An Article THE EVOLUTION OF ENGLISH IN THE INDIAN SUBCONTINENT: USE OF ENGLISH IN BANGLADESH There is no way to undermine the increasing importance of English in Bangladesh; hence the attitude of raising questions about the necessity or use of English in the country is now a meaningless one. There is hardly any field in Bangladesh where English is not needed at varying degrees. When the countries of the First and Second Worlds have already acknowledged the soaring importance of English in their countries, it will be a great blunder for the developing countries in the Third World to estimate English in a debasing or wrong way. As this article aims at justifying the importance of English in Bangladesh and the use of English in the country, it will utterly focus on the target to prove it evident that English has really got a status, though debate is there about it, in Bangladesh. Prior to the discussion about the status or use and the need of English in Bangladesh, it is wise to have an idea about the evolution of English in the Indian subcontinent. The beginning of English in the subcontinent can be traced back to 31 December 1600, when Queen Elizabeth I granted a charter to a few merchants in London, giving them a monopoly of trade with India. Calcutta (now Kolkata) was founded as a commercial settlement by the British in 1690. By the early decades of the eighteenth century, a large volume of trade was being transacted between Bengal and Britain. Bengal occupied a central place among British interests in India and Calcutta was the focal point for contract between the people of Britain and Bengal. The trade relations between the two linguistically different communities gave rise to a language contact situation. But from 1690 to the Battle of Palashy in 1957, the contact between Bengali English speakers had been limited. The language situation of the period was unstable. After the battle of Palassy in 1957, knowledge of English became essential for trading partners in the Bengal business circle. Establishment of warehouses, law courts and other institutions resulted in the increase of the contact between the British and the Bengali, hence increased the demand for English in a section of the community. But in the absence of any administrative assistance to learn English, some expatriates and natives started English school in Calcutta and adjoining areas to impart a communicative skill in English. The natives also realized that knowledge of English would be necessary for status and influence in the new capital Calcutta. As the British rulers were hesitant in providing Western education to the natives, they took nearly eight decades to introduce English education in the subcontinent. Although one of the directors of the East India Company, Sir Charles Grant, wanted English to be introduced in official business as early as in 1792, the company administration in India were not in the favour of the idea. In 18 72, Mr. Wilberforce wanted to add two clauses to the Charter Act of the year for sending out school teachers in India. This encountered great opposition in the Board of Directors and the proposal had to be withdrawn. Instead of teaching English to the natives, the company established the Fort William College in Calcutta in 1800 to train the company officials in Indian vernaculars, laws and customs. The administrators of the Company were busy consolidating their trade and power; they were least concerned about the education of the natives. The Christian missionaries, however, had a different mission. They aimed at converting the natives into Christianity. For this they needed to teach English to the natives. They also undertook research in vernacular languages in order to translate the Bible into indigenous languages. It was the missionaries who first established English schools and introduced western education in India. The missionary efforts started in 1614, but became more effective once they allowed to use the ships of the East India Company. In 1698, when the charter of the Company was renewed, a missionary clause was added to it. But in 1765, the situation changed again, encouragement of the missionaries was stopped. William Carey, who had come to India in 1773, in defiance of the East India Company’s ban, established the Baptist Mission College at Srerampur and started his missionary work and the work of spreading education. Other church organisations engaged themselves in similar activities. The missionary schools played their part in creating an eagerness to learn English, students flocked in growing numbers to the schools established by the missionaries. The Indian themselves also started English schools. These ‘pay schools’, as they were called, were started in different places in Calcutta. There were also some ‘free schools’ giving English education. But as the desire to learn English grew day by day, schools were founded in different districts. Books for English were so much in demand that the School Book Society sold over 31000 English books in two years. However, the introduction of Western education in India was not without conflict. The social elite of Calcutta society were divided in their opinion as to the importance of English education. Consequently, a social controversy called the Anglo-Oriental controversy arose. A petition was presented to Warren Hastings in September 1780 by a considerable number of respectable Muslims for the establishment of a madrasa in Calcutta, to which he agreed. He could thus assume himself of a regular supply of Muslim law officers. Similarly a Sanskrit college was founded in Benares in 1792 at the recommendation of Jonathan Duncan, a British resident there, with a view to endearing the government to the native Hindus. On the other hand, it was the Indian bourgeoisie who opposed these policies that they would excluded from access to social, economic and political development as a result of such policies. The story of the foundation of Hindu college in Calcutta is given by Sir Edward Hyde East, the Chief Justice of Calcutta Supreme Court, in one of his letters. He wrote: About the beginning of May, a Brahmin of Calcutta.........................well known for his intelligence among the principal native inhabitants.....................called upon me and informed me that many of the Hindus were desirous of forming an establishment for the education of their children in a liberal manner as practised by Europeans of condition and desired that I would lend them my aid toward it by having a meeting held under my sanction................the meeting was held at my house on the 14th May 1816 at which 50 and upwards of the most respectable of Hindu inhabitants of rank and wealth attended.............when a sum of nearly half a lac of rupees was subscribed and many more subscriptions were promised................all expressed themselves in favour of making the acquisition of the English language a principal object of education together with its moral and scientific production. While