Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

English a double-edged medium, says Mullakara

— Photo: S. Mahinsha

New initiative: Agriculture Minister Mullakkara Ratnakaran inaugurating ‘Under the Greenwood Tree,’ an international English club, in the city on Sunday. B. Hridayakumari, president of the club, looks on.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Agriculture Minister Mullakkara Ratnakaran has described the English language as a double-edged medium used for “exploitation” and “internationalisation.”

He was speaking after inaugurating “Under the Greenwood Tree,” an international English club launched by the Department of Music of the University of Kerala here on Sunday.

“In this era of globalisation, English is the new medium for colonisation, but then the language is also being used to resist colonisation,” Mr. Ratnakaran said.

Explaining the contradictory role of English further, Mr. Ratnakaran said that almost every language in the world today was influenced by English. “There is not a single language in the world which does not have at least one or two English phrases,” he said.

The emergence of English as the preferred medium of the information and communication technology revolution across the world had turned it into a “library language” for transferring knowledge.

Mr. Ratnakaran said the medium should not be limited to communication and transferring of knowledge alone. “The language should also help usher in good values from other cultures as well,” he said.

B. Hridayakumari, educationist and president of the club, said the club would function as a forum for people to meet and discuss any subject, including Sanskrit. However, the main focus would be on English.

She chose to downplay the title “international club,” saying that “there is nothing international about us.”

She said the club might occasionally invite some international speakers to address its members.

“Through the club, we hope to play a proactive role in the cultural scene of the capital city,” said Ms. Hridayakumari.

Sukumaran Nair, former Vice-Chancellor, Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, said the Oxford dictionary listed 5,00,000 words. German and French languages had only 1,85,000 and 1,00,000 words, respectively.

He criticised the proliferation of “business-minded” institutions teaching English in the State. “English should be taught by doing justice to the character of the language. It (teaching) should not turn out solely into a profit-making venture,” he said.

The name of the club “Under the Greenwood Tree” is borrowed from the first line of a song in William Shakespeare’s play As You Like it.

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