Year: 2023
Type: article
Abstract: Is English an Asian Language?In this chapter I shall argue that English has become an indigenous Asian language.After extensive language contact, Asian varieties of English have developed, so that it is now a language not only in Asia but of Asia (Kachru, "English" 102-103).Indeed, I shall show how English has extended into perhaps unexpected roles, roles traditionally filled by local languages.I shall support the argument by providing examples of Asian varieties of English and of Asian literatures written in English which illustrate how the cultures of Asia are reflected in these literatures.The tension between those authors who feel that they have been able to 'stretch' and reshape English to reflect their own cultural experiences and those who see writing in English as a form of cultural treason will be reviewed.I shall also give examples of the wide range of functions for which English is currently used within Asia, functions which Asian languages might normally be expected to fulfil.The teaching of English for Islamic values and purposes in the mosque schools of Indonesia and the continued use of English in many Asian legal systems will be given as two instances of this.The article will also distinguish between 1) the roles played by Asian varieties of English -primarily, but not exclusively, as markers of cultural identity -and 2) the role of English as a lingua franca within Asiaprimarily, but not exclusively, as a medium of communication between communities and cultures.I shall conclude by asking whether English as an Asian language is threatening the roles and status of languages in Asia.Keywords: English as an Asian language; Asian literature in English; English as a lingua franca; Asian varieties of English; post-colonialism 1 English Users in Asia English has been spoken in Asia for at least 500 years.It arrived in India at the beginning of the seventeenth century when Queen Elizabeth I granted a group of traders a monopoly who then established the East India Company (EIC).They started trading in Calcutta (Kolkata), Bombay
Author: A. Kirkpatrick
Language: English
Subfield: Linguistics and Language
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W4313595389