Examining Perceptions of Native Speakerism in South Asia through the Lens of Global Englishes and Linguistic Imperialism

Abstract

The influence of historical, cultural, and institutional aspects of South Asia on the hegemony of English is yet to be felt, and one of them is the problem of native speakerism. The paper will discuss the attitudes towards non-native and native English speakers in the framework of global Englishes and linguistic imperialism theories and the ways in which the colonial past impacts the current language attitudes. By adopting a mixed methodology approach, a sample of 200 participants (students and teachers in India, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka) were sampled to fill out a structured Likert-scale questionnaire and semi-structured interview. The results demonstrate that the majority of the people (62 %) still have a preference towards native English speakers, which depicts the still-existing biases, whereas 70 % of the participants recognize the capability of non-native teachers, which represents the developing perceptions. Furthermore, 65 % of the population associates the prestige of English with social status, and it indicates the colonial inequalities. However, 68% of the participants realize that English is a global language and is a part of everyone and report that there is a gradual shift towards linguistic diversity acceptance. The conclusion of the paper is that despite the fact that native speakerism is still a reality, a new conceptualization of global Englishes is shifting the attitudes. These results highlight the need to have inclusive pedagogical practices and policy changes in English language teaching in South Asia.