Colonization and English ideologies in India: a language policy perspective

A language policy document on English teaching asserted that in India, "the colonial origins [of English are] now forgotten or irrelevant" (NCERT 2006: 1). Using data obtained in the course of a longitudinal ethnographic investigation into the language and literacy practices of young multilingual boys living at an anathashram (orphanage) in suburban New Delhi, India, I contest NCERT's (2006) ideological framing. This study, employing the theoretical perspective of language ideology, demonstrates how the colonial encounter, in fact, continues to frame, inform, and regulate notions about the English language in India. Furthermore, this study sheds light on how the reductive ideological arc of language educational policy documents-such as the one articulated in NCERT (2006)-can enforce and enact a homogenizing gaze that glosses over ideological pluralities. The larger ambition of this exploration is to inquire how and why such ideological normativization is enforced in language educational policy discourse, as well as to consider its implications for educational equity.