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Prof. Jagannathan is a linguist interested in syntax, especially in the theory of grammar. He wrote the widely known book Prayog aur Prayog (in Hindi) in 1980 and has been working on his magnum opus in this area for the last few years. He also specializes in areas of applied linguistics such as language teaching and lexicography. He started his academic career with two glossaries – Basic Vocabulary of Hindi, in Hindi, based on frequency count and Cognate words of Hindi and Tamil that have different meanings, in Hindi. In the area of language teaching he has two significant books to his credit – Spoken Hindi – A Microwave Approach (1976), a set of material for teaching Hindi under the Peace Corps program which heralded the era of communicative teaching and Learn Hindi Yourself (स्वयं हिंदी सीखें) in 1991, a set of self-instructional material comprising three books and four cassettes of six hour recording. His recent contribution to Hindi is the first and only learners’ dictionary of Hindi called Chatrakosh (JANEPA, 2009), which presents usages, sounds on the CD, word tables and interactive exercises. His set of books in Hindi for schools called the Mehak and Samvad Series for classes 1to 8 by Rachna Sagar (www.rachnasagar.com) has been well-received by schools in India and abroad. His novel in Hindi Nav Bharat (1990) shows his literary bent of mind.
Prof. Jagannathan has vast experience of various areas such as development of language methodology and research in teaching Hindi as a second and foreign language during his tenure of 24 years at the Central Institute of Hindi, Agra. He has wide experience in Distance Education and has been instrumental in the development of various programs in the School of Humanities, IGNOU during his tenure of 17 years. He has a large contribution to the field and has developed as Editor the following significant material for different institutions - Central Institute of Hindi: An Intensive Course in Hindi (गहन हिंदी शिक्षण) published by OUP, Delhi in early seventies, Andhra Pradesh Open University (now BRAOU): Foundation Course in Hindi (हिंदी का आधार पाठ्यक्रम) 1987, Indira Gandhi National Open University: EHD 7 - हिंदी भाषा – इतिहास और वर्तमान 1991, MHD 7 - भाषाविज्ञान और हिंदी भाषा 1998, National Institute of Open Schooling: Secondary level textbook in Hindi (माध्यमिक पाठ्यक्रम हिंदी) 2003, Central Institute of Hindi: Certificate Course in Hindi and Intermediate Course in Hindi 2007, books for teaching Hindi to foreigners as part of a three year programme. He has also edited the three year in-service courses by the Department of Official Language, GOI for teaching Hindi to Government of India officials all over the country. The books are titled Prabodh (2005), Prabodh (2007) and Pragya (2009).
Prof. Jagannathan is also keenly interested in language technology and NLP. He has rendered consultancy services to institutions such as Mahatma Gandhi International University in distance education, NCERT, Central Hindi Directorate and Kendriya Hindi Prashikshan Sansthan in program development, CEMCA, New Delhi in language technology and IIIT, Hyderabad and CDAC, Noida in natural language processing.
Prof. Jagannathan is an institution builder. He was founder-chairman of the Indian Association of Applied Linguistics affiliated to the International Association of Applied Linguictics (IAAL). He is trying to revive it in a new avatar. He was the General Secretary and Chairman, Academic Affairs of the Fifth Vishwa Hindi Sammelan held in Trinidad in the year 1996. He has been actively associated with Zabaan (www.zabaan.com) in the conduct of language teaching programs. JANEPA publication is a recent example of his untiring efforts. Now he has established the publishing venture Lingua Net private Limited with a view to creating online and offline resources – initially in Indian languages with an eye on world languages.
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