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Name: Ritika Singh I.A Group Code: SC 02

English and Linguistic Imperialism Today the English language is spoken in around 112 countries across the globe [1]. As the 'lingua franca' of international research, communication, business and trade English has firmly established itself in the era of globalization.

The objective of the term paper is to look at the modern spread of the English language in the post imperial globalized world of today and address the primary question whether the wide acceptance of English under the name of globalization can still be seen as a form of western imperialism. Can the position of the United States as a global superpower and spread of the language in turn be seen as an extension of imperialism? Or is Fanons assertion that T[t]o speak a language is to take on a world, a culture (Fanon 38) not true for the English language in recent times. Has English become acultural?

Another issue in relation to the wide acceptance of English is the phenomenon of language attrition especially in bilingual and multilingual societies. For example, can the interference of English into Hindi, due to the current trend of using a combination of Hindi and English words (Hinglish), result in a loss of some elements of Hindi? In this respect my paper would focus on the extent to which English can become a threat to regional languages and whether linguicide can be an extreme possibility of this. On the other hand is English assimilating enough of other languages rendering this possibility improbable?

The use of English in the modern era outnumbers any other language. Spoken in around 112 countries, it has become the medium of interaction at a global level and it often defined as the language that links the world. Albert Einstein believed that most of the fundamental ideas of science are essentially simple, and may, as a rule, be expressed in a language comprehensible to everyone. English was looked upon as the language that could do so and hence is used widely in all fields be it information technology, science or world politics. The vast influence of Britain in the 18th century

due to colonialism followed by that of the United States due to globalization in the 20th century are the key factors that have led to the current position of the English language. To draw a systematic chart to depict the relation between the English language and the British Empire, Enrique Hamel (16) states three stages. The first stage was during the middle ages when the language spread over the British Isles. The second stage (end of 16th century) began when the British began to settle in North America, Australia and New Zealand, carrying English with them. The third stage was the vast colonial empire that the British created in the 18th century mostly in Africa and Asia. Whereas, to depict the modern spread of English, Braj Kachru (qtd. in Quirk and Widdowson 1985:12-13) provides a model of three concentric circles where the inner most circle consists of countries like the US, the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand then an outer Circle with post-colonial English-using countries such as Kenya, India, the Philippines or Nigeria and an expanding Circle for the rest of the world. The first or the inner most circle is for the countries where old varieties of English is still used. The second circle consists of countries where English is used for official purposes in governance and education. The last or the outermost expanding circle is where English is used widely but is considered as a foreign language (for example China, Japan, Korea). The outer and the expanding circles have seen to be expanding as English continues to spread and strengthens its position as the leading global language: The relevance of a global language can be measured by its Outer and Expanding Circles, which indicate its role in international relations, commerce, science and technology. (Ammon, Dittmar, Mattheier 2248) The spread of English is yet unmatched by any other language in history (Quirk, Widdowson 1985) Linguists have given different tags to this modern spread of English. Robert Phillipson calls it a form of Linguistic Imperialism (1992) where developed countries assert their power over the developing and underdeveloped countries and in turn maintains that hegemony by the use of language. This can be seen as another form of Macaulays declaration in Minute on Indian Education that language can be used to form a class who may be interpreters between us and the millions whom we govern; a class of persons, Indian in blood and colour, but English in taste, in opinions, in morals, and in intellect"(qtd. in Jenkins 132). The aping of the west not only in terms of manners and etiquettes but also aping their language can be regarded as western

