Abstract
This article aims to revisit the importance of nurturing reciprocal relationships of equality and enrichment between Bangla and English in the school life of children residing in the Indian state of West Bengal. We couple the descriptor “immersion” with English and “floatation” with Bangla to serve as metaphors for language ideology. After a brief review of the language in education policy in the country and in Bengal in both colonial and post-Independence periods, we draw on conversations with schoolteachers about the preference for English and the relative disregard for Bangla to present three basic arguments. First, there is no reason to be forced to choose between English and Bangla in Bengali education. There is even less reason – indeed, there are greater costs – to follow the policy of immersion in English and mere floatation in Bangla. Second, the equity-enhancing potential of “empowering people with English” may get neutralized if a disproportionate burden falls on the poor of purchasing minimal proficiency in English in schools providing “have-little” English. Third, unless English language training happens in the company of Bangla, children in schools of Bengal will lose a great opportunity to cultivate their freedom of self-expression.
Acknowledgments
We are very grateful to Chaise LaDousa for giving us the opportunity to contribute to this special issue. The article has also benefited from the comments of an anonymous reviewer. We are indebted to Partha Chatterjee for his valuable suggestions at the early stage of preparation of this article. We express our debt of gratitude to the research team at Pratichi Institute and our respondents who have generously shared their wit and wisdom with us on the vexed subject of language of education.
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© 2018 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Introduction: Language and schooling in India and Sri Lanka: Language medium matters
- The language medium “divide”: Ideologies of Hindi-English use at four all-girls’ “public schools” in North India
- English medium education, patriarchy, and emerging social structures: Narratives of Indian women
- English immersion and Bangla floatation? Rendering a collective choice private
- Language medium and a high-stakes test: Language ideology and coaching centers in North India
- Muslims in Sri Lankan language politics: A study of Tamil- and English-medium education
- The right to education act (2009): Instructional medium and dis-citizenship
- Book Review
- The gendered significance of the language-medium divide: moments of discursive empowerment and dis-empowerment
- Small Languages and Small Language Communities 86
- Language ideologies and identities in Kurdish heritage language classrooms in London
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Introduction: Language and schooling in India and Sri Lanka: Language medium matters
- The language medium “divide”: Ideologies of Hindi-English use at four all-girls’ “public schools” in North India
- English medium education, patriarchy, and emerging social structures: Narratives of Indian women
- English immersion and Bangla floatation? Rendering a collective choice private
- Language medium and a high-stakes test: Language ideology and coaching centers in North India
- Muslims in Sri Lankan language politics: A study of Tamil- and English-medium education
- The right to education act (2009): Instructional medium and dis-citizenship
- Book Review
- The gendered significance of the language-medium divide: moments of discursive empowerment and dis-empowerment
- Small Languages and Small Language Communities 86
- Language ideologies and identities in Kurdish heritage language classrooms in London