write a note on the position of English language in India after independence
Answers
English as stated by Timothy J. Scrase “is not only important
in getting a better job, it is everywhere in social interaction. If you
can’t speak it then you are a nobody”.1
This view makes it clear that
English occupies a place of prestige in our country. People
belonging not only to a different language groups but also to the
same speech community make use of English in their inter-personal
communication.
In big metropolis of India, it is really difficult to come across
any educated person who can speak any Indian language well
without avoiding the use of English words. Its importance is not just
in how many people speak it but in what it is used for. It is the major
language of trade and commerce, news and information in this world
of globalization. It is the language of higher education and research,
maritime communication, international air traffic control and it is
used even for internal air traffic control in countries where it is not a
native language. Thus it has attained the status of a global language
in the ever changing economic context.
It is quite interesting to note that India, a multilingual nation,
is the third largest English-speaking country after the US and UK. In
India, it is increasingly being perceived as a ‘must-know’ language.
It has now become a ladder for upward social mobility and ‘a
window to the world’. Such is the demand for learning this language
that a variety of English coaching centres and private-tuition shops,
English-medium schools which are mushrooming in a large numbers
and are easy to spot almost everywhere in our country, even after
independence, clearly indicate the respectable position this language
enjoys in the minds of the democratic Indians.