fixation. Gandhi condemned the adoption of English: It is we, the English knowing Indians, who have enslaved India. and that English is known hardly to one per cent of the population. It will never be learnt by the masses and we have to reckon daily more and more with the masses in all our political transactions. (Gandhi 83) However C. Rajagopalachari called English goddess Saraswatis gift to India(qtd. in Krishnaswamy, Burde13 ). Hence the language was also assigned great prestige. The building of a temple to Goddess of the English language' by Dalits in the year 2010 puts a question mark on Gandhis claim that it will never be the preference for Indians. The untouchables that he fought for, built the temple in honour of Macaulay and the English language in particular as they believe the language provides them with an access to many opportunities. Chandra Bhan, the man behind the plan, commented that "The idea is to make English a matter of faith among Dalits because we believe it is an empowering language. If a Dalit woman starts worshipping English as a goddess, there is no way her kids would escape the 'ABC' from their childhood."[2] Also that there are writers and intellectuals in India who are loyal to the Indian languages and criticize writings in English but that criticism itself is voiced in English ,and they write in English because of the market potential.(Krishnaswamy and Burde 15 ). It is a simple example of the importance and power of the language. Hence, linguists like David Crystal in English as a Global Language (2003) present a counter view to that of Phillipson. The language for him is a global language and an apt medium of interaction and "presents us with unprecedented possibilities for mutual understanding"(13). English has been absorbed and has assimilated words from many languages and nations across the globe have taken English and mingled it with their cultures. In India there are many variants of English. The changes in pronunciation, grammar and semantics were imbibed from the regional languages. For example, English is commonly and almost unconsciously mingled with Hindi and this new mixture is called Hinglish. In 2004 Crystal claimed that there are around 350 million Hinglish speakers across the globe. I believe that this aspect negates Gandhis assertion that English will remain a foreign language and will never be accepted completely. In English around the world: sociolinguistic perspectives Jenny Cheshire (300) claims that English has not replaced indigenous languages of India but that it has enriched them and is in turn enriched by them. Hence, instead of it being seen as

an attempt at Westernisation of Indian masses or Sanskritization of the lower classes (Srinivas 1968) it is rather the Indianization of a foreign language. This is rather countered in the belief that the use of Hinglish or any other such mixture is a phenomenon that has not permeated the rural class and is only an urban occurrence. However it should also be kept in mind that even the use of native languages at the rural level has diverged from the pure Hindi spoken before the injection of English in India. The popular media, television, films and songs particularly have facilitated the spread of at least some elements of the English language to the non- urban regions of the country. The assimilation of Hindi into English or vice versa can be credited to the porous boundaries of languages. This draws the focus to another aspect of the wide use of English. Language attrition is such a mingling of languages. Then the question arises whether English can be a threat to our native languages. To put it simply, can English in the future cause linguicide of our regional and native languages? Language death is a grave concern for linguists so much so that the United Nations in 1993 adopted the Endangered Languages Project and the Red Book of Endangered Languages which was an attempt to identify languages that face this threat. Crystal in his work Language Death (2002) identified 500 languages have less than 100 speakers; around 1,500 have less than 1,000; and 3,340 have less than 10,000. It is a serious problem as the loss of a language is also the loss of a culture. Ngugi Wa Thiong'o asserted that every language has a dual character: it is a tool for communication and a carrier of culture (Ngugi 1986). English is a tool for communication at the global level but it cannot be a carrier of our culture. Also though it is widely used to converse ideas in the global market, it is our regional languages that we pass on not only through every day conversations but also through oral traditions and written scriptures. Mari Rhydwen claims that language death is possible only when people change their behaviour and stop transmitting their language intergenerationally. (qtd in Crystal, Language Death 25). English is not a severe threat to other languages as even though it fulfils Ngugis first role of a language, it cannot do the second. In The politics of Indians English N.Krishnaswamy and A.S Burde (13) reaffirm that T[t]he Indian languages are the mother-tongues of their respective speakers..[English is used] hardly ever as the language of intimacy.

