LANGUAGE AND HIGHER EDUCATION
Relevance, Renovation and Processes of Change
Crisis in Indian higher education is seen by many resulting "from a system rooted in the colonial past". Edward shills goes to the extent of saying that "India is not an intellectually independent country but it is still intellectually a province of the British metropolis". Very often past is used as an excuse for present lapses in India. In all fairness to the British system it must be said that if at all India is intellectually a province of the British metropolis, it is of the late 19th centuries, not of the 20th century.
Education has bypassed majority of people in the country. It has ceased to be a store house of tradition and generator of values consistent with the composite culture of India and appropriate to its state of development, economic, political and cultural.
Many educationists and statesmen consider innovations in education and change in the pattern of education as an essential conditions for social change in India. Labels like job-oriented education, vocational education, work experience in education, etc., are created for giving a new look to the old structure. Here an attempt is made to raise some fundamental issues, analyses the causes of chaos and confusion, and examine the relevance of courses of study with regard to the emergent social realities in the country.
Yesterday's Education
The Indian academic system is monolithic in character. All universities, by and large, follow one uniform practice, be it admission, appointment of the first Education Commission, each of the Commission has said essentially the same thing about all important matters relating to education. However, after every study and report so much energy is spent on the fringes of educational matter and so many surface adjustments and compromises made that at the most the system could be termed as or equated with "Ordered imperfection". It is seldom realised that it is impossible to build up an efficient system form inefficient components. By propping up education as it was, enriching an outmoded system and building redundancy into such a system, there has been progressive increase of internal conflict and the entire system is condemned to failure.
Good example of this chaos and redundancy are provided by decision makers in regard to syllabus and curriculum. It is a common belief even among educationists that a mere increase in the number of years of instruction will raise the standard of attainment in a subject. This is why without adequate input in teacher training, improved instructional material, use of up-to-date instructional technology, demands were made in many parts of the country to begin instruction in English from lower classes. Example of a different king of redundancy is provided by the subject specialists. In order to strengthen science and technology, specialists are often invited to examine syllabi of various science subjects. Such experts in consultation with their colleagues in India prepare syllabi in their respective subjects, which may be ideal if those particular topics were taught, but do not quite fit into the general framework either in terms of allocation of emphasis or in terms of balancing of content. Schooling is equated with the composite of the objectives set for subjects and the process as well as the product of teaching is lost sight of.
Curricula of universities continue today with utter disregard of the many changes and innovations that have taken place in the field of education and in the use of educational technology. Even the teaching of the dominant language of the area as mother tongue follows the age old pattern. This has little to offer by way of challenge either to the present or provide a strategy to build for the future (Pattanayak 1977). Because of this prevalent confusion even the dominant languages are not sufficiently developed to cope with the demands made on them and as a result the foundation of education grows weaker day by day.
From Subjugation to Citizenship
After the end of the subject status of India there was a natural urge among the people of the country to enjoy the full rights and benefits of citizenship. Unfortunately in spite of all talk about socialism and equality, there continues to be a minority elite and consequently the large majority of the people suffer from a disadvantage. Of course, from the view point of education, both the elite and the non-elite are disadvantaged for different reasons. Big cities with higher population attract larger number of colleges, thus ensuring higher education for more affluent and advanced sections of the society. In the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, 22 cities with population of two lakh and above have 32 per cent of all the colleges in the state. The survey conducted by the National Council of Educational Research and Training on the Sociology of Education reveals that 80 per cent university entrants and graduates come from the top 20 per cent of the society. The poverty sector is barred from this education. On the other hand, all so-called educational experiments have been made at the cost of the under-privileged. Indian Education, instead of being geared to the need of the disadvantaged, has put emphasis on the perpetuation of the elite minority and bestowed rank, status and wealth on those who worship it. A curious contraction has built up in the process. On the one had, there is persistent demand for more of the same kind of education even if it leads to unemployment, and on the other, there is an equality persistent demand to destroy and scrap the system as it is purposeless and ineffective.
The rising expectation and aspirations of the majority of the people, consequent on the attainment of independence, were never reflected in the courses of study in the academic institutions. In structure, content and orientation they remain almost unchanged. Educationists have been satisfied with a mere enumeration of class hours, and at best major ideas and concepts, without being bothered about their relevance either to their times or to the present. Not to speak of modernity, it appears even contemporaneity neither was nor is a major concern of the educationists. Without a detailed critical examination of all the courses of study in History, on the basis of a cursory overview it can be safely generalised that Indian History after 1945 and Indian regional history after 1885 has almost no place in the history curriculum. What is much more alarming is that in many universities the preoccupation if still the British history and what passes in the name of Indian History is an extension of the colonial history in an Indian locale. When Ancient Indian history and culture is considered to be of antiquarian interest and thus of interest to only antiquarians and modern Indian history is considered inconsequential, it is futile to look either for historicity in a national context or a sense of historical perspective among the youth of the day.
