Mother Tongue Prestige: The Sociolinguistics of Privilege in Urban Middle-Class Education in India

This book explores the intersection of language and social privilege in education in India, using ethnographic detail and primary data to examine how education is segregated by socioeconomic class and caste. It advances fields of study on multilingual education, language ideologies, and identity and critiques contemporary caste configurations that uphold urban middle-class Brahmins as the socially privileged purveyors of social and linguistic norms.

Format: Hardback
Length: 176 pages
Publication date: 01 September 2023
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd

This book delves into the intricate intersection of language and social privilege in education within the context of India. Through rich ethnographic detail and primary data, it initiates a conversation on privilege, particularly contemporary configurations of caste and socioeconomic class in India, within the fields of South Asian studies and sociolinguistic educational studies. The author explores how and why education at the pre-primary, secondary, and higher education levels in India remains largely segregated by socioeconomic class and caste, primarily through the lens of language. By examining these dynamics, the author contributes to the study of multilingual education, language ideologies, and the complexities between language and identity. This book offers a novel and contemporary case from India, enriching the work on language and privilege in education. Furthermore, it critiques contemporary caste configurations in India that uphold urban middle-class Brahmins as the socially privileged purveyors of social and linguistic norms.

Mother Tongue Prestige unravels the motivational factors, perceptions of education, and aspirations associated with language use and learning that shape the generations of students within an educational system geared towards preparing them for a globalized workforce and urban, multilingual livelihoods in India and beyond. It serves as an invaluable resource for students and researchers interested in education, language, sociology, sociology of education, linguistics, sociolinguistics, and South Asian studies.

Weight: 500g
Dimension: 234 x 156 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781032404554