IMPACT OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION AMONG THE HMAR TRIBALS OF NORTH EAST INDIA

Teaching and learning form one of the basic dimensions of educational reform. This paper attempts to explore factors that impede teaching and learning English among the tribals of Churachandpur district in Manipur, India. The paper begins with an attempt to understand the importance and the general overview of the tribal group. It portrays an anthropological, geographical and historical perspective of Hmar tribal group of North East India. The tribes and the tribal situation of North East India may be considered as concrete examples of the theme of variation and diversity of bio-social and cultural life in terms of genetic strains, languages, ideologies, social organizations, cultural traditions, political organizations and economic life. It is assumed that the educational policies and programmes are unable to encompass the complex social reality of the tribal population within a single framework and are, therefore, unable to bridge the gap between policy and practice. Hence, this paper intends to closely analyse the impact and importance of tribal culture in the learning process.

The multilingual nature of the state and the environment provides sufficient exposure to the target language unlike other tribal areas of the country. However, results in terms of achieving the target language are dismal and impede development in all sectors. Keeping in mind the specific cultural context, a macro level coverage is given to the principles of educational thought: of the conceptual frameworks that develop the relationships of language with that of education, development and culture; Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory and its relevance in education and the need to re-look at the state policy on language education and the country’s school syllabus and language policies in a multilingual setting.