possibilities and challenges of implementing eil in sri lanka : attitudes of sri lankans
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Amali Borlaugoda
Possