Sankrithi Loganathan
I am a PhD student in the Department of Theoretical and Applied Linguistics at the University of Cambridge. My research is jointly funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and Newnham College, as part of a Collaborative Doctoral Award in partnership with the British Council. I am supervised by Prof. Ianthi Tsimpli, with co-supervision from Ms. Amy Lightfoot and Dr. Debanjan Chakrabarti at the British Council.
After completing my Master’s in English Language Education, I worked as a research assistant on a Cambridge-led project titled ‘Reading for Comprehension in Primary School Children in India: A Teacher Training Programme’, in collaboration with the English and Foreign Languages University, India. I was also involved in other related projects that focused on assessing learners' reading abilities and developing multilingual assessment tools. These experiences offered valuable insights into how educational policies are implemented at the grassroot level and the realities of language instruction in government-funded schools. This helped me understand the need for a more dynamic, context-sensitive language education policy that is equipped with an effective framework that guides the implementation of multilingual support by covering teacher training, syllabus design and development of contextually relevant teaching materials.
Drawing on these insights, my current research focuses on foundational literacy development and education equity in English-medium classrooms in India. Specifically, I study how the language of instruction influences reading development among primary school children from low socio-economic backgrounds. In multilingual contexts such as India, it is essential to consider the diverse identities and competencies of learners, as well as the classroom support available to them, particularly in the form of teacher instruction and learning materials like textbooks. A key focus of my study is the complexity and accessibility of textbooks used in English-medium schools. I investigate whether these materials are appropriate and readable for learners who are acquiring English as a foreign language. Additionally, I assess learners’ vocabulary and grammar knowledge to understand how these factors interact with their reading comprehension. Ultimately, my research aims to inform the design of multilingual pedagogic interventions that leverage learners’ home languages to support text comprehension and conceptual understanding across subjects. Such approaches not only enhance academic achievement but also affirm and value learners’ linguistic identities, positioning them as resources in the learning process.
