English is often described as a window to the outside world and as the language of the world civilization., serving as the gateway to twenty first century thought and culture. Universally popular by its richness, flexibility, elegance and and dignity, it is the language of trade, industry, commerce,diplomacy and administration. It is a language rich in literature and about 70% of the world knowledge is printed in English. It is the link language, "linguafranca" and a unifying factor between countries. The number of people speaking English is about 350 million which is next only to speakers of the Chinese language. F.G. French has observed; "A traveller who can speak English will find somebody, who can understand him wherever he may go; anyone who can read English can keep in touch with the whole world with out leaving his own house". It is the language which opens to us prospects of employment of home and abroad and offers means of cultural communication with other parts of the world.
In India English is the "linguafranca". It is the language of higher education, of public administration, of law courts and of Commerce. English which was to continue as the official language up to January 26, 1965, will under the official language Act of 1963, continue to be used even after that day in addition to Hindi. According to the 'Times Of India' report (4 July 1965) the number of people knowing English in India is estimated as 11 million and is probably the most important second language in India today. Our government has made it a compulsory subject of study in India since it is the link language between the multilingual status. The official language commission has remarked that " English is the key to the store house of knowledge not yet available in the Indian languages and a window to the rapid progress of technology and scientific knowledge that is constantly taking place in the world.
During the pre-independence period English was the medium of instruction, first language, lingua franca and the queen of languages in the whole country. The well experienced native English teachers of that era helped the students to speak " A class English" and it was a passport for employment. After independence some leaders argued for the retention of English in India. C. Raja Gopalachari said; " We in our anger against the British people, should not throw away the baby (English) with the bath water ( English people)". According to Pandit Nehru "150 years of intimate contact has made English an integral part of our education system and and this can not be changed with out injury to the cause of education in India. Mahathma Gandhi wanted to uproot English from India and said, " It is my considered opinion that English education, in the manner it has been given, has emasculated the English of educated Indians. It has put a severe strain upon the Indian students and made us imitators".
When the Indian constitution was framed, it was unanimously dewded to continue English as the official language of the country for 15 years. During this period the authorities made unsuccesful effort to develop and replace Hindi. Instead of English. Later in 1963, the parliament passed a bill according to which English was declared to be the Assciate official language of india for an "Indefinite period".
After independence many leaders were against keeping English as the medium of instruction in India. The Education commission headed by Dr. Kotheri recommended the original language as the medium of instruction from class 1 to 4, the study of two languages from 5 to 7( regional language English or Hindi) the study of three languages ( regional language, Hindi and English) from 8 to 10 and any language of the student's choice of the higher levels for specialised study. Now in many states of India, the regional languages have been adopted as the official languages and the study of English is nothing but a burden on the minds of students. According to the education commission, our scholars who are doing advanced studies in the field of science, medicine, engineering etc, will be able to consult library books only by making English a "Library language" in our country.
There are many factors responsible for the dectane of English in India today. The unhygienic physical conditions of the school buildings and English class rooms, the in-suffering of good seating arrangements and circumstances to teach, the over crowded heavy classes, the over ambitions syllabus, the sub standard text books, the old examination methods, and the lack of time and well trained teachers etc are some of the reasons for the decline of English in India today. With out understanding the aims of teaching English, the teacher would be like a sailor who is unaware of his destination and the student is like a radder less vessel which may be drift any where. Ronald Machin has summed up the position in these words: "The old fashioned type of benches and desks, which restrict movement; the bad light, the noises from the neighboring classes which may be separated from them by nothing more than a bamboo screen, insufficient provision for their subject in the time table, lack of audio visual aids of all kinds, interference from parents or of English in India. Some sort of in-service and refresher courses should be organised for teachers of English, to keep them abreast of the knowledge of latest techniques of English teaching. Judiciously selected text books written according to graded syllabus and different types of audio visual aids must be used for teaching. The examination system should be improved.The classrooms must be well furnished, lighted and ventilated and be away from the disturbance of the neighbouring classes. Correction works and oral and written exercises during teaching should be a "must', over crowded classes should be brought to normal size. The teacher should be well trained, earnest and dutiful in teaching and be capable of creating a good impression among the students.
If these measures are accepted the teaching of English in India will be a success and we can redeem English from being a "Passive Language" to the status of a "living language". By consistent efforts the attack on English should be resisted. We must try our best to keep English as the " Greatest gift of goddess Saraswathi to India" as C.Rajagopalachari once observed.