Force induced attitudes towards post-colonial English in South Asia

This study assesses the force-induced attitudes towards the English language in Southeast Asia as contemporarily found on the level of the government and among individuals. It employs an innovative, multidisciplinary approach and uses a dedicated explicative model as its framework. The exhaustive database for the case study ‘Philippines’ was compiled on the basis of a detailed historical analysis, interviews with local experts and a questionnairebased survey across four geographically spread urban areas. I feel deeply indebted to my supervisor, Professor M. Hellinger, Head of the English Linguistics Department of the J. W. Goethe-University of Frankfurt for her continuous guidance and most valuable support. Similarly, I wish to express my sincere thanks to Professor F. Schulze-Engler of the Institute for New English Literatures and Cultures (NELK) for his personal interest in my study and for his acceptance to act as second examiner. During my regular and extended research visits to the Philippines, I have experienced extraordinary assistance by a number of local experts, whose initial professional curiosity soon turned into a heartfelt acceptance. In particular Mrs. A. Ward and Dr. I. Martin paved the way for me to become integrated in their very efficient local network active in the field of linguistics. The compilation of the database, the collection of information and the fine-tuning of my findings to current realities in the country were greatly facilitated by these friends. Apart from Dr. B. Sibayan and Dr. A. Gonzales, I would like to express my sincere gratitude for the support provided by Dr. E. Castillo, Dr. C. Espiritu, Dr. F. Hidalgo, Dr. E. Pascacio as well as Dr. M. Ravina. Special thanks go out to numerous secretaries, assistants at universities and government offices as well as to those engaged in the questionnaire surveys across the country, namely Jonah in Baguio, Krzysal and Oscar in Manila, Joy in Cebu and Rene in Davao. Maraming salamat Po sa inyong lahat! Valuable contributions from numerous experts around the world – listed in the references - have found their way into this study. During the preparation of this thesis, I met a lot of understanding and support also on personal level for which I particularly thank my mother and my three brothers. I owe special thanks to my partner, Dr. K. Drabik, for his patience and outright support during the often tedious study phases.