India: World's Largest English Speaking Nation

David Crystal is honorary professor of linguistics at the University
of Wales, Bangor. His latest book, The Stories of English, was
published by Penguin in May.
Source: The Guardian
 http://yaleglobal.yale.edu/display.article?id=4947


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Ten years ago, the United States was the country with the largest
English-speaking population. Today, India has taken over that
status. With roughly a third of its population – or more than 300
million – possessing English language capability, India has more
people speaking the language than the US and UK combined. Indian
English, however, is not entirely the same as British or American
English, as it has been influenced by indigenous linguistics through
the years. In addition, contemporary Indian pop culture – most
notably movies – adds even more new elements to the Indian English
language. At the same time, notes the author, local tribal languages
are being preserved with care; for example, many companies nowadays
offer different language options for customers. In that sense, India
has a lot to teach the world. – YaleGlobal

The Chinese school system is placing increasing emphasis on learning
English, perhaps to the detriment of Chinese language curriculum.
English is mandatory in China starting in the third year of primary
school, and proficiency is integral for Chinese applying for jobs in
foreign companies. However, many criticize the quality of English
education and worry that it is detracting from studies in Chinese.
But the need for a domestic and global lingua franca will likely
outweigh such concerns. In 2001, the Chinese government adopted
putonghua as a national common language in order to meet the
challenges of a growing market economy and increases in country-wide
exchange. Putonghua is now a requirement for all teachers and is
used in government operations, the mass media, and public events.
Many dialects used by the Chinese people have undoubtedly suffered
due to the switch to putonghua and the popularity of English, but
this seems to be the price China is willing to pay to modernize the
country and join the world. – YaleGlobal

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With an English-speaking population now likely to have surpassed
that of Britain and the US, India, with its dynamic variety of
English, is set to become a linguistic superpower
David Crystal
The Guardian, 30 November 2004

India currently has a special place in the English language record
books – as the country with the largest English-speaking population
in the world. Ten years ago that record was held by the US. Not any
more.

The population of India passed a billion a couple of years ago, and
is increasing at the rate of 3% per annum. In 1997 an India Today
survey suggested that about a third of the population had the
ability to carry on a conversation in English. This was an amazing
increase over the estimates of the 1980s, when only about 4%-5% of
the population were thought to use the language. And given the
steady increase in English learning since 1997 in schools and among
the upwardly mobile, we must today be talking about at least 350
million. This is more than the combined English-speaking populations
of Britain and the US.

All of these speakers – bar a lakh (hundred thousand) or so – have
learned English as a second language. English has special regional
status in India, and is an important unifying medium between the
Indo-European north and the Dravidian south. Special status means
much more than having a place in the public institutions of the
country – in parliament, the law courts, broadcasting, the press,
and the education system. It means that the language permeates daily
life. You cannot avoid it, especially in the cities.

My wife and I have just returned from a two-week lecturing tour of
India, sponsored by the British Council. We visited Chennai, Delhi,
Kolkata, Pune and Mumbai, and found ourselves surrounded by English
everywhere. The roads into the city centres from the airports would
pass through some very poor areas, but even the smallest shops and
stalls would have an English sign or poster nearby.

Outside the Red Fort in Delhi, a Hindi-speaking teacher was
marshalling a class of 30 Hindi-speaking teenagers, and giving them
instructions about where to meet and when their bus would leave – in
English. Outside St Thomas' Cathedral in Chennai we met a group of
primary-school Tamil children coming out of the local school. As
soon as they saw us they waved excitedly – we were the only fair-
skinned people to be seen – and we received a chorus
of "hello", "hi", "how are you?" . . . "Fine thanks, how are you?"
we replied. "We're fine too," they said. Seven-year-olds, we
marvelled, on a confident career-track towards English.

Towards Indian English, of course. India has had a longer exposure
to English than any other country that uses it as a second language,
and its distinctive words, idioms, grammar, rhetoric and rhythms are
numerous and pervasive. Don't confuse Indian English with what is
sometimes called "Hinglish" – a vague phrase that can refer to a use
of English containing occasional Hindi words or to a much more
fundamental mixing of the two languages, unintelligible to a
monolingual English speaker, and heard daily on FM radio. Indian
English is a much broader notion, applicable to the whole of India,
including those regions where other languages are used. There we
find Punglish (Punjabi), Tamlish (Tamil), and many more.

Collections of Indian English vocabulary have been around for more
than a century. Hobson-Jobson was the first, published in 1886. It
is largely of historical interest now, and there have been attempts
to supercede it, such as Hanklin-Janklin (compiled by Nigel Hanklin,
Banyan Books, 2004). But no dictionary has yet catalogued the
extraordinary-stylistic range and regional diversity of Indian
English. We encountered hundreds of distinctive usages on our
travels, such as pre-owned cars (used cars), near and dear numbers
(for phoning friends and family) and kitchen platform (work-
surface). Words are broken in different ways. Outside the University
in Mumbai is the greeting "welcome". A roadside warning reads "land
slide prone area". Another says "over-size vehicles keep left".

The historical background of India is never far away from everyday
usage. "What do you think you're doing? Cutting grass?" says a boss
to a worker lazing about. How can cutting grass be equivalent to
doing nothing? Because grass-cutting was done by servants. But this
history also promotes correspondences. In particular there is a
remarkable sharing of linguistic humour between India and Britain.
Both countries have the same penchant for word-play. "Austensibly,
it's about Jane" reads a review headline about a critical book on
that author. "Be Ecofriendly" says a sign in Delhi - but it spells
the second word "Ecofriendelhi".

Indian English is changing. Regional dialects of Indian English are
increasingly apparent – an inevitable consequence of this huge
country's cultural and linguistic diversity. There are noticeable
differences of accent and dialect, especially between north and
south. On the ad billboards, and in Bollywood film posters, there
are now Hindi slogans written in the roman alphabet. You can see
change in the newspapers too – in the matrimonial columns, for
instance, where families advertise for desirable brides or grooms. A
generation ago these were full of such terms as "wheatish". Today
these have largely gone, and we find such criteria
as "professionally qualified" instead – a linguistic reflection of
an important social change.

Three generations after independence, Indian English is still having
trouble distancing itself from the weight of its British English
past. Many people still think of Indian English as inferior, and see
British English as the only "proper" English. It is an impression
still fostered by the language examining boards that dominate
teachers' mindsets. At the same time a fresh confidence is plainly
emerging among young people, and it is only a matter of time before
attitudes change.

It could hardly be otherwise when we consider the way Indian writing
is increasingly reflecting indigenous varieties. Gone are the days
when everyone in a novel, from sahib to servant, spoke standard
British English. The same linguistic diversity is apparent in the
films – over a thousand each year – produced by Bollywood studios.

What status will this rapidly growing English dialect have in the
eyes of the rest of the world? Linguistic status is always a
reflection of power – political, technological, economic, cultural,
religious – so this is really a question relating to the future of
India as a world player. India is likely to become an eventual cyber-
technological superpower. The call-centre phenomenon has stimulated
a huge expansion of internet-related activity. The amount of daily
text-messaging (SMS) exceeds the UK and US. The IT press is always
speculating about where future Googles will come from. One day it
will be India.

 http://www.guardian.co.uk