English across Cultures: Studying Diversity in English Language Teaching

Abstract

To teach and transfer an understanding of the text requires competence of the teacher beyond knowledge of the prescribed text. This paper focuses on how the difference in culture between the teacher and students contributes to the challenges in communication in and beyond the classroom. It focuses on the teacher’s perspective on teaching students of diverse cultures and the importance of learning the behaviour and customs of the society. Exploring the supplementary communication approaches that are culture-specific, this paper argues how communication with students from other societies or ethnic groups is fraught with the danger of misunderstanding, if the larger framework of culture is ignored.

 Ludwig Wittgenstein

The English language has transformed the face of the world. In India too, English is the first language of public discourse, and the power and efficacy of the language can be traced through its rapid growth. Not long after its introduction in India by the British colonists, it competed with the local languages and soon acculturated into the pluralistic Indian context as it was a language of the privileged and a marker of the educated. Krishnaswamy and Krishnaswamy (2006) divided the institutionalisation process into five stages. The first stage being the stage of ‘exploration’ that began with the establishment of the British East India Company and the arrival of the missionaries in India to educate Indians. The second stage was a period of ‘consolidation’. This stage marked English as the official language of education and English competent Indians were now assigned to offices. Soon English domains in India were expanded in a number of schools, colleges, and universities. The stage of ‘dissemination’ followed. With the institutionalisation of the English language, only the rich and educated masses had access to the language. This began to link the language with power and social status. This stage questioned the ‘Identity’ of the Indians whose fascination and knowledge of the English language inevitably modified their outlook and identity. The more recent changes in English can be related to the development in Information technology and this last stage is ‘globalization’.  English which was introduced to the Indian masses as a foreign language has now developed to being a first language for many Indians and will continue to mark social status because of its connection to wealth and opportunity.