Leadership and Decision Making
Both the structure and the function of the academic system in the country inhibit the pursuit of excellence. Pursuit of excellence presupposes an atmosphere of academic freedom, stimulation and initiative. With the attainment of freedom from alien rule, although freedom form a number of restraints was achieved, in the academic sphere this 'freedom from' was never translated into 'freedom of '. The elitist minority enjoyed a few licences because of limited access to education, but neither the student community as a whole nor the people at large go a chance to taste liberty, particularly the liberty to choose and to refashion an archaic reality. The system offered very little variation in approach, courses of study of specific goal oriented training to permit genuine choice (Desai 1967).
The infra-structure of the constituent institutions within the system being pyramidal and the sole criterion of upward movement being seniority, there is little scope for competition for excellence even among the faculty. Whatever little scope exists is easily stifled by the seniors who are at the apex of the 'downward flowing system of decision making'. When reward is consequent upon seniority, excellence could be a positive disadvantage. The seniors, who were one-time excellents, have no way of coping with the explosion of knowledge and thus very soon become dated in their respective disciplines. Any new knowledge is considered a threat to their charisma as Head and affront to their limited capacity and absolute authority. In their effort to retain their privileges, the 'Heads' discourage genuine competition. Thus, the entire system is immunised to adaptation and innovation (Pattanayak 1966 and John 1969 : 24-29).
The machinery which was set up to coordinate activities, determine standards and give grants-in-aid to institution of higher education has never in the past effectively used its powers. As a result, limits of central corrective action in professionalising education were never established. To illustrate, instead of putting emphasis on its professional character, and providing intrinsically academic leadership, the University Grants Commission with participating Vice Chancellors as decision makers, acted as an apex institution distribution patronage. Both participating and retired seniors continued an obsolescence debate. This neither took note of the search for a new set of operational paradigms among the newly trained academics nor of the depth of the ferment among the youth in a hurry to telescope the process of discovery and innovation, attain modernity and acquire new and contemporary knowledge. There is certainly an incipient conflict even within this new set of goals and their articulation with a policy is a complex enterprise. But the point is that decision making hardly matched the tasks facing it (Joshi 1976: 229-239).
One consequence of this situation is seen in the fact that educational institutions are not relevant and flexible institutions educating for work. Universities have become Degree-granting bodies. In 1973 about seven lakh students took their Bechelor4s and Masters Degrees in Arts, Science and Commerce. The number has considerably increased since then. The Degree holders are service-oriented rather than job-oriented. It is common knowledge that an average agriculture graduate has much less grasp of realities than an average illiterate farmer in his field. The same is true of almost all vocational subjects with probably a difference in degree. In most cases there is a dis-proportionate emphasis on teaching about a vocation rather than on teaching the vocation itself. As a result persons trained vocationally often lack the self-confidence to start an independent project where they have to compete and establish their superior talent over other competitors.
In a transitional society struggling to change form tradition to modernity, emphasis needs to be put on the encouragement of giftedness and creativity. This is necessary for breaking the stagnation and inertia inherent in the traditional mode of thinking. Since an infinitesimally small percentage of people participating in the benefits of education is called upon to provide leadership in thought and action, unless this class is creative and gifted, the country is bound to slip into mediocrity. However, when custodians of past knowledge are in the apex positions in education guarding their positions of privilege (Altbach 1974:331-352). It is futile to expect them to encourage giftedness and creativity.
Curricula and Techniques for Ecellence
The mode of syllabus-making also inhibits creativity. The syllabus is made tow, three or four years before an examination is held. The process of changing the syllabus is consequently slow. To that extent syllabuses are out tune with contemporary knowledge. Add to that the time gap existing between the creation of new knowledge at different centres of the world and their availability to our system, the tendency in the system is to conform to 'inherited fixed concepts and promotes conformism. This comes into instant conflict with the youth's immense capacity for enquiry and his yearning for change. The present chaos is an expression of this strain.
It is frustrating to talk of dynamism and changing instructional strategies in a system which is basically static and backward looking. One of the major areas of development in recent times is educational technology. Computer technology, programmed instruction, teaching machines and production of software keeping in view the psycho-social needs of the learners are areas in which advanced research is being done all round the world. All these have yet to make a dent in the system. Wherever a little of the technology is inducted it is soon treated as a status symbol rather than a instructional aid.
