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English in Asia, Asian Englishes, and the issue of prociency

Kingsley Bolton

English Today / Volume 24 / Issue 02 / June 2008, pp 3 - 12


DOI: 10.1017/S026607840800014X, Published online: 05 November 2008

Link to this article: http://journals.cambridge.org/abstract_S026607840800014X

How to cite this article:


Kingsley Bolton (2008). English in Asia, Asian Englishes, and the issue of prociency. English Today, 24, pp 3-12
doi:10.1017/S026607840800014X

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English in Asia, Asian Englishes,
and the issue of proficiency
K I N G S L E Y B O LT O N

English is now an Asian language, but governments and


businesses are concerned about proficiency

Introduction Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan


and Sri Lanka; Southeast Asian societies such
The contemporary visibility and importance of
as Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Singa-
English throughout the Asian region coupled
pore; as well as Hong Kong in East Asia. Even
with the emergence and development of dis-
here, however, the distinction between outer-
tinct varieties of Asian Englishes have played
circle and expanding-circle may be somewhat
an important part in the global story of English
blurred, as in the case of Burma (Myanmar),
in recent years. Across Asia, the numbers of
see Kirkpatrick, this issue.
people having at least a functional command
Historically, all the outer-circle Asian soci-
of the language have grown exponentially over
eties are former colonies of Anglophone colo-
the last four decades, and current changes in
nial powers. In most cases, these were British
the sociolinguistic realities of the region are
colonies, as in the case of Brunei, Hong Kong,
often so rapid that it is difficult for academic
greater India, Malaysia, Myanmar and Singa-
commentators to keep pace. One basic issue in
pore, most of whom achieved independence
the telling of this story is the question of what
between 1947 and 1963, although it was not
it is we mean by the term ‘Asia’, itself a word of
until 1997 that China regained sovereignty
contested etymology, whose geographical ref-
over Hong Kong. The one US colony in Asia
erence has ranged in application from the Mid-
was the Philippines, which was under Spanish
dle East to Central Asia, and from the Indian
colonial rule from c. 1565 until 1898, followed
sub-continent to Japan and Korea. In this arti-
by American control until 1946.
cle, my discussion will focus on the countries of
In most of these societies, English has been
South Asia, Southeast Asia, and East Asia, as it
retained for important internal purposes
is in these regions that we find not only the
after independence, and in most outer-circle
greatest concentration of ‘outer-circle’ English-
using societies but also a number of the most
populous English-learning and English-know-
ing nations in the world. KINGSLEY BOLTON is
Professor of English Linguistics
at Stockholm University,
Outer-circle and expanding-circle Sweden. He has published
Asian societies widely on sociolinguistics and
world Englishes. Publications
Another basic distinction in the Asian context include ‘Chinese Englishes: A
is the well-established dichotomy between Sociolinguistic History’ (2003,
‘outer-circle’ English-using societies (where Cambridge University Press),
English is, sociolinguistically at least, a second ‘World Englishes: Critical
language with important intranational uses) Concepts in Linguistics’ (2006, Routledge, with
and ‘expanding-circle’ countries (where Eng- Braj B. Kachru), and ‘Asian Englishes’ (2007,
lish has traditionally had the status of a foreign Routledge, with Braj B. Kachru). He is also the
language). The major outer-circle Asian soci- founding editor of the Hong Kong University Press
book series, ‘Asian Englishes Today’
eties include such South Asian nations as

doi: 10.1017/S026607840800014X
English Today 94, Vol. 24, No. 2 (June 2008). Printed in the United Kingdom © 2008 Cambridge University Press 3

