55th Foundation Day celebrations of Central Institute of Indian Languages held

Mysore/Mysuru: City-based Central Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL) is gearing up to launch its online language courses soon, said CIIL Director Prof. Shailendra Mohan during the institute’s 55th Foundation Day celebrations recently.

“CIIL’s mission is to promote all languages of India, irrespective of their status and contribute to the nation’s emotional integration. We play a vital role in language policy and planning, offering research, coordination and academic outreach programmes. The institute’s achievements include publishing books, producing language learning courses, films, and radio programmes in Indian languages,” he said.

With an extensive archive of 200 languages and mother-tongues of India, as well as a collection of over 1,200 published books, audio-backed courses, films, documentaries and radio programmes in various Indian languages, CIIL is ready to expand its reach through digital platforms. Apart from the online offerings, CIIL will continue to provide courses in 20 Indian languages at its regional centres, he added.

A cornerstone for linguistic exploration

“CIIL boasts of an extensive repertoire of research and pedagogical materials for Indian languages, alongside endeavours in language technology, book promotion, digitisation of text and audio-visual materials and language data archiving. With a vast array of lexical resources such as dictionaries, glossaries and thesauri, CIIL stands as a cornerstone for linguistic exploration,” he added.

One of CIIL’s proudest accomplishments lies in its role as a training centre, having empowered over 15,000 in-service and prospective teachers from across India. Seven regional centres diligently focus on enhancing proficiency in second and third languages, fostering a profound impact on language education, Prof. Shailendra Mohan added.

“Looking ahead, we aim to focus on ‘6Ts’: Teaching, Training, Translation, Technology, Testing, and Transition. By developing teaching materials, offering training to teachers, promoting translation and technology, and conducting proficiency tests, CIIL seeks to enhance language development and capacity building,” he added. He stressed the need for creating a wide range of teaching and learning materials for Bharatiya Bhashas (Indian languages), both online and on-site, catering to people in India and abroad.

The institute aims to train pre-service and in-service language and subject teachers, master trainers, textbook writers, examiners and experts engaged in language assessment and evaluation, utilising technological advancements. The objective is to make teachers proficient in multiple languages and experts in their respective subject languages, he added.

Highlighting the significance of developing content in contemporary languages through translation and creative writing and embracing technological advancements. Prof. Shailendra Mohan also proposed conducting ‘Minimum Proficiency Tests’ (MPT) in all Bharatiya Bhashas, certifying language proficiency for educational and employment purposes.