CHAPTER V SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS 5.1 Summary Mother tongue education had been given a lot of importance even during British rule. The Bombay Education Society, in 1821, emphasized that language of the country must be the chief and proper vehicle for the diffusion of knowledge among the people. Though English language gained importance during the end of 19*' century, vernaculars were given importance at the time of freedom struggle. However, from 1956, the move had been towards English medium, as English was seen as the language for to-day s world. Good education has somehow become synonymous with English medium schools, either because of the colonial hangover or simple practical acceptance of English as standard language of the school the world over. On the other hand, it is likely that English medium schools are run mostly by missionaries, who strive to provide good education as compared to other managements. The value of the mother tongue medium cannot be underestimated. Gandhiji and Tagore to modem educationists solemnly swear on the fact that the best medium for teaching a child is through his mother tongue. It is also a fact that the number of English medium schools is increasing and that number of children being educated through the mother tongue is decreasing. In this scenario, it is imperative to find out the differences, if any of performance and adjustment in children studying in their mother tongue or in English medium. 1 0 0
The present study was designed to find out whether the medium of instruction affects the scholastic achievement and adjustment - the very objective of the school to broaden the child s understanding. The research question that is posed in this research is whether medium of instruction in the school acts as an influential factor in determining cognitive and linguistic competencies of the individual and hence, his academic achievement and adjustment. Thus the chief objective of the study was to examine the relationship between the medium of instruction and the academic achievement and adjustment of primary school children studying in English and Gujarati (mother tongue) medium. Medium of instruction was the independent variable and its relationship was studied with reference to the dependant variables, academic achievement and adjustment. The sample was drawn from two private schools in a suburb of Mumbai. The children from English and Gujarati medium were selected by using multistage sampling. The final sample consisted of 593 children (296 from English medium and 297 from Gujarati medium). The academic achievement was assessed by considering the average of the total marks obtained in the unit tests and terminal examinations in two consecutive years. The adjustment was assessed by using three Adjustment Inventories. The children, parents and teachers were asked to respond to the statements in these inventories and the total scores were taken to indicate the adjustment in children. The inventories, which were constructed and standardized by the researcher, covered four areas of adjustment - behaviour in the class, behaviour with the teacher and peers and academic performance. An interview schedule was used to collect lol 35 ^0
background information regarding the economic and educational status of the parents. 5.2 The salient findings of the study are listed below. 5.2.1 The comparison of the profile of the two groups of children in relation to the family background and study habits revealed that: Children studying in English medium belonged to higher income group. Parents of these children were better educated and had better occupations. The stated reasons for choice of the medium of instruction was either its scope in the future as in the case of English medium students or its lower cost as in the case of Gujarati medium children. Most of the English medium children were coached by private tutors and they spent more time everyday in studying at home. Many of the children from the English medium were not fluent in English. The English medium group, when compared to the Gujarati medium group was better in all the supportive variables like, income of the family, education of the parents and occupation of the fathers. 5.2.2 The comparison of the academic achievement i.e. the average marks scored by the children of the two groups indicated that: The two groups did not differ significantly in the aggregate marks scored. But English medium children had performed better in 1 0 2
Mathematics and Gujarati medium children had scored higher in EVS. The deficiency of the English medium children in English usage is reflected in this. Mathematics involves less usage of language and EVS needs language proficiency. Hence, in the non-verbal subject, English medium students have done better. Gujarati medium boys scored highest in each of the individual subjects as well as on the total, followed by girls of the English medium. The Gujarati medium girls had lowest marks. This may be because of the poor motivation and encouragement given to these girls, whereas Gujarati medium boys are motivated to perform, so that they can reach higher levels than their parents could. Analysis of variance revealed that the effect of interaction of sex and medium was significant at 0.001 level. The children from both the groups, as they progressed to higher standards, scored lower in the examinations. The decrease was higher in the case of English medium children and lower for the mother tongue medium children. This reflects the fact that, even after gaining a little more mastery over the language of instruction, English medium children did not fare as well as Gujarati medium children. The changes in the marks scored by the children in the second year of schooling indicated mixed results. Boys had shown a negative trend and the girls from both the groups had shown slightly higher scores. 103
5.2.3 Scholastic adjustment results were similar to the trend of findings in the area of academic achievement. The aggregates scored in the adjustment inventories showed no significant difference between the two groups. But in individual areas, significant differences were found. English medium children were superior in the relationship with their peers, whereas, the Gujarati medium children were better in school performance and behaviour in the class. In spite of the language differences, English medium children had better relationship with their peers. It was because of the fact that most of the children had Gujarati as their mother tongue. It was found that the Gujarati medium girls had scored highest and English medium girls had scored lowest in the inventories. Though Gujarati medium girls had scored poorly in academic performance, their overall score was higher. It can be interpreted as these children, due to their household responsibilities were more mature and well behaved. 5.2.4 While checking on the correlations between the variables. It was found that though the two groups showed similar effects, the range of effect was definitely different. Education of the parents, especially of the mother was found to have a positive correlation with the academic achievement and adjustment of the children from both the groups. The old saying that the education of the woman, the mother is like educating the family is proved true, here. 104