We exist as multilingual society and English can be seen as another addition. It is possible for the two (English and Native languages) to coexist peacefully. Lingua Francas have an obvious and important role in facilitating international communication; but even if one language does, through some process of linguistic evolution, become the worlds lingua franca a status which most people feel is likely to be held by English it does not follow that this must be at the expense of other languages. A world in which everyone speaks at least two languages their own ethnic language and an international lingua franca is perfectly possible. Because the two languages have different purposes one for identity, the other for intelligibility they do not have to be in conflict. (Crystal, Language Death 29) English no more exerts control and domination. To support this argument, Henry Widdowson has argued that there is a fundamental contradiction in the idea that the language in itself exerts hegemonic control: namely that if this was the case, you would never be able to challenge such control."(398).English is not a tool used for maintaining control but it can be claimed that today English is merely a language of communication at the macroscopic global level. Though English speakers did assert their power in the 18th century by colonization and imperialism and language was a part of the process where "T[t]he bullet was the means of physical subjugation. Language was the means of the spiritual subjugation." (Ngugi 9). However globalization cannot be seen as an extension of that as the language is stripped of its colonial connotations. If it had not, English would never have been accepted as the official language of India. If the speakers of English ruled us, they also introduced us to the language that would make it possible for us to create a niche for ourselves. Raja Ram Mohan Roy in his letter to lord Amherst in 1813 advocated the use of the language and had a staunch belief that the language is beneficial for the nation. He believed that the Europeans should instruct the natives of India in mathematics, natural philosophy, chemistry, anatomy, and other useful sciences, which the natives of Europe have carried to a degree of perfection that has raised them above the inhabitants of other parts of the world

Hence Fanons(38) assertion: T[t]o speak a language is to take on a world, a culture, is not true for the English language today as now a culture is infused in the language that comes in contact with it. From this global perspective to a narrower one, the place of English within India is complex. The Indian class structure and its affiliations with English are dominant in India. It is regarded that English is a privilege reserved for the intelligentsia, which in turn comprises of the high class and caste. Even though there might be awareness of some elements of the English language at the rural level, the acceptance of English can be questioned at that level. "It is not English that creates the elites: the elites absorb and appropriate English"(Krishnamurthy , Burde 20). The language was seen as a prerogative of the Brahmins who were at top of the social class hierarchy and learning the language gave the others a medium to access to that world. Alok Mukherjee in his essay A Personal Trajectory (11) talks of his trajectory of learning the language and states that when his professors who as high ranking Brahmins enjoyed great respect in a socially conservative, caste conscious state . This with their professional status as professors of English, which signified breeding culture and sensibility, gave them prestige.... stressed on the need to learn English and that they were facilitating our entry into the citys elite networks.

It is not only due to the functionality of English that the lower class and the lower caste might appreciate the language but sometimes to show complete disapproval of some Indian languages and the religion or political groups attached with that language:[English is] a language which has repeatedly found itself in the right place at the right time. (Crystal, English as a Global Language 78) For example in Tamil Nadu, during the ongoing debate of Hindi or English as the official language of independent India (in 1965), Hindi was rejected and English was accepted. With more than a thousand languages, choosing a single national language was immensely difficult. There was a strong conviction that if one language was chosen over the others, the mother tongue speakers of that language would enjoy a better position in society. As a foreign language, English could prove to be a viable alternative. As mentioned, the dalits virtually worship the language and now English is slowly permeated to the lower levels of the society. Whether or not there will an acceptance

of the language at the rural level, similar to that of the upper and middle class, can only be answered with time.

On the whole, the diffusion of English worldwide has lead to many varieties or dialects of English. For example, there is Canadian English, Bangladeshi English, Nepali English, Fiji English, Filipo English, Southern English, Australian English, Pakistani English and Indian English to name a few. This shows that the language is comfortably embraced by nations where it is a second language or where it is a complete foreign language altogether. These dialects of English substantiate that the language is now assimilated and infused with the culture and people that it comes in contact with; even if it is not a carrier of the culture intergenerationally. Hence the language is not creating an empire for itself and is neither symbolic of one and has stripped itself from the notion that Language has always been the consort of an empire, and shall forever remain its companion. (Nebrijia qtd. in Robert Phillipson, Imperialism and colonialism 31) and the spread of English under the tag of globalization to non-native English speaking countries is more sided with Crystals view that the many Englishes belong to no one today (qtd. in Hamel 20). It is not wrong to assert that in this age of Globalization "not all Englishes in the centre dominate, nor are all speakers in the periphery equally discriminated against."(Holborrow 78).

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