IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ash/wpaper/35.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Language and Learning in Ethically Mixed Communities: A Study of School Children in an Indian Village

Author

Listed:
  • Hemanshu Kumar

    (Department of Economics, Ashoka University)

  • Rohini Somanathan

    (University of Delhi)

  • Mahima Vasishth

    (University of California, Irvine)

Abstract

We study the role of language on the learning of primary school children in a multiethnic village in India. Half the families have a mother tongue closely related to the medium of school instruction while the rest speak one of two tribal languages. Children solve mazes and take tests in reading and mathematics. Performance in language dependent tasks relative to mazes is lower for tribal children in segregated hamlets but not for those in ethnically mixed ones. We conclude that interventions that encourage language acquisition may help linguistic minorities more than mother-tongue instruction, which is the focus of current policy.

Suggested Citation

  • Hemanshu Kumar & Rohini Somanathan & Mahima Vasishth, 2020. "Language and Learning in Ethically Mixed Communities: A Study of School Children in an Indian Village," Working Papers 35, Ashoka University, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:ash:wpaper:35
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://dp.ashoka.edu.in/ash/wpaper/paper35_0.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Chicoine, Luke, 2019. "Schooling with learning: The effect of free primary education and mother tongue instruction reforms in Ethiopia," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 94-107.
    2. Hemanshu Kumar & Rohini Somanthan, 2016. "Affirmative action and long-run changes in group inequality in India," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2016-85, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    3. Chakraborty, Tanika & Bakshi, Shilpi Kapur, 2016. "English language premium: Evidence from a policy experiment in India," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 1-16.
    4. Ramachandran, Rajesh, 2017. "Language use in education and human capital formation: Evidence from the Ethiopian educational reform," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 195-213.
    5. David D. Laitin & Rajesh Ramachandran & Stephen L. Walter, 2019. "The Legacy of Colonial Language Policies and Their Impact on Student Learning: Evidence from an Experimental Program in Cameroon," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 68(1), pages 239-272.
    6. Ministry of Human Resource Development, GOI, 2020. "National Education Policy 2020," Working Papers id:13106, eSocialSciences.
    7. Karla Hoff & Priyanka Pandey, 2006. "Discrimination, Social Identity, and Durable Inequalities," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 96(2), pages 206-211, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Hemanshu Kumar & Rohini Somanathan & Mahima Vasishth, 2022. "Language and learning in ethnically mixed communities," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(2), pages 835-846, May.
    2. Leighton, Margaret, 2022. "Mother tongue reading materials as a bridge to literacy," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    3. Laitin, David D. & Ramachandran, Rajesh, 2022. "Linguistic diversity, official language choice and human capital," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    4. Pooja Nakamura & Zelealem Leyew & Adria Molotsky & Varsha Ranjit & Kevin Kamto, 2023. "PROTOCOL: Language of instruction in schools in low‐ and middle‐income countries: A systematic review," Campbell Systematic Reviews, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 19(2), June.
    5. Binzel, Christine & Link, Andreas & Ramachandran, Rajesh, 2021. "Language, Knowledge, and Growth: Evidence from Early Modern Europe," CEPR Discussion Papers 15454, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    6. Chicoine,Luke, 2020. "Free Primary Education, Fertility, and Women's Access to the Labor Market : Evidence from Ethiopia," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9105, The World Bank.
    7. Yuki, Kazuhiro, 2021. "Language education and economic outcomes in a bilingual society," MPRA Paper 106119, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Hahm, Sabrina & Gazzola, Michele, 2022. "The Value of Foreign Language Skills in the German Labor Market," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    9. Pooja Nakamura & Adria Molotsky & Rosa Castro Zarzur & Varsha Ranjit & Yasmina Haddad & Thomas De Hoop, 2023. "Language of instruction in schools in low‐ and middle‐income countries: A systematic review," Campbell Systematic Reviews, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 19(4), December.
    10. Margaret Leighton, 2021. "Mother Tongue Reading Materials as a Bridge to Literacy," Discussion Paper Series, School of Economics and Finance 202101, School of Economics and Finance, University of St Andrews.
    11. Katherine L. Nelson & Byron J. Powell & Brent Langellier & Félice Lê-Scherban & Paul Shattuck & Kimberly Hoagwood & Jonathan Purtle, "undated". "State Policies that Impact the Design of Children’s Mental Health Services: A Modified Delphi Study," Mathematica Policy Research Reports 27128eeb589049fca3f36053b, Mathematica Policy Research.
    12. Yu Zeng & Xing Xu, 2022. "The Construction and Optimization of an AI Education Evaluation Indicator Based on Intelligent Algorithms," International Journal of Cognitive Informatics and Natural Intelligence (IJCINI), IGI Global, vol. 16(1), pages 1-22, January.
    13. S Anukriti & Catalina Herrera‐Almanza & Praveen K. Pathak & Mahesh Karra, 2020. "Curse of the Mummy‐ji: The Influence of Mothers‐in‐Law on Women in India†," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 102(5), pages 1328-1351, October.
    14. Robert Akerlof & Hongyi Li & Jonathan Yeo, 2022. "Ruling the Roost: The Vicious Circle and the Emergence of Pecking Order," Discussion Papers 2023-03, School of Economics, The University of New South Wales.
    15. Victor Ginsburgh & Shlomo Weber, 2020. "The Economics of Language," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 58(2), pages 348-404, June.
    16. Tarun Jain & Abhiroop Mukhopadhyay & Nishith Prakash & Raghav Rakesh, 2022. "Science education and labor market outcomes in a developing economy," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 60(2), pages 741-763, April.
    17. Maria K. Humlum & Kristin J. Kleinjans & Helena S. Nielsen, 2012. "An Economic Analysis Of Identity And Career Choice," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 50(1), pages 39-61, January.
    18. Kumse, Kaittisak & Suzuki, Nobuhiro & Sato, Takeshi & Demont, Matty, 2021. "The spillover effect of direct competition between marketing cooperatives and private intermediaries: Evidence from the Thai rice value chain," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    19. Cappellari, Lorenzo & Di Paolo, Antonio, 2018. "Bilingual schooling and earnings: Evidence from a language-in-education reform," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 90-101.
    20. Sedai, Ashish Kumar & Jamasb, Tooraj & Nepal, Rabindra & Miller, Ray, 2021. "Electrification and welfare for the marginalized: Evidence from India," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    group inequality;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ash:wpaper:35. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Ashoka University (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.ashoka.edu.in .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.