English in Asia
English is an Asian language. That may sound strange at first, but the facts are clear. English has been used in various parts of Asia for almost two hundred years. It is the first language of two countries in Asia (Australia and New Zealand), the second language of seven others (Bangladesh, India, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippines, Singapore, and Sri Lanka), and the first foreign language in the remaining Asian countries. More fluent users of English can be found in Asia (estimated at 350 million) than on any other continent; English is used predominantly to communicate with fellow Asians. Locally published English newspapers can be found in practically every metropolitan city across Asia. Conferences frequently are conducted in English (and their proceedings published in English) when only a few, if any, of the participants are native English speakers. English is the language of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), even though it is not the first language of any of the member countries. More students are studying English in this region than in any other part of the world. China alone has 100 million people learning English. Although most people in Asia do not speak English, Asian leaders in many fields (the arts, business and commerce, education, diplomacy, law, the military, space exploration, and tourism) usually do. English sometimes enables different ethnic groups in the same country to communicate with one another, helping to establish a sense of nationhood.
The Debate on the Use of English
Ongoing articulate debates about English in Asia have continued for some time. One side takes the position that English is an instrument of cultural imperialism and neocolonialism. They argue that linguistic diversity is greatly diminished by the spread of English, which adversely affects minority languages. The other side does not see English as an alien language or as an instrument of Western hegemony. This group maintains that English belongs to those who use it, not only to native speakers, and that it also expresses Asian culture. They point out that leaders such as Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869–1948) and Jawaharlal Nehru (1889–1964) wrote in English to reach a national audience and to promote a national agenda. They make the point that English has no claims to intrinsic superiority but that it has a preeminent role in Asia because it is a medium for science, technology, literature, and law. English has borrowed from the languages of Asia as well. A few examples include "bungalow" from Bengali, "pajama" from Hindi, "sugar" from Sanskrit, "serendipity" from Singhalese, "kowtow" from Mandarin, "ketchup" from Malay, "boondocks" from Tagalog, and "tycoon" from Japanese.
Features of Asian English
There are also national coinages in English, which are familiar primarily to a local population. These include "dirty kitchen" (in the Philippines, the room in a home where the real cooking is done), "minor wife" (in Thailand, a wife who is secondary to the major wife), "lah" (in Singapore and Malaysia, a mark of informality), "field chickens" (in China, frogs), "sayonara home run" (in Japan, the winning run), and "crow and sparrow story" (in India, a "cock and bull" story).
Pronunciations vary across Asia, but intelligibility of the different varieties of English is no more of a problem in Asia than it is in other parts of the world. As in the United States, grammar use across Asia ranges from pidgin to an international standard. Discourse patterns are frequently different in different varieties of Asian English.
Showing politeness is important in every culture, but it is done differently in the various forms of Asian English. Because the Japanese are reluctant to say "No" directly, a person from Osaka may say "I will consider it," or a person from Tokyo may say, "That will be difficult," when they mean "No." Nodding the head and saying "Yes" do not always mean agreement from an Asian speaker of English; neither do "I'm sorry" and "I apologize" necessarily mean an acceptance of guilt or responsibility for a mistake. Often each of these means "I regret there is some unpleasantness here. I wish it were not so."
One way to learn about the use of English in Asia is to read creative writing by Asians. Talented authors include Anita Desai, Wimal Dissanayake, Ha Jin, Minfong Ho, F. Sionil Jose, Catherine Lim, Shirley Geok-Lin Lim, R. K. Narayan, Arundhati Roy, Raja Rao, Bienvenido N. Santos, Pira Sudham, and Edwin Thumboo. There are also academic publications devoted to the topic of English in Asia.
The future of English in Asia is one of growth and variation. In almost every Asian country the percentage of the population fluent in English is increasing rapidly, and it is predicted that 30 to 35 percent of the population will use English on a daily basis by the year 2010. English will doubtless continue to be the language Asians use to represent their personal aspirations and public policies in the international workplace, the global media, and for Internet communication.
Further Reading
Bautista, Ma. Lourdes S., ed. (1997) English IS an Asian language: The Philippine Context. New South Wales, Australia: Macquarie Library.
Honna Nobuyuki, ed. (1998) Asian Englishes: An International Journal of the Sociolinguistics of English in Asia/Pacific. Tokyo: ALC Press.
Kachru, Braj B., ed. (1992) The Other Tongue: English across Cultures. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press.
Smith, Larry E., and Michael L. Forman, eds. (1997) World Englishes 2000. Honolulu, HI: University of Hawaii Press.
This is the complete article, containing 888 words
(approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page).
