Scope of multilingual education, teaching, and training: perspective of post-graduate social work students in India

Abstract

ABSTRACT Language as a medium of instruction in education is a highly debatable and contested subject across the globe. Many countries prefer to provide primary education in their local language. However, in times of language politics, social work educators and practice initiated a debate on multilingual methods of teaching and practice for comprehensive interventions at the grassroots level to prevent language barrier from becoming an obstacle in social work practice. In India, English has been the preferred medium of instruction in most of the social work schools and departments that train students for fieldwork and practice. While such a method has certainly been effective in providing a uniform education in the field of social work, many students from vernacular educational backgrounds experience extreme difficulty in the initial period of their training.Based on the data collected from fifty Master of Social Work (MSW) students through Google-forms with open ended questions and thematic analysis, the article argues that a multilingual approach to social work education in teaching and providing reading resources could be the first step in addressing the language difficulties of MSW students from the vernacular backgrounds. This approach will further broaden the scope of social work services within the client system. Besides, the constant encouragement and motivation to be equipped with a better understanding of English to compete at the global level of social work perspective could be another essential part of social work education and training in India.