British Language Policies and Imperialism in India

Abstract

Quaid-i-Azam UniversityIn the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the British language policies in India were characterized by a controversy between Orientalists and Anglicists. Both parties aimed at consolidating the British rule over India, but their opinions differed as to whether the vernacular languages and the vehicular languages used under Muslim rule on the one side, or English on the other side, were the best means to attain that goal. The controversy rooted in different perceptions of the Orient in the West. A reliable indicator of the degree to which elements of these views are implemented is the language of the lower courts and local administration in India. Here, a shift can be observed from a policy based on Persian, Hindustani and Sanskrit in the 1780s, through an intermediate phase with local languages to English from the 1830s on. The Orientalist-Anglicist controversy can be seen as the linguistic expression of a change in the way Englishmen apprehended India in the early nineteenth century. The study of this controversy shows a close relationship between language policies and political power.

Language Planning and the British Empire: Comparing Pakistan, Malaysia and Kenya

“…He has also been accused of extreme selectivity of data -most scathingly by Lewis (1993). Rahman (1996) diminishes Said's impact in succinctly pointing out that 'othering' is inherent in the discourse produced by any collectivity about another. 11 Nevertheless Said's work has brought culture to the forefront of discussions on imperialism, in addition to charging all subsequent scholarship supported by the superior material resources of the West with a commensurate responsibility to question its own ideological assumptions.…”

“…The linguistic aspect of debate was mostly confined to the degree to which English should be disseminated within a relatively small section of the colonised population. Rahman (1996) concludes that the Orientalists were better informed than the Anglicists about local conditions and history, and less disruptive of traditions. Persian grammarian William Jones may have been patronising in believing that the Indians deserved the blessings of British rule, but he also had genuine respect for their classical learning.…”

The Language Planning Situation in...

“…(15) To the extent possible, trace the historical development of the policies/practices identified in items 13 and 14 (may be integrated with these items) (e.g. Coetzee, 1993;Keesing, 1990;Rahman, 1996). (16) Describe and discuss any language planning agencies operating in the polity (both formal and informal) (Dua, 1994;Hirataka, 1992;von Gleich, 1994).…”

Development of a Framework for Teaching L2 English as a Situated Practice in Malawi

“…As a result of this, Malawi belongs to the Anglophone group of countries in Africa. To that end, other than Chichewa, English is the principal official language in Malawi (Chipembere 1970;Kamwendo, 2003;Kayambazinthu, 1998b;Rahman, 1995). It must however be pointed out that from the colonial period to the present, French, Latin, German and Greek have continued to be taught in some schools and colleges but not to the extent to which English is taught, learned and used.…”

“…Differences among various dialects of the language were also bridged. English remained to be the language of the high culture (Kayambazinthu, 1998b;Matiki, 2001a;Rahman, 1995). As Kayambazinthu (1998b) Interestingly, although Banda was a native speaker of Malawi"s national language, Chichewa, and was the University of Malawi"s honorary professor of Chichewa, he never spoke the language in public.…”