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India is often mentioned as the multilingual giant and not only India but almost all linguistic communities have been multilingual at some point of time . Indian multilingualism has been seen as the object of wonder in an artifact created by colonial masters. Variability in linguistic behavior in India is not a barrio but a facilitator in communication .Inspite of having different linguistic , ethnic and national identities people find a way to come closer and communicate with each other.
India is considered to be a giant of sociolinguism, and That giant is enormous and distinct from the regular.The giant's nervous system is multilingualism .Indian multilingualism is massive, with More than 1600 mother tongues are reducible to around 200 For a population of roughly 1.27 languages Billion citizens, like much of the population Language minorities are larger than others European countries.[1]
The members of the constituent assembly also had a hard time in giving suitable places to different languages in the Indian constitution so that all the interested linguistic and cultural groups could be satisfied . The multiplicity of languages in the country and the important role played by English in the administrative , judiciary , education and media could not be washed away . Hence it was clear that if India were to have a participatory democracy the language question would prove to be highly contested .
The decision to have Hindi as the official language and not the national language of the union and allow English to continue for all official purpose for which it was being used hither for a period of 15 years with the provision that the parliament could decide to allow it to continue in that status were carefully formulated in Article 343[2] of constitution. Article 342 (2) of the constitution provides for the use of English for all official purpose for a period of 15 years. The constitution in article 350 also provides for the rights of its citizens to make representation in any language to the state . The schedule 8[3] of the constitution lists the official languages of republic of India.
We often hear educators making statements such as “Multilingualism may be a great asset in life but it is a major obstacle in pedagogy” Multilingualism means the existence of ,In a given space more than one language is distinct. An old saying goes, "A guy who knows Two languages are equivalent to two men. T Since one person who can talk a lot Languages may communicate with people from Those languages are easy to understand, and therefore Have a broader social life and work comfortably in a New Site. Multilinguality therefore gives an A lot of human flexibility, which is an advantage As regards acceptance into another language and culture. Multilingualism also brings possibilities to read and appreciate a novel literature Languages that are a great advantage, as they deliver a Variety of perspectives and key to enormous world of knowledge and perspective which we could never have achieved by staying in our own cocoon and never exploring the wide possibilities which the different places with different multilinguality have to offer.
In India multi-lingualism is a product of its history And a reflection of its cultural diversity. Schools Play a critical role in Multilingualism And in changing its nature. Planning for The development of indigenous languages begins at the school level, to ensure that in theory, it makes Continuing multilingual foundation. For the Students, motivation for learning more Languages emerge from advantages that may emerge Perhaps acting as incentives to learn more and More linguistics. [4]
On 29th july Wednesday , center announced it new educational policy in which major changes are being brought in the field of education ,amongst certain other changes , the new education policy will also focus on promotion of multilingualism, with the medium of instruction till at least Class 5, but preferably till Class 8 and over, “will be the home language, mother tongue, local language and regional language”.[5] So this new reforms hopefully aims towards a better and inclusive education system which will ultimately lead to a better county with better individuals who will be well versed with the multilingual aspect of the country and will utilize it for their own development as well as socio economical development of the country at large. All of this will shape towards a new phase of the country will new opportunities for everyone.
[1] http://cdn.tridz.in/s3fs-public/Language,%20Education%20and%20Society_Multilingualism%20in%20India.pdf. [2] https://indiankanoon.org/doc/379861/. [3] https://byjus.com/free-ias-prep/list-of-languages-in-the-8th-schedule/. [4] https://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/11248/9/09_chapter%202.pdf. [5] https://www.ndtv.com/education/new-education-policy-promotes-multilingualism-sets-out-measures-produce-e-courses-in-8-major-languages.
Author- Aeshna raghuwanshi, Content writer, Legal Eagle