ABSTRACT
Language ideologies, the use of different languages, and language policies in higher education classrooms create a way for professors and students to categorize identities based on language proficiencies and caste, rural vs. urban, and religious backgrounds. This chapter outlines ways that higher education structures, such as policies for language concessions, reconfigure student identities as linguistic ones for classroom management. The structure of education set up by Maharashtra's higher education system and the informal roles Hindi, Marathi, and English play within the system assign meanings to the languages and the assumptions tied to those languages are then used as labels to group students together in higher education classrooms based on their language proficiencies. However, a successful, mainstream educational identity requires fluent, precise English to read and access information. Indian students’ language proficiencies map onto identity categories that the higher educational institution orders in a hierarchical manner based on how well the student conforms to a socialized set of educational ideals in English language higher education.
