The Three-Language Formula in India: A Narrative Review of Language Policy, Multilingual Education, and Contemporary Challenges

Abstract

The Three-Language Formula (TLF) has been central to India's language-in-education policy since its formal acceptance in the National Policy on Education (1968). The policy aimed at institutionalising multilingualism in the school system to harmonise national integration, regional linguistic identities and access to global knowledge. However, over its long time, its implementation has been very diverse between governments and between education systems. This paper provides a socio-linguistic analysis of the historical development and policy path of the TLF. The study is about concepts of language policy, language planning, multilingual education and linguistic inequality. The study examines how policy goals are related to implementation outcomes. It concludes that the TLF's impact has been influenced by the state-level political environment, language ideology, institutional capacity, teacher availability, and the increasing socioeconomic value of English. The uneven implementation of language policies, with regional differences across southern and northeastern India, suggests that they are rooted in local histories and sociolinguistic contexts. The paper discusses the implications of National Education Policy 2020 for multilingual education and language planning. It argues for a move away from universal prescriptions to contextually relevant multilingual frameworks through mother-tongue based education to deal with India's linguistic diversity.

Keywords: Three-Language Formula, language policy, multilingual education, sociolinguistics, linguistic diversity