본 논문은 남인도 폰디체리 소재 리세 프랑세의 학생들을 피조사집단으로 설정하여 이들의 언어학습 동기를 이주라는 문제와 결부시켜 연구함으로써 잠재적 이주자들을 위한 공적인 통로로서의 교육기관을 조명하고 있다. 이와 함께 식민역사에서 탈식민역사으로의 이행과정을 통해 폰디체리에서 사용되는 언어들의 위상에도 변화가 수반되었는데 프랑코-폰디체리인들은 이를 어떻게 인식하고 수용하는지에 대해서도 개괄적으로 고찰하고 있다. 프랑스의 식민통치라는 역사적 경험으로 인해 오랜 기간에 걸쳐 인도 속 프랑스문화의 창으로 알려진 폰디체리의 프랑코-폰디체리인 공동체도 정치, 경제, 사회, 문화 등 다양한 영역에 걸쳐 진행되고 있는 변화에 직간접적으로 영향을 받아왔다. 타밀어가 지배적으로 사용되고 교육과 행정 등 공적인 영역에서 영어가 차지하는 비중이 점증하고 있는 상황에서 프랑코-폰디체리인들은 생존전략으로서 다양한 언어를 구사하는 다언어구사자들임을 밝히면서 이들이 구사하는 언어들은 공동체구성원들이 공유하는 인식과 태도를 바탕으로 각각의 영역에서 적절하게 선택된 언어임을 드러낸다. 그리고 이주의 대상국인 프랑스사회의 변화가 폰디체리 프랑코-폰디체리공동체에도 다양한 영역에서 영향을 미치고 있음을 인터뷰 등 다양한 조사방식을 통해 얻은 결과를 제시하는 방법으로 상세히 기술하고 있다. 비록 변화하는 상황으로 인하여 불어를 포함한 언어에 관한 인식과 태도에도 많은 변화가 초래되었지만 대다수의 프랑코-폰디체리인들에게 있어 불어는 여전히 프랑스로의 이주와 정착을 위한 불가결한 언어적 자본이라는 사실을 강조한다. 그리고 불어를 교육언어로서 사용하는 불어계 공립학교와 리세 프랑세를 언어적 자본을 확보할 수 있는 공간으로 규정하며 폰디체리의 리세 프랑세를 프랑스로의 이주 및 프랑스사회로의 진입을 위한 관문 혹은 통로로서 파악하고 있다. 더불어 아직까지는 목표 언어인 불어에 대한 투자가 기대수준을 어느 정도 충족시키기 때문에 리세 프랑세를 포함한 불어계 학교들이 유지되고 있지만 기대에 못 미치는 경제적, 사회적 상황이 전개되면 불어의 사용이나 학습동기에도 일정한 범위 내에서 영향을 미칠 것으로 전망한다.

As Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru rightly characterized, Pondicherry has been renowned as a window of French culture as well as a center of the French language learning in the Indian sub-continent. Pondicherry still keeps French colonial legacy in almost every walk of life. French colonization for centuries has had a profound impact on many visages of this coastal city of the predominantly Tamil-speaking part of South India. At the time of the treaty of cession as a result of liberation movement, a significant number of Pondicherrians who were resident in the then French India or served the French colonial administration and army opted for French nationality. Their descendants have the right to acquire French nationality in accordance with the principle of personal jurisdiction. Those who acquire French nationality by means of marriage are also entitled as Franco-Pondicherrians. Many of them migrated to and settled down in France, thus constituting an influential Tamil immigrant community in France. Although it is quite difficult to get an exact number of the members of this community because they are in constant flux, approximately 6 thousand Franco-Pondicherrians are estimated to live in Pondicherry at present. Among these Franco-Pondicherrians are retired pensioners or army pensioners, who are insignificant in number, but have a strong purchasing power, often marked by conspicuous consumption. To some extent, their presence contributes to the generalization of this community as an affluent and privileged group of people. There are four public French-medium schools in the whole union territory of Pondicherry and one French lycée to accommodate school-age Franco-Pondicherrians. These Franco-Pondicherrian students study with the same syllabus as that of the metropolitan France. Despite the fact that some respondents and interviewees in my field research consider French as a language in gradual decline and that English has been encroaching into virtually all the domains of life as a language for vertical social mobility as is often the case with the Indian society as a whole, French-medium schools have sustained a relatively high enrollment rate. Most of Franco-Pondicherrian students pursue higher studies in France and seek to find a job in France. In this sense, migration to and settlement in France can be perceived to be a principal motivation for learning French and attending French-medium schools. However, motivations for learning French and attending French-medium schools are closely interlocked with the pull factors from the metropole France. French-medium educational institutions in Pondicherry function as a social milieu in which potential immigrants acquire linguistic and educational resources indispensable for migration to and settlement in France. It can be said that French as an utilitarian instrument continues to motivate most of Franco-Pondicherrians. However, if this sense of being instrumental and utilitarian attenuates due to internal and external factors, then the motivations for learning French and attending French-medium schools will be accordingly affected.

As Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru rightly characterized, Pondicherry has been renowned as a window of French culture as well as a center of the French language learning in the Indian sub-continent. Pondicherry still keeps French colonial legacy in almost every walk of life. French colonization for centuries has had a profound impact on many visages of this coastal city of the predominantly Tamil-speaking part of South India. At the time of the treaty of cession as a result of liberation movement, a significant number of Pondicherrians who were resident in the then French India or served the French colonial administration and army opted for French nationality. Their descendants have the right to acquire French nationality in accordance with the principle of personal jurisdiction. Those who acquire French nationality by means of marriage are also entitled as Franco-Pondicherrians. Many of them migrated to and settled down in France, thus constituting an influential Tamil immigrant community in France. Although it is quite difficult to get an exact number of the members of this community because they are in constant flux, approximately 6 thousand Franco-Pondicherrians are estimated to live in Pondicherry at present. Among these Franco-Pondicherrians are retired pensioners or army pensioners, who are insignificant in number, but have a strong purchasing power, often marked by conspicuous consumption. To some extent, their presence contributes to the generalization of this community as an affluent and privileged group of people. There are four public French-medium schools in the whole union territory of Pondicherry and one French lycée to accommodate school-age Franco-Pondicherrians. These Franco-Pondicherrian students study with the same syllabus as that of the metropolitan France. Despite the fact that some respondents and interviewees in my field research consider French as a language in gradual decline and that English has been encroaching into virtually all the domains of life as a language for vertical social mobility as is often the case with the Indian society as a whole, French-medium schools have sustained a relatively high enrollment rate. Most of Franco-Pondicherrian students pursue higher studies in France and seek to find a job in France. In this sense, migration to and settlement in France can be perceived to be a principal motivation for learning French and attending French-medium schools. However, motivations for learning French and attending French-medium schools are closely interlocked with the pull factors from the metropole France. French-medium educational institutions in Pondicherry function as a social milieu in which potential immigrants acquire linguistic and educational resources indispensable for migration to and settlement in France. It can be said that French as an utilitarian instrument continues to motivate most of Franco-Pondicherrians. However, if this sense of being instrumental and utilitarian attenuates due to internal and external factors, then the motivations for learning French and attending French-medium schools will be accordingly affected.

Franco-Pondicherrians, migration, instrumental motivation, French-medium schools, second language acquisition