A survey of language use patterns among undergraduate students in Nagaland

Abstract

Many languages around the world are at different levels of endangerment due to varied reasons. The situation in Nagaland is no different, as all languages spoken by the Nagas are categorised as Vulnerable. The present state is a result of the rapid changes in Naga society over the past 150 years, pushed by education, urbanisation, and modernity. Nagaland is a state in north east India, inhabited by about 20 tribes speaking different languages. Today, in addition to their respective mother tongues, English and Nagamese are widely spoken, with Hindi used occasionally in certain domains. Hence, Nagas have become a truly multilingual society. Given the complex situation, it is important to examine the use of language in various domains, which will help one determine the status of these languages. In this paper, I examine the language use pattern among 2,984 undergraduate students of Nagaland in the home domain (parents, grandparents, siblings, and relatives); informal domain (friends and markets); and the formal domain (institutions, offices, and churches); and their knowledge of the mother tongue. The survey shows that while the use of one’s mother tongue is strong within the home domain, it is strongest between respondents and (grand)parents, while the use of English and Nagamese is increasing between respondents and siblings at the cost of the mother tongue. This points to a generational difference in the use of the mother tongue. This is corroborated by the survey involving respondents and friends (within the same tribe) where use of mother tongue is strong but Nagamese is not far behind. An interesting result is the high usage of English and Nagamese in churches, a formal domain where the mother tongue has strong status. New domains such as social media have not helped the situation, which are heavily dominated by English. The generational difference and use of mother tongue in fewer domains is reflected in the respondent’s level of knowledge of folktales, folksongs, proverbs, and idioms, and specific terms related to flora and fauna, address terms, traditional ornaments, weaving/basketry, and agriculture, which is far from satisfactory. The paper advocates strengthening of mother tongue education by all stakeholders in a major way, failing which, our mother tongues will lose to English and Nagamese.