Authors: Manisha Kumari and Dr. Mitanjali Sahoo
Journal: International Journal of Advanced Research (IJAR)
Volume: 10; Issue: 04
ISSN:2320-5407
Pages: 85-93
Publication Date: April 2022
Multilingual classrooms are becoming more common around the globe due to mass migration of people and also because of global trade and commerce. Learners need to be multilingual in order to succeed transnationally as the world is becoming a global knowledge center. India is a linguistically diverse nation where multilingual classrooms are common. But generally, this multilingualism is limited to social conversations. Learners fail to acquire academic language proficiency in their second, third or any other additionallanguage. So, teachers should follow a language teaching approach which can motivate and help the learners in acquiring academic language proficiency in the second or third language. This paper suggests that content and language integrated learning (CLIL) is a viable language teaching approach which can be helpful in teaching second or any additional language in the Indian classroom. The paper explains the benefits of CLIL in language teaching and presents a sample lesson framed by the author to teach English language through Social Science content at the elementary school level. In the discussion part, the author explains that similar lessons can be framed in any language to teach both content and language. Thus, this approach will be helpful in promoting multilingualism in the Indian classrooms.
Multilingualism, CLIL, Language Teaching Approach, Multilingual Classroom
Globalisation, migration and various forms of virtual mobility has accelerated the process of multilingualism across the globe affecting the scenario of language education. Indian society is plurilingual in nature with twenty-two recognized languages as per the eighth schedule of the Indian Constitution. Multilingualism is interweaved in the social system of Indian society as a result of which the Indian educational system follows the ―Three language formula‖. According to Linguistic Diversity Index reported by UNESCO (2009), India is one of the most linguistically diverse nations in the world. The linguistic diversity creates a rich cultural resource which has its influence on the social, political, economic, and educational system of India. Now, let us have a look at the actual meaning of multilingualism. According to Li (2008), any individual who has the ability to communicate in more than one language can be termed as multilingual.European Commission (2007) states that, multilingualism is the ability to engage with more than one language on a daily basis. British Council(2019) puts forth that, a multilingual classroom is one where learners know and use two or more languages. It is also expected that learners will be learning two or more languages. The multilingual diversity brings both opportunities as well as challenges to the complex Indian education system (Lightfoot. et.al,2021). The new National Education Policy (MoE, 2020) has laid greater emphasis on the languages in education as compared to the previous policies. The policy also talks about the cognitive benefits of multilingualism to young learners and hence it recommends exposure to languages early on in life. It clearly advocates the need to promote multilingualism.As we all know that Indian classrooms are multilingual in nature,but most often, this remains limited to social conversations. Though Indian education system follows the Three Language Formula, it is noteworthy that learners do not exhibit equal proficiency in the second or third language as compared to first language taught at the school level. For meaningful participation in democratic, social, and economic system, oral and literacy skills are highly desirable in multiple languages (Cummins, &Hornberger,2008).Therefore, this paper aims to reflect on Content and Language Integrated Learning as a viable approach to promote multilingualism in the Indian classroom.
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Kumari, M., & Sahoo, M. (2022). Implementation of content and language integrated learning in the Indian classrooms for promoting multilingualism. International Journal of Advanced Research (IJAR), 10(04), 85-93. ISSN 2320-5407.