Multilingual Policy and Language Ideologies of Indigenous Communities in India and Nepal

• In Event: Highlighted Session: Policy-practice interface in multilingual education: Ideology, agency, and social justice in the Global South

Proposal

Research has shown that learning in the mother tongue is a human right and fundamental to quality education (Cummins, 2019; Skutnabb-Kangas, 1999). Scholars have argued that mother tongue-based multilingual education not only ensures access to education for Indigenous/ethnic minority children but also enhances their sense of belonging by recognizing their linguistic and cultural identities as integral dimensions of equitable education (Heugh, 2015). However, despite explicit policies that acknowledge the importance of mother tongue education, large proportions of Indigenous and minority children are still taught in languages that are different from their home languages (Mohanty & Skutnabb-Kangas, 2013). This situation prevails in multilingual countries like India and Nepal. The aim of this paper is to discuss the underlying reasons that affect the enactment of multilingual education policies in India and Nepal. We focus on two major questions: How do Indigenous/ethnic minority communities in India and Nepal interpret the relevance and adequacy of multilingual education policies? What language ideologies do they construct and perpetuate in their interpretations?

We employ ‘language ideology’ (Kroskrity, 2009) as a theoretical lens to analyze the perspectives of Indigenous communities on multilingual education policies. Defined as beliefs, feelings, and conceptions about language (Piller, 2015), language ideology helps to understand how multilingual policies are linked with broader sociopolitical conditions and power relations among communities. Our focus in this paper lies in how multilingual education policy positions the space, prestige, and power of Indigenous languages from the perspectives of Indigenous communities in India and Nepal.

Using ‘critical ethnography’ (Madison, 2011) as a methodology, we analyze how Ladakhi (in India) and Yaakthung (in Nepal) Indigenous communities interpret the relevance of multilingual education policy for Indigenous language reclamation. We analyze data from policy documents, interviews with Indigenous community members and teachers, and observations of classes to unpack the policy-practice interface at both the ideological and implementation levels. For Ladakh, we focus on India’s 2020 National Education Policy. For Yaakthung, we situate our analysis on the 2019 National Education Policy and the 2016 National Curriculum Framework.

The findings of the study show that both Ladakhi and Yaakthung communities have mixed interpretations about the relevance of the national education policies. On the one hand, they consider the policies as ‘opening up’ spaces for Indigenous language, but on the other side, they take it as limited as it does not address the issue of historical linguistic hierarchies. They think that national education policies of both countries are creating linguistic boundaries and reproducing neoliberal ideology of ‘choice’ or ‘optionality’. In these interpretations, Indigenous communities construct and promote the ideology that language is a right and a thing to be preserved. More strikingly, both communities reproduce a standard language ideology that values a written and standard form over the spoken practices of Indigenous languages. This situation creates confusion among learners and teachers in schools. This study offers critical insights into understanding the space of Indigenous languages in national education policies and plans from the perspectives of Indigenous peoples.

Authors

• Tsewang Chuskit, Columbia University Teachers College

• Prem Phyak, Teachers College, Columbia University