Asian Englishes: Beyond the Canon

11. Present tense: Making sense of Anglophone Asia

11Present tense: Making sense of Anglophone Asia Introduction This afterword recapitulates the major threads of present formal, functional and ideational tensions of Anglophone Asia — a region which is now home to the world’s largest English-using population. In literature a variety of constructs are used to ‘interrogate’ — or ‘problematize’ — the presence of English in Asia, its ideology, methodology and pedagogy. The terms interrogation and problematization have appropriately become cardinal terms in the lexicon of this ideological debate. And challenging questions are raised about the ‘predatory’ presence of English, and its relevance as a medium to articulate and represent ‘Asian values’, religious, and political agendas. The present situation, then, is one of serious linguistic and ideological tensions. It appears as if a new ideological grammar of Anglophone Asia is under construction. Answers to the questions that are being raised are complex and indeed vary from one Asian region to another. However, for our realistic contextualization of Asia’s Englishes and for making better sense of current theoretical, functional, and ideological issues, the sections that follow provide a backdrop for the increasing number of Asia watchers. These sections are either asides to what is discussed in previous chapters or bring yet other perspectives to the debates on Anglophone Asia. The heart of the matter There is no empirically reliable answer to the often-posed question: How many people use English in Anglophone Asia? The estimates for each Asian region depend on the attitudes towards English, the underlying ideological agenda of each state and the educational policy-makers of the state, and the individuals’ language loyalties. The language census statistics — wherever these are available — need careful interpretation and, if possible, verification. 206 Asian Englishes: Beyond the canon The heart of the matter is, however, that the current Asian profile of English users is overwhelming, and historically unparalleled. This is attested to by the most conservative estimate of English bilinguals in Anglophone Asia. If we include Australia (pop. 19.138 million) and New Zealand (3.778 million) in ‘greater’ Asia, the population of Greater Asia is 3.695 billion. This then adds up to be 60 percent of the world population 6.056 billion.1 The two largest countries in the Asian region are China (pop. 1,261,100,000) and India (pop. 1,014,000,000).2 These two countries have over 533 million English-knowing (or English-using) bilinguals. One must, however, ask: What is meant by an English-knowing or English-using person (e.g. what level of competence? what level of intelligibility?). What, then, is the basis for the figure 533 million for China and India? The Chinese figure is based on a survey by Zhao and Campbell (1995: 377–90). The authors (1995: 381) used ‘two different methods of calculation’ to arrive at their projection, rejecting figures from the China Population Statistics Yearbook (1992), which gives English proficiency distribution in China as: Table 11.1: China’s English proficiency distribution Level of Proficiency Approach 1 (millions) Approach II (millions) Beginners (3 years) 310 160 Intermediate (6 years) 100 30 Advanced (8 years) 17 5 Total 427 195 They rightly adopted a more conservative approach which considers ‘the number of English learner graduates from school since 1982’, choosing 1982 since it was then that ‘English began to count as a major subject in the national entrance exams’. Zhao and Campbell further explain: First, although the Cultural Revolution officially ended in 1976, it was not until 1979 that the decision for modernization and opening to the West was made during the Third Conference of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party. After this conference, English was given a new status and was regarded as an essential tool for international trade, scientific and technological exchange, modernization and progress. Secondly, by 1979, three years after the official ending of the Cultural Revolution, most schools had enough time to prepare to reopen English classes. Thus 1979 can be viewed as a year when most schools started teaching English again. Accordingly the first junior high graduates who would have learned English during their three years of study graduated in 1982. (Zhao and Campbell, 1995: 381) It is relevant to note that from 1982 to 1991 ‘more than 130 million people graduated from secondary schools; 4.5 million graduated from colleges. Assuming the same growth rate, 52 million more graduated in 1992, 1993, Present tense: Making sense of Anglophone Asia 207...