Changing educational strategies assume either outmoded past praciices or shifting academic objective in the light of emergent social realities in the context of change. Unfortunately no professional mechanism exists either to define the goals from time to time or examine the suitability of the available instructional apparatus. In the State Secretariat where Indian Administrative Service Officers and considered omniscient, very little fundamental thinking in this regard can be expected. Similar result obtain from multiplicity of controls and agencies with the government bureaucracy and from the well-known ineffectually of Vice-Chancellors with their less than perfect credentials for academic leadership.
Rehabilitating the product vs. Rectifying a System
The effort of the academic leaders in India has been concentrated on rehabilitating the product rather than rectifying the system. For instance, degrees continue to be multiplied and decried at the same breath, and then programmes of rehabilitation of the degree owners are undertaken. Higher positions in the faculty are created, but the products of the seniority system are promoted to them. Very little action is to relate professional status to professional performance. The subject content is improved, a good curriculum is prepared and yet at the same time education is made solely dependent on the textbook. Because of well-intentioned measures corrective schools are started, more resources added, more trained personnel and improved physical facilities created; but all these have the effect of adding layers to the existing system and do not add up to wide-ranged vision for the education of tomorrow.
It is important to reconginse that the drop-outs and failures at different levels of education, the mounting educated unemployment, the reported mass-copying, functionalism among the faculty and the destruction of academic institutions are symptoms of a deeper malady. They signal the rejection of the system by various segments connected with it. Unless efforts are made to radically rectify it to ensure a two-way flow of decision making and to relate education to the needs of the community, the system will collapse under its own weight.
Language as Medium of Instruction and Administration
The language debate in India has mixed up the two questions of language instruction and language as medium of instruction. Most of contemporary debates on this question also err on the confusion of language as medium of instruction with the content of instruction. It is not realised that no matter what the language of instruction is, the contemporaneity of the scientific books is in inverse ratio to the active work done in those fields. The obsolescence of these books is directly related to the obsolescence of theories, ideas or even facts in these fields.
In a Duch High School the students on one occasion pointed out to their excellent biology teacher teaching the difficult subject of genetics, that 'what he told them was in conflict with the textbook' (a work dating from remote antiquity, in its umpteenth unrevised edition). He then sternly peered over his glasses and announced emphatically, 'I am the book'. In India, where the mastery of the textbook is considered the goal of instruction, it is no wonder that there is more concern about translating textbooks than about exciting the sense of adventure and exploration of the young students as a passport to the world of knowledge. Prof. Satyen Bose, a Scientist of the Bose-Einstein Statistics fame, once commented that if someone can not impart intricate problems of his field to his audience in his mother tongue, it is not because he does not know his mother tongue, but because he does not know his subject. After two hundred years of repetition of other people's views, the system has begum to develop a rootless pseudo internationalism where restricted textbook knowledge is imparted through a foreign language. No wonder that a foreign textbook enjoys greater status. This inhibits original thinking and leads people to learn their mother tongues in schools.
It is generally accepted, on sound pedagogical grounds, that the mother tongue is best suited as the medium of instruction. It is the natural language of thought for the child and eminently suited for concept formation. While any language may be the language of added comprehension, only the language with which one lives and grows is best suited in achieving originality in thought and expression. If a language has not been exploited for expressing certain abstruse concepts, it is due to no inherent defect in that language. Language can only be enriched through use, and so the argument that a language cannot be used because it is not rich as putting the horse before the cart (John 1969a : 24-33).
A lot of fruitless debate is going on due to the confusion between percolation of knowledge and sharing of knowledge. Percolation of knowledge to the popular level or spread of knowledge among the masses is essential for raising the general standard of education through raising the community awareness and laying a strong foundation for democracy. But it must be recognised that underlying this is an attitude of condescension. It ignores the fact that without benefit of the accumulated knowledge and wisdom at the flok level, knowledge created at the top could be sterile and irrelevant. It is important to strengthen the foundation of a reservoir of knowledge which could be shared with the large majority of people in the country who discriminated against by formal education. This must be differentiated from sharing the knowledge among the intellectual elites not only within the country, but also outside the country. It is clear that opportunities must be created for the educated people of the country to communicate with their peers in any part of the world, as well as with the seekers of knowledge in any part of the country. For that purpose provision must be made to offer as many language courses to suit to specific needs as possible. Realistically in India such provision must begin with English and Hindi.Today, in India, between the provincial and the extraterritorial intellectual allegiance of the anglophiles, whether it is to England or to New York, the concept of country is lot. On the other hand, between the narrow parochial self-seeking and the avarice for power (not the will to power) of the Hindi fanatics, the concept of country is equally blurred. When looked through either looking glass, there will be no country left to be emotionally integrated. The existence of such a state of affairs of ultimatum and secession by various extremist positions. Such threats have very little academic relevance. Higher education has suffered most as it has not been able to extricate itself from the self-defeating arguments of both the camps.
