Preface

'Barkis is willing', conveyed David Copperfiled to Peggotty, and that is what we have also to convey. The students are willing and well motivated to learn, their parents are willing and well motivated to encourage their children to learn, and the teachers are also willing and well motivated to teach several languages. The inclusion of three languages in the curriculum is not taken as a load and there is a welcome acceptance of the three-language formula among the students, their parents and the teachers. All of them were the subjects for the present pilot survey.

India is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country. There are 15 regional languages recognized by our Constitution. Besides there are 1652 mother-tongues spoken in this country. Obviously for a large number of Indian children, particularly those coming form the rural and tribal areas, there is going to be a difference between their mother-tongue and the regional language, which his the first language taught in the schools. However, the child, in order to join the mainstream of national life, has to learn besides his mother-tongue, the regional language of his region, one official language to serve as a link language for the country and at least one international language for effective communication beyond the frontiers of one's own country. The importance of the learning of a culture language in order to ensure rootedness in one's culture cannot also be ignored. What we want to emphasize is that our language planning has perforce to be multilingual. The Secondary Education. Commission (1952-53) rightly observed, in this context, that we have to pay the price for the wealth of our linguistic heritage. The three-language formula gradually developed as a strategy to meet the situation. However, the addition of three languages to the curriculum, which already has several subjects included in it, is likely to create a feeling that they are a burden and a load on the students and the teachers. Only sometime back we had a national debate on the question of curriculum load leading to the appointment of what is known as Patel Committee. In this context, the position of language in the curriculum is certain to arouse the curiosity of those who, in one way or the other, are concerned with the study of languages.

A national debate among the educationists has been going on for some time on the question of heavy language load in the curriculum. Such feeling has been created in the general public also. However, no attempt has been made in the past to conduct a systematic empirical research in order to ascertain from the students, their parents and the teachers, whether they consider the learning of languages to be a load on them.

The senior author is reminded of a dinner which he attended two years back where some senior educationists were expressing their concern over the unnecessary inclusion of so many languages in the curriculum which overburden the students. Dr. D.P. Pattanayak, Director of the Central Institute of Indian Languages and some of us exchanged meaningful glances. Next morning we decided to conduct an interdisciplinary colloquium on 'Language Learning a Load-Facts and Fictions'. This was followed by an empirical study, a survey to find out the opinions of the students, their parents and the teachers on the question of language load. The present book reports the findings of this survey.

It was decided to study the problem of load of languages in totality in all its aspects. Therefore, the students were asked to indicate the i) number of languages they preferred to learn, ii) advantages of learning several languages, iii) difficulties faced in the process of learning several languages, iv) difficulties faced in learning the four skills of the first, second and third languages and v) a comparative assessment of the difficulties faced in the learning of the first, second and third languages with those of other subjects of the curriculum. The parents were asked only about first three of the above items. The teachers, besides being asked about the first three, were also requested to indicate the difficulties faced by them in the teaching of languages. The schedule, which was the tool used for the survey, had number of statements for each of the variables mentioned above. The students, their parents and the teachers were requested to state either their agreement or disagreement to each of the statements. In all the sample consisted of 579 classes IX and X students, 154 parents and 62 teachers selected from 12 secondary schools, situated in rural, semi-urban and urban areas of Mysore city. The students' sample contained both boys and girls.

This book is divided into four Chapters. The first Chapter, after discussing the conditions under which curriculum becomes a load and the development of the three-language formula, states the objectives of the present survey. The Second Chapter is on Methods. The Third Chapter is on the Results and Discussions. It discusses separately the findings and their interpretations for the students, their parents and the teachers. The Fourth Chapter contains the summary and the conclusions

We would deem our labours lavishly repaid if this book is able to remove the misconception of languages being a load either on the students or on the teachers. Even if it succeeds in stimulating still better planned future studies on the subject, we shall be amply rewarded for our labours.