The Kashmiri language is called  or by its native speakers. It is primarily spoken in the Kashmir Valleyof the state of Jammu and Kashmir in India. According tothe 1981 census there are 30,76,398 speakers of the language. The census was not conducted in the year 1991. Keeping in view therise of the population over last many years, the current numberof its speakers will be around four million. Kashmiri is alsospoken by Kashmiris settled in other parts of India, and othercountries. The language spoken in and around Srinagar is regardedas the standard variety. It is used in literature, mass mediaand education.

In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in learning Kashmirias a second/foreign language. Kashmiri is being taught as a second language atthe Northern Regional Language Centre (CIIL) Patiala since 1971. A limitednumber of pedagogical materials in the from of language courses andsupplementary materials have been produced in Kashmiri so far. Kachru(1969,1973) has made first serious attempt in this regard. Koul (1985,1995) hasprepared two textbooks for teaching basic and int.mp3ediate level courses inKashmiri at the NRLC Patiala. They introduce all major structures of theKashmiri language. Bhat (1982) and Raina(1995) have prepared readers in forteaching Kashmiri at the first two levels at the sochool level. They containlessons on the Kashmiri script and some structures. Bhat (2001) has prepared anaudio-cassette course in Kashmiri with a manual useful for the second languagelearners of Kashmiri.




Spoken Kashmiri: A Language Course (Indian Inst...