English is the Global Language, Should Make Efforts to Encourage It!

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  • The majority in the country will fully vouch that the English language is universally acknowledged as a bridge language that keeps gaining acceptance all around. Despite efforts to the contrarian claims by the fanatics, fundamentalists, and bigots derisively mocking the English language as a colonial leftover, there is no denying the fact that it has gained strength over the years. In our own country, several political leaders never miss an opportunity to berate the people for embracing a foreign language by letting go of our mother tongue. Mind you, there are no less than 22 official regional languages recognized by the Constitution.

PC: Nikki Piontek

  • It is another matter altogether that the very same political class would not flinch from enrolling their progenies in some of the finest foreign educational institutes without batting an eyelid. Preaching is far easier than following diligently, you see. Against the backdrop of the Taliban taking over Afghanistan has evoked strange observations including the English language usage. Pakistan’s Prime Minister used it as a convenient peg to characterize English-medium schools in his country as an example of the adoption of someone else’s culture. How hypocritical the statement can be gauged by the fact that the ex-cricketer-turned politician had a stint in a British school tracing its origin to the 07th century as also spending time at Oxford.
  • Trust such deceitful politicians to change tack chameleon-like when it suits them. The same illogical undercurrent of an argument also resonates in India too when someone mentions a child’s early years of schooling in the mother tongue will aid learning to a great extent. Needless to mention, one of the foremost salient features of Indian society is its linguistic diversity that is also the basis of the formation of some states. As mentioned above, the Constitution has 22 languages in its eighth schedule and any straight comparison with countries lacking this level of linguistic diversity is inappropriate.

PC:  MUNEEB RASHID MALIK

  • Undeniably, English is increasingly becoming the popular choice as a medium of instruction. To substantiate, data from the 75th round of NSS (2017-18) shows that 16.7% of students picked English-medium instructions as the reason to attend private schools, the third most cited cause. Unified District-wise Information of Student Education (UDISE) report of 2019-20 shows that a little over 25% of schoolchildren now study in English-medium schools. Note that a state like Haryana is reporting a 23 percentage point increase over five years. No surprises as more than half the schoolchildren in the five southern states also chose English-medium.
  • Though the National Education Policy 2020 promises high-quality bilingual textbooks to help students speak in both their home language and English, it will take considerable efforts to replace English which unquestionably opens a pathway to a global repository of knowledge and opportunities, unlike mother tongues. No one is denying that the mother tongue should be confined to irrelevance. However, let us be pragmatic in accepting English as the go-to language and also ensuring linguistics continues to remain relevant through a steady stream of quality learning material and consistent updates to their vocabularies.

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Krishna MV
Krishna is a Post Graduate with specialization in English Literature and Human Resource Management, respectively. Having served the Indian Air Force with distinction for 16 years, Armed Forces background definitely played a very major role in shaping as to who & what he is right now. Presently, he is employed as The Administrator of a well known educational institute in Bangalore. He is passionate about sharing thoughts by writing articles on the current affairs / topics with insightful dissection and offering counter / alternate views thrown in for good measure. Also, passionate about Cricket, Music – especially vintage Kannada & Hindi film songs, reading – non-fictional & Self-Help Books, and of course, fitness without compromising on the culinary pleasures.