English Language in India - Essay Example

English in India. Today the world is characterized by the process of globalization, which increases linguistic and social homogeneity in the representation of literacy and expertise. This tendency brings to the foreground the rising issues of inequality in many aspects: for example, the situation with English in India is rather complicated. Certainly, everyone understands globalization is ushering in a new life of border-free, unrestricted relationships between communities, but at the same time, contemporary social processes and intellectual tendencies restrain the local tradition. This leads to the complication in the system of language policies and practices. In India the struggle between the local and the global is really of current importance, it is an illustrative example of the development of English in postcolonial period. It might be even so, that local language practices, discourses, and values will be swallowed up by the sweeping economic and political forces brought about by globalization. In general, not only in India, native speaker linguists sometimes use western varieties of English as the standard, that is why the new Englishes continue to be challenged as deviant varieties. In his recent work, Bhatt argues that these dichotomies of standard and nonstandard English have resulted in many class differences within India, and that the richer classes in India use Standard English to maintain their hegemony over the lower classes, who speak a local variety. By using these dichotomies, Bhatt argues, Indian elites are reinforcing the biased expert discourses that sustain the hegemony of Standard English worldwide (Bhatt 59-63). According to Kachru, questions about language go beyond linguistics; these are connected with the problems of power, history, sociology, politics and economics. The most important reason for the success of English is, naturally the historical role of England as a colonial power. In India, for example, the political power naturally attributed a power to the language (the linguistic elitism strategy was typical for the times of colonization). English has been with India since the early 1600's, and by the early 1800's a large number of English schools were set up. English became the official and academic language of India by the early twentieth century. In the 1920's the nationalist movement rose, bringing some anti-English sentiment with it (even though the movement itself used English as its medium). Independence was gained, and together with it, the perception of English as having an alien power base changed. English came to be the language of the legal system, higher education, administrative network, science and technology, trade and commerce. At that time, the use of English was considered prestigious and powerful, moreover, the indigenous languages were not equipped for these roles and English provided for a convenient vocabulary (Kachru:127-136). However, more recent researches, as that of Annika Hohenthal, which studies the attitudes of Indians towards English by means of the experiment with informants, show that English has become more natural in the Indian environment: nowadays, English represents the domains of education and employment, scientific knowledge, modernization and development, as well as more personal domains, such as the family and friendship. Indians themselves understand that because of linguistic and cultural reasons Indian English is naturally different from the British standard variety of English, it is as a variety of its own. Although English is clearly perceived as a more useful language to know, at the same time, people identify themselves more easily with Hindi, only a rather small proportion identified themselves with British and Anglo-American culture. Most of the informants would like the use of Hindi to be encouraged in India, as well as they would like to see it as the official language also in future. Another important tendency: virtually all the informants were sure that their children should learn English at school. This fact implies that people should focus on extending an education to more children which allows them to learn and use English rather than worrying about whether or not English should be used. It also puts a great emphasis on people's using and understanding their native languages (Hohenthal). The "Three Language Formula" was developed in order to promote national integration wider language choice in the school curriculum. According to the formula, people from non-Hindi areas study their regional language, Hindi, and English. Hindi speakers, on the other hand, study Hindi, English and another language. Nevertheless, the formula has proved to be a failure in the scale of the whole country, since it has not been followed in practice: Hindi states did not enforce the curriculum, and the anti-Hindi government in Madras removed all teaching of Hindi from schools in Tamil Nadu. That is why, a sorry state of affairs is still found to exist in the achievements of English linguistic behavior among the students of all levels. In his study, Chidambaram tries to find real reasons behind the poor achievements of the students in English. The author also attempts to identify the level of achievement by the students in all skills of the English language (learning, writing, listening, etc.) and the problems they have in the process of learning English. Chidambaram writes that problems with learning of English as a second language in India are connected with the fact that English belongs to another linguistic family and another culture. The most important idea is to find the remedy based on linguistic approach to teaching, what is more it should be taken should be taken from the beginning. For instance, it is vital to place emphasis on conversational discourse, which will eliminate language cultural shocks. The similarities and differences between the native language and English should be taught, which will eliminate the habits of literal translation. To strengthen the sociolinguistic knowledge, it is important to enable students to watch TV programs, films and listen to radio programs in English, as well as in their native languages, and to compare the analogues (Chidambaram). Summing up, one should say that, indeed, Indians have a lot to gain from knowing English, and the world has a lot to gain from Indians knowing English. Some Indians complain that English brings in too much Western thought, but English in India also exports a vast amount of Indian culture and thought to the rest of the world. In India, English is not just the tool of globalization; it is a multidimensional phenomenon, which is affecting the social life of the whole nation. Works cited. 1. Bhatt, Rakesh Mohan. Expert Discourses, Local Practices and Hybridity, In Reclaiming the local in language policy and practice. Ed. Suresh Cangarajah, 2005. 2. Chidambaram, K. "A Study On The Learning Process Of English By Higher Secondary Students With Special Reference To Dharmapuri District In Tamilnadu". Language In India. 12 Dec. 2005 < http://www.languageinindia.com/dec2005/chidambaramthesis1.html >. 3. Hohenthal, Annika. "English In India. Loyalty and Attitudes". Language In India. 5 May 2003 < http://www.languageinindia.com/may2003/annika.html>. 4. Kahcru, Braj B. The power and politics of English, In World Englishes. Vol. 5, No. 2/3, 1986. 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