English education in India has resulted in adding one more national language to the already existing fifteen. It has also resulted in the decline of multilingualism. By encouraging attitudes ranging from indifference to positive disrespect towards the traditional Indian languages, English education has also generated a good deal of mutual disrespect among them. As in Switzerland, such a situation poses a threat to the unity of the country.
Various formulae have been suggested from time to time to meet this situation. The word 'formula', like talisman and magic solving for many. It either invokes the meaning of a prescription and injects a sense of compulsiveness, or is adjudged the result of compromise and induces groups to demand further concessiveness. In either case, it helps both those who interpret formula as a way of escape from reality and those who act in defence of the existing order. The inadequacy of 'formulae' is also evident form the outward allegiance and inward betrayal.The demand for Indian languages to be the medium of education can be traced to the early 19th century. The Bombay Education Society expressed is favour of native language as the medium of instruction as far change-over in the instruction media have been set by the Centre as well as by individual universities. Bombay University in 1959 had set a time-limit of ten years beginning from 1960 to switchover to the medium of Hindi. The Gujarat University had imposed on itself similar time-limit to switch to the regional language medium. While everybody paid lip service to this principle, very little was done to move toward this end. On the country, the protagonists sent their wards to the English schools and carried the vernacular experiment at the cost of others' children. The gulf in precept and practice on the part of the academic and political leadership has created not only frustration, but also bitterness among the people in general.
Nationalism in the sense of pride of national identity as opposed to chauvinism and national insularity, is missing in the current language debate in India. As Ralphe Bunche put it aptly in an international congress of educationists in the US there has been an 'appalling loss and lack of integrity in position, in intellect, in utterance' among the politicians, administrators, and academicians discussing the issue. As the governmental leaders have not correctly delineated the rightful lace of Hindi and English, shrewed political leaders have taken advantage of he situation and confused the issue to their advantage by asking if we were getting '14 languages in exchange of English'. In the early 19th century, when language poets were eulogizing their respective mother tongues and politicians were firmly rooted in their regions, there was much more national cohesiveness and pride than there is to be seen at present.
English poses an artificial barrier against the massive 'revolution of rising expectation' of the people in gaining their rightful place in the governmental process. If the glamour of the large uneducated masses for swiftly reaping the benefits of industrialisation is to be canalised in constructive ways to buy time to save democracy, they must be given an education which guarantees them a sense of belonging, of continuity, and of onward progress. This sense can only be imparted through the mother tongue, the culture language, or one of the related languages. Those, who demand the maintenance of status-quo or a go slow policy, are advocates of a static solution for dynamic situation, and are oblivious of the fact that forces of change are 'fiercely, drivingly, unpredictably at work'.
Translating Textbooks : In defence of mediocrity
Translation of the textbooks is often cited as an insurmountable barrier in any change-over from one medium to another. The Indian academic mind is so conditioned in accepting textbook as the master in the classroom and textbook teaching as goal of instruction, that both the governmental agencies and the universities cannot see beyond it. In this age of explosion of knowledge, the contemporaneity of textbooks in any language is short-lived. Any original research done in French, German, Russian, Japanese are translated into English, and, to that extent, there is an information time-lag between English and those languages. That is why study of foreign languages is considered a must for those opting for higher education in the English speaking countries. Under the circumstances, those who are arguing in good faith in favour of translating all textbooks for all times to come arguing in defence of mediocrity without their being aware of it,
Some centuries back when the Greek historian Herodetus decided to travel throughout the world before he wrote the history of his own people, he visited Egypt which was famous for its prowess and knowledge. He asked the omniscient priests of Egypt the cause of the flood in the river Nile. The custodians of the static knowledge in Egypt, who had never bothered to worry themselves about such causes, looked at Herodetus with consternation and pity. They are reported to have blurted out. "Oh you Greeks, will you always remain children?" When knowledge is confined to textbooks in archieves, any further quest for new knowledge is naturally considered uncomfortable or even embarrassing by the traditional authorities. Although such situations have arisen in ancient Greece, Egypt and India, people hardly seem to have learnt any lessons form them.
Books are written in any language to put newly discovered facts, newly propounded theories, or newly thought ideas before a wider public. Depending on the amount of original work done in any field of study, new facts are discovered, new inventions made. Old theories are discarded with a rapidity which makes books obsolete even before they have a chance to reach their audience. The aim of education should be to excite the sense of adventure and exploration of the students to enable them to create, invent and discover rather than trail behind other people's discoveries and inventions.
