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Abilità linguistiche
2) English as a National Foreign Language
India has two national languages for central administrative purposes: Hindi and English.
Hindi is the national, official, and main link language of India. English is an associate offi-
cial language.
The Indian Constitution also officially approves twenty-two regional languages for official
purposes.
Dozens of distinctly different regional languages are spoken in India, which share many
characteristics such as grammatical structure and vocabulary. Apart from these languages,
Hindi is used for communication in India. The homeland of Hindi is mainly in the north of
India, but it is spoken and widely understood in all urban centers of India. In the southern
states of India, where people speak many different languages that are not much related
to Hindi, there is more resistance to Hindi, which has allowed English to remain a lingua
franca to a greater degree.
Since the early 1600s, the English language has had a toehold on the Indian subcontinent,
when the East India Company established settlements in Chennai, Kolkata, and Mumbai,
formerly Madras, Calcutta, and Bombay respectively. The historical background of India is
never far away from everyday usage of English. India has had a longer exposure to English
than any other country which uses it as a second language, its distinctive words, idioms,
grammar and rhetoric spreading gradually to affect all places, habits and culture.
In India, English serves two purposes.
First, it provides a linguistic tool for the administrative cohesiveness of the country, causing
people who speak different languages to become united.
Secondly, it serves as a language of wider communication, including a large variety of dif-
ferent people covering a vast area. It overlaps with local languages in certain spheres of
influence and in public domains.
Generally, English is used among Indians as a ‘link’ language and it is the first language for
many well-educated Indians.
It is also the second language for many who speak more than one language in India. The
English language is a tie that helps bind the many segments of our society together. Also, it
is a linguistic bridge between the major countries of the world and India.
English has special national status in India. It has a special place in the parliament, judicia-
ry, broadcasting, journalism, and in the education system. One can see a Hindi-speaking
teacher giving their students instructions during an educational tour about where to meet
and when their bus would leave, but all in English.
It means that the language permeates daily life. It is unavoidable and is always expected,
especially in the cities.
The importance of the ability to speak or write English has recently increased significantly
because English has become the de facto standard.
Learning English language has become popular for business, commerce and cultural rea-
sons and especially for internet communications throughout the world.
English is a language that has become a standard not because it has been approved by any
‘standards’ organization but because it is widely used by many information and technology
industries and recognized as being standard.
The call centre phenomenon has stimulated a huge expansion of internet-related activity,
establishing the Future of India as a cyber-technological super-power.