The name is absent

3. Teacher expectations: Legitimating language inequality
in the classroom

The argument made by teachers that Anglo-Indians were
either lazy or low ability students (33) was founded on a
belief that these students:

did not want to learn an Indian language;
also suffered language attrition in
English.

The differential treatment offered to Anglo-Indians by
teachers, was based on a subjective interpretation of
social criteria. (34) The classroom observation and
interviews offered examples of wastage of potential among
Anglo-Indian students, who displayed intelligence and
creativity.

Anglo-Indian teachers and non Anglo-Indian teachers stated
that

. . . the boys were good with their hands and
excellent sportsmen, (35)

and the girls were,

... neat and tidy in their appearance. Their
good looks would go a long way when they get
work as secretaries. (36)

Competence in language for Anglo-Indian students was given
a low priority by the teachers. A non Anglo-Indian woman
talked about her experience teaching Anglo-Indians in an
Jknglo-Indian school.

Four years ago, when I joined this school, out
of the sixteen Anglo-Indian girls in Class X,
only two Anglo-Indian girls completed Class
XII. The rest of the girls left school at 16+
and became steno-typists, because this was
good money. There were no boys who entered

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