English as an Asian Language

This paper outlines the dimensions of Asia's English, which constitutes a world of its own in linguistic, cultural, interactional, ideological, and political terms. The questions this paper raises are: What conditions must a transplanted colonial language satisfy to be accepted as part of the colonized's linguistic repertoire? Why not consider Asian Englishes as part of a local pluralistic linguistic heritage? Answers to these questions demand redefining the concept of «nativeness» and types of nativeness; this paper advances that proposal by describing the distinction between «genetic nativeness» and «functional nativeness». The remainder of the paper comprises the sections: Asian presence of English; domains of functions; the albatross of mythology; mythology and the Asian context; decolonizing context and text; canonicity, diversity and Asian English; English on Asian terms; and institutionalization of Asian Englishes. In concluding, the paper briefly considers the often repeated question: Where do we go with Asian Englishes?

Analysis of some features of Indian English: a study in linguistic method

The role which the English` Language has played in India, and the impact it had on Indian languages has been the theme of many monographs and Theses. There is another aspect"of this contact of the Lanruages and Cultures; that is the influence of Indian languages and contexts on the English language in India. This aspect is interesting both as a linguistic study and as a cultural study. This is, perhaps, the first investigation in this direction, which attempts to study the English language in a language-contact situation in India taking into consideration Indian contexts too. In the hands of Indians, the English language has acquired certain characteristics at all formal levels which make it distinct .f.r om other varieties of English, whether spoken and written as primary languages or secondary languages. In this study descriptive linguistic methods have been used in order to find the Indianness of Indian English as opposed to the Englishness of English. The term "Indian English" has been used as a cover-term for the texts under discussion which are chosen from the upper point on the Cline of bi-lingualism (cf. 1.5.3. ), and could perhaps be called, alternatively, "Standard Indian English" or "Educated Indian English" for the purpose of description. By Indian English I. " do not, however, imply an ontological status equal to those varieties of English which are spoken and written as primary languages. The body of Indian English writings covered in this study is widely read by Indians as well as non-Indians, and most of the writers included here (e. g. K, A. Abbas, M. R. Anand, B. Bhattacharya, K. Narkandaya, R. K. Narayan, Raja Rao, B. Rajan, etc. ) are considered representative English writers of India. I- have extended the scope by including some "restricted languages" from Indian English newspapers and-Parliamentary Debates. This is not, however, a definitive analysis of Indian English, nor does it claim to be a complete survey of all the aspects of Indian English. I have only attempted to raise certain theorteical and procedural problems for which I have drawn illustrative material from Indian English sources. I am conscious of the limitations of this work. The difficulties involved in it have been the greater because I am a non-native speaker of En. Mlish. In this type of work a non-native speaker of English has both disadvantages and, advantages. His disadvantages are that he himself uses Indian English and 'sifting' Indian English from British English 'in,,, the source material was a major problem. All the Indian English formations were put to a test of "acceptance" or "rejection" by native speakers of English. (It was not easy because, as, we know, two native speakers do not always agree! ) He has advantages in the sense that he, as a non-native speaker, can depend on his knowledge of native contexts and, posdiblyt in a formal and contextual analysis, he is better equipped to relate formal items to the "contextual sectors"

Democratization and gender-neutrality in English(es)

"Democratization" and "gender-neutrality" are two concepts commonly used in recent studies on language variation. While both concepts link linguistic phenomena to sociocultural changes, the extent to which they overlap and/or interact has not been studied in detail. In particular, not much is known about how linguistic changes related to democratization and gender-neutrality spread across registers or varieties of English, as well as whether speakers are aware of the changes that are taking place. In this paper we review the main theoretical issues regarding these concepts and relate them to the main findings in the articles in this issue, all of which study lexical and grammatical variation from a corpus-based perspective. Taken together, they help unveil some of the conscious and unconscious mechanisms that operate at the interface between democratization and gender-neutrality.Peer reviewe

English as an Asian Language

This paper outlines the dimensions of Asia's English, which constitutes a world of its own in linguistic, cultural, interactional, ideological, and political terms. The questions this paper raises are: What conditions must a transplanted colonial language satisfy to be accepted as part of the colonized's linguistic repertoire? Why not consider Asian Englishes as part of a local pluralistic linguistic heritage? Answers to these questions demand redefining the concept of «nativeness» and types of nativeness; this paper advances that proposal by describing the distinction between «genetic nativeness» and «functional nativeness». The remainder of the paper comprises the sections: Asian presence of English; domains of functions; the albatross of mythology; mythology and the Asian context; decolonizing context and text; canonicity, diversity and Asian English; English on Asian terms; and institutionalization of Asian Englishes. In concluding, the paper briefly considers the often repeated question: Where do we go with Asian Englishes?