Faculty, students, and community members attended a lecture at Stony Brook University delivered by Kingsley Bolton, professor emeritus at the University of Stockholm and an expert on world Englishes. The event focused on the relationship between language and identity and was part of the College of Arts and Sciences Sir Run Run Shaw Lecture Series as well as the MIC Symposium on Multilingualism.
The symposium honored Professors S. N. Sridhar and Kamal K. Sridhar for their decades of work in bilingualism, multilingualism, and South Asian linguistics. The gathering was organized by the Center for Multilingual and Intercultural Communication and the Mattoo Center for India Studies, with support from the Departments of Asian and Asian American Studies and Linguistics.
S. N. Sridhar is a retired SUNY Distinguished Service Professor who also served as founding director of the Mattoo Center for India Studies. Kamal Sridhar retired in 2022 after directing the Center for India Studies from 2002 to 2008.
“It is a great privilege in this lecture to review a number of issues relevant to the work of both professors with particular reference to multilingualism in the Asian region and the study of Asian Englishes,” said Bolton. He emphasized that the Sridhars have influenced their field through research, mentorship, and institution-building.
Bolton described Asia as one of the most linguistically diverse regions globally, home to about 2,300 languages spoken across various communities from large cities to remote areas. He explained that public perception often oversimplifies Asia’s linguistic landscape into major families like Sinitic or Indic but noted that dialect diversity, migration patterns, and geography create unique complexity.
“Asia is outstanding in terms of multilingual diversity,” Bolton said, highlighting countries such as India, Indonesia, and the Philippines where societal multilingualism is common. He pointed out that many smaller languages are now endangered due to economic changes, modernization, and urbanization: “Despite such diversity and linguistic pluralism, many of the smaller Asian languages are now regarded as endangered,” he said. “They face the changes that come with modernity and the modern world.”
Bolton presented case studies from Hong Kong (with at least 29 languages), the Philippines (about 180 languages across more than 7,000 islands), and India (estimated between 464 to over 1,500 languages). He discussed how each area reflects different models shaped by history, migration, governance structures, colonial influences, local identities, or official policies.
He also addressed how English has expanded throughout Asia via colonial history as well as recent economic growth and educational trends. Today hundreds of millions speak English across Asia even where it lacks official status; it remains important in commerce or higher education.
Bolton noted that scholars have recognized regional varieties—such as Indian English or Singapore English—as legitimate systems shaped by local histories: “This is the kind of detailed work we have been able to do by mining census data,” he said regarding mapping linguistic pockets in Hong Kong.
A significant portion of this understanding comes from research by S. N. Sridhar and Kamal K. Sridhar who challenged traditional views on second language acquisition—including assumptions about aiming for native-like proficiency—and advocated recognizing local norms: Their landmark paper argued for acknowledging multilingual speakers’ agency along with social contexts affecting language learning.
Throughout his talk Bolton called them “intellectual bridge builders” whose work connects theoretical linguistics with applied practice across cultures: “These bridges have been important in many different respects,” he said. “The scope and depth of their scholarship is beyond impressive.”
He concluded by noting ongoing challenges: “Yes—a bridge has been built—but it is a bridge only half built.” Quoting from their own words he added there remains more progress needed aligning applied linguistics with real-world multilingual situations: “I hope that in my talk I have been able to highlight at least some of the key achievements of these two researchers whose meticulous and wide-reaching scholarship has informed and inspired the front line of linguistic research.”