LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Emerging Paradigms in Language Communication in India and
Their Impact on the Corporate Competencies

Tanu Kashyap, M.Phil., Ph.D.

Regional Varieties of English in India

With the changing contours of the corporate culture, language barriers also need to be checked. The Indian corporate now has to interact with the global players. There is no dearth of highly capable managers in India but communication plays a major role in negotiations and finalizing deals with international companies. We need to view the use of regional varieties of English in this context.

The Indian subcontinent has several regional varieties of English, each different from the other in certain ways and retaining, to some extent, the phonetic patterns of the Indian language spoken in that particular region. These regional varieties are sometimes not even mutually intelligible. We cannot, however, dismiss the reality that there are people who are successful in shaking off their regional accent and speak a more 'neutral' form of English. We can decipher 'good' and 'bad' English speakers depending on the degree of approximation to the native and Standard Indian English. It also refers to the qualities of clarity, effectiveness and intelligibility.

Participation in a Communication Process

As communication is a dynamic and collaborative process, both communicator and communicate invariably contribute to any break through or slowdown. There are many roadblocks that make our communication slow and inefficient. There are seven major barriers that hinder a productive communication:

• Difference in perspective
• Differences in knowledge level
• Lack of common language
• Adoption of stereotypes
• Strong emotions
• Self- centeredness
• Laziness

Difference in Perspective

Several factors contribute to one's perspective: the socio- cultural milieu has its strong influence on one's perspective, interpersonal experiences, temperament, personality, values, and position in life, religious and political beliefs. This perspective works as a two-way filter. Our perception towards people and things are shaped by our personal and cultural experiences.

We can explain this with the help of an illustration. Parents have difficulty in understanding their own children, especially teenagers. In a way this is strange because the parents have been through the same stages. The perception of the parents change, they evaluate them with parental eyes. They expect to see their offspring displaying wisdom at that age which they themselves lacked but which they acquired later. They disapprove of several things that their children do. And the children, instead of listening to their parents as well wishers, respond by regarding them as people who are totally out of touch with reality. A huge gap grows between them - this is called generation gap.

Differences in perspectives are probably the most treacherous of all communication roadblocks for they are difficult to detect. Everyone is convinced about their own world view. Scientists are supposed to be rational and are guided by their rationale which is based in hard facts. Thomas Kuhn in his book The Structure of Scientific Revolution (1962-1970) documented how even the leading scientists tend to cling to their paradigms.

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