Beyond the Monolingual Mindset: Embracing Organic Pluralism in Pre-Service English Teacher Education in India

Abstract

India’s linguistic landscape reflects organic pluralism, yet this diversity is inadequately addressed in pre-service teacher education programmes. Although national policy documents advocate multilingual pedagogies, teacher education programmes continue to privilege monolingual approaches, particularly in English language teaching. For many learners from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds, English functions more as a foreign than a second language due to limited exposure beyond school, thereby adding barriers to equitable learning. Drawing on lesson plans, reflective journals, and classroom observations from a teacher education institute in Delhi, this qualitative study examines how pre-service teachers navigate English language teaching in multilingual classrooms during their school experience programme. The findings of this study show that deficit views of learners’ linguistic repertoires reinforce dominant monolingual ideologies and are reflected in continued English-only teaching practices that marginalise home languages. These practices promote rote learning and limit learner engagement. However, post-lesson reflections reveal a growing recognition of the pedagogical value of multilingual and translanguaging strategies. Accordingly, we advocate embedding multilingualism and translanguaging into pre-service teacher education programmes so that future teachers are better equipped to respond to India’s socio-linguistic realities and sustain the organic pluralism of Indian classrooms.