INDIA, APRIL 22, 2003: This lengthy article written by Sankrant Sanu begins, “India, like many other former colonies, suffers from a class-system based on knowledge of the erstwhile colonial language, which in the case of India is English. This class system has manifested as a reference and social status given to people that spoke most like their masters, with a hierarchy starting from the “Queen’s English” to “Convent educated” to “Public school education” to “Fluent but accented English” to “broken English” to “lack of English.” The essay exams such issues as whether English is a must for higher studies and whether countries with a large number of English speakers are more affluent than those without. The author seeks to distinguish between the learning of English as a language for communication versus the use of English as a primary medium of instruction and a symbol for societal rank in a colonial society. The full article is available at “source” above.
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