Because of the very nature of the structure of the Indian education, Indian educational institutions inhibit the inculcation and diffusion of new knowledge. In a non-competitive seniority system, there is hardly any incentive for creativity on the part of the faculty. In following a rigid curriculum, the academician seem to have come to the conclusion that the goal of instruction in teaching one or more textbooks. This is why in the current language debate, some academicians have argued in favour of English so that we may be able to import textbooks from England and America. There is no denying that it is imperative for our students to study books written in English. But instead of talking of books or reference books, I see no reason why so much stress should be placed on textbooks. I am reminded of a boy who wanted to send a telegram to his father, intimating that his brother had passed a certain examination. 'Brother passed', as a statement, was too bland for him and so to make it more elegant he added the word 'away'. Probably to such of our academicians who talk only in terms of textbooks, the word 'books' is bland.
Following are some of the definitions of textbooks selected randomly.
"A textbook is any manual of instruction, a book containing a presentation of the principle of the subject use as a basis of instruction."
-Webster's Dictionary"A book used as a standard work for the study of a particular subject, a manual of instructions in a subject of study."
-The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary
"A record of racial thinking organised for instructional puroses."
-Hall Quest
"A standard book for any particular branch of study."-Lange
"A Book designed for classroom use, carefully prepared by experts in the field and equipped with the usual teaching devices".
-Bacon
"A tool for the pupils and the teachers."
-L.J.Lweis
"In the modern sense, and, as commonly understood, the textbook is a learning instrument usually employed in schools and colleges to support a programme of instruction. In ordinary usage the textbook is printed, it is not consumable, it is hardbound, it serves an avowed instructional purpose, and it is placed in the hands of the learner."
-Encyclopaedia of Educational Research, III Edition
"A textbook is either a teacher's tool or it provides the subject matter of the lessons".-Encyclopaedia and Diction of Education, Vol. IV
"Textbook is the term used for a book used in a course as the base around which the course is built".-The Writer's Handbook for the development of Educational materials
Textbook in India are neither supporting instruments of learning nor are they based around which instruction is planned. As people who worship images as a step to the abstract and infinite remain bound to the images and seldom transcend it, those who are tutored with textbooks remain chained to it. They seldom graduate to books.Studying a single textbook in any course is considered a very poor performance almost all the world over. Collateral reading broadens the vista of the student, helps him grasp the issues involved by presenting different points of view. Even prescription of more than one textbook is no substitute for studying a broad range of books. Any translation programme may select a number of standard up-to-date books some of which may be used a reference books in courses of study. However, the various phases of translation programme, beginning from the selection of a book, ascertaining the competence of the translator and quality of translation, vetting the translation, publication of the translated book, and its distribution, present problems which need careful attention. Not to speak of the adequacy of the various existing academic and non-academic organisation, the sheer lack of knowledge on translation is sufficient to make anyone wary about such a project.
Whether it is translating books into regional languages or writing textbooks in English, very little attention is being given to creative writing. Unless emphasis is given to original research and publication of results, Indian shall always remain junior partners in any academic endeavour. By merely translating books one may at the most know other peoples' theories and conclusions well, but one would never know the context of such theory-building and hypothesis-formation. It is one thing to be able to get the benefit of technological training, it is another to have a grasp of the scientific research and underlies any such development of the training. The first may be expedient and time-serving, but without the second it does not take any country further along the road of education.
A call for a massive programme for undertaking the translation of textbooks is a step in defence of mediocrity. If the Indian educational system has to be modernised, a critical threshold to be passed through is a drastic change in the attitude, first, of the acceptance of textbooks as the master in classroom, instead of these two false attitudes a call for creativity will lead to the single important breakthrough by which not only the seniority system but also the teaching centred education system can be challenged. A sense of competition can be injected and excellence can be accepted as the basis of learning.
Unity and uniformity
'International-mindedness' and 'understanding', acclaimed as goals of education all the world over, are not achieved by the imposition or adoption of a single language. There is no unanimity on basic issues and fundamental principles among all the English or French speaking countries of the world. In spite of the community of interests of the English speakers of India, the English speaking Brahmin and non-Brahmin of the Tamilnadu and Maharashtra were and even now are locked in a fierce antagonism. Understanding comes from 'learning of the varying ways and traditions, perspectives and purposes' of various peoples. But unfortunately language politicians in India play on regional sentiments to build up more barriers and restraints and advocate conformity to their respective points of view, rather than generating respect for each other's language and perspective.
