Multilingualism in India is a challenging and stimulating study of the nature and structure of multilingualism in the Indian subcontinent. India, with 1652 mother tongues, between two hundred and seven hundred languages belonging to four language families, written in ten major script systems and a host of minor ones represents multilingualism unparalleled in the democratric world. With four thousand castes and communities and equal number of religious faiths and cults, its multilingualism matches its pluriculturalism.

The eighth in the series of books on language and development, this book brings out the political and linguistic dimensions of multilingualism in India. Professor Annamalai addresses three main issues: - what maintains multilingual speech communities and how this maintenance is promoted - what is progress in such communities and whom does it exclude - the impact of multilingualism on the purity norms of languages The author establishes that acquisition of multilingualism takes place through two processes. First, through formal schooling restricted to the elite, and second, through primary and secondary socialization at home and at the work place which is where majority learning takes place. He explains power relations in multilingualism by pointing out that for social purposes, code switching between languages constantly takes place for economic, social and political gains, though this does not necessarily imply that the less dominant language merges with the more dominant one. In fact, the opposite takes place for political gains. Professor Annamalai points out that the hierarchical relation between languages arises due to failure in planning, where the key actors in policy making use the provisions in the constitution for political gain, thus promoting preservation of a separate identity rather that language growth. The book finally explores the Code Use Groups, studying the grammatical neighbourhood of languages, and looks at the hexical insertion, language factor and linguistic determinants of code mixing.

India not only is concerned with inevitable multilingualism, but also with the rights of many millions of speakers of minority languages. As the political and cultural context privileges some major languages, linguistic minorities often feel discriminated against by the current language policy of the Union and the States. They experience on a daily basis that their mother tongues are deemed worthless dialects that have little utility in modern life. Many such languages have definitively disappeared, and several more are on the brink of extinction. Is this the inevitable price to be paid for economic modernization, cultural homogenisation and the multilingual fabric of India's society at large? This book is an effort to map India's linguistic minorities and to assess the language policy towards these communities. The author, a senior researcher of the EURAC (South Tyrol, Italy), assuming linguistic rights as a component of fundamental human rights, codified in a number of international covenants and in the Indian Constitution, provides an appraisal of the extent to which language rights are respected in India's multilingual reality, which takes into consideration the experiences of minority language protection in other regions.

Comparative Literature: Sharing Knowledges for Preserving Cultural Diversity theme is a component of Encyclopedia of Social Sciences and Humanities in the global Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS), which is an integrated compendium of twenty one Encyclopedias. The Theme on Comparative Literature: Sharing Knowledge's for Preserving Cultural Diversity provides six different topics: 1. Language, literature and human sustainability; 2. Relationships among literature and other artistic activities and discourses ; 3. Comparative literature and other fields of knowledge; 4. Comparative literature, criticism and media ; 5. Comparative literature in the age of global change; 6. Translatio studii and cross-cultural movements or Weltverkehr. These three volumes are aimed at a wide spectrum of audiences: University and College Students, Educators and Research Personnel.

This edited volume examines the new ways of conceptualizing Psychology as an integrative science to understand human problems at the individual, group, societal, and national levels. It focuses on the need for Psychology to move away from its present reductionist perspective to an integrative psychological science perspective. The volume is organized into three main sections: The first discusses the convergence of qualitative and quantitative methodological approaches in Psychology. The second part highlights the importance of social and personal wellness. The third focuses on studying human behaviour in the context of cultural variations and the impact of cultural context on psychological processes. The book includes contributions from leading scholars in psychology in India whose reference to practical, social and political issues of contemporary interest makes the volume stand out. This book serves as a resource to initiate the dialogue about the need, issues, levels, and integration methods in Psychology, which can be scientifically tested and theoretically explained. The comprehensive and authoritative volume is of interest to researchers and scholars in cognitive psychology, clinical psychology, organizational psychology, social psychology and cross-cultural psychology.

This book examines translanguaging in higher education and provides clear examples of what translanguaging looks like in practice in particular contexts around the world. While higher education has historically been seen as a monolingual space, the case studies from the international contexts included in this collection show us that institutions of higher education are often translingual spaces that reflect the multilingual environments in which they exist. Chapters demonstrate how the use of translanguaging practices within the context of global higher education, where English plays an increasingly important role, allows students and professors to build on their linguistic repertoires to more efficiently and effectively learn content. The documentation of such practices within the context of higher education will further legitimatize translanguaging practices and may lead to their increased use not only in higher education but also in both primary and secondary schools.

Spanning scholarly contributions from India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, this edited volume seeks to capture and elucidate the distinct challenges, approaches and possible solutions associated with interpreting, adapting and applying language-in-education policies in a range of linguistically complex teaching and learning environments across South Asia. Centring on-the-ground perspectives of scholars, practitioners, pupils, parents and the larger community, the volume offers new insights into one of the most complex, populous, and diverse multilingual educational contexts in the world. Language-in-education policies and practices within this setting represent particularly high stakes issues, playing a pivotal role in determining access to literacy, thereby forming a critical pivot in the reproduction of educational inequality. The broad aim of the collection is thus to highlight the pedagogical, practical, ideological and identity-related implications arising from current language-in-education policies in this region, with the aim of illustrating how systemic inequality is intertwined with such policies and their associated interpretations. Aimed at both academics and practitioners - whether researchers and students in the fields of education, linguistics, sociology, anthropology or South Asian studies, on the one hand, or language policy advisors, curriculum developers, teacher educators, teachers, and members of funding bodies, aid providers or NGOs, on the other - it is anticipated that the accounts in this volume will offer their readership opportunities to consider their wider implications and applications across other rich multilingual settings – be these local, regional, national or global.

This book explores the linguistic ecology of the Kumaun region of Uttarakhand, India through the experiences and discourses of minority youth and their educators. Providing in-depth examples of Indian multilingualism, this volume analyses how each language is valued in its own context; how national-level policies are appropriated and contested in local discourses; and how language and culture influence educational opportunities and identity negotiation for Kumauni young women. In doing so, the author examines how students and educators navigate a multilingual society with similarly diverse classroom practices. She simultaneously critiques the language and education system in modern India and highlights alternative perspectives on empowerment through the lens of a unique Gandhian educational context. This volume allows Kumauni women and their educators to take centre stage, and provides a thoughtful and nuanced insight into their minority language environment. This unique book is sure to appeal to students and scholars of multilingualism, sociolinguistics, language policy and minority languages.

India, with its vast population, has become a focal point of global attention due to its remarkable economic growth and potential. In addition, India's geo-political influence has assumed significance within the context of Indo-Pacific strategy. This has further intensified the need to understand and examine India's great transition from an inter-disciplinary perspective. The first two decades following independence were significant in highlighting the challenges faced by a newly independent nation and the strategies employed to address them. The pivotal turning point in 1991, when India initiated comprehensive economic reforms, also set the stage for a diverse political climate characterized by evolving ideologies.This book comprehends ongoing transition in India from interdisciplinary perspective. The chapters in the book highlight the key milestones and shifts in India's journey since its inception as an independent nation in 1947. Written in a simple and accessible manner, the book comprehensively addresses a diverse range of issues concerning India's significant transition, engaging prominent scholars from respective fields.

Utilizing a historical and international approach, this valuable two-volume resource makes even the more complex linguistic issues understandable for the non-specialized reader. Containing over 500 alphabetically arranged entries and an expansive glossary by a team of international scholars, the Encyclopedia of Linguistics explores the varied perspectives, figures, and methodologies that make up the field.