Impact of Multilingualism and Multiculturalism on English Language Education: The Case of Arunachal Pradesh, India

Abstract

Arunachal Pradesh is a multilingual and multicultural state with twenty five major tribes, sixty dialects and two languages i.e. Boti and Thai. The region was a terra-incognito until WW II and India’s independence in 1947. Against this backdrop when schools were started in the late 1940s, the medium of instruction was Assamese in pre-primary and primary level. In the year 1974 the medium of instruction was switched to English at all level with Hindi (national language) as second language and Assamese/Sanskrit as third in middle level, in response to demands by the then NEFA students’ union. English is the official language and the medium of instruction in the state since then. But despite 39 years of English teaching the standard of English is found deteriorating especially in Government schools.This paper will look into, and analyze the socio-cultural and linguistic impact of dominant languages, introduced in the multilingual and multicultural state like Arunachal Pradesh, India. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2013.v4n11p665