Standard of education is a combination of complex factors in Practice, it may be equated with qualitative education. Academic goals and practices to achieve them, quality of teachers, quality of teaching materials, quality of instruction, all contribute to the quality of education and setting of a standard. Some academicians in the country raise the bogey of standard in discussing almost anything in relation to education, while they refuse to define goals and take positive steps to free education form the crippling clutches of particularistic loyalties and adherence to a seniority system without reference to excellence. Those who are apprehensive of eh lowering of standard with a change in language media conveniently forget that there was neither uniformity of standard among all the English medium institutions nor were all the English medium institutes uniformly superior to all non-English medium institutes. It is generally admitted that a lowering of standard has already set in even with the English medium.
To equate diversity with balkanisation, is either foolishness or fanaticism. In the world today conformity is often pushed down the throats of the weak and the underdeveloped in the name of unity. It has set world leaders of education to think. The UNESCO declaration in favour of the fundamental right of the child the world over to develop his own way, the recognition of diversity as the starting point of a healthy education which makes strangers friends; and friends and neighbours are results of such thinking. The Greek educationist Ketty A. Stassinopoulou, poses the problem for the sceptics when she writes, some may object or express a fear that accepting and respecting differences might well serve understanding, but that it will prevent cohesion and unity, that it will be the end of the different discipline social, moral and intellectual and will, step by step, lead to chaos'. She points out in replay that, 'these fears, based as they are on ethnic beliefs, are terribly difficult to dispel'. While comparing her beliefs of a world unity based on the recognition of basic differences to mosaics, she says, 'Mosaic are, as we know, made of small pieces of glass or stone, all different in shape and colour. There is not one exactly like the other. But through the art of lovingly and thoughtfully assembling, with steadfast purpose, these disparate units, the artist has achieved a masterpiece'. If this is true of communities, this is more so of individuals in any educational institution. As Robert J. Havighurst tightly points out, "The good school is thought to be the school that studies its pupils as individuals, and provides for each person a variant of the common programme which fits his peculiar abilities, interests, and goals in life. Thus the phrase 'attention to individual difference' is a kind of slogan for American education. Through paying attention to differences between individuals it is hoped to secure good quality in education"(Havighurst 1962 :14). It is the height of folly to ignore the realities relating to Indian society and education and not to adopt a pluralistic approach to the problems. Once this approach is accepted, the need for proliferation of schools, colleges and universities will be minimised.
A strong plea has been made in favour of the acceptance of the mother tongue as the medium of instruction as far as and as soon as possible. If other Indian languages and foreign languages are as tool language, the problem of faculty transfer and communication among peer groups will have been solved. By requiring a certain proficiency in English it can be ensured that people going in for higher education meaningfully manipulate the language. By making English literature optionally available in schools and colleges, door can be kept open for those who need a psychological satisfaction in developing their aesthetic sense. Acceptance of the mother tongue will not only lead to original research as distinct from duplication or repetition of other people's research, but will give a sense of bearing and self-respect to the scholars.
By teaching in the medium of regional languages, which will be the majority mother tongue in any area opportunity can be created for the common man to participate intelligently in the process of government. It is only natural that regional languages be the vehicle of administration at the state level. For inter-state communication a choice of English and Hindi may be judiciously combined which will continue to act as link at different levels.
It is futile to talk and debate about a link language in a vacuum. Today loose and trite terms such as link language library language, foreign language, world language, ripe language, deficient language, are freely used to mean different things to different people in different contexts. It is often forgotten that as things stand, the mother tongue links the group sharing it in a bond of solidarity. The state language which is the majority mother tongue in the state provides a linkage among all the linguistic minorities inhabiting that state, Hindi provides a link among a large majority of population of the country irrespective of family affiliation of their mother tongues and English links the educated elites of the country and their peers in other English knowing countries. Without proper appreciation of the hierarchical nature of linkage and the mutual inter-dependence of languages, language use in education and administration have floundered form one folly to another. Once Hindi becomes the language of instruction and of administration in six Indian states, it will provide a powerful motivation to people all over India to study the language to increase their job opportunities. The same reason will encourage the study of neighbouring languages by a set of people who want to compete in their vocations in the neighbouring states. This will only put a limited current practice in a more rational basis. Currently a doctor or a engineer moving out of his state does not communicate with his uneducated or even illiterate patient or worker in English, but in the language of the area or in Hindi. By encouraging multi-lingualism, it will be possible to facilitate and hasten the change.
In any comprehensive scheme of social development there are bound to be residual problems. Such problems can always be handled given a sense of enlightened planning.
