Himansha Sharma, BE,Computer, Final Year,Bhopal :THE ECONOMIST Omkar Goswami concurs with the Indian economists I know, when he refuses to give in to unbridled optimism on how India is changing since reforms. He notes, however, that the shift in certain attitudes has been unmistakable. "We now rely less on kneejerk hostility, when it comes to our feelings about foreign things," he says.
This change is especially clear in our attitude towards English, which has undergone a transformation post-reform. The change was largely driven by the rise of India's outsourcing industry. The 1990s had marked the rise of Indian IT companies including Infosys, and our key advantage in competing in the global services market — our purple poker chip — has been India's large numbers of affordable, educated and English-literate workers.
In the business process outsourcing (BPO) sector in particular, over 65% of jobs are defined as voice-based jobs, and English language proficiency is the main requirement for these companies. These firms were closely aligned with global corporations, and both productivity and wages were linked quite closely to global market averages. The result was that, through the 1990s, potential earnings for India's English-skilled graduates surged. In a sense, this Indian industry has carved out a route to the American dream for our workers.
The present number of English-literate, skilled graduates barely scratches the surface of what India is capable of. Even though the number of graduates and engineers in India has more than doubled over the last fifteen years, only 13% of India's youth actually opt for higher education, and English literacy in India remains below 30%. Companies in India's outsourcing industry are attempting to expand the number of English proficient graduates through training courses for college students in English language skills.
Not only can the talent pool get much deeper, this industry in India has the potential to absorb large numbers of English-skilled workers. Employment in the sector has crossed 1.6 million, and there remains immense room for more growth — the number of jobs created is set to cross three million by 2015.
This highly visible rise of the outsourcing sector has helped transform Indian attitudes towards the English language. English is emerging as the language of aspiration for the Indian population — as a passport to a lucrative job and entry into the country's growing middle class. A friend of mine is an entrepreneur who runs Corner House, a popular Bangalore ice cream and sundae parlour. He told me resignedly that he had taught his staff some English so that they would be able to take orders, and they left him to join a BPO company!
The rising pay-offs of English language skills across Indian industry are also creating a widespread demand to learn the language. The private sector has been quick in responding — English training in India has surged to a $100 million industry in annual revenues. Sriram Raghavan is an entrepreneur who runs Comat, a company dedicated to building rural IT kiosks across the country, and he says that one in three customers to the kiosks comes for English lessons. "They have a sharp eye for the jobs that are available, and they are quite pragmatic," he tells me of his rural customers. "I have people coming to me asking for English lessons for their wives, since that can help them get jobs as receptionists and secretaries at government offices." The language is also popular among people migrating to the city. "They know," Sriram says, "that if they learn English before they move to the city, they will land much better paying jobs. It's the difference between working as a construction worker or being the manager of the construction team." The language is making a substantial difference across levels — people who work as janitors at offices, for instance, find that knowing English means better errands to run. "I run around bringing tea and snacks and cleaning up," one of them says. "There is another guy who knows to read and write English. He visits banks and clients and gets four times my salary."
As a result this aspiration for English is now cutting across income classes — English-medium private schools have mushroomed across rural India and in the slums of the urban poor. Nearly one-third of all rural schoolchildren are now enrolled in private schools, and close to 50% of these schools are English-medium. Dalit leaders have also pushed for effective English instruction in schools. Organizations such as the Dalit Freedom Network are establishing English-medium schools to cater to the Dalit community. "I think that our leaders now recognize how important English is for Dalits to access both employment and economic opportunities," Chandrabhan tells me. In his own irreverent way, he has even initiated a campaign for English by celebrating the birthday of Lord Macaulay. "It helps raise awareness about the need to learn English," he grins, when I ask about the event. "We've now celebrated his birthday three years in a row."
I think that one of the biggest isuses for English language learners is trying to accurately communicate with those who do not speak their native language. I have never been to another country, so I do not know what it would be like to be surrounded by people who did not speak the same language that I did, but I imagine that it would be really frustrating. Sometimes it is frustrating on my end of the conversation, trying to understand exactly what a foreign person is asking when a question arises, so I can only imagine how they feel. Another issue for them may be trying to figure out how to hold onto their native culture and still adopt some of the ways of the English culture so that they can better adapt to their surroundings. This can be a very confusing and frustrating experience, especially when they are constantly surrounded by the second culture on a day to day basis. It could also be that the English language learners are forced to forget their native culture altogether. Some schools may not be open to other cultures and may try to force students to forget about their native culture and adopt the mainstream culture’s views. This can be very hard for children and can also impede their ability to learn English.There are many ways that one can address these isuses. It is important to be understanding of other cultures and not become frustrated as they try to communicate with you. It is probably a lot harder for them to try to come up with the words to say than it is for you to try and comprehend what they are saying. It is also important to be open to other cultures and want to learn about them. We cannot just force the English language on them. If we allow them to retain some of their native culture, then they will be able to adopt the English language more quickly. It is easy to look down on others when we are not the ones struggling to learn something new, but what everyone needs to remember is that if the situation were reversed, you could be in the same situation as the English language learners, just in another country learning a different language.
Hi
Nice article with valuable information. I have forwarded it to my friends and posted it on some websites as well.
Thanks
Jitender Singh
Kolkata
Dear Himansha, very good article , i have forward this article link to my friends and requested them to send their friends so that each person should realise the importance of English language.
Keep posting this kind if articles.
Sonali Rathore
Indore