Article published In:
English World-WideVol. 18:1 (1997) ► pp.91–105
Indian English
Some Myths, Some Realities
The New Varieties of English (e.g. IndE, SingE, NigE) have been studied for the last several decades. In the course of this study several 'myths' have arisen about these varieties and these myths have increasingly been accepted as facts. The main aim of this paper is to examine some of these myths and to try to reveal the realities behind them. I argue that as long as the myths are accepted as givens there can be no real progress in the study of the New Varieties. I will explore the myths in the context of IndE but the arguments provided apply to all the New Varieties. The myths I will deal with are: 1) IndE is a "non-native" variety of English. 2) IndE has no standards. 3) IndE lacks creativity. 4) IndE is the language of a small but dominant elite. 5) English is the cause of most of the problems in India and in the world.
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[no author supplied]
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