Interactional strategies in South Asian languages: their implications for teaching English internationally

This paper examines interactional strategies in several South Asian languages and shows that the norms that effect politeness in South Asian languages are very different from those that operate in native English. The implications of these differences for the teaching of English in South Asia are explored in the context of the relationship between language and ‘grammar of culture.’ It is claimed that communicative competence can only be achieved when there is a fit between language and grammar of culture. This must be kept in mind when English is taught internationally because in countries in which English has been institutionalized speakers have adapted English to fit in with their grammar of culture. These speakers of English have communicative competence in their variety of English, and the need for them to develop native‐like competence is debatable.