Integrating Linguistics with Modern Indian Languages
It is important that the content and quantum of linguistics is integrated with the modern Indian languages. It is assumed that unless language pedagogy is discipline based, there is little chance of its scientific development. Modern Indian languages in colleges and universities are mostly taught as mother tongue. Some universities offer undergraduate, graduate, certificate and diploma programmes in modern Indian languages which are taught as second/foreign languages. In some universities modern Indian languages are used as the media of instruction. In such situations these languages work as the vehicle of knowledge. Introduction of linguistics as an integral part of modern Indian language courses have to keep these three distinct functions in view. Modern Indian language courses emphasise the literary content of the language in most programmes. Literature is presented chronologically and the emphasis is more on the history of literature and the pre- literary history of language. Even the literature which is offered is by and large confined to ancient and medieval literature. Most literary research is either text based or author based. Very little attention is given to styles, registers and varieties of the language which fulfil important funcional roles.
Some universities have one, two or three papers out of the eight devoted to language and linguistics. Most of such departments are in universities where there is no Linguistics Department. Therefore either a Junior lecturer attached to the department teachers the subject or the teacher who is a language M.A., with special paper or special aptitude in linguistics/language teaches the paper. If one scans all such courses it would be quite evident that in breadth and depth there is much to be professionally desired in these courses. Even in such universities where linguistics is taught as a subject in under-graduate and post-graduate stages there is seldom any dialogue between the teachers of linguistics and languages. Integration of linguistics in modern language courses had to be viewed in this context.In the above circumstances there is no wonder that even M.A., in Indian languages do not have a clear idea about the distinction among the mother tongue, second language and a foreign language, between style and register, language and dialects, language and writing. In spite of the hoary linguistic tradition of the country they have no idea of grammar, language relationship in space and time and the various dimensions of language use in education, administration and mass media. It is therefore, imperative that the objectives of teaching both the languages and linguistics be spelled out before preparing a curriculum either for under-graduate or for post-graduate levels. Whether one is interested in the linguistic study of the language or in the specialization of literature, a foundation course in Applied Linguistics embodying basic notions about language and languages must be given if not at the school stage, at least in the under-graduate stage. Such a course need not be visualized as a different subject but should be viewed as part of the language subject. It is in this perspective that the following observations about goals and strategies are being made.
(a) Language teaching in the schools is defective leading to a gap between the language acquisition at the end of the school stage and the language requirement at the beginning of the college level. This is particularly so when one is called upon to extend the domain of use of mother tongue as the vehicle of instruction and knowledge and as medium of administration. It is, therefore, necessary that a bridge course introducing the college entrants to various skills and registers of the language be given on an intensive basis. This should be followed up by the inclusion of conceptual prose in the regular under-graduate curriculum.
(b) Language structure and language history need be taught with reference to the language under study. Thus, to begin with, instead of teaching general phonetics and theories of grammar one could teach the phonetics and phonology, word formation and sentence generation, internal and external reconstruction of the language concerned using linguistic notions.
(c) Development of a rational attitude towards one's own and others' language/dialect, styles and genres of literature can be developed through learning the language system concerned. Thus the basic foundation courses need not be course in linguistics but would be courses in the Indian language concerned, which are based on the discipline of linguistics.
Both under-graduate and post-graduate syllabuses presume that the entry competence of students is uniform. Whether students come from English medium schools or other language medium schools, whether they come with subject other than language as major or the same or a different language as major, the methods and materials are the same for all. This inflexible uniformity is the cause of many a weakness and needs to be remedied.It sounds strange and yet it is borne by experience that among those coming to M.A., with language as option and language as mere compulsory subject, the latter perform better. A part from students opting for language optional as a last resort, the fact remains that by and large what is taught at the B.A., stage in the optional is irrelevant for the M.A. It is, therefore, necessary to effect better integration among the B.A., and M.A., courses.
This B.A., compulsory as well as the optional courses take the mother tongue competence for granted and concentrate on administering an ambitious dose of literature. Here also emphasis is laid on chronology, author and text. No effort is made to develop advanced skills of comprehension, close study of texts, writing precis, synopsis, narratives, exposition, dialogue and other varieties of prose and acquainting the learner with stylistic variations. Reading of drama and poetry, recitation, which are neglected at the lower stages, could profitably be handled at this stage. These are not antithetic to the study of literature; on the contrary, they are necessary pre-conditions to the study of literature.
At the post-graduate level, however, there is a need to diversify the teaching of modern Indian languages. One stream in language and another emphasising literature may be suggested in this connection. In either case the syllabus should be re-structured and provide for alternate streams of specialization. It is suggested to have six core papers and two specialized papers with alternate streams. The six core papers may be : (1) Language use (2) Language analysis, (3)Language history, (4)Literary analysis, (5)Literary criticism and (6)Literary history. Under this scheme grammatical tradition can be handled under the rubrics of language use, language analysis and language history. One can view Pa¸inian grammar, Tolkappiyam or Sabdamanidarpana as efforts of analysing language of their time. One can also connect and compare that stage with intermediate stages and the contemporary stage, thus studying it under both the rubrics. The alternate streams may be different aspects of the study of literature, some aspect of applied linguistics such as translation, lexicography, contrastive analysis, adult literacy, etc., are some aspects of general linguistics, soico-linguistics and psycho-linguistics, etc. The items suggested are illustrative. Different colleges and universities may specialize in areas of their own choice.
