Sahyadri Arts College conducts survey to understand linguistic diversity on campus in Shivamogga

Sahyadri Arts College's survey reveals linguistic diversity among students, highlighting multilingualism on campus.

Sahyadri Arts College, a constituent college of Kuvempu University, conducted a language landscape survey among students to mark International Mother Language Day. The survey, according to the college authorities, exhibited a miniature of 'multilingual India’ existing in the college campus in Shivamogga.

Among the respondents, 74% said their mother tongue is Kannada. Around 50 students said their mother tongue is the Lambani language, and 24 students’ mother language is Urdu. There are students who come from families whose primary languages are Tamil, Marathi, Telugu, and Malayalam, among others.

Of the total, 98% of students use Kannada for daily communication. Around 14% use Urdu for communication at home and within the community, and 8% of students converse in Lambani at home. Around 45% of the students communicate in English for educational purposes.

The survey results were presented during a programme organised to mark International Mother Language Day at the college on February 21. Professor M. Purvachar presented a summary of the survey.

Prof. Siraj Ahmed, principal of the college, stated that the survey was conducted to understand the linguistic diversity on campus. “The survey has shown interesting results. We have students with different mother tongues. For most of them, English has become the medium of instruction. A majority of them have stressed the need for bilingual pedagogy. These outcomes are necessary to formulate policies on education and ensure mother-tongue-based multilingual education,” he said.

The principal mentioned that he plans to expand the survey to other colleges in the coming days in consultation with the vice-chancellor of the university.