Language and learning in ethnically mixed communities

• Published date: 01 May 2022
• Author: Hemanshu Kumar,Rohini Somanathan,Mahima Vasishth
• Date: 01 May 2022
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/rode.12873

Rev Dev Econ. 2022;26:835–846. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/rode

|

835

© 2022 John Wiley & Sons Ltd

Received: 14 October 2020

|

Revised: 15 January 2022

|

Accepted: 15 January 2022

DOI: 10.1111/rode.12873

REGULAR ARTICLE

Language and learning in ethnically mixed

communities

HemanshuKumar1

|

RohiniSomanathan2

|

MahimaVasishth3

1Department of Economics, Ashoka

University, Sonepat, India

2Department of Economics, Delhi School

of Economics, University of Delhi, Delhi,

India

3Department of Economics, University of

California, Irvine, CA, USA

Correspondence

Hemanshu Kumar, Department of

Economics, Ashoka University, Rajiv

Gandhi Education City, Rai, Sonepat,

Haryana131029, India.

Email: hemanshu.kumar@ashoka.edu.in

Funding information

Azim Premji University Research

Funding Programme, Grant/Award

Number: E224

Abstract

Many school children in ethnically diverse countries

live in multilingual environments where the medium of

instruction in school differs from their mother tongue.

We conduct a field experiment in a multiethnic village

in northern India to study the relative importance of

linguistic distance and neighborhood isolation in the

acquisition of language and mathematics skills in el-

ementary school. The village has two sizable ethnic

groups speaking languages very different from the me-

dium of school instruction. Students attempt a set of

mazes and take tests in reading and mathematics. We

find that performance in language- dependent tasks rela-

tive to mazes is lower for children whose mother tongue

is different from the medium of instruction only if their

ethnic group is also residentially segregated. Language

policy in most countries has traditionally favored ei-

ther mother- tongue instruction or assimilation into

mainstream language and culture. Our results suggest

that there may be value in a more nuanced approach

that flexibly combines some instructional support in a

mother tongue for those who need it, with policies that

encourage contact with speakers of dominant languages

to benefit from peers and social networks.

KEYWORDS

education, inequality, language, segregation

JEL CLASSIFICATION

I24; I28; J15; Z13