Mother tongue-based Multilingual Education in Bihar: A Practical Approach

Abstract

Research has shown a positive correlation between multilingual language proficiency and
academic achievement by emphasising that multilingualism leads to greater cognitive flexibility
and social tolerance. Some studies in India have undertaken empirical research to prove this but
not much has been done in the state of Bihar despite having a rich repertoire of languages and
firm language policies in place. There is a need of weaving theory with practice so that the
multilingual classrooms in Bihar can actually be developed as a resource and children do not
feel marginalised merely on account of language. This would go a long way in mainstreaming
the linguistic minority children and preventing indigenous languages from dying out. Issues such
as these provided the rationale for writing this paper which aims at bridging the gap between the
policies and their actual implementation in the classrooms by giving some recommendations at
the end.