsantra@gmail.com
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