Alastair Pennycook, "English and the Discourses of Colonialism" (Book Note)

 

The core argument of Pennycook’s book English and the Discourses of Colonialism posits that colonialism is a pivotal locus of cultural production, generating enduring cultural constructs that continue to shape the contemporary world. Alastair Pennycook urges scholars, researchers, and educators to reconsider colonialism not merely as a backdrop for the imposition of European colonial cultures onto colonized nations but as a source of discourses with enduring influence across broad domains of Western thought and culture. Pennycook emphasizes the importance of viewing colonialism not only in terms of its impact on the colonized but also as a producer of discourses that have lasting effects on Western perspectives.

 

Pennycook advocates for a shift away from patronizing attempts to speak for others and instead encourages a self-reflexive approach to explore how colonialism has constructed Western ways of being. This approach allows for a nuanced examination of one's position and invites others to engage in similar self-reflection.

 

The book's primary objective is to unravel the intricate connections between English and English language teaching in the colonial enterprise, shedding light on the language's enduring role in the contemporary world. Contrary to the prevailing liberal discourse portraying English as a neutral global communication tool, Pennycook contends that it still carries the weight of colonial discourses and implications. While the book may not initially appear pertinent to technical writing instructors, Pennycook contends that educators in diverse classrooms, where multiple languages and cultures intersect, must comprehend the history of their instructional language. Understanding how this language was entangled with colonial constructions of Self and Other is crucial for effectively engaging with a diverse student body. In this context, Pennycook's book offers valuable insights for educators seeking a deeper understanding of the implications of language history in their classrooms.

 

Pennycook initiates his exploration by spotlighting the momentous British withdrawal from Hong Kong in 1997, signifying the conclusion of British colonial rule. Contrary to the notion that this departure marks the eradication of colonial influences, Pennycook asserts that deeper imprints persist. To delve into this assertion, he scrutinizes language policies during British colonialism in India, a crucial arena for the production of colonial ideologies.

 

Within the context of colonial India, Pennycook investigates the emergence of language policies that both mirrored and shaped colonial discourses. He underscores the conflicting narratives surrounding the provision of education for Indians—framed within the discourse of civilizing missions to enlighten supposedly backward populations and the discourse of furnishing a productive and compliant workforce for colonial capitalism. This dichotomy led to the formation of two factions: Anglicism, advocating English as the language of education, and Orientalism, endorsing local languages as the most effective means to disseminate European knowledge in India. Despite their rivalry, Pennycook contends that Anglicism and Orientalism were interdependent and complicit in colonialism, as both factions, in their distinct ways, contributed to the perpetuation of colonial rule. Thus, the debates on colonial language policies expose the paradox of language education being a dual instrument within colonial governance, serving the interests of both colonial languages and indigenous languages.

 

Pennycook's argument about the complicity of Anglicist and Orientalist discourses in the overarching colonial project carries potential implications for contemporary discussions on language policies in multicultural Canada. He emphasizes the need for a meticulous examination of whose interests different language policies serve, cautioning against a simplistic advocacy for liberal multiculturalism over conservative Euro-Canadian perspectives. Instead, he advocates for an inquiry into the broader social, cultural, political, and economic frameworks that underlie and are sustained by these language ideologies.

 

Shifting his focus, Pennycook investigates colonial language policies in Malaya, the Straits Settlements, and Hong Kong. Despite the distinctive circumstances of each colony, he observes a cross-flow of colonial ideologies—Anglicism and Orientalism emerging as varied approaches to leveraging education for colonial objectives. In Pennycook's analysis, the noteworthy aspect of these debates lies in the simultaneous construction of dichotomies between Self and Other. English becomes associated with traits such as "enlightened," "rational," and "superior," while local languages are marked with qualities like "inscrutable," "deviant," and "inferior." These constructed binaries, he argues, persisted and adhered to English, shaping enduring legacies of colonialism. Pennycook contends that debates on the supremacy of English have left an indelible mark on the global proliferation of the language in the contemporary era, framing it as a more viable option in the new world order.

 

 

In the chapter titled "Images of the Self," Pennycook directs his focus toward a specific facet of colonial image production—the construction of English. He meticulously catalogues numerous examples that bolster the perception of English as a rich and advanced language, emphasizing the belief that English speakers, due to their extensive vocabulary, are inherently superior thinkers. Analyzing discourses on English prevalent in popular culture, including language books, magazines, and newspapers, Pennycook highlights striking parallels between the rhetoric of nineteenth-century writers on the English language and contemporary discussions on the global dominance of English. He contends that popular discourses exert a more profound influence than academic discourses in shaping policies, curricula, practices, and research agendas, as educators immersed in language education are invariably surrounded by the everyday images of English embedded in popular culture.

 

Relevant to multicultural classrooms, Pennycook underscores the adverse consequences stemming from these discourses surrounding English. He identifies a particularly insidious outcome—the hierarchical relationship between native and non-native English speakers. This division, a classic dichotomy resulting from colonial cultural constructs, categorizes the world into English speakers and non-native English speakers. Pennycook acknowledges the formidable challenge educators face in challenging and altering beliefs and practices ingrained in binaristic thinking embedded in colonial constructions of Self and Other.

 

Chapter 6, titled "Images of the Other," shifts the focus to the flip side of the dichotomy, examining how discourses of colonialism have shaped perceptions of Chinese culture. Pennycook argues that popular and academic discourses collaborate to produce cultural constructs of the inscrutable Other, citing contrastive rhetoric—a domain within applied linguistics—as complicit in perpetuating an Orientalist view of the Other as both deviant and culturally fixed. Launching a robust critique of practices in applied linguistics, Pennycook contends that the discipline lacks a critical dimension, often assuming that teaching, learning, testing, and language policies are rationally describable within applied linguistic constructions of reality.

 

In the concluding chapter, Pennycook delves into the potential for resisting popular discursive constructions of Self and Other. Acknowledging the pervasive adherence of these discourses to English and their constant reinvocation in various contexts, he emphasizes the difficulty of effecting change. Pennycook cautions against a simplistic embrace of English in postcolonial reasoning and calls for the development of counterdiscourses capable of challenging the continued influence of colonial discourses on English. He argues that unless cultural alternatives to the constructs of colonialism can be found within and against English, colonial legacies will persist in English classrooms and numerous global contexts.