Language Policy and Language Ideology: Ecological Perspectives on Language and Education in the Himalayan Foothills

Abstract

Ethnographic research in the Kumaun region of North India highlights different perspectives on thismultilingual context and on national-level policies. Language policies that explicitly or implicitlyminoritize certain linguistic varieties influence local discourses about language and educationbut are also interpreted through the lens of local language ideologies. Ecological metaphors anddifferent scalar perspectives illustrate the complex relationship among languages as speakers ofan unrecognized language reinterpret policy and express value for linguistic diversity.