Eroding linguistic inheritance

In retrospect, the decision taken by free India’s leaders to continue to use English as the national medium of professional communication after independence was wise. It not only enabled communication between the 28 linguistically demarcated states of the Indian Union, but over the past six decades has also been universally accepted as the main language of business and commerce, both within India and internationally. However, English everywhere is becoming the victim of its own success. Strong regional dialects which are difficult to understand in the UK itself, and foreign accents are eroding the fundamental purpose of a common international language — comprehension, clarity and accuracy of communication. There is an urgent need to establish and teach standardised English speech and pronunciation globally. The most universally comprehensible form of spoken English (also generally regarded as the most pleasing and prestigious) is what used to be called BBC English until the virus of political correctness infected that organisation, and regional and ethnic minority dialects were accepted by it for broadcasting news and narratives. That the erosion of classic BBC English, otherwise known as received pronunciation (RP), is a profound disservice, was recently stressed by India-born Dr. Samir Shah, OBE, the BBC’s former head of current affairs and member of the corporation’s executive board. “BBC standards,” he said, “are dropping to get ethnic minorities on air. The problem is they lower the barrier. It is done with the best of intentions, but for someone like me, from an ethnic minority, my heart sinks. It is just embarrassing.” Most countries worldwide have adopted standard pronunciation for their national languages for comprehensibility and clarity. Some standard languages are official, others are a matter of general acceptance rather than regulation, but what most of them have in common is that they represent the cultivated speech of educated people in the national capital and are readily understood by the entire population. Standard pronunciation is generally used on quality national broadcasting stations, and carries great prestige, as is certainly the case with standard English (whatever the politically correct may like to pretend). Those aspiring to climb social and professional ladders voluntarily learn to use it, and in India this means learning RP English. (India’s Dalit communities showed how well they understood this when they erected a temple to English, the goddess of social mobility). It is unfortunate, therefore, that English is taught in India as a language of communication only until the age of 12-13, after which it becomes just another school subject like maths or geography. The ability to speak standard or RP English fluently and confidently, with a clear and readily comprehensible accent, is an essential complement to, and should be a component of all higher and professional education — engineering, administration, diplomacy, politics, architecture, broadcasting, theatre, the armed forces, banking, industry, commerce, science, IT, teaching, and certainly the professions. Individuals can be intellectually outstanding and possess strings of degrees and professional qualifications, but if they cannot communicate their thoughts, arguments and knowledge easily, clearly, confidently…