ABSTRACT
This chapter begins with an overview of some of the empires the world has known, what the cultural effect was of their expansion and how they changed the shape of the societies they conquered. Language use and language policy is then explored in relation to empire. Case studies of the British empire and its colonial expansion in South Asia are examined with a particular focus on the relationship between colonialism and capitalism through reviews of the East India Company which wanted to secure territory in India in which it could trade without fear of business competition or attack. The chapter explores how colonial institutions were responsible for decisions about language policy which impact language in education in South Asia today. From a discussion of empire before the age of modern colonialism, through the rise of European colonialism, the chapter examines how colonial language policy, particularly in the Punjab, help create the conditions for the hegemony of national and international languages that exists today. This discussion is then linked to a focus on nation-building in the Indian sub-continent. Ideologies about language and nation and varieties such as post-colonial English are explored to help readers understand how individuals and communities cross the boundaries of political or administrative units when they migrate and in doing so force us to question issues of cultural diversity, national belonging and identity. The argument of this chapter is that the notion of borders which separate the territories of nation-states and the notion that in the contemporary era more flexible flows of people and ideas cross these borders are closely intertwined.
The chapter develops the means for understanding the relationship between language and colonial expansion. This relationship is illustrated by in-depth case studies of colonial language policy in pre-partition Punjab before an assessment of the role of language in nation-building. The discussion here embraces the ideology of ‘one language, one nation’ by exploring the links between colonial language policy and language in education policy in post-partition Pakistan. Post-colonial Englishes are also explored within the context of decolonization and contemporary language use.