giving evidence before a Parliamentary Committee in 1853, Alexander Duff said that English education was in a manner forced upon the British Government; it did not itself spontaneously originate it. There were two persons who had to do with it, Mr. David Hare and Raja Ram Mohan Roy. Ram Mohan Roy, the most distinguished Indian of that time, was the first to speak against Government encouragement of oriental studies. In a letter to Lord Amherst he protested the government plan to establish a Sanskrit college in Calcutta. He wrote: We are filled with the sanguine hope that the sum would be laid out in employing European gentlemen of talent and education to instruct the natives of India in Mathematics, Natural Philosophy, Chemistry, Anatomy and other useful sciences which the nations of Europe have carried to a degree of perfection...........................We find that the Government are establishing a Sanskrit school under Hindu pundits to impart the same knowledge as is already current in India......................... There was also controversy among the rulers. William Adam, who was appointed in January 1835 to survey vernacular education in Bengal, stated that English language could not be universal instrument for imparting Western education in millions of villages in Bengal. Apparently, a General Committee for education in India was set up by the Government. The orientalists in the committee were Shakespeare, Princep, Macnaghtenand and Sutherland. The Anglicists were Bird, Saunders, Bushby, Trevelyan and Colvin. The president of the committee, Macaulay, was their leader. Macaulay’s education Minutes were passed on 2 February 1835 in spite of protests from Princep who termed them as “hasty and indiscreet”. The Minute on Language says: ......It seems to be admitted that the intellectual improvement of those classes of people who have the means of pursuing higher education can at present be effected by means of some language not vernacular amongst them. What shall the language be? One half of the committee maintained that it should be English. The other half strongly recommended Arabic and Sanskrit. Which language is the best worth knowing? It is impossible for us with our limited means of attempt to educate the body of the people. We must at present do our best to form a class who may be interpreters between us and the millions we govern; a class of persons Indian in blood and colour, but English in tastes, in opinions, in morals and in intellect. To that class we may leave to refine the vernacular dialects and to render them fit for conveying western knowledge............................................... Macaulay’s Minute espoused a selective and elitist approach to education; it ignored the education of the masses and rejected the native languages. Macaulay understood that it would not be possible to educate all members of society, nor was it the intention of the British colonial policy. Macaulay’s Minute was the first major language policy which had profound impact on the teaching of English and other languages in the subcontinent for a long time to come. A more liberal and rational language policy was promulgated by Governor General, Sir Charles Wood. On 9 July 1854, Sir Charles Wood sent the Board of Directors of the East India Company a Dispatch which attempted to allocate elementary roles of English and vernaculars. Despite the clear role which Sir Charles Wood assigned to the vernaculars, the emphasis on English continued unabated. The vernaculars were taught only at the elementary level and could be omitted altogether if the pupil desired. The sad state of vernacular education did not go unnoticed by the Saddler Commission. The Saddler Commission noted: We are emphatically of the opinion that there is something unsound in a system of education which leaves a young man, at the conclusion of his course, unable to write or speak his mother tongue fluently or correctly.................... It recommended the use of vernaculars at the primary and secondary stage and advocated the retention of English as the medium of instruction for all subjects, except the classical and vernacular languages. Although these recommendations resulted in the introduction of vernaculars as compulsory and optional subjects in some universities, English continued to occupy its privileged place as a tool of advancement. Three important events occurred during the period. In 1837 Persian was replaced by English as the official language of law courts. In 1844 it was declared that when Indians were recruited to government posts, preference would be given to those who had received English education. According to Wood’s Dispatch three universities-one each at Calcutta, Bombay and Madras were established. Three more, Punjab, Allahabad and Dhaka universities were also established. The importance of English grew more and more with the establishment of colleges and universities in different places. At the beginning of the twentieth century, English became firmly established as the academic and official language of India. This state of affairs continued until the British left in 1947. After the establishment of Pakistan and India, Mohammad Ali Jinnah clearly expressed the opinion that the state language of Pakistan would be Urdu, and those who tried to oppose it were enemies of Pakistan. But when he voiced the same opinion the next day at a convocation held at Dhaka University, students of Dhaka University strongly protested and the State Language Action Committee was formed. Conflict over the language issue with the central government went on and became an emotional issue for all Bengalis and they felt that their culture and tradition were at risk. On 21 February 1952 five people including students were killed in police firings while they were demonstrating to press the demand for Bengali. The incident gave rise to a spontaneous movement known as the Language Movement and in the end the Government had to accept Bengali as one of the state languages. The Language Movement infused a feeling of linguistic nationalism among the Bengalis. Other reasons, such as economic exploitation and refusal to accept the verdict of democratic election by the army, bureaucracy and political leadership in West Pakistan, gradually led to the separation of East Pakistan from the West and Bangladesh emerged as an independent state after nine months war of liberation in which millions of lives were lost. After the independence of Bangladesh, Bengali language was given the status of official language of the republic in the 1972 constitution. From 1947 to 1971, English continued to play a very significant role in the national life of Pakistan. For the people of the East Pakistan, English was the chief means of communication with the people of the West Pakistan. English was widely used in the government administration, law courts and commerce. It was the medium of communication with the outside world. English was studied as a compulsory subject at the secondary and