ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces and explains the phenomenon of “Unofficial Bilingualism” in government-run English-medium schools in rural Tamil Nadu, India. It delineates instances of using the mother tongue to navigate language learning challenges in schools with an official English-only policy. It studies three schools in the Salem district of Tamazil Nadu using a qualitative research framework, with classroom observation and telephonic interviews with teachers as primary research methods. Using thematic analysis of recorded classroom observation of three teachers’ use of L1 in the English classroom and in-depth, semi-structured telephone interviews with rural government schoolteachers across Tamil Nadu, the study grounds the phenomenon of “Unofficial Bilingualism” within the conceptual framework of “Difficult Circumstances in ELT” (West, 1960; Smith, 2011; Anderson, 2021) and explains it as a form of “Postmethod Pedagogy” (Kumaravadivelu, 2001, 2006). It explains the use of L1 in the classroom, despite official policy mandating teachers not to, and provides theoretical justification to legitimise the use of L1. The chapter argues for making “Unofficial Bilingualism” official and discusses its implications for classroom policy and teacher education, reconciling classroom practice with official policy. The study has implications for medium of instruction, language policy and teacher education.