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countries there is a de jure recognition of Eng- reliability. In societies where there are regular
lish in domains as government, law, and edu- language censuses and language surveys, such
cation. English is also typically widely used as Hong Kong and the Philippines, one may be
throughout the mass media, as in Hong Kong, able to refer to the ‘hard’ evidence of officially-
India, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Singa- endorsed data, but even here there is room
pore, which all have a lively daily press, and, for discussion and interpretation. Language
to varying extents, a local English literary tra- censuses typically rely on the self-report of
dition in fiction, poetry, and other genres of respondents on their own knowledge of lan-
creative writing. In addition to print media, guages, on whether they are able to speak
such societies often have English-language Language X or Language Y, with little addi-
radio and television channels on offer, as in tional information about how well they may
Hong Kong, Singapore and the Philippines. speak a certain language or the range of pur-
Such societies are also characterised by the poses for which the language is used.
functional differentiation of indigenous lan- For example, in the case of Hong Kong, in
guages and English, coupled with a high fre- the 2006 by-census, when asked about their
quency of code-switching and code-mixing in ‘ability’ in languages, 2.8 per cent of the popu-
informal and intimate domains. The map in lation claimed to speak English as ‘the usual
Figure 1 illustrates the distinction between language’, while 41.9 per cent reported a
outer-circle and expanding-circle societies. knowledge of English as ‘another language/
dialect’, thus giving an overall total almost 45
per cent for the whole community (Hong Kong
The statistics of English across Asia
Government, 2007). However, no indication is
The statistics of English worldwide is an inex- given in the census concerning the ‘proficiency’
act science, and utilises information of varying of speakers in the Hong Kong context. In the

Uzbekistan
Kyrgyzstan
North
Tajikistan Korea
Turkmenistan

n South
ista China Korea
han
Afg
Iran Japan
Bhutan
Pakistan Ne
pal
Burma
(Myanmar)
India
Taiwan
U.A.E Hong
Laos Kong
an
m

Th
O

Bangladesh ail
an
d Philippines
Vietnam

Cambodia
Sri
Lanka Brunei
I N D I A N Malaysia
Su

Sin
ma

O C E A N
ga
tra

po
re

outer-circle societies Java I nd o n es i a


expanding-circle societies

Figure 1: Outer-circle and expanding-circle societies in South, Southeast, and East Asia

4 ENGLISH TODAY 94 June 2008

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Philippines, by contrast, language surveys are at all levels was around one million, while the
usually conducted by an independent social total of those learning/knowing English was
research institution, Social Weather Stations, thought to be around 250 million (McArthur,
who provide a good deal of information about 2003). In the last issue of ET, Crystal (2008)
self-assessed proficiency. For example, their even speculates that this figure may double by
2006 survey indicated that 65 per cent of the the end of 2008, given that many more mil-
population claimed to understand and to read lions are now studying the language in the run-
English, 48 per cent claimed to write English, up to the Olympic Games. In the Kachruvian
but only a 32 per cent said that they speak the sense, China is, of course, an ‘expanding-
language (Social Weather Stations, 2006). circle’/EFL nation, and again one can prob-
How, then, do we calculate the overall total for lematise exactly what is meant by ‘knowing
knowledge of English in the Philippines? One English’ in the China context, where
might well take the lower figure of 32 per cent Putonghua (Mandarin) has an unchallenged
as an overall total, but in some senses this position as the national language and most
seems counter-intuitive, as this appears to indi- English learners have relatively few real-life
cate a lower general level knowledge/use of contexts where they can communicate with
English in the Philippines than in Hong Kong, speakers from outside the People’s Republic.
which most observers would vigorously deny. Nevertheless, despite this, the story of English
Another complicating factor in the Philippine in China is one of astonishing proportions,
case is that a sizable percentage of the working demographically, statistically and sociolinguis-
population, an estimated 8 million or so, go tically (Bolton, 2003).
overseas to work as engineers, technicians, Another numerically-important English-
health workers, nurses, domestic helpers, etc., learning society in Asia is Japan, where Stan-
and that one basic qualification for an overseas law (2004:284) estimates the total number of
contract is at least a functional knowledge of English speakers at approximately 41 million,
the English language. or some 33 per cent of the population. How-
Given the difficulties in presenting reliable ever, given the question of proficiency, this fig-
figures even for those societies where regular ure seems high. Although by upper secondary
surveys take place, the problems in compiling level, a Japanese student will have had at least
statistics for less well-charted countries are three hours of English per week for six years,
enormous. In the case of India, the estimates of and on completing university usually another
the English-knowing population have varied two years of English, the level of attainment is
enormously in recent years. As David Crystal generally disappointingly low. For example,
pointed out in the last issue of English Today Martin (2004) notes that:
(ET 93), one key story in the Asian context is … despite the great amount of time, energy,
that of English in India (Crystal, 2008:5). In and money spent on English teaching, it is rare
the 1980s, estimates of the percentage of Eng- to find a Japanese student who, after six years
lish speakers hovered around 3 per cent, but of English, is able to engage in even a marginal
today, according to at least one national sur- dialogue with a speaker of English. Many
vey, around 33 per cent of people (a third of factors have contributed to this disappointing
the population) claim to be able to hold a basic and frustrating situation, most notably cultural
conversation in the language, which would and linguistic influences, and in particular the
indicate a total in the region of 350 million, a use of katakana script (one particular strand in
the complex Japanese writing system) as an aid
demographic he has suggested which qualifies
to transcribing – and often absorbing – foreign
India as ‘the country with the largest English- words into Japanese.
speaking population in the world’, bar none (Martin, 2004:50)
(Crystal, 2004).
Another emergent English-knowing society How then do we begin to trim the overall
in Asia is China, and here again it is a story of total for Japan from Stanlaw, based largely on
numbers. In 1957, at a time when Russian was the numbers who have learnt English, to come
the major foreign language in schools, there a more plausible figure for those that have at
were fewer than one thousand secondary- least a functional command of the language?
school English teachers, but by 2000 this figure Perhaps some compromise may be necessary
had risen to 500,000 (Adamson, 2004). By here, otherwise we are left with a larger per-
2003, the overall estimate for English teachers centage for Japan than for the Philippines. This