Almost all language and linguistics departments in the country are engaged in preparing dictionaries is one from or another. Yet lexicography as a discipline and a formal course of training has not been reflected in language curricula. As a result, most language dictionaries are either poor replicas or adaptation of existing foreign language dictionaries. Very often they do not represent the semantic genius of the language. Specialized training could open up newer vistas and directions to the large number of language M.As about whose employability questions are often raised by those who are responsible for the inadequately trained multitude.
In a multilingual country translation and interpretation present formidable challenges before the language graduates. Very little systematic training facility in this area exist as part of the post-graduate training for those studying languages. The certificate and diploma courses run by some language departments in the area of translation are often not linguistics-based. The theoretical and methodological weakness needs to be remedied in all such courses.
The above recommendations are made on the assumption that language teaching should be discipline-based. Specialization in respect of Applied Linguistics should act as an incentive for students to undertake further study in linguistics. This will also provide linguistic studies in the country, the much needed broad under-graduate base. Once the language and literature motivated, not only language teaching in the country is likely to be transformed at all levels but also creates cadre of linguistically oriented persons who could be utilized for adult literacy and for collecting samples of unrecorded language and dialects. They could also usefully be employed for a host for the research programmes.
From the above it should be clear that an approach to the curriculum in Indian languages at colleges and universities must avoid juxtaposition of language, literature and linguistics. The scientific study of langue provides a better basis for literary appreciation and a proper study of literature provides a basis for the language use in its multifarious dimensions.
While the above programme is designed for those who would take modern Indian languages as subjects of study in the under-graduate and post-graduate levels, there is an immediate need to give linguistic orientation to those who have already taken such courses and who are engaged in teaching languages in college and universities.
The discussion on this subject cannot be complete without reference to the teacher training institutes. B.Ed., and M.Ed., courses which qualify persons to teach and man the education departments must also be addressed in this regard. Unless content and methodology of language teaching is drastically modified and update in the teacher training institutions and integration of linguistics with the language courses brought about, the very purpose of reform at the college and university level is bound to be defeated. For this purpose it is necessary to organise short-term orientation programmes for teacher trainees. This should be devoted to studying different aspects of language in teacher training and the problem of integration of linguistics with language courses in the teacher training institutes. In addition, the summer and regular courses suggested for college and university, language teacher should also be open to teacher educators.
The underlying assumptions is the above discussion need to be made explicit.
1. An educated citizenry is a must for maintaining democratic values. Without an educated public, a democracy, to quote Madison, an American President, 'is either a farce of a tragedy'. English as the medium of instruction, the selective and limited education available to a restricted sector of the society, represent the farcical side. If tragedy is to be avoided, it is imperative that a broad-based universalistic education must be attempted, that will narrow the gulf between the elite and the masses by raising the general level. This is almost impossible to achieve under the present institutionalised schooling.
2. Education is a major social instrument for achieving the twin social objectives of social solidarity and cultural pluralism. It is necessary and possible to recognise mutual difference and generate respect for each other while developing a sense of one nation, one country.
3. The two great enemies of sound education are the absolutism of a monolithic mind and the producing 'people who all go the same way, indifferent of oblivious or even hostile to differences'. Rigidity inhibits adaptation and communication, and standardization leads a human social group to develop as a 'herd without soul'.
4. The non-competitive, seniority based pyramidal structure of higher education and the accent on particularistic loyalties are the two major reasons for a decline in the standard of education. These coupled with 'want of necessary finance' at the right time and place, and want of determining the correct priority, account for the poor quality of education in India.
5. The adoption of the line of least resistance, the fear of accepting diversity, lack of recognition and respect of the uniqueness of individuals and social groups as a step towards building a universalistic education in India, are the greatest faults of the political and academic leadership of the present day India.
Education as a stat enterprise and universities with autonomy guarantee diversity in education. Since this also gives rise to particularistic loyalty, the Union Government, with purposive planning, can provide checks and balances. As V.V.John rightly concluded, "In regard to higher education, the Constitution lays on the Central Government the responsibility for 'the determination and coordination of standards'. This is the legitimate role of educational authority in other areas of education too. Besides ensuring that no institution or functionary in education gives short measure to the learning clientele, the role of authority should be to promote innovation and experiment, and make information relating to such ventures available to all institutions so as to encourage a spirit of mutual emulation. This would bring about the true liberation of learning that we are now in urgent need of" (John 1978:222).