India is a multilingual country, where English as a language occupies a significant position. Most of the communication tasks in semi-government and private sectors are now carried out in English. The demand for English language proficiency is reflected across the Indian media, in the articles published in newspapers and magazines. This paper explores newspaper and magazine articles that represent English as a prerequisite to secure corporate jobs in India. Using Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) as the framework, specially Fairclough (1992) techniques of analysis, an investigation has been carried out into the way these texts marginalize candidates who are not adept at the English language and present better chances of employment for candidates possessing excellence in English. Such an exploration unveils the discourse practices and the underlying ideologies about the English language in the contemporary society and the corporate job sector in India.

India is often referred to as a land ofmultiple ethnicities, religions and linguistic diversities. With so many diverse ethnicities, about three dozen languages at present exist in the country. There are over a billion people in India and the area is thus one of the most diverse linguistic and cultural areas in the world (Hohenthal, 2003). The Eighth Schedule of the Constitution of India recognizes 22 languages. Ironically, in spite of the presence of so many languages, only two of them - English and Hindi - bind the country into a network of communication. Though Hindi is often called the national language, scarcely has it achieved the status of a national language. The position of Hindi has always been controversial and has led to the popularization of English.

This paper is concerned with analyzing specifically the attitudes and values towards the English language in India as portrayed in the media. The linguistic techniques used by the media and their intentions will be studied. In contemporary Indian society, especially in the private sector industry, the English language enjoys a very high rank. This paper focuses on a discursive tendency in several of the media texts to persuade the readers to learn English in order to be empowered. At one level, this may be considered ironic, given that some linguists feel that it is a threat to the mother language. However, at the other level, it is not surprising, as media is well-known for its ability to read the social barometer of discursive change. To study this, this paper adopts the theoretical paradigm of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA). An analysis of the collected samples has been carried out to study the ideologies regarding the English language and its position as a foreign language in the contemporary Indian society and its job market.

Using CDA and particularly the framework provided by Fairclough (1992 and 1995b) the sample texts have been examined for discourse practices, social practices and textual analysis. A linguistic and discursive investigation of the samples has been carried out. At the linguistic levels, the analysis focuses on the vocabulary, genre, style, textual structure and grammatical structure. At the discursive level, the core concern is with the orders of discourse and their ideological bases. The choice of CDA is determined by the fact that it is a critical approach to social problems as it endeavors to make explicit power relations that are often hidden. It allows for focusing more on the production and reception processes and aims to derive results and arrive at conclusions that have relevance to social, cultural, political and even economic contexts (Fairclough and Wodak, 1997). Before beginning the investigation, a short note on the background of the English language in India is essential.

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