The Arrival and Development of the English Language in India

Abstract

It is widely accepted that the English language is the most important international language in the world. It is because of its importance that there has been a worldwide spread of English. Due to the spread of English, numerous new varieties of English have been created. For instance, the interaction between the British and the Indians created a new variety of English called Indian English. In addressing the topic, this paper aims to deal with the arrival and development of the English language in India as well as its current status. For this purpose, a historical outline will be followed by the features of Indian English as well as the proficiency, ending with the most spoken languages in India. Consequently, it is vital to highlight the importance of the English in India since English has been spoken in the country for four centuries, establishing itself as the second language for most Indians. India contains more than 600 languages despite not all of them are official. Hence, we will see how difficult it has been for Indians to establish a standard language in India. This essay will also give a brief description of the most important languages in the country, including a table in section 3.1 that will provide the number of users of each language. Still, despite the fact that English is extensively spoken, many of its speakers in India are not fully proficient, making English proficiency a big concern due to the fact that in this respect, the Chinese or Japanese are very much ahead of Indians. Finally, there is a debate whether English in India should be considered as a second or a foreign language. In order to handle this debate, we will focus on Kachru‘s Three Circles of English. Nevertheless, other models from different scholars will be mentioned as well.