Curriculum The Economics of Language
The Economics of Language
How language shapes earnings, trade and opportunity: the English wage premium, language as human capital, trade between countries that share a language, India's linguistic states, Hindi and regional language debates, BPO and call-centre English, language in courts and government, dying languages, sign languages and a recap.
- Language as Human Capital Why economists treat language skills as human capital that raises productivity and wages, and what makes some languages more valuable to learn than others. 📄 Read-aloud
- The English Wage Premium in India How speaking English fluently is linked to higher wages in India, what research found about the size of the premium, and why it shapes parents' school choices. 📄 Read-aloud
- Shared Languages and Trade How countries that share a language trade more with each other, why gravity models of trade include language, and how translation technology may change this. 📄 Read-aloud
- India's Linguistic States How India reorganised states along language lines after the States Reorganisation Act of 1956, and the economic effects on administration, identity and development. 📄 Read-aloud
- Hindi, English and the Three-Language Formula How debates over Hindi and English shaped India's official language policy, the anti-Hindi agitations in Tamil Nadu, and the economics of the three-language formula. 📄 Read-aloud
- English and India's BPO Boom How India's large English-speaking workforce helped it win call-centre and outsourcing work from the 1990s, and how accent training and AI are changing the industry. 📄 Read-aloud
- The Economics of Language: Checkpoint 1 Quick checkpoint - five questions on human capital, the English premium, trade, linguistic states and Hindi debates. 5 questions
- Language in Courts and Government How the use of English in higher courts and official documents creates barriers for ordinary citizens, and efforts to translate judgments into Indian languages. 📄 Read-aloud
- Dying Languages and Their Value Why many of the world's languages are endangered, why market forces push people toward dominant languages, and the case for preserving linguistic diversity. 📄 Read-aloud
- Sign Languages and Inclusion How Indian Sign Language supports deaf people's education and work, why the lack of interpreters is costly, and steps like the ISLRTC dictionary. 📄 Read-aloud
- The Translation and Localisation Industry How businesses pay to translate and localise products for different language markets, why Indian-language internet users matter, and how AI is changing the work. 📄 Read-aloud
- Language, Migration and Work How language barriers affect migrant workers within India and abroad, why migrants cluster with others who speak their language, and how learning languages helps them. 📄 Read-aloud
- Language and the Economy: Recap How language shapes wages, trade, governance and inclusion, and a recap of the module. 📄 Read-aloud