Medium in South Asia : Ethnography, discourse, and policy

Abstract

This chapter introduces Language, Education, and Identity, a volume focused on the concept of “medium of instruction” or “medium” in South Asia. The introduction begins by fleshing out the meanings of medium, a term that refers to the primary language of pedagogy in a school. It makes the case for extending the study of medium from the traditional focus on policy to that of ideology and social practices. Almost all of the volume’s authors incorporate ethnographic research on schooling and social life, opening up the possibility to investigate medium in relation to the ways it is seen by people as meaningful and a source of identity production. This introduction provides a brief overview of medium in schooling in relation to social, economic, and political life in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka, a review of the chapters in the volume, and a summary of the theoretical contributions of the volume.