Postcolonial Language Ideology and Learner Identity Formation in English Medium Classrooms: A Critical Analysis of Contemporary Indian Educational Contexts

Abstract

This paper critically examines how postcolonial language ideologies shape learner identity formation in English-medium classrooms across India. While policy documents assert that English's "colonial origins are now forgotten or irrelevant," ethnographic and discourse analyses reveal that colonial language ideologies continue to structure classroom encounters, pedagogical practices, and learner subjectivities. Drawing on postcolonial theory, linguistic ideology studies, and critical pedagogy, this paper argues that English language learning in India functions simultaneously as a site of empowerment for marginalized learners and as an instrument of epistemic marginalization. Through analysis of curriculum materials, classroom practices, and learner narratives, this research demonstrates how standard English ideology, monolingual pedagogies, and native speaker hierarchies reproduce colonial power relations while constraining learners' identity possibilities. Particularly noteworthy are the contradictions between official policy rhetoric promoting multilingualism and institutional practices that marginalize code-switching and translanguaging—pedagogical strategies that research shows significantly enhance learner comprehension and agency. The paper concludes by proposing theoretical frameworks for decolonial language pedagogies that recognize learners as agents capable of constructing complex, hybrid identities through strategic engagement with English while maintaining connections to their linguistic and cultural heritage.