Languages fundamentally serve as vehicles for people to communicate. Today, English language has been internationally recognized as a global language, which is highly correlated with the legacy of British colonization in the eighteenth and nineteenth century. India was colonized by the British from 1765 until its independence in 1947. (World English, 101) India, situated in South Asia, is geographically a huge territory with tremendously diverse ethnicities. Prior to the British colonization, India has multilingualism, in which each language is deeply rooted with its individual culture. In a rich multilingual territory, it is interesting how English has gained its power, and can remain powerful even after the postcolonial time. Starting from the British colonial time, the use of English language became prestige and important in India, especially in the government administration and education. In India, the position of English has changed from the symbol of slavery and colonial power to the symbol of a globalization, a workplace literacy, education and economic power.
There are many diverse linguistic groups in India prior to the colonial time. According to the 1991 census, a total of 114 languages are identified by the abstraction of 1576 mother tongues into different classification (Annamalai, 610). The language Hindi has the largest number of mother tongues, and it is one of the India’s fifteen major indigenous languages such as Urdu, Bengali (Annamalai, 610). During and after the colonial time, how did English language gain and remain its status in an enormous variety of linguistic zone? The origin of English in India began with the British first arrival in 1600s and its establishment of trading (World English 101). After ...
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...e majority of Indians that it remains as a prestige, powerful language in India. The globalization and the essential roles of English in education, government and workplace further reinforce the power of English. For the new generation, English remains its status and reputation, and it becomes a necessity to achieve many of the future generation’s dreams.
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World English
Many countries around the world have set a precedent in being successful without having an official language, thus, one language is not necessary. The United States, however, is not the only country which hosts multiple languages. As King states, India is home to nineteen official languages (536).The United States feels that it is necessary to only have one official language, however, India has set a foundation of representing multiple
The author, Bill Bryson, briefly introduces and describes the history of English. In this book, The Mother Tongue, Bryson uses an interesting way and scholarly manner to guide readers through the various linguistic and social movements in the English language, the center of the world language as well as the export of manufactured goods. He gives different kinds of instances by comparing with various languages to present how the language merged together of interacting.
Priya, Lakshmi. "Cultural barrier through communication--as explained in Amy Tan's the Joy Luck Club." Language In India Jan. 2012: 70+. Literature Resource Center. Web. 10 Feb. 2014.
Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad(1974), says that “ English is an international language, link language, important for social mobility, essential for personal growth and developmental, essential for higher
One of the most important factors in the British loss of control over India was the establishment of English as a unifying language. Prior to British colonisation, India was fragmented and multi-lingual, with 15 major languages and around 720 dialects. English served as a common ground for Indians, and allowed separate cultural and ethnic groups to identify with each other, something which had rarely if ever occurred before on a grand scale. Although it was mainly educated Indians of a privileged caste who spoke English, these were the most influential people in terms of acting as facilitators for nationalist ideas to be communicated throughout the populace. The publication of magazines and journals in English was also a great influence on the rise of Indian nationalism. Although most Indians received nationalist ideas orally, these journals allowed Indians who were literate in English to come into contact with the ideas of social and political reformers.
The European dialects, Portuguese and English influenced it as it were. Both dialects improved the vocabulary. By 1540 AD the Portuguese had solidly settled themselves in the boss ports of India and were the main dealers in the East. Different settlements dabbed the seacoast and the inside of India. They had more than brief enthusiasm here. They interacted with the individuals as dealers, rulers and evangelists. They had progressed themselves extensively and in 17-18th century Portuguese was the most widely used language of an awesome piece of India. It was the medium of talk between locals of India and Europeans as well as between exchanging Europeans themselves. It was the dialect of chapel all over India. It had in this way numerous purposes of contact with indigenous dialects and impacted them in their professions. It affected Bengali most as it additionally did the Dravidian dialects, Marathi, Assamese and Uriya. It gave an advantage on Urdu by contributing words and improving its vocabulary. Such words were presented in Northern India when the Deccani dialects which had a chance of being affected by Portuguese owing to its nearby vicinity to the Portuguese settlements and different other Indian dialects which had been likewise influenced, responded on Urdu. Portuguese words in local tongues are not found in all their virtue however in an
The basic purpose of introducing English language was to accomplish trade with India and other countries in east. Primarily the British people tried to learn Indian languages so that they could communicate with Indians. They also started special colleges for this purpose. Meanwhile, they also took the help of the translators. But with the rise of their political powers, they created the British Indian provinces like Bengal, Madras and Bombay. After that more importance was given to English instead of Indian languages by the foreign traders. Later on, the East India Company took the duty of the education in India. Nearly in 1830s the Indian middle class people realized importance of English and its requirement for secure future in government
Singh, G., & Kumari, D., 2011 History Revisited in Oral History by Nadine Gordimer, Language in India, February, Vol. 11 Issue 2, p 296-303, 8 p.
It has been adopted by different sectors making it one of the most used languages in the globe. This has been attributed to its effective nature, easy learning and rich history. However, conservative groups exist who argues that there should be global language since it may cause the emergence of superior cultures. Nevertheless, it is evident that different cultures ranging from the early polish immigrants, the African American community, the advertising and media will greatly benefit from the globalization of the English language. This will prove in the end that English is indeed a global
Hepworth, M. D. (2012), Tutorial Notes, '69214339 TMA01', Unpublished Work. Leith, D. and Seargeant, P. (2012), 'A Colonial Language', in Seargeant, P. and Swann, J. ed. a. a. a. a. a. a. a. a. a. a. a. a. a. a. a History, Diversity, Change (U214, English in the World), Milton Keynes, The Open University, pp. 113-117. 101.
The development of the English language was a combination of cultural, political, social and religious events that each playing their own part shaping the modern English language spoken today as a first language by 400 million people . As Baugh and Cable convey to us in A History of the English Language; ‘It understates matters to say that political, economic, and social forces influence a language’. Although it cannot be identified exactly when the inhabitants of Britain began to speak English, there are some sources that give an insight into the nature of the forces that played a role in its foundation such as: the four medieval manuscripts;
To understand how English became the lingua franca for the world one must begin by understanding the colonization influence of the British Empire, beginning with the Americas in the early 1600’s. Once the language itself had been somewhat established in Great Britain, although not necessarily agreed upon, the next obvious step was to take the language and the culture to new parts of the world and colonize. The British Empire set out to the Americas in two vastly different manners, yet both had major influences on the language of what soon would become America.
It can be seen that English has become a global language, which is determined by lots of factors like history, culture and daily usefulness. Because of these factors, the number of people who speak English is still increasing now. English, as a significant part of social life gradually exerted profound impacts on education, job hunting and international communication. Also, it provides the whole world with a chance to share ideas and communicate freely. We are quite curious to see the further development of English as a lingua franca in the
Question 1: Write your own definition of the term global language. A global language is one that is widespread internationally and used as the common one for communication between various groups and societies. It is the language that is most taught and learnt as a foreign and/ or a second language worldwide. This kind of language has a large amount of prestige, and official or special status. It is the language of politics, international business or economics, international communication, academic conferences, science, technology, tourism, media, publishing of books or journals, newspapers, and health sciences.
Even though there are advantages as well as disadvantages, the need for international language for communication, politics, economics and security is necessary and English is the best “language candidate” for that function. English is a language spread all over the world and it is used by millions and millions of speakers. According to my opinion, people should use English as a tool to communicate with all cultures but every country must keep their culture and language is a great part of it. In conclusion, language defines identity of a country and everyone should keep their language and explore others.