Language and Exclusion: Some Observations

Abstract

This paper aims to show how language planning and language education policy can cause social exclusion in a multilingual country and discusses this matter in the Indian context. In a multilingual country, a hierarchy among languages inevitably gets formed, the basis of which is the nature of language use. Language planning and language education relate to it. The paper shows how through language education the problem of exclusion has been addressed in post-independence India. It focuses on the problem of regional language/mother tongue teaching, brings out certain problems in this regard which do not seem to have received attention and suggests ways of dealing with the same so as to empower the excluded. The paper attempts to show that in a multilingual country like ours any language policy would lead to social exclusion. Perhaps the most important affirmative action that a welfare state like ours can take in order to deal with this problem would constitute proper education (which has to mean “quality” education) of which learning languages is a vital part – after all, it is through language that education is imparted. The paper is organized in three parts. The first deals with the language policy of the Central and the State governments, the second with the policy regarding language in the school curriculum and the third discusses mainly some issues of implementation of these policies and the problems that have arisen at this stage and pays special attention to mother tongue education.