Multilingual Picture Wordbook for First-Generation Tribal Learners: A Pre-Post Analysis

Abstract

Mother-tongue-based multilingual education is a pedagogical approach that promotes a child’s home language in contexts where the child’s home language does not form a part of the formal learning process. In a multilingual country like India where mainstream languages like Hindi, English and the various state languages are given primacy during the learning process, it is the tribal languages which are always left aside due to their lack of economic viability. In this context a multilingual picture wordbook comprising six tribal languages in addition to English, Hindi and Odia (regional language) was designed for first-generation tribal students studying in grades VI-VII, to promote the child’s home language and culture in the mainstream classrooms. Words from the local context were consciously chosen to provide the child with a sense of ownership and affinity. All the variables being the same, one school was randomly selected as the control group and another school as the experimental group. A pre-test was conducted among both control and experimental group students. The intervention process was implemented in one of the identified schools, comprising 148 students from Classes VI-VIII. Classroom practice by the language teachers and self-study by the students continued for a period of five months. After the intervention process, again a post-test was conducted among the control group and experimental group students, and the results were recorded and analysed. Notable improvement was observed in the post-test scores in the vocabulary test for the experimental group students.