The Third Language Trap: How Early Language Policy Shapes — and Constrains — Children’s Educational Trajectories

Most Indian school children are required to learn three languages simultaneously by Class III or IV. The linguistic evidence on when and how multiple languages should be introduced has direct implications for foundational learning. A contributing voice from child development | Specialist in education equity, school improvement, and teacher professional development This essay addresses one […]

Vishal Jain

Articles Education and technology Learning barriers Students

When the Mother Tongue Is Not the Medium: Language Transitions and the Loss of a Child’s First Voice

India has hundreds of home languages. Its schools teach in a fraction of them. The gap between what a child speaks at home and what the teacher speaks at school is one of education’s most underestimated harms. Prof. Suhasini Bhattacharya | Applied linguist and teacher educator, specialising in multilingual classrooms When a four-year-old from a […]

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The Third Language Trap: How Early Language Policy Shapes — and Constrains — Children’s Educational Trajectories

When the Mother Tongue Is Not the Medium: Language Transitions and the Loss of a Child’s First Voice