South Asian languages in Britain: A critique of Safder Alladina's analysis

• Autores: Ralph Russell
• Localización: Journal of multilingual and multicultural development, ISSN 0143-4632, Vol. 7, Nº. 6, 1986, págs. 443-450
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • Safder Alladina's analysis of the position of South Asian languages in Britain leaves much to be desired. It concerns itself largely with Urdu, to a lesser extent with Hindi, and hardly at all with the other three languages (Bengali, Gujarati and Panjabi) which he rightly declares to be important in the British context. With regard to Urdu and Hindi he uncritically accepts clearly untenable conclusions advanced by Grierson. His description of language policies pursued in South Asia shows a marked and unwarranted bias in favour of Indian official policies and against those of Pakistan, and he suggests, without supporting argument, that policies parallel to those of the Indian government should be adopted in Britain, ignoring the grave criticisms of these policies voiced in India itself by those very Indian scholars whose work he accuses British scholars of ignoring. The problems of devising British language polices appropriate to major South Asian languages can be outlined, and some solutions indicated in general terms, but much more detailed discussion is badly needed.