Proliferation of the English language in India since independence. Essay.
Answers
Introduction
Over the last centuries, the English language has gained a major relevance
in India, growing even faster in the last couple of centuries due to the importance of the language in international communication. The English language is considered as a fundamental tool not only for international communication but also for other areas like education. English has become the second most widely spoken language in India, overtaking the more than 600 languages spoken in the country, only behind Hindi. It is believed that the Standard Indian English is spoken by almost 130 million Indians, much more than in the UK.
During the ag e of discovery, A ship
led by Vasco da Gama was the first one to arrive in the country in 1498. However, it
was not until 1505 when they established the first European trading centre at Kollam,
Kerala .
The East India company
The first arrival of the British did not come until the early 17th century, when the
English established their first trading posts in Madras and Calcutta, which were
supervised by the East India Company. After a century, the relevance obtained by the East India Company was so bi g that they were commanding most parts of India.
In fact, by the year 1857, Bombay, Calcutta and Madras had opened their respective universities. The growth of English was so exponential that it became the first language of the government, the social elite and the national press.
English in India after independence
.After Indian Independence in 1947, Hindi was declared the first official language, and attempts were made to declare Hindi the sole national language of India. Due to protests from Tamil Nadu and other non-Hindi-speaking states, it was decided to temporarily retain English for official pu rposes until at least 1965. By the end of this period, however, opposition from non-Hindi states was still too strong to have Hindi declared the sole language. With this in mind, the English Language Amendment Bill declared English to be an associate language "until such time as all non-Hindi States had agreed to its being dropped."
The view of the English language among many Indians has gone from associating it with colonialism to associating it with economic progress, and English continues to be an official language of India.
While there is an assumption that English is readily available in India, available studies show that its usage is actually restricted to the elite, because of inadequate education to large parts of the Indian population. The use of outdated teaching methods and the poor grasp of English exhibited by the authors of many guidebooks disadvantage students who rely on these books, giving India only a moderate proficiency in English.
Status of English language in India
After gaining independence from the United Kingdom in 1947, English remained an official language of the new Dominion of India and later the Republic of India. Only a few hundred thousand Indians, or less than 0.1% of the total population, spoke English as their first language.
According to the 2011 Census, 129 million (10.6%) Indians spoke English. 259,678 (0.02%) Indians spoke English as their first language. It concluded that approximately 83 million Indians (6.8%) reported English as their second language, and 46 million (3.8%) reported it as their third language, making English the second-most spoken language in India.
Court language
Under the Indian Constitution, English is the language of India’s Supreme Court and of all the high courts of India. However, as allowed by the Constitution, Hindi is also used in courts in Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan by virtue of special presidential approval.[17] As of 2018, the high courts of the Punjab and the Haryana were also awaiting presidential approval to use Hindi alongside English.
Conclusion
Despite being colonised by the British Empire in the 16th century, which brought
about the introduction of a new language before any other Asian country, Indians have not been able to acquire a high level of proficiency in English as China or Japan. A key factor has been the major social and economic difference between the upper class and the lower class, which is the vast majority of India. Besides, improving English proficiency should be a priority for the government as nowadays a good level of English is crucial in the world and would definitely improve the economic situation of the country.