In Technological inter-operability applications

Multi-lingualism - is the presence of a more number of languages on the networks,

with the evolution of the techniques and standard

Pluri-lingualism  - is the possibility

• to exchange contents from a language to another,
• to create links between the languages to insure intercommunication and
• to foster langage and cultural diversity.

This tasks in the coming years will avoid the appearance of linguistic and cultural ghettos.

http://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/fr/IMG/pdf/Synthesisva.pdf

Dear Dr. Sinha,

I think firstly comparisons between language features of local languages and those of English may be done in the instruction. Besides, students' language transfer, either syntactic, semantic, or pragmatic one, should be allowed in the classroom as long as the transfer contributes to satisfactory communication, and this means evaluation should also be designed accordingly.

Hope my opinion is relevant.

Sincerely,

Cameen 

Dear Dr. Cameen,

 I appreciate your response. It's more in the domain of perceptions and practices which are at odds with each other.  The apprehension of a language with all the command of a ruling elite may at times hamper the growth of a local language.

Thanks for your opinion,

Sincerely,

Yogesh

computational models can be used to teach  linguistic diversity and it can make lignusitics much more easier. 

This article could be of use Towards a computational model of grammaticalization and

lexical diversity, available on the link http://www.aclweb.org/anthology/W14-0508

In engineering classrooms it is quiet often observed that the students can communicate and explain more effectively in their local language.Multilingual instructions delivery mode if implemented properly can raise the understanding level but of-course may in due course be time consuming and affect quantum of subject covered.So calls for a proper balance. 

Dear Dr NItin,

UNESCO promotes mother tongue instruction in the context of bilingual education (BE)/multilingual education (MLE) from the earliest years of schooling because:

– It lays a solid foundation for learning

– It improves access to education, especially for girls

– When used at home and/or at school, it promotes literacy in the mother

tongue (L1) and later in the second language (L2)

– It facilitates learning both of academic subjects as well as the second

language (L2). At school, children can concentrate on the subject matter

instead of struggling to understand the language of instruction as well.

– It improves learning outcomes as it promotes dialogue and interaction

between learners and teachers by means of better communication and

understanding

– It raises the quality of education by emphasising understanding and

creativity rather than repetitive memorization.

Despite the known bene ts of bilingual/multilingual education, the principle

of education in the mother tongue is not always respected. More often than

not, children are taught in a language that they do not master.

You may refer to this link http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0022/002265/226554e.pdf

Sincerely,

Yogesh Sinha

leveraging linguistic diversity while teaching English has been a major debating issue today in academia. It would be good to have a look at Ithaca College website listing on this issue.

http://www.ithaca.edu/wise/bilingual/

It seems it might be useful to distinguish between the teaching of English on the one hand (where in the classroom issues and solutions are largely pedagogy driven) and English-medium education (where issues and solutions are ideology and policy driven). There's an interesting study relating to policy looking at a European which explores some of the challenged which arise even when the power differential between languages is less marked.

http://www.palgrave.com/us/book/9781137543110

A person's native language will usually influence pronunciation and choice of grammar when speaking a foreign language.  Even when the idea of learning English was to interact with native speakers, there was no one perfect English accent.

Today, because English is a common medium of exchange among people of many native languages, we need to be more accepting of differences in language use.  We also need to be better listeners because English will not always to pronounced the way WE pronounce it.

Those whose native language is not English must get influence from their mother tongue and it's natural. Therefore, don't bother with it but make it your advantage to make what you explain to be more easily understood by students.

well looking at the dynamism of the English Language it is not a bad idea to leverage. It is the only language that has united the whole world. Indian are masters in learning language. 90% of Indians are polyglots. Language learning and acquisition is not a big deal and I bet it wont affect the local languages. Indians are multilingual and are in a habit of code switching. Therefore there is no question of the local language being hampered.

Phonetics allows one to know what is standard pronunciation and its variations.

Phonetics is important to understand morphological detivations.

Phonetics is important to see why certain words are taboo in certain cultures.

In Technological inter-operability applications

Multi-lingualism - is the presence of a more number of languages on the networks,

with the evolution of the techniques and standard

Pluri-lingualism  - is the possibility

• to exchange contents from a language to another,
• to create links between the languages to insure intercommunication and
• to foster langage and cultural diversity.

This tasks in the coming years will avoid the appearance of linguistic and cultural ghettos.

http://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/fr/IMG/pdf/Synthesisva.pdf

Dear Mr krishnan

your asnwer is quite intresting. 

Dear Dr Krishnan,

Your answer is very pertinent. We may look at the UNESCO document as well for better perspective on the issue.

http://www.unesco.org/new/en/communication-and-information/access-to-knowledge/linguistic-diversity-and-multilingualism-on-internet/

Efectivamente, el documento de la UNESCO es muy recomendable para abordar este tema.

Respected Yogesh Sir, I am quietly agree with Krishnan Umachandran  sir's opinion. Dr. Itishri Sarangi  Madam's opinion is also quiet remarkable..

It should be borne in mind that multilingualism is the norm globally (refer to any of Vivian Cook's writings, etc.) - and the "least plurilingually fortunate" are at least multi-dialectal in their native language. The predominance of English is not as universal as it usually claimed to be, nor does English serve as the sole mode of expression of all the functions its speakers engage in.  That's why many L2-English speakers still use other languages they know, local or foreign. "The preservation of local languages" (Yogesh) is more than relevant; it is a paramount feature of linguistic ecology/diversity involved in other forms of environmental diversity protection. 

In addition to the cognitive benefits/advantages to being a polyglot over a monolingual (that research is almost taking for granted now), there is an inherent HUMAN RIGHT to use one's own mother tongue (and any other language of choice) in the variety of domains of the speaker's needs, amongst which education is one.  Research also shows now (see UNESCO, UNHDR, the Council of Europe, and other reports) that the use of the mother tongue (MT) in early education, in particular, impacts significantly and positively on the learner's educational success even when the MT may be considered not as "highly developed" as the predominant ones.

To top it up, the use of L1 during L2 instruction has ceased to be a taboo for quite a while now, mostly due to reasons such as the above-mentioned, and so linguistic diversity is being "leveraged" almost by default. As a result, globalization issues are quickly turning into localization issues, hence the fairly new concept of 'GLOCALISATION'.