LANGUAGE IN INDIA

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Volume 26:3 March 2026
ISSN 1930-2940

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Teaching English in a Multilingual Setting: A Case for Translanguaging

Srividya S., PhD.

Abstract

This paper evaluates the effectiveness of teaching English as an additional language in a primary school in the Tamil Linguistic Minority region of Palakkad District in Kerala. The study is set against the backdrop of the National Education Policy, which recommends using the mother tongue as a medium of instruction, at least at the primary level. Drawing on a year-long English language skills acquisition programme conducted by a government college for students at a nearby local school in Athicode, Kozhinjampara, this paper aims to unravel the intricacies of teaching English in a multilingual environment. Based on 2 years of pedagogical experience, translanguaging is seen as an effective means of integrating additional language learning into mother tongue education, thereby providing a comfortable, approachable linguistic space for multilingual students in India.

Introduction

The significance of using the mother tongue as the medium of instruction in primary classes has been validated and emphasised worldwide. When India, a multilingual country, implements this change, it will fundamentally alter the dynamics of English-language education in the country. This paper addresses this issue based on the experience of teaching English to primary students in a linguistic minority region. Located at the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border, the area is also bilingual, with two languages, Tamil and Malayalam. The need to think about teaching English as a foreign language and as a lingua franca to thousands of similar students across the country from now on is undoubtedly a very pertinent and challenging prospect. Added to this are factors such as students from lower- or middle-class socio-economic backgrounds, most of whom are first-generation learners, or whose first language is their mother tongue. They lack exposure to English, which could make it difficult for them to internalise its structure.

Background and Context

The study is based on a project undertaken at a Government Primary school in Kozhinjampara, a Tamil-speaking linguistic minority area in the district of Palakkad, Kerala. The students use both Tamil, the language of Tamil migrants, and Malayalam, the state’s official language. The project, called the English is Cool program, was launched by the Department of English of the Government Arts and Science College, Kozhinjampara, as an extension activity of the college.

Earlier, the Department had conducted a survey of the Nallepilly panchayat to assess the dropout rate among college students. The study's findings showed that, among many other factors, including socio-economic status and parents' lack of education, many students found it very difficult to understand subjects taught in English at the college level. That led to a considerable dropout ratio. Sheeja Kuriakose, in her dissertation, concludes from a quantitative survey on linguistic minority rights in Palakkad that, though people are aware of their linguistic rights and prefer Tamil over Malayalam or other languages, there is a gradual shift among the younger generation toward a preference for education in Malayalam rather than Tamil. As the respondents' education and job status increased, they wanted their children to have access to education in other languages (385-386). In line with this argument, we could see fewer students admitted to regional-language medium schools.

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

Srividya S., PhD.
Associate Professor
Dept. of English
Govt. Arts and Science College, Kozhinjampara, Palakkad
vidyasiv@gmail.com

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