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is not to criticise Stanlaw’s calculations, but most recent SWS percentages for receptive and
rather to point to the inherent difficulties of productive abilities); and the percentage for
playing the numbers game in this context. Japan is calculated at around 20 per cent (in
Table 1 below attempts to present approximate the attempt to allow for the low levels of
statistics for totals of English speakers across attainment by Japanese students). By contrast,
Asia, in the attempt to provide a broad picture the table includes rather high estimates for
of the spread of English across the region. both China and India, although some acade-
As noted above, the figures presented for mics in both societies would query such large
English in Table 1 can at best be regarded as totals. Otherwise, if one has erred, it is on the
informed estimates (or even ‘guesstimates’), side of caution. The estimates for the smaller
based on current information, moderated by outer-circle countries are based largely on per-
judgements based on personal knowledge of centages derived from Crystal (1997). In the
the communities. This has involved adjusting case of the expanding-circle societies, with the
previously published estimates. Thus the total notable exception of China, a rather conserva-
for the Philippines is an estimate of 48 per cent tive approach has been taken in the absence of
of the population (a compromise between the accurate language surveys. In most instances,

Table 1: The statistics of Asian Englishes

Society Approx. % of English Approx.


population speakers totals

OUTER CIRCLE
India 1,100 million 30% 330 million
Philippines 91 million 48% 44 million
Pakistan 165 million 11% 18 million
Nepal 29 million 30% 8.7 million
Malaysia 25 million 32% 8.0 million
Bangladesh 150 million 5% 7.5 million
Hong Kong 6.9 million 45% 3.1 million
Singapore 4.5 million 50% 2.2 million
Sri Lanka 21 million 10% 2.1 million
Brunei 0.4 million 39% 0.1 million
Bhutan 2.3 million 5% 0.1 million

EXPANDING CIRCLE
China 1,322 million 25% 330 million
Japan 127 million 20% 25 million
Indonesia 234 million 5% 12 million
Thailand 65 million 10% 6.5 million
South Korea 49 million 10% 4.9 million
Vietnam 85 million 5% 4.2 million
Burma (Myanmar) 47 million 5% 2.4 million
Taiwan 23 million 10% 2.3 million
Cambodia 14 million 5% 0.7 million
Note: Sources include CIA,
Laos 6.52008;
millionCrystal, 1997:
5%57-60; Stanlaw,0.3
2004: 284-5.
million

