1. ASPECTS OF ENGLISH
➢ In the course of its history, English language is recognized in three stages as
1. Old English (500 A D – 1100 A D)
2. Middle English (1100 A D – 1500 A D)
3. Modern English (1500 A D to date)
Macaulay’s minute:
➢ Lord Macaulay was a central figure in the language debate over which language should be used as the medium of education in India.
➢ The Anglicist group Lord Moira and Charles Grant supported English
➢ ‘Charles Grant’ was considered “the father of English Education in India”.
➢ The minute of Macaulay had been prepared for the Governor general ‘William Bentick’
➢ Macaulay’s minute recorded on 2nd Feb, 1835 proclaimed the official language policy of the British English.
➢ According to the minute of Macaulay a class should be formed in India, a group of people who would act as interpreters between the British and Indians.
➢ ‘A Class of people Indians in blood and color but English in taste, in opinion, in morals and in intellect.
➢ On 7th March, 1835 the Minute received a seal of approval from Lord William Bentick and an official resolution on Macaulay’s resolution was passed.
➢ This resolution formed the corner stone of the implementation of a language policy in India and ultimately resulted in diffusing Bilingualism in India.
➢ The English education which was introduced by Macaulay was consolidated through Wood’s famous Education dispatch of 1854 during the time of Lord Dalhousie.
➢ Wood’s dispatch firmly laid the foundation of English education in India. It was regarded as the ‘Magna Carta’ of English education in India.
➢ AS per the recommendations of Woods dispatch the first three universities were established in India in 1857 in Bombay, Calcutta and Madras.
➢ In 1902, Lord Curzon appointed a university commission which attempted a better learning of English.
➢ 1917 the Sadler’s commission recommended for the improvement of Quality in Teaching.
➢ As per the recommendations of the Sadler’s commission the medium of instruction up to the school stage was to be vernacular and in subsequent stages it was to be in English.
➢ The University Commission 1948 recommended the regional languages as the medium of instructions.
➢ National motivations were of the opinion that an indigenous Indian language should be adopted as the official languages.
➢ Hindi seemed most qualified for that, since it had more native speakers than any other Indian Language.
➢ When the constitution of India was made, it was declared in article 343[1] that Hindi will be the official union language.
➢ There are several problems with selecting Hindi Firstly, Hindi is not evenly distributed throughout the country
➢ Secondly it was thought that the speakers of other languages would be offended by its selection. Eg: Tamil, Telugu, and Bengali
➢ In spite of these problems, Hindi was chosen as the national language in the constitution and English was to be replaced by Hindi in 15 years time.
➢ According to Official Language act 1963 the government wanted to adopt a policy which would help to maintain ‘status quo’.
➢ According to official language act -1963. Hindi in Deva naagari script has been declared as the official language of the union since 26th January 1965.
Under Section 3 of Official language act that English has been given the status of Associate/
Subsidiary official language of India after 1965.
SOME CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS:
343(1): Hindi in Devanaagari Script as the official language
343(3): English should continue to be used for another period of 15 years.
345: A state legislature adopt as official language. One or more languages in use in that state or Hindi
346: Official language of the union shall be the official language for communication between one state and another state and b/w a state and the union.
❖ The Three language Formula:
- The three language formula that English was first devised for School education by Central Advisory Board of Education in 1956, subsequently modified by the conference of CM’s in 1961 and formalized by Kothari Commission.
1. English is the Window on the World- said by Jawaharlal Nehru
Note: Kothari Commission identified that………….
2. English is A Link Language
3. English is A Library Language
The principles of Language learning:
1. Gurgling Stage : 0-6 months
2. Babbling Stage : 7-10 months
3. Single word stage : 11-18 months
4. Two words(Holophrases) : 19-24 months
5. Lisping Stage : 25-36 months
6. Sentence formation Stage : 36-60 months