Asian Englishes: History, Identity, and Power: Introduction

Asian Englishes: History, Identity, and Power: Introduction

Janpha Thadphoothon

No other languages, in the known history of mankind, have been widely used, investigated, and welcomed as English. As an important international language, English has been used by many societies; it has been adjusted to suit each local context. Unlike constructed international auxiliary languages such as Esperato and Interlingual, English has its historical reality. Historically, English came to Asia with confidence of its bearers, it came with power. After WW II, it transformed itself from being an important colonial language to an international one, from the language of the few to the language of the mass.

On becoming the world language, English has become flexible, accommodating diversity and embracing differences, no longer the language owned by a few cultures. Many countries in Asia, e.g. Singapore, in fact, use it to express their own cultural heritage, in addition to communicative purposes. English, in this sense, has another important function, that is, the voice-enabling function. It has the potential to give voices to some left-behind societies and minorities, enabling them to better negotiate their cultural identities with other dominant cultures.

This article centers around three topics: history, power, and identity, emphasizing the role of English as a global language; it highlights the need for every Asian country has, more or less, appropriated English to suit its own culture. It presents salient examples of English use in Thailand and Singapore. Firstly, it gives the historical background of English in Asia, discussing its journey and how it has attained its present status, followed by the discussion on its old and new identities in relation to the issues of power. As language constructs society and culture, the new and dynamic discourse created by each Asian society redefines its own construction. The issues of identities are discussed in two aspects, the new identity of English and the identity each Asian society is forming to position itself within the universe of English as a global language. As identity and power are interlinked, this article discusses the link in terms of the power of the users of English and the power created by forming their own identities of English use.  The conclusion highlights the need of every Asian culture to be pro-active users of this global language, moving away from being a text consumer to a text producer.