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these calculations are either 10 per cent, as for cent), Indonesia (6 per cent), Philippines (6
South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand, or 5 per per cent), Malaysia (5.5 per cent), Hong Kong
cent, as for Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos (5.5 per cent), Singapore (5.5 per cent), Thai-
and Vietnam (although I would be pleased to land (4.5 per cent), South Korea (4.5 per cent),
hear of more accurate estimates derived from and Taiwan (4 per cent), all achieving high
censuses or language surveys). rates of economic growth. By contrast, current
Whatever the shortcomings of statistics in figures for Japan (2 per cent), Europe (2.5 per
this context, such numbers do serve the basic cent), the UK (3 per cent) and the US (2 per
purpose of indicating the astonishing spread of cent) are all significantly lower.
English within societies and across the region Throughout the region, a number of Asian
over recent decades, when the major spread of societies are achieving remarkably high GDP
English in the region occurred not in the colo- (Gross Domestic Product) results, but Asia also
nial period, but in the latter half of the twenti- remains home to a number of the world’s poor-
eth century, as Asia’s developing education est countries, as illustrated by Table 2 below.
systems began using and teaching English Economic development has also brought
within mass education systems. Even with the with it technological development in the lead-
very conservative estimates for a number of ing countries of the region. China, India, Korea
these Asian societies, we nevertheless reach a and Taiwan are all highly active in the world’s
total of 424 million for outer-circle countries IT and computer industries, although the
and 388 for expanding-circle areas, giving us a division of labour here may vary somewhat,
total of 812 million for South Asia, Southeast with India specialising more in software while
Asia and East Asia. It may be now worth look- the other three East Asian societies focus more
ing at the dynamics of English in contemporary on hardware production. These include such
Asia, in relation to a swathe of economic and well-known products as Lenovo (formerly IBM)
social factors. laptops from the People’s Republic, Samsung
electronics from South Korea, and Acer com-
puters from Taiwan. Within just one genera-
The economic and social dynamics of
tion, Asia has become computer-savvy in an
English in Asia
As in many other parts of the world, the spread
of English across Asia has been propelled by a Table 2: GDPs (US$ per capita) of selected Asian
number of related economic and social factors, societies (2007)
including demographics, economic change, Wealthiest
technology and educational trends (Graddol,
Singapore $48,900
2006).
At the level of population, many Asian soci- Hong Kong $42,000
eties have large populations, including China Japan $33,800
with 1.3 billion people, India with 1 billion,
Brunei $33,600
Indonesia with 238 million, Pakistan 159 mil-
lion, and Bangladesh 141 million. Population Taiwan $29,800
growth is set to rise in the near future, with South Korea $24,600
India expected to reach 1.6 billion by 2050,
compared with 1.4 billion for China and 308 Poorest
million for Indonesia (Al Tamimi, 2006).
Pakistan $2,600
When it comes to economic change and
development, China has been a major success Cambodia $1,800
story during an era of globalisation. Since Laos $1,900
2004, China has become the world’s third
Bangladesh $1,400
largest exporter after the US and Germany,
and China along with other Asian societies has Nepal $1,100
benefited from high economic growth rates
Cf. The USA with $46,000, Sweden $36,900, UK
over the last two decades. Currently, China’s $35,300, Germany $34,400. The figure for China is
annual economic growth is calculated at now $5,300, and that for India $2,700 (source: CIA,
around 10 per cent, while India is running at 8 2008)
per cent, with such societies as Vietnam (8 per

