This document contains questions and answers about the use and influence of English in various regions. It discusses: 1) English is an official language in parts of South Asia like India, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan. India has a policy promoting the use of three languages. 2) In Africa, several countries use English as a second language, influenced by their colonial history under Britain. South Africa specifically recognizes 11 official languages including English. 3) Slavery and apartheid policies influenced the varieties of English spoken in Africa by isolating groups and affecting education and social acceptance.

1. QUESTIONS& ANSWERS

2. Pungky Wahyu
Answer
1. What is the position
of English in the
subcontinents and
Africa?
2. Is there any
government policy
related to that?
• English is the official language in India,
Sri Lanka and Pakistan. India has
government policy of “three language
formula”
Subcontinents
• In Africa, several states use English as
their L2 such as Nigeria, Cameroon,
Ghana, Liberia, the Republic of Gambia,
and Sierra Leone in West Africa and
South Africa. Regarding to government
policy, we can have an example from
South Africa which stated that English is
one of 11 languages which granted
official status from 1994 constitution.
Africa

3. Dian Pawestri
Answer
Why do some people
in some Africa
countries learn and
speak English? It is
shaped by colonialism
or by popular culture?
• Historically, English is
their colonial language
when they are
colonialized by British.
Nevertheless, today they
use English for their self
advancement and better
chance to have a good
education.
English in Africa

4. Ida Fitri
Answer
How does the
influence of
slavery system to
the language
spoken by
African?
• Slavery system, we can relate it to
apartheid politic, has a big impact on the
variety of English spoken in Africa. The
isolation of the white colony to the native
tribes involved every aspect in their lives,
including communication among the
various society and education. The 4
varieties of English in Nigerian prove this.
The ones who could speak Standard
English appropriately are not accepted
well by the society—because they are
considered as elite, but the ones who
speak African form of English with lots of
influence of local language tend to be
more acceptable in the society. The
development of BSAE and ISAE is also the
result of the different treatment among
these societies.
English in Africa

5. Nastiti Prima
Answer
Is having English as
the second language
in Africa considered
beneficial: a)
politically b)
culturally c) socio-
economically?
• Politically, culturally, and socio-
economically, the use of English as the
second language in Africa is still
debatable and can lead to a civil war.
Some oppose the use of English since it
could detribalized the natives cultures, on
the other side some support the policy of
English as their L2 for better chance of
having good academic. However, the use
of English as L2 is beneficial for them in
order to unite them in the multilingual
society.
English in Africa

6. Mahardi Eka
Answer
• We think that many people in
India still have this kind of
problem. This is because people
in India value their culture in
high position. This culture
influence their life, way of
thinking as well as the way they
write. All they can do is to adapt
their culture to western style of
writing.
English in South Asia
South Asian (Indian) author see English as one
of the possible language to be used in
providing their literary works. Yet, there is no
guarantee that English can deliver the
richness of Indian cultural value from the
works. It is because the rhetoric of English is
different from Indian. With the English
development in India, do this cultural obstacle
still exist nowadays?

7. Eka Yanita
Answer
Between ISAE
(Indian South
African English) and
BSAE (Black South
African English)
which one have
bigger role in Africa
culture?
• In should be taken into account that both
are the English variants spoken in South
Africa. There is no information on how
many people speaks ISAE in South Africa,
but we assume that BSAE is spoken more
among the society in South Africa.
Kirkpatrick (p.108) mentioned that BSAE
is ‘the most widely spoken variety of
English in South Africa’. Also, de Klrek and
Gough (2002:356 in Kirkpatrick, p. 109)
stated that this variety of English is used
by seven million black.
English in Africa