Attitudes towards Indian English among young urban professionals in Hyderabad, India

Despite extensive work on the description of Indian English(es), only limited attention has been paid to attitudes towards the variety among its speakers. This paper reports on semi‐structured interviews eliciting language attitudes with 32 educated young students and professionals in Hyderabad, Ind...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:World Englishes 2023-06, Vol.42 (2), p.272-291
Main Authors: Maxwell, Olga, Diskin‐Holdaway, Chloé, Loakes, Debbie
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Authenticity
British English
Indian English
Language attitudes
Linguistic identity
Nostalgia
Ownership
Sociolinguistics
Student attitudes
World Englishes
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Despite extensive work on the description of Indian English(es), only limited attention has been paid to attitudes towards the variety among its speakers. This paper reports on semi‐structured interviews eliciting language attitudes with 32 educated young students and professionals in Hyderabad, India. Results reveal that Indian English is occupying an increasingly legitimate position within the popular consciousness, and that there is an increasing sense of ownership of a supra‐local or pan‐dialectal ‘Indian English’. There is an expressed desire for Indian English to continue to expand, and to be accepted as one of the authentic languages of India. The participants exhibited relatively high levels of linguistic security, and while a certain ‘nostalgia’ for British English was retained by some, Indian English appears to be emerging as an authentic carrier of Indian identity.
ISSN:0883-2919
1467-971X
DOI:10.1111/weng.12550