higher secondary levels of education and was also the medium of instruction at higher levels. After the emergence of the independent Bangladesh, English suffered a serious setback. One of the reasons of this was a strong nationalistic sentiment for the mother tongue, Bengali. The Bengali Introduction Law, promulgated in 1983 by Bangladesh Government, made it compulsory for employees in government, semi-government and autonomous institutions to Bengali in interoffice memos, legal documents and correspondences except in case of communication with foreign governments and international offices. Consequently, Bengali began to be used in almost all fields of national life. Thus English lost its previous status as a second language and came to be treated as a foreign language. The consequences began to be felt in all sectors, especially in the field of higher education. English was no longer a compulsory medium of instruction and adequate attention to the teaching of English was not given at lower levels. Paradoxically, more than 90% of the textbooks at higher levels of study continued to be in English. More and more students were coming to the university for higher studies with an inadequate command of English. They were unable to read their textbooks in English or express their thoughts and ideas in English. However, it was soon realised that English could not be neglected by Bangladesh for her all round development. Most of the educationists and political leaders began to feel that English should be given due importance. There is now a more positive attitude towards English both at government and private institutions; though questions frequently arise about the method and approaches we apply for teaching and learning English. Efforts are still underway to improve the teaching of English with a target to make the students reach the goal. Students here want to improve their proficiency in English and are even willing to pay high costs where quality is involved. English is getting due attention because of different reasons, though some people, especially the so called patriots, demand Bengali to be used at every level of the nation. It is an accepted truth that to spread the realm of Bengali we should give increasing importance to English. However, some purposes can be specified here for which people of Bangladesh desire to have command of English. The spheres where English is used are being proliferated day by day. But unfortunately, data regarding the extent of English in Bangladesh are not readily available. We do not even what percentage of the population has a working knowledge of English. Three more specific needs for the learners are-social, occupational and academic. Since the natural medium of social intercourse among the Bangladeshis is Bengali, it does not affect the student population. Occupational needs are increasing but the government offices still use Bengali as the sole medium of correspondence, especially inside the country. Different multinational offices and organisations, news agencies and professional training institutions in Bangladesh use English as the medium of instruction. Bangladeshis working in these offices have command of English though of varying degrees. Academic needs or study skills are the ones which affect the learners most keenly. These include reading books in English, listening to lectures and writing essays, term papers and dissertations. A mixed situation prevails in the field of higher education. However, the trend is now towards using English as encouragement for learning English is provided both at the university and at home. As more and more students from Bangladesh are seeking admission into British, American, Canadian, Australian and many other foreign universities, the need for learning English is growing. There has also been a remarkable increase in the number of students taking IELTS, GRE, GMAT, SAT and TOEFL tests. This has given a consequential rise to the number of students pursuing courses on English in a good number of English coaching centres on the way to their taking different tests on their language proficiency. English medium schools are increasing in a considerable number. Even in the rural towns English medium schools have been established. The total number of English medium schools only in Dhaka city is more than 150. There are also schools where national curriculum is taught in English. Accurate figures of the number of students studying in these schools are not available. The state-run general education policy including the latest one of 2010 is however turning out people with different degrees of proficiency in English. We may classify their proficiency in English according to a rating scale as follows: 1. Extremely Limited Users: People who leave primary school or drop out before completing the cycle are at this level. They will possibly be able to read an address or signboard in English and follow very simple instructions, but would not really be able to participate in communicative interaction apart from using a few set phrases. This type of users may also include those who have had no schooling but have ability to speak some sentences in English; it is the ability which they have earned by hearing others speaking in English. 2. Marginal Users: People who complete their secondary and higher secondary education would perhaps belong to this category. A considerable number of them will perhaps be able to read simple texts and understand them, write messages and letters but in general would have difficulty in communicating freely or exchanging information with others as most of the learning has been bookish. Though the textbooks have been compiled focusing on their target at teaching communicative English, the process of teaching in the country fails to reach the target because of the lack of the trained teachers. Students are mostly found to memorise the answers. This is why, a great number of students fail in English. 3. Modest Users: People who complete their graduation or masters may be called modest users. But it does not mean that those who complete their higher education must know better English. Many of them still remain week in English, it is because their medium of instruction is either Bengali or other languages, or they read those subjects where English is not emphasised. However, it is a matter of hope that the number of modest users is rapidly increasing. From the above discussion it can be said in short that the situation of English in Bangladesh has significantly changed. People are now getting increasingly interested in English. English is needed almost everywhere in the country, hence people having a working knowledge of English are of great demand. Nevertheless, more emphasis should be given to the importance of English and so necessary steps should immediately be taken to facilitate the teaching and learning English in a congenial atmosphere.
Posted on: Sat, 13 Dec 2014 08:47:32 +0000
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