Papers by Usree Bhattacharya
The Journal of English as an International Language, 11(1), 71-85. , 2016
Ramanathan (2013a, 2013b) urged scholars to expand the notion of citizenship beyond its typically... more Ramanathan (2013a, 2013b) urged scholars to expand the notion of citizenship beyond its typically bounded understandings, towards conceptualizing it as “being able to participate fully” (p. 162). This view highlights the processual
aspects of citizenship, shifting away from the more categorical meanings that underpin the term (Ramanathan, 2013a; Ramanathan, 2013b; Ricento, 2013). Dis-citizens’ ability to participate in different processes is more limited. This theoretical perspective casts new light on the opening statement of an influential Indian language policy report, The Teaching of English (NCERT, 2006), which contended, “English is in India today a symbol of people’s aspirations
for quality in education and a fuller participation in national and international life.” India’s premier educational research body’s imagining English as a benchmark of “participation” in Indian life merits further analysis. This ethnographic
case study explores this concept of participation through the examination of the English literacy experiences of students in an English-medium village school. Involving eight focal children from an anathashram (orphanage)
in suburban New Delhi, the data draws on extended fieldwork at the school in 2011, entailing participant observation supplemented with audio- and videorecording,
and interview exchanges. The analysis reveals how the English literacy practices are implicated in the production and reproduction of discitizenship, in order to demonstrate how “English-medium” schooling functioned to exclude the focal children from “fuller participation in national and
international life.”
Language Policy, 2016
A language policy document on English teaching asserted that in India,
‘‘the colonial origins [of... more A language policy document on English teaching asserted that in India,
‘‘the colonial origins [of English are] now forgotten or irrelevant’’ (NCERT 2006:
1). Using data obtained in the course of a longitudinal ethnographic investigation
into the language and literacy practices of young multilingual boys living at an
anathashram (orphanage) in suburban New Delhi, India, I contest NCERT’s (2006)
ideological framing. This study, employing the theoretical perspective of language
ideology, demonstrates how the colonial encounter, in fact, continues to frame,
inform, and regulate notions about the English language in India. Furthermore, this
study sheds light on how the reductive ideological arc of language educational
policy documents—such as the one articulated in NCERT (2006)—can enforce and
enact a homogenizing gaze that glosses over ideological pluralities. The larger
ambition of this exploration is to inquire how and why such ideological normativization
is enforced in language educational policy discourse, as well as to consider
its implications for educational equity.
Berkeley Review of Education, Jan 1, 2011
This paper analyzes a construct that, while pervasive, is not often questioned or defined in lite... more This paper analyzes a construct that, while pervasive, is not often questioned or defined in literacy studies: the “West.” Through a review of pertinent literature, I explore the ways in which problematical assumptions have undergirded its unqualified use in literacy theory. What is the “West,” who is it, in literacy research? I argue against the assumption of “unmarkedness” of the “West” and some derived terms along three axes: by bringing attention to the geographical, spatial dimension of the construct, through the problematization of the alphabet, and by highlighting the colonial inheritance of the construct. My analysis explores some fundamental biases in the notion of "West," and invites its reassessment to arrive at a more particular and critically rigorous stance in literacy scholarship.
Langage et société, Jan 1, 2012
Maison des sciences de l'homme | Langage et société 2012/1 -n° 139 pages 67 à 82 ISSN 0181-4095
Book Reviews by Usree Bhattacharya
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Papers by Usree Bhattacharya
aspects of citizenship, shifting away from the more categorical meanings that underpin the term (Ramanathan, 2013a; Ramanathan, 2013b; Ricento, 2013). Dis-citizens’ ability to participate in different processes is more limited. This theoretical perspective casts new light on the opening statement of an influential Indian language policy report, The Teaching of English (NCERT, 2006), which contended, “English is in India today a symbol of people’s aspirations
for quality in education and a fuller participation in national and international life.” India’s premier educational research body’s imagining English as a benchmark of “participation” in Indian life merits further analysis. This ethnographic
case study explores this concept of participation through the examination of the English literacy experiences of students in an English-medium village school. Involving eight focal children from an anathashram (orphanage)
in suburban New Delhi, the data draws on extended fieldwork at the school in 2011, entailing participant observation supplemented with audio- and videorecording,
and interview exchanges. The analysis reveals how the English literacy practices are implicated in the production and reproduction of discitizenship, in order to demonstrate how “English-medium” schooling functioned to exclude the focal children from “fuller participation in national and
international life.”
‘‘the colonial origins [of English are] now forgotten or irrelevant’’ (NCERT 2006:
1). Using data obtained in the course of a longitudinal ethnographic investigation
into the language and literacy practices of young multilingual boys living at an
anathashram (orphanage) in suburban New Delhi, India, I contest NCERT’s (2006)
ideological framing. This study, employing the theoretical perspective of language
ideology, demonstrates how the colonial encounter, in fact, continues to frame,
inform, and regulate notions about the English language in India. Furthermore, this
study sheds light on how the reductive ideological arc of language educational
policy documents—such as the one articulated in NCERT (2006)—can enforce and
enact a homogenizing gaze that glosses over ideological pluralities. The larger
ambition of this exploration is to inquire how and why such ideological normativization
is enforced in language educational policy discourse, as well as to consider
its implications for educational equity.
Book Reviews by Usree Bhattacharya
aspects of citizenship, shifting away from the more categorical meanings that underpin the term (Ramanathan, 2013a; Ramanathan, 2013b; Ricento, 2013). Dis-citizens’ ability to participate in different processes is more limited. This theoretical perspective casts new light on the opening statement of an influential Indian language policy report, The Teaching of English (NCERT, 2006), which contended, “English is in India today a symbol of people’s aspirations
for quality in education and a fuller participation in national and international life.” India’s premier educational research body’s imagining English as a benchmark of “participation” in Indian life merits further analysis. This ethnographic
case study explores this concept of participation through the examination of the English literacy experiences of students in an English-medium village school. Involving eight focal children from an anathashram (orphanage)
in suburban New Delhi, the data draws on extended fieldwork at the school in 2011, entailing participant observation supplemented with audio- and videorecording,
and interview exchanges. The analysis reveals how the English literacy practices are implicated in the production and reproduction of discitizenship, in order to demonstrate how “English-medium” schooling functioned to exclude the focal children from “fuller participation in national and
international life.”
‘‘the colonial origins [of English are] now forgotten or irrelevant’’ (NCERT 2006:
1). Using data obtained in the course of a longitudinal ethnographic investigation
into the language and literacy practices of young multilingual boys living at an
anathashram (orphanage) in suburban New Delhi, India, I contest NCERT’s (2006)
ideological framing. This study, employing the theoretical perspective of language
ideology, demonstrates how the colonial encounter, in fact, continues to frame,
inform, and regulate notions about the English language in India. Furthermore, this
study sheds light on how the reductive ideological arc of language educational
policy documents—such as the one articulated in NCERT (2006)—can enforce and
enact a homogenizing gaze that glosses over ideological pluralities. The larger
ambition of this exploration is to inquire how and why such ideological normativization
is enforced in language educational policy discourse, as well as to consider
its implications for educational equity.