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unprecedented fashion. Another related result undeniable. What is remarkable about the
in this context has been the extent to which Asian experience in recent years has been the
western businesses are now outsourcing their extent to which societies have moved from
back-office work, including customer records poor and often pre-modern conditions, as in
and accounts, as well as call-centre operations, India and China, to modernity and beyond. A
to societies such as India and the Philippines. modern lifestyle for most Asians means life in
Linked to this has been the impact of mas- the city, employment, housing and a steady
sive social change in recent decades. The income. It also means English, if not for them,
spread of English in Asia has been linked to the then for their children. English has become a
emergence and growth of sizeable middle marker of middle-class identity, as well as a
classes throughout a number of Asian coun- means for young people to gain an internation-
tries. Societies such as Hong Kong and Singa- ally competitive education and employment.
pore have seen expansion in their middle
classes for two to three decades, but now soci-
Asian Englishes
eties such as India and China have growing
middle classes as well. In India it is estimated One of the outstanding contributions of schol-
that income levels will rise by 300 per cent arship in world Englishes over the last twenty-
over the next twenty years, lifting 291 million five years has been to highlight the existence
Indians out of poverty, ‘to create a 583 million- and vitality of localised forms of English
strong middle-class population by 2025’ (Asia throughout the Asian region, so that today it
Times, 1 June, 2007). Similarly, in China, a has become almost commonplace to refer to
recent study from the Chinese Academy of Indian English, Malaysian English, Philippine
Social Sciences estimated the middle class to English, Singapore English and Hong Kong
comprise 19 percent of the population in 2003, English. Part of this work has been to study and
which accounts for some 247 million people. describe the ‘sociolinguistic realities’ underpin-
By 2020, it is estimated that ‘300 million, or ning distinct varieties, in terms of their soci-
40 per cent of the Chinese population to be in olinguistic histories, as well as a description of
the middle class by 2020’ (PBS, 11 January, the status and functions of English within
2006). outer-circle Asian communities, not least in
The effects of such social change involve an relation to local hierarchies of language. At a
increasing demand for education and an linguistic level, the study of individual varieties
increasing demand for English. Within Asian of English typically involves a description of
school systems, children are beginning to learn distinctive features at the levels of phonology,
English from the lowest forms of primary vocabulary, and grammar, and much work in
school onwards. In 2001, English was made this field has been concerned with establishing
compulsory in all Chinese primary schools, and a solid descriptive framework for this task.
a number of Indian states have established Hitherto, the most detailed studies of Asian
similar systems. In Asia, as in other parts of the Englishes have focused on such postcolonial
world, the trend is that children are learning societies as India, Malaysia, Singapore and the
English at an ever earlier age. According to Philippines, thus contributing over the past
Graddol, the result of this will be that in Asia as three decades to a sizable body of description
elsewhere the function of English in the cur- (while very recent work has also included Hong
riculum will no longer be that of ‘foreign lan- Kong and varieties of Chinese English). At a lin-
guage’, but instead will become a ‘near guistic level, much of the descriptive work here
universal basic skill’ (2006:72). However, has been concerned to identify and to highlight
while such a scenario may hold good for soci- the distinctive features of individual varieties
eties like Hong Kong, Singapore, some sectors in terms of phonology (accent), lexis (vocabu-
of Indian society, and some cities in China, the lary) and grammar (morphology and syntax).
extent to which other Asian societies will fol- This has recently been aided by the availability
low this pattern, given wide divergences in of comparable Asian English corpora through
wealth and prosperity as well as cultural atti- the International Corpus of English project
tudes, remains to be seen. Nevertheless, the (Greenbaum and Nelson, 1996). The outcome
overall pattern of links between development, of this research has been the increasingly
economic prosperity, the growth of the Asian detailed description of the accents, word stock
middle classes and the spread of English seem and grammars of individual Asian Englishes, in

