Global research has established the need for learning more than two languages. Mariana Vega-Mendoza, in a co-authored 2015 study, showed that “trilingual children showed superior performance in certain cognitive tasks compared to both monolingual and bilingual children”. A 2009 study by C Bloch and others documented “distinct neural adaptations in multilingual individuals learning three or more languages”. Jasmine Won’s 2022 research suggested “a correlation between the acquisition of multiple languages and high social-emotional and cognitive engagement in the classroom”.It is at the middle stage (grades 6-8) that the NEP and NCF introduce three languages, where R1 and R3 have to be languages native to India. R2 can be either an Indian language or any other. It is pertinent to note that the NEP provides for the three languages learned by children to be “the choices of states, regions, and of the students themselves, so long as at least two of the three languages are native to India”.UDISE+ 2023-24 data shows that except Punjab, where only three languages are taught, all states offer four or more languages in their schools, though all are not necessarily taught in the same school. For example, 16 different languages are taught in schools of Delhi, 11 in Assam, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Meghalaya, and 10 each in Telangana, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. With such diversity, introducing three languages at the middle stage can be undertaken in a systematic manner without requiring drastic changes.The secondary stage is divided into two, grades 9-10 and 11-12. R1, R2 and R3 are to be taught in grades 9-10, and only two languages, R1 and R2, in grades 11-12. We need to understand the neuroscience behind this.
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