Preeti Nambiar
Independent Researcher
Kerala, India
Abstract
This study delves into the phenomenon of phonological confusion among multilingual kindergarten learners in Telangana, India, illuminating the intricate interplay between children’s exposure to multiple spoken languages and their emergent phonemic competencies. Drawing on a sample of 120 children aged 4–6 from six urban kindergartens (three government-run Anganwadis and three private preschools) in Hyderabad and Secunderabad, the research employs a convergent mixed-methods approach. Quantitatively, participants completed a 40-item phonological discrimination task—adapted from the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals–Preschool—assessing minimal-pair contrasts across Telugu, Urdu, Hindi, and English phoneme inventories. Qualitatively, structured classroom observations and semi-structured teacher interviews provided contextual insights into instructional practices, code-switching patterns, and resource constraints. Findings reveal that children exposed to three or more languages (multilingual) scored significantly lower—averaging 24.3/40—than bilingual peers (32.4/40), with error rates particularly high on phonemes absent or variant across their language repertoires (e.g., English interdental fricatives /θ/, /ð/, and Urdu retroflex stops). Regression analyses indicate that both number of languages and classroom type (private vs. government) predict discrimination performance, explaining 48% of variance. Thematic analysis uncovered inconsistent phonics instruction, unstructured translanguaging practices, limited teacher training in multilingual pedagogy, and uneven parental engagement as key drivers of confusion. Based on these insights, the study proposes a targeted pedagogical framework: integrated phonological-awareness modules in mother tongues and second languages, bilingual phonics resources, professional development for teachers on scaffolded cross-linguistic transfer strategies, and home–school partnerships to reinforce phoneme awareness. Implications for curriculum design, teacher education, and policy alignment with India’s National Education Policy (2020) are discussed, alongside recommendations for longitudinal research and rural-context adaptation.
Keywords
Phonological Confusion, Multilingual Kindergarten, Telangana, Phonemic Awareness, Early Literacy
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