Ambiguities About English: Ideologies and Critical Practice in Vernacular-Medium College Classrooms in Gujarat, India

Situated amid tertiary-level institutions in the city of Ahmedabad, in Gujarat, India, this article explores how particular ideologies countering English inform pedagogic choices made by language teachers teaching in "vernacular-medium" (VM) college classrooms. The ideologies under discussion are two linked "thought structures." The first, the Gandhian ideology, is distinctly pro-vernacular and anti-English in its stance, embedded as it is in Gandhi's struggle for Indian independence (1925-1940s). The second, while markedly informed by Gandhi, yet a distinct ideology of its own, is the Remove English Lobby (Angrezi Hatao Aandolan) of the 1970s. My long-term, naturalistic endeavour regarding English and vernacular-medium education in Ahmedabad reveals that these linked-yet-separate ideologies impact choices VM teachers make in what and how they teach in simultaneously direct and indirect ways. Teachers seem to draw on different strains of these ideologies to enhance features of the vernaculars to counter English domination.