Though the income level also showed a positive correlation with achievement and adjustment, the Gujarati medium children scored higher in both the areas than the English medium children from the same income group. This can be explained as, the Gujarati medium children perform better with a little improvement in their family background. Fluency in the medium of instruction in the English medium children had led to better performance in the examinations. The importance of mastery over the language of learning is brought about in this finding. The children who could speak in English fluently, had scored higher than those who were not fluent. Marks of both the groups of children had improved with the increase in the amount of time spent on studying at home. 5.3 CONCLUSIONS The present study clearly indicated that parents selecting mother tongue as the medium of instruction for the child was guided by economic factors than by any desire or understanding of the values of education in mother tongue. In other words, advantages of mother tongue medium, even if apparent, the parents would have, if circumstances permitted, selected English medium for their children. English medium children had many supportive background variables such as, better educated parents, higher family income and tutors engaged to coach them. Yet, there was no conclusive indication of higher 105
performance levels in schools. On the other hand, in spite of poor environmental assistance and less supportive factors, Gujarati medium children had performed as well as or better than the English medium children. For English medium children as Tagore (1921) remarked, the knocking at the gate and turning the key had taken away the best part of their lives i.e. the energy and patience of the pupils is wasted in deciphering the complexities of the language. Mother tongue medium on the other hand, had helped the children to overcome the environmental handicaps and ensured a better academic performance and adjustment. 5.4 IMPLICATIONS OF THE STUDY One of the most intricate characteristics of the medium debate has been the uncritical acceptance of the western theories of education of the early twentieth century. But the implications of the results are obvious -that the argument in favour of mother tongue medium is tenable and the education in mother tongue should be stressed for children at least at lower levels. But, with the misplaced enthusiasm for English medium raging on, it is imperative that parents and the society should be made aware of the advantages of learning in mother tongue. In India, with a multitude of languages and a high percentage of floating population, it may be difficult to offer mother tongue medium everywhere. Nevertheless, making concerted efforts to offer early childhood education and at least two years of primary education in the vernacular languages has added advantages. 106
FOR PARENTS For the parents, the justification for mother tongue education is built on the achievement issue. If, a child benefits cognitively by this, it is justified. If there are deficits in English medium education, support for such education may be hard to find. Hence, parents have to be sensitized about the advantages of education in mother tongue and there is no edge over the others for the English medium child. They should be made aware of the fact that, learning all the subjects in English, places substantial constraint on the child's ability to relate school knowledge to everyday experiences. The richest part of the transactional as well as well as expressive uses of language do not, in fact cannot, take place in English. FOR TEACHERS AND ACADEMICIANS Teachers and academicians need to be convinced about the value of teaching the child in the language he understands well i.e. his mother tongue. The methods, materials and media used by English medium schools give them an aura in the society. The ethos of English and the instrumental motivation provided by it had made the parents select English medium. Subtle things like the attitude of the teachers towards education in mother tongue will go long way in educating the parents the value of it. Dissemination of research findings to the society is one of the major roles for the teachers and academicians. Academicians need to propagate the idea of learning in mother tongue, because it is effective and beneficial to the children. 107
THE ROLE OF THE GOVERNMENT Tamil Nadu Government recently announced that only Tamil medium schools will get the Government grants, which may be one step in promoting the native language. But this is not enough. The national policy on the media of instruction stresses the importance of the regional language media and the development of these regional languages to suit the needs of modem science and technology. A striking difference between English medium schools and vernacular medium schools is the amount of curricular material available to children. The English medium child has access to a variety of text materials in different subjects and also areas of general interest. These books are better produced, more readable and sometimes more comprehensive than their Indian counterparts. Hence, the Government s important duty will be to publish at concessional rates, books in native language. This will help the language medium to be accepted by people, by creating faith in the potential of the language to develop to suit the needs of modem science and technology. The other possibilities may be to give incentives to the parents for enrolling their children in vernacular medium. The incentives should be in the way of giving priority in admissions to technical courses. Since the main reason stated by the parents for selecting English medium was its scope for future and insurance for success in life, this will encourage parents to enroll their children in mother tongue medium. In all this enthusiasm, the rightful place of English in our society as a world language should not be ignored. English has a unique position in 108
India. Competence in the use of English is the single most important marker of a young person's eligibility for negotiating the opportunity structure that the modem economy has made available. Those who lack this competence have remarkably limited scope for moving into higher income and higher status role in society. The ability to use English fluently has become a synecdoche, a socially understood shorthand, for general ability (Krishnakumar, 1997). Gandhiji did not conceive English as the national language nor as the medium of instmction, but he said, "English is a world language and I did not want Indians to give up or forget English" (Kochhar, 1981). English should be taught as a second language at school. This will provide a base for assimilating modem scientific information at college level and it will also help widen the students intellectual horizon. For the students who are initiated to education through the medium of mother tongue, availability of books in regional language and the knowledge of English for further reading will go a long way in ensuring adequate preparation for higher education, without alienating them from the mainstream world affairs or programs. Concerted efforts and pro-active measures for ensuring educational opportunities for all the children is a vital need for our country because, English as a supplement to mother tongue education is a strength (Pattanayak, 1991). 109