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terms of both substrate as well as developmen- on Japan, and Adamson (2004) on China), and
tal features. two dealing with Asia from a wider sociolin-
In addition to linguistic features which are guistic perspective (Kachru & Nelson, 2005,
held to be distinctive for (if not unique to) par- and Kachru 2004). Other volumes on the
ticular outer-circle societies – most visibly at Philippines, Singapore and Malaysia, as well as
the level of vocabulary – there are also patterns on English in Asian universities, English in
of ‘structural nativisation’ that are found across Asian popular culture, and English as an
a number of outer-circle Asian societies. At the ASEAN lingua franca (see Kirkpatrick, this
level of phonology, these include the lack of issue) are scheduled for publication in the near
distinction between long and short vowels, the future.2
realisation of diphthongs as monophthongs, a However, whatever the current interest in
reduction of vowel contrasts, consonant-clus- the dramatic spread and utilisation of English
ter reduction and the use of syllable-timed across Asia, it would be misleading to give the
intonation (Schneider, 2007). At the level of impression that such tendencies were without
grammar, features that appear in a number of their discontents. For some linguists, the world
Asian varieties include the lack of plural mark- Englishes approach to such issues is seen as
ing; omission of third-person singular –s; use enabling the continuing linguistic imperialism
of invariant question tags (isn’t it); the weak- of ‘global English’ and a related degradation of
ening of the count/mass distinction with nouns linguistic ecology (Phillipson, 2002). For oth-
(as in equipments, furnitures, etc.); and ers, not least those motivated by business and
inverted word order in indirect questions. commercial interests, discontent has taken
However, current research into the linguistic another form, with numerous complaints
differentiation of individual varieties points across Asian societies concerning the abilities or
less to the characterisation of such Englishes as ‘proficiency’ of English-users across the region.
uniquely-constituted entities and more to an
appreciation of the ways in which the struc-
The issue of proficiency
tural features of such varieties develop as a
result of the complex interaction of substrate Despite the ground-breaking interest in indi-
influences with developmental processes as vidual Asian Englishes over the last thirty
simplification and overgeneralisation (Schnei- years, the degree of acceptance that such vari-
der, 2007). Research on Asian Englishes thus eties have gained has varied a great deal. While
has the strong potential to extend our under- academics and linguists have often revelled in
standing of a range of linguistic processes asso- the task of identifying and describing distinct
ciated with language contact, multilingualism varieties of English, the reactions of the educa-
and second-language acquisition. tional, political and business elites have often
In addition, the potential for continuing been less than enthusiastic.
research on English across Asia is considerable, Despite the patient explanations of many lin-
given the multiple sociolinguistic roles for the guists, the use of such terms as ‘Hong Kong
language across the region. In addition to stud- English’, ‘Indian English’, ‘Malaysian English’,
ies of English in individual outer-circle Asian ‘Philippine English’, and ‘Singapore English’
societies, such as those mentioned above, there have typically evoked negative reactions from
are interesting issues concerning the status, business and political leaders. To some extent,
functions and features of English across a attitudes among academics and educators may
swathe of lesser-researched (expanding-circle) have softened (and become better informed) in
societies, including Cambodia, China, Indone- recent years, but misunderstandings still
sia, Japan, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, etc. There abound and the popular discussion of English
are also pan-Asian issues relating to the use in many Asian communities often revolves
English in such domains as the education, around ‘standards’ of English. While much of
media, literature and popular culture that cut the discourse on such issues in individual soci-
across the region. It was largely in response to eties may be generated by the particular issues
this need that Hong Kong University Press that adhere to local ‘complaint traditions’
established the book series Asian Englishes about language standards similar to those of
Today, which thus far has published three vol- the UK and US, there is evidence that there are
umes on English in particular Asian societies real-world issues for Asian businesses and tech-
(Bolton (2002) on Hong Kong, Stanlaw (2004) nology enterprises at stake here too.

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As many Asian societies have moved away those for the TOEFL Test of English as a Foreign
from labour-intensive mass production Language (TOEFL) examinations (TOEFL,
towards higher-level service industries, the 2006, 2007). The average TOEFL scores for
demand for more proficient speakers of Eng- individual Asian societies are presented in
lish has grown. In both Singapore and Hong Table 3 below, together with a somewhat ad
Kong in recent years, the governments have hoc ranking of these societies (based on ‘paper-
both introduced various campaigns to improve based’ and ‘computer-based’ results). There are,
standards of English at work and in the public however, severe limitations on the extent to
domain, and similar schemes have received which we can draw sound inferences on the
support in such other societies as India and the basis of such figures, and these scores are not
Philippines. In these latter two countries, con- claimed by the TOEFL organisation (the Educa-
cerns about English proficiency have been tional Testing Service) itself to represent com-
prompted by the importance of the language in parative national proficiency levels. Crucially,
these two nations’ developing BPO (‘business we lack detailed information about the demo-
processing outsourcing’) industries, which graphic, educational and social characteristics
include international call centres (or ‘contact of candidates in the societies concerned, mak-
centres’) as well as such related industries as ing any comparisons between national groups
back-office documentation, financial services, haphazard at best. Nevertheless, despite these
and legal and medical transcription. limitations, the results are interesting at even
The emergence of such industries has helped an impressionistic level. At the higher end of
develop both the Indian economy and – per- the table we find Singapore, India, Malaysia,
haps more dramatically – that of the Philip- Pakistan and the Philippines, which generally
pines, with both locations attracting clients tallies with anecdotal perceptions of English
through a combination of low labour costs and
a claimed high proficiency in the English lan-
guage. Industry commentators, however, have Table 3: TOEFL scores for individual Asian
expressed concern about the availability of societies, 2005–6
good English speakers, with companies in both Rank Country Paper-based
countries accepting only 4–6 per cent of (col- (computer-based)
lege-educated) applicants for jobs in call cen-
1 Singapore —– (255)
tres. One recent industry report entitled ‘India
Facing Offshore Call-centre Skills Crisis’ 2 India 586 (236)
claimed that ‘only a small percentage of the 3 Malaysia 572 (232)
two million English-speaking graduates turned
4 Philippines 566 (238)
out each year by Indian universities have good
enough language skills to work in customer- 5 Pakistan 562 (238)
facing operations’ (McCue, 2005), while 6 Bangladesh 557 (228)
another dispatch from the Philippines noted
that ‘[c]all centres might already be scraping 7 China 557 (216)
the bottom of the barrel for qualified employ- 8 Sri Lanka 548 (234)
ees, particularly those with adequate English 9 Hong Kong 539 (216)
comprehension, speaking and writing skills’
(Callcentres.net, 2005). While such concerns 10 South Korea 538 (218)
with high-level proficiency are perhaps most 11 Nepal 535 (218)
visible in the BPO industries, similar anxieties
12 Indonesia 535 (214)
are felt by international and regional busi-
nesses across a range of information and ser- 13 Vietnam 534 (207)
vice industries, all of which has contributed to 14 Taiwan 530 (206)
an ongoing concern among business communi-
15 Burma (Myanmar) 518 (206)
cation professionals across Asia.
As with statistics concerning the spread of 16 Cambodia —– (206)
English in the region, hard evidence relating to 17 Thailand 500 (200)
comparative levels of proficiency is hard to
come by. One potentially useful source of data 18 Japan 497 (192)
are the results of international tests, such as

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use in such societies. At the lower end, we find English and Foreign Languages (CIEFL) at
such countries as Japan, Thailand, Cambodia, Hyderabad has recently introduced a new
Burma and Taiwan. National English Language Testing Service
Apart from these broad comments, however, (NELTS) in order meet the demand for profi-
few accurate and sound conclusions can be ciency testing across a wide range of industries
drawn from what are somewhat fragmentary and institutions. In Hong Kong, the British-
data. Aside from the limitations of the data, developed ‘International English Language
there are also profound issues about how ‘pro- Testing System’ (IELTS) is now administered
ficiency’ might best be measured in Asian con- at a number of universities, while TOEFL and
texts, given that many traditional proficiency TOEIC (Test of English for International Com-
tests are benchmarked in various ways against munication) are widely used within the BPO
inner-circle (UK or US) ‘native speaker’ patterns industry in the Philippines. For good or ill, this
of performance, and yet ignore the multilingual rather recent concern with the benchmarking
proficiency of many Asian users of English. and measurement of English proficiency seems
What does seem likely, however, is that, set to stay for the foreseeable future, not least
across Asia, as economies move up the ‘value- in response to the demands of both the busi-
added’ chain from labour-intensive into knowl- ness and educational sectors.
edge-intensive, high-tech and service-related If nothing else, the issue of proficiency may
industries, the demand for higher-level English also serve to re-awaken – and to re-configure –
skills will grow. Concern with proficiency, research into individual bilingualism (and
moreover, is not limited to Asia, but is a topic multilingualism) within outer-circle societies.
that is drawing increased interest in Europe, For a number of years, approaches to such
and, in Sweden, the Bank of Sweden Tercente- questions seem to have polarised researchers
nary Fund is currently financing a large-scale in second-language acquisition versus those
research programme on ‘High-level Proficiency employing a world Englishes approach. In the
in Second Language Use’, which includes a past, second-language acquisition research has
project on ‘linguistic outsourcing’ in India and often been dominated by approaches con-
the Philippines.2 cerned with the adaptation of immigrants to a
Within the Asian context, one might also host societies such as the US, where a standard
speculate about the linguistic outcomes of the language ideology tends to view monolingual-
globalisation of Asian industries. For example, ism as the default norm. By contrast, the ‘vari-
in India and the Philippines, will the BPOs and eties-based’ approach to world Englishes –
international call centres bring with them (as with its focus on features rather than errors –
many believe) a reorientation of linguistic per- has been built on an extrapolation (and ideali-
formance away from localised, intranational sation) from the individual choices made by
norms towards a ‘native-like’ performance in individual language users in selecting from the
British and American English? After decades of ‘features pool’ they have available to them
de-centring from the UK and US, are Asian (Mufwene, 2001). In a reconfigured approach
Englishes about to re-centre their linguistic to individual bilingualism, the challenge for
norms? To what extent, are such expectations second-language acquisition research is to
of ‘native-like’ or ‘near-native’ proficiency real- recognise that, in many Asian contexts, indi-
istic, or ever achieved, for that matter? These vidual language learning takes place in com-
are some of the questions highlighted by such plex multilingual and functionally-
developments. A related question, too large to differentiated settings. This is certainly so in
even begin to tackle here, would be the extent many parts of India and the Philippines, where
to which the globalisation of English-language language users are usually trilingual, and also
media such as the film, DVDs, television, the in most Asian settings, where there is a typical
Internet, etc., are similarly having an impact home–school or home–office language switch,
in spreading standard or non-standard (for at the very least. Conversely, the challenge for
example, ‘hip-hop’) norms from, in particular, the world Englishes researcher may be to re-
the US to Asia and other regions of the world. examine the notion of ‘native speaker’ within
Whatever the complexities, it does seem as if localised contexts, and to provide psycholin-
the issue of proficiency in the Asian context has guistic and sociolinguistic descriptions of the
now gained a good deal of prominence. In ‘native speaker’ of Philippine English or Indian
India, for example, the Central Institute of English, for example, not least in order to

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investigate what it is this may tell us about the Callcentres.net. 2005. ‘Philippines may face staff
native speaker of British or American English, shortage.’ Online at
http://callcentres.net/CALLCENTRES/LIVE/me.get
as well as the ontological status of this rather
?site.sectionshow&CALL1725 (Accessed September,
controversial term 2007).
CIA. 2008. The World Factbook. Online at
http://www.cia.gov/library/publications/
Conclusion the-world-factbook/ (Accessed 15 March, 2008).
This article has attempted to survey a range of Crystal, D. 1997. English as a Global Language.
Cambridge: University Press.
issues relating to English across Asia and as
—. 2004. ‘Subcontinent raises its voice.’ In Guardian
well as approaches to Asian Englishes as Weekly, 19 November, 2004. Available online at
localised varieties of English. It began by http://education.guardian.co.uk/tefl/story/0,,1355
reviewing recent statistics on English in Asia 064,00.html (Accessed 15 March, 2008).
before discussing the economic and social —. 2008. ‘Two thousand million?’ In English Today,
dynamics of English throughout the region, as 24(1), pp. 3–6.
Graddol, D. 2006. English Next. Plymouth: British
well as research on Asian Englishes. The article Council.
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that, while the growing interest in this seems 15 (1), pp. 3–15.
driven by market forces, a wider consideration Hong Kong Government. 2007. 2006 population
of English proficiency in the Asian context by-census: Summary results. 22 February, 2007.
http://www.bycensus2006.gov.hk/data/data2/
highlights the need for a new, or at least recon- index.htm (Accessed 15 March, 2008).
figured, interface between second-language Kachru, B. B. 2004. Asian Englishes: Beyond the Canon.
acquisition research and world Englishes. 䡵 Hong Kong: University Press.
Kachru, Y. & C. Nelson. 2005. World Englishes in Asian
Notes Contexts. Hong Kong: University Press.
Martin, A. 2004. ‘The “katakana effect” and teaching
1 ASEAN is the Association of Southeast Asian English in Japan.’ In English Today, 20(1): 50–5.
Nations (ASEAN), which currently includes Brunei, Melchers, G. & P. Shaw. 2003. In World Englishes.
Burma (Myanmar), Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, London: Arnold.
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Vietnam. English Today, 19(2), pp. 19–22.
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India’s skills gap’. Online at
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http://www.silicon.com/research/specialreports/off
Avancerad Andraspråks Användning), and it is
shoring/0,3800003026,39152178,00.htm (Accessed
funded by the Bank of Sweden Tercentenary Fund September, 2007).
(Riksbankens Jubiléumsfond), Dnr M2005-0459. Mufwene, S. S. 2001. The Ecology of Language
The research team is led by Professor Kenneth Evolution. Cambridge: University Press.
Hyltenstam of the Centre for Bilingual Research at PBS. 2006. China: New Middle Class 11 January, 2006.
Stockholm University, Sweden. Online at http://www.pbs.org/nbr/site/.
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