Issues in Education for the Linguistically Disadvantaged Groups: A Case Study

ABSTRACT

Educational models for indigenous and minority children which use mainly dominant languages as languages of instruction can have extremely negative consequences because of the linguistic, pedagogical and psychological barriers they create. This results in the achievement of their right to education chimerical by preventing access to education. Advocating mother tongue based multilingual education in the primary grades, the present study is based in Kahalgaon, a town and a municipality in Bhagalpur district in the state of Bihar, India. The primary objective of the study was to collect information on the status of the regional language Angika, listed as a vulnerable language by the UNESCO. Teachers and learners of primary grades (I – V) of ten government schools were included in the study. The tools used were Structured and Unstructured Classroom Observations, Oral Tasks and Role Play to assess the linguistic level of the learners in their mother tongue and the languages of instruction. Language Use Survey and Literacy Attitudes Survey were conducted with the teachers to understand the linguistic environment. Teacher Questionnaires were used to elicit information about the languages and their uses in the community. Informal Discussions and Structured and Open–Ended Interviews with the teachers focused on the importance of mother tongue education in the primary grades. The paper ends with a discussion of the findings vis-à-vis capability deprivation and incomprehensibility leading to high ‘push-out’ rates at the primary level and concludes with a call for using the mother tongue of learners as a resource in the primary grades.

FULL TEXT