Effect of Three Language Formula on Upper Primary Students                     in West Bengal

 

Achintya Singha ¹

 

¹ State Aided College Teacher (SACT), Bangabasi Evening College, Kolkata, West Bengal, India

 

1. INTRODUCTION

University Education Commission, India, Govt. (1950) first recommended three language policy. Then Kothari Commission (1962-1964) recommended a modified three-language formula. Mainly three-language formula enunciated in National Policy on Education, India, Govt. (1968). Resolution provided for the study of Hindi, English and Regional language for non-Hindi speaking state and Hindi, English and a modern Indian language for Hindi speaking state. To fulfill demand of non-Hindi speaking states of south, such as Karnataka, Tamil Nadu etc., this formula was formulated. National Education Policy, India, Govt. (2020) referred three languages such as Hindi, English, and regional language.

Aggarwal (1988) presented the findings of a sociolinguistic study of Indian university students’ attitudes and perceptions towards English and of their use of English. Observed that students have a favourable attitude towards English, recognize its influence and are instrumentally motivated to study it. Bhattarai (2018), as a new experiment the three-language formula has been a success story and a raiser of hope for future policy in the context of Nepal’s linguistic diversity. Devi (2017) argued that the multilingual character India has adopted three-language formula and he studied about implementation of it in NCF-2005 and its implementation in Northeast India. Mohanty and Babu (1983), studied about cognitive consequences of bilingualism have often confounded the effects of bilingualism and culture by comparing monolinguals and bilinguals belonging to different cultures in Orissa. Schiffman (1996), in the book Linguistic Culture and Language Policy, examines how language policy is a social construct based on believe systems, attitudes and myths at the multilingual democracies in India, France and USA. Sridhar (1996), discussed about the background information on the linguistic profile of India and different language movements and their impact on Indian education. Verma (1991), discussed about the three-language formula with its focus on the teaching of English as a second language in India and established that each language has a system-determined value.

 

2. Objective of the Study

·        To know the student’s interest in English language.

·        Anxiety about learning English hinders learning English.

·        Student interest about learning Sanskrit as a third language.

·        To know studying science discourages the learning of a third language.

·        To be concerned about the language learning environment in upper primary school.

·        Strategy of language teacher is effective for helping students learn languages.

 

3.  STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

  The problem stated as “Effect of three language formula on upper primary students of West Bengal”.

 

4. RESEARCH QUESTION

·        Is a Bengali medium student interested in learning English?

·        Is anxiety about English a barrier to learn English?

·        Is there interest among students in choosing Sanskrit as a third language?

·        Is studying science discouraging for learning a third language?

·        Is the present situation of a school enough to learn languages?

·        Is a language teacher’s strategy effective for helping students learn languages?

 

5. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

With this study, we will know about the following goals:

·        Effectiveness of the three-language formula in the Indian education system.

·        Implementation of the three-language formula addressed disparities in language learning.

·        Implementation of the three-language formula and elimination of disparities among the first, second and third language.

·        Importance of three-language formula in language learning.

·        To expand research area in language studies.

 

6.  METHODOLOGY

 It is mainly a survey based qualitative study.

 

7. Sample

In this study, the author mainly choose 35 students of upper primary school in West Bengal.

 

8. RESEARCH TOOLS AND TECHNIQUE

For data collection the researcher used questionnaire after expert validation, 25 questions for students.

 

8.1. Questionnaire for students as follows

1)     Do you like reading Bengali as a subject? Yes/No

2)     Do you like read English? Yes/No

3)     Do you prefer any language other than Bengali and English? Yes/No

4)     Do you face any problems reading English as a Bengali-medium student? Yes/No

5)     Do you understand the English teacher’s class? Yes/No

6)     If you don’t understand the teaching properly, does the teacher punish you? Yes/No

7)     Do you spend more time teaching Bengali than English? Yes/No

8)     Do you face any problems reading Bengali as a Bengali-medium student? Yes/No

9)     Do you understand the Bengali teacher’s class? Yes/No

10) Do you ask questions if you do not understand any part of the lesson? Yes/No

11) Do you have the ability to answer the teacher’s question? Yes/No

12) If you don’t properly answer the question of the teacher, does the teacher punish you? Yes/No

13) Do you like learning Sanskrit as a third language? Yes/No

14) Do you get any help from your teacher to understand Sanskrit and speak in Sanskrit? Yes/No

15) If you do not understand properly, does the teacher appreciate your question about the lesson? Yes/No

16) Does the teacher encourage you learn that language? Yes/No

17) Does your school have any language learning aids? Yes/No

18) Does your school have any separate classroom for language learning? Yes/No

19) Does the teacher use teaching learning aids in language learning? Yes/No

20) Do you prefer teaching through teaching learning materials? Yes/No

21) Do you prefer to study languages rather than science? Yes/No

22) Do your parents encourage science education more than language lessons? Yes/No

23) Are you more motivated to study science because you get more score in science than language? Yes/No

24) Do you think English and third-language grammar are very difficult? Yes/No

25) Can you find any similarities among Bengali grammar, English grammar, and third-language grammar? Yes/No

 

9. PROCEDURE OF DATA COLLECTION

Researcher collected data using multiple-choice questionnaire.

 

10. SOFTWARE USED

For analysis and interpretation of data the researcher mainly used Microsoft office Excel 2007 and Microsoft office Word 2007.

 

11. DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

 Students’ response sheet- Out of 25 multiple choice questions with 2 options, we show the response of teachers given in the following table.

  Table 1                                               

Table 1
Question No	Number Of Students Who Choose ‘Yes’	Number Of Students Who Choose ‘No’	Percentage Of Students Who Gave Answer 'Yes'	Percentage Of Students Who Gave Answer 'No'
1	35	0	100	0
2	9	26	25.714286	74.28571429
3	7	28	20	80
4	25	10	71.428571	28.57142857
5	14	21	40	60
6	25	10	71.428571	28.57142857
7	25	10	71.428571	28.57142857
8	7	28	20	80
9	35	0	100	0
10	28	7	80	20
11	35	0	100	0
12	25	10	71.428571	28.57142857
13	14	21	40	60
14	23	12	65.714286	34.28571429
15	28	7	80	20
16	35	0	100	0
17	30	5	85.714286	14.28571429
18	0	35	0	100
19	35	0	100	0
20	23	12	65.714286	34.28571429
21	10	25	28.571429	71.42857143
22	26	9	74.285714	25.71428571
23	19	16	54.285714	45.71428571
24	31	4	88.571429	11.42857143
25	5	30	14.285714	85.71428571

 

Figure 1

                                                                     

Figure 1

 

From above Table 1 and Figure 1, we observed that: -

1)     From the answer of Q1 and Q2, all most all students like Bengali reading but almost 75% students don’t like to read English.

2)     Students’ attitude toward the English language is a barrier to learn English which shown by the answer of questions Q3, Q4, Q7 and Q25.

3)     Most of the students have negative attitudes toward learning Sanskrit as a third language, from feedback of questions Q13 and Q14.

4)     The answers of the questions Q21, Q22 and Q23 pointed out that progress in science education has become a hindrance to language education.

5)     Students’ response of question Q17 and Q18 indicate that school environment makes a positive attitude towards language learning.

6)     Positive attitude of teachers and use of teaching learning materials are effective for language learning, which can be noticed by the answer of the questions Q5, Q6, Q9, Q10, Q12, Q14, Q15, Q16, Q19, Q20 and Q24.

 

 

12. MAJOR FINDINGS

·        Most students prefer to learn, read and speak in their mother tongue.

·        Students prefer to study in regional language or mother tongue than English.

·        Student’s attitude towards English has a negative impact on learning English.

·        Very few students expressed interest in learning a third language.

·        Teacher delivery strategies have negative and positive effect on students’ language learning.

·        Nowadays most of the parents give more importance to science than language teaching.

 

13. LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

 We have collected feedback from a small number of students. Also, we collected data some specific area of Purba Bardhaman district.

 

14. CONCLUSION

There are more than 6000 dialects in 200 countries across the world. Preference of order depends on the speakers. Language has an important role for students to acquire knowledge. Most of the students prefer regional language for speaking and learning. English language has an important role in spreading knowledge internationally, especially in the field of science education. In present situation, most of the parent think language study are not important than science. So, the second language becoming important. But the third language is losing importance in current situation.

 

CONFLICT OF INTERESTS

None. 

 

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Thanks to Mr. Biswajit Bhattacharya for giving information about three-language formula and help towards data collection.

 

REFERENCES

Aggarwal, K. S. (1988). English and India’s Three-Language Formula : An Empirical Perspective. World Englishes, 7(3), 289–298. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-971X.1988.tb00238.x.

Bhattarai, T. N. (2018). Addressing Linguistic Diversity with Three Language Formula : A Case Study of Newa Schools in Newa Settlements. Dhaulagiri Journal of Sociology and Anthropology, 12, 80–87. https://doi.org/10.3126/dsaj.v12i0.22183.

Devi, S. Ch. (2017). Three Language Formula and the First and Second Language: A Case of North East India. Language in India, 17(8), 1–13.

India, Govt. (1950). Report of University Education Commission 1948–49, I. New Delhi.

India, Govt. (1968). National Policy on Education 1968. Ministry of Education.

India, Govt. (2020). National Education Policy 2020. Ministry of Human Resource Development.  

Mohanty, A. K., and Babu, N. (1983). Bilingualism and Metalinguistic Ability Among Kond Tribals in Orissa, India. Journal of Social Psychology, 121(1), 15–22. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224545.1983.9924461.

Schiffman, H. F. (1996). Linguistic Culture And Language Policy. Routledge.

Sridhar, K. K. (1996). Language In Education : Minorities and Multilingualism in India. International Review of Education, 42(4), 327–347. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00601095.

Verma, S. K. (1991). The Three Language Formula : Its Sociopolitical and Pedagogical Implications. ITL – International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 91–92, 49–60. https://doi.org/10.1075/itl.91-92.02ver.