English expands its empire in India

By Sunrita Sen Aug 7, 2007, 13:40 GMT

New Delhi - Not Britain, nor Australia or Canada. India has the largest number of English speakers in the world - an estimated 350 million. As the country celebrates its 60th year of independence from British rule, English continues to expand its empire by the day.

It is no longer just the diplomat, bureaucrat, lawyer and teacher who want an English-based education for their children. The lowly rickshaw puller, labourer and domestic help too see it as their passport to a better life.

English continued as a link language in independent India, which has over 200 dialects and strong regional identities associated closely with language. There are 22 official languages, including national tongue Hindi. English is not one of them. It has the status of associate language but is the preferred second language of millions.

'English is the language of international commerce, business and technology. Everyone wants to learn English - Chinese, Germans, even the French - not just Indians. It integrates you in the international current,' historian Samita Sen says.

'Today, with the business-process outsourcing industry and the services' sector powering India's economic growth, English is a must if you don't want to start with a handicap,' according to Kolkata-based scholar Mohua Dasgupta.

Politicians who pushed for regional languages now recognize the advantages of English skills. The state governments of West Bengal and Karnataka recently reintroduced English teaching at primary school level.

In a telling experience from Karnataka, one teacher said free mid-day meals offered by the state government did not draw children to schools, but when English was made compulsory, there was a deluge.

Even the best low-skilled jobs - those in shopping malls, fast-food chains and retail stores - go to those who can speak English along with their mother tongue.

The salary differential between equally qualified candidates can be as much as 500 per cent, and the most-coveted jobs in airlines, hotels, media, banking and financial services are restricted to those who know English, says business columnist Sucheta Dalal.

The profile of parents wanting their children to acquire an English education has widened. 'People earning a pittance want to admit their children to English-medium playschools. They don't mind spending half their salary,' Dasgupta says.

But the desire for English is not just about jobs. 'When India was a British colony, it was the language of those in power. The British wanted to create new hierarchies where they were at the top, and English was one of the identifying factors of higher social status - a sort of class thing,' Sen says. It still is.

When Dasgupta hires support staff for her schools - the guards or the maids - she prefers those who have at least a smattering of English. 'The ones who can say sit down, good morning and thank you ma'am are branded as smart.'

Britain-based linguist David Crystal wonders whether Indian languages would suffer with the rising demand for English. 'This would be such a shame as there is no necessary conflict between the value of a language of powerful international reach, such as English, and a language of powerful local identity, such as the many languages of India.'

Undergraduate student Arun Sharma, pursuing an English-speaking course at language school Inlingua, sees no such problem. 'Learning English can't take away my cultural roots.' Hindi would still be his first language. 'Speaking English is necessary for the sort of job I want along with basic computing skills.'

Inlingua is among the better-known institutes in the business. There are language schools - good, bad and average - in every Indian small town spawning an unregulated industry estimated to be worth between 120 to 150 million dollars.

If he gets the job he wants, Sharma's starting salary can be anything from 12,000 to 20,000 rupees (300 to 500 dollars), which is pretty good by Indian standards.

But Sen has a word of caution. 'The quality of English education for which these youngsters often pay a fortune may not always be able to fulfil their aspirations in a country with a huge population like India.'

So far the going has been good. India's business-process outsourcing sector adds at least 100,000 jobs every year, with an annual growth of over 30 per cent. The retail sector is also growing annually by 30 per cent. The services' sector accounts for about 50 per cent of India's gross domestic product.

But India now faces stiff competition in the outsourcing business. The Global Outsourcing Report 2005 predicted that China, currently ranked second in information-technology outsourcing, would surpass India by 2015. With the outsourcing business and the 2008 Beijing Olympics in mind, China has reportedly initiated a massive English-learning programme.

Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam and Eastern European nations such as Hungary and Poland are also challenging India's leadership in offshore business outsourcing.

With rising wages and problems of infrastructure, how long will India be able to retain its advantage and fulfil the aspirations of millions honing their English-language skills?

'English had a head-start in India, compared with other former colonial countries, thanks to a tradition of interest and expertise,' says Crystal, who thinks India will retain its top slot for the foreseeable future.

'When people call a centre in India to enquire about train times, the odds are that the person at the other end has a knowledge of where places are in the UK because of the way they learned as kids. This typically isn't the case with China.'

For now, it's a case of the empire strikes back - to India's advantage.