By Ravi Kumar

India Needs a Centralized world-class Language University: a draft proposal sent to the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India on 25-05-2020

Thanks to the Government of India for including this proposal and announcing the establishment of Indian Institute of Translation and Interpreting under new National Education Policy 2020 approved on July 29,2020 

Prologue:

India has a history that speaks about civilization heritage in the form of institutions of learning like Nalanda, Vikramashila, Takshashila, and other institutions. Centuries have passed.

Today we have Institutions to attract young only for an academic career, till recently, the base for the job was also a criterion. The rapid expansion of the industrial base, trade and advance technology in other select countries, also showed a comparable upward trend in education in such countries. Contrary to this, students of India often found a misfit in the job market even after passing out Institutions of higher learning.

Global knowledge, outstanding Faculties, advanced research base, a platform for innovation, dissemination of knowledge from across the globe are the key words expected for a better education system or say a competitive University to be in the consideration of top 10 or 20 globally.

Few Academia professionals and also social-political workers have spoken about the role of language played in the need for an upward trend in education, vis a vis. the corresponding development in industry, trade, and technology.

Before independence English has been a language for learning, with little importance to the regional language. After independence, English retained its position, but the regional, state-level language also got important and became the medium of learning up to secondary level of education.

With the formation of States, based on language in the region, the local language in each State became prominent in the education segment, up to the Secondary level. But in most States, there was a minority community speaking a different language and they started ascertaining for their language rights. Political solutions mostly resolved the issues.

Then came the three language formula, in 1950. It was mainly to accommodate various regional, national, and political considerations. This gave more growth platform for regional languages.

Irrespective of the above, English continued to be the main business language, both in Government and also in private organizations. Today more Indians use English, but those who are proficient in English are few.

The Constitution of India accorded a special status to Hindi as the Official Language of the Union. As per the stipulations, Government took a series of initiatives for the development of Hindi, with the aim of having Hindi as the language for all governmental functioning and activities.

Regional languages were given importance in States, this also helped the process of maintaining and transmitting local culture and values.

By then, it was evident that language is an identity bond with the region, and also the culture around.

Over the years, different languages have been either added or deleted as of a medium of instruction in different levels of education - primary, secondary, higher secondary.

The above criterion and development in education wing helped in the growth and development of the Regional languages of the State/Union Territory, English, and Hindi. In many cases the language of the largest minority group living in the State also got prominence.

The importance is given to Language Education

India cannot have lived and survived standing alone in the global scenario. The networking, mixing was possible only with the corresponding development of the English language within. The Central Institute of English was set up in 1958 by the Government of India as an autonomous institution with a view to improving English teaching in India.

By 1970, many countries with proficiency in a language other than English were in a developmental path. India has not been a competitor but has been enthusiastic to adopt the growth and development of such nations. Somewhere in the decision-making circle, a gap in language education was felt. This created a need of having Institutions to teach other foreign languages as well. In 1972, the Central Institute of English enlarged the scope of its activities to include other international languages and was renamed as the Central Institute of English and Foreign Languages (CIEFL).

India has six Language Universities, out of which three are Deemed-to-be Universities and three are Central Universities. The Deemed-to-be Universities are for promotion of Sanskrit Language and the three Central Universities are, one each, for promotion of English and Foreign Language, Hindi Language, and Urdu Language.
Today we have a number of Institutions providing study of English and foreign languages and their literature; including research in the languages. Translation and Interpretation organizations also grew correspondingly.

The above process helped in having update textbooks for various courses, translation of relevant articles related to the latest technology in Indian languages.

The multiplicity of languages and importance given to them, at least regionally, did not surpass the popularity and existence of English, which continued to play a major role in the educational system, especially in professional courses of study, Engineering, Medical, etc and also in the legal system, in the business world and in the field of science, technology, and research.

There are over 5000 languages spoken and used in more than 200 countries. India is not the only country where the spoken and used languages are many. The language policy in each country defined linguistic growth, and also its use in education at different levels. The language policy of a country ensures the teaching of the mother tongues at the elementary level and their use as media of instruction in early school education. Children may learn other languages or languages at the higher levels of their education.

In countries like Japan, China, the Government, and all related organizations took care of developing the whole knowledge and technology in their native language. At the same time, such countries and also other countries followed Multilingualism to cop up with the growing economy, trade, and globalization.

In comparison to the world’s other languages, English has an advantageous position; then when speaking of knowledge and development, there are other languages as well coming in front.

The demand for language professionals in business and industry

The demand was not only for mere translation and interpretation; but also for the know-how of all elements of a business transaction, international cooperation, and politics.

This correspondingly called for gaining skills in IT, management, negotiation, project understanding, and execution, etc.

It was also felt prudent to have the language education with proficiency in a particular foreign language, and the programs were tuned to develop their understanding of past and present cultures relating to the country where that language is spoken. Professionally focused courses started covering technology business processes and also related translation.

One of the main attractions of a modern language degree is the opportunity to spend either a semester or a year abroad in a country where the language of study is widely spoken. This helps to increase proficiency in the language of study, and also to know better the culture of the other country; the result is a better platform for communicating with a broad range of people.

In a multicultural-multilingual world, many languages are an asset for international trade and commerce. The Japanese, for example, use English for trade negotiations, but their mutual consultations are always in Japanese. There is a saying: when you buy something from us, speak our language, and when we sell something we speak your language. This explains the need of learning multiple languages. No wonder, the American Defence Language School teaches over 400 languages at any one time, it emphasizes the need for multilingual capability by a monolingual country. Thus whether as neighbors or for trade, for tourism, for defense, learning many languages is the need. Let us have a vibrant society.

Any developing country would like to link science, technology, and economic development for the benefit of national development. This necessitates opening up multi-channels of multilingual communication.

Recent government initiatives have been linked to IT penetration at the village level; this calls for creating content in Indian languages as well as foreign languages to access to information.

As per the recent research by the Indian Translators Association and a comparative analysis of the market size of various sectors that are mainly based on translation, content writing, and localization activities, the Indian Translation Industry is expected to cross USD 10000 million in 2020 with a projected growth rate of 30%-60%.

One need not emphasize the relevance of translation of specialized text related to IT, pharma, applied sciences, engineering, conference interpreting, etc. whose scope has increased manifold, especially with the digitization.

The translation is not only needed for the promotion of literature and cross-cultural activities, it has become an essential tool for keeping pace with the globalization phenomenon which is inseparable from technology and localization processes.

The role of Translation becomes more critical when companies with global reach need to contact in real-time their customers in local languages. Therefore, it is quite evident that over the past decades, localization has progressed from being an added effort by some software publishers to a multi-billion dollar professional industry. Localization, web site globalization, language engineering, and software internationalization have become important issues for companies that want to market and sell their products in international markets. In many cases, localization has proven to be the key factor for international product acceptance and success.

The steady economic growth and reforms have helped the Indian economy attract record inflow of Foreign Direct Investment and joint ventures creating a high demand for language consumption in local languages as well as foreign languages. It is important to note that Languages being essential tools of communication have also undergone fundamental changes in order to be part of the essential determinants of economic changes. Therefore, language learning is not merely a natural acquiring process; rather, it has become a specialized field that needs professional training and technological integration.

The Importance of learning a Foreign Language

Speaking the same language facilitates communication and makes transactions easier, more transparent, and much-reduced misunderstandings.
Further, developing language competencies implies learning about literature and culture of other countries; and this would help to understand the ways of life, traditions, beliefs of other people.
The more languages one speak, the more are the job opportunities.
The knowledge of a foreign language can benefit a businessman, professional by:
o An enhanced client base
o Increasing goodwill and trust
o Better ground for negotiation

Languages can help build better GDP, improve trade relations, boost earning power:

• Switzerland, for example, attributes 10% of its GDP to its multilingual heritage. The country has four national languages: German, French, Italian, and an ancient Latin-based language called Romansh.
• Britain, on the other hand, is estimated to lose out on the equivalent of 3.5% of its GDP every year, because of its population’s relatively poor language skills.

• A study of small and medium-sized companies in Sweden, Germany, Denmark, and France found that those who invested more in languages were able to export more goods. German companies that invested heavily in multilingual staff added 10 export countries to their market. Companies that invested less said they missed out on contracts.
• In Florida, workers who speak both Spanish and English earn $7,000 per year more than those who only speak English.

• According to a Canadian study, bilingual men earn 3.6% and bilingual women earn 6.6% more than their English-only peers.

 Why should there be world standard Language University in India

India needs thousands of Translators and Interpreters; they should be continuously upgrading themselves by coming to terms with an ever-developing technology (including IT resources such as CAT tools and project management tools) and adapt to increasingly stringent professional demands involving good commercial practices, project management processes, terminology management, development of quality standards and effective client services.

India also needs language professionals in all important ones where the advancement in technology, science, general development has been enormous. The current facilities available in the country are inadequate and less than socially required. There is a wide gap in this segment. Isolated Language Institutions giving localized academic knowledge in the foreign language alone will not meet the purpose.

Proposed Objectives of World Class Language University in India

The Course Modules would be drafted and adopted to have the following:

What needs to be done

The above calls for adequate professional training of the teachers, developing studies and curricula of international level, and of course, having excellent infrastructure support.

Specifically, the infra need could be as under:

i. Talented faculty and students,
ii. Adequate resources to offer a rich learning environment and conduct advanced research,
iii. Good governance features in managing the affairs,
iv. Support of Industry and Trade both national and international, and International collaboration,
v. Suitable premises, with scope for expansion, will all logistic and technical support,
vi. A top-level committee to manage the affairs where they should be compensated well and who have full autonomy.

A Core Group of eminent professionals, academicians created especially for the purpose can take the challenge and we could call for a WORLD CLASS LANGUAGE UNIVERSITY, and start working from the base.