Question

Which of the following statements are true regarding multilingualism?

I. Multilingualism can be a hindrance to personal development.

II. Multilingualism can be seen as an expression of cultural prosperity.

III. Multilingualism makes a person more tolerant.

IV. The prevalence of multilingualism in India has stunted its economic development.

1. II and III
2. I and II
3. I, II and IV
4. II, III and IV

Answer 1

Correct Answer - Option 1 : II and III
More than 1600 languages are spoken in India and these languages belong to four different language families. India is called a multilingual country because of this linguistic diversity. In fact, multilingualism is an integral part of the Indian temperament. RK Agnihotri, who was Professor and Head of Department of Linguistics in University of Delhi, quotes the following statements in his books and journals:

• Multilinguality has a very close relationship with language proficiency, scholastic achievement, cognitive flexibility and social tolerance.
• It is natural for the Indian person and community to accept many languages and also allow for a free give and take policy with various national and international languages.
• It would not be surprising if you find a boy speaking to his parents in Bhojpuri, his old friends in Bhojpuri or Hindi, his college friends in Hindi or English and doing all his office work in English. In fact, in many situations we also find two or more languages mixing with each other. Languages become richer due to such processes.”
• ‘Language’ is often what is spoken by powerful and rich people. Grammars and dictionaries are written for this ‘language’.
• Literature also comes to be written in this language. The ‘language’ also becomes the medium in which school teaching takes place and thus gets identified as the standard language.

Hence, we conclude that both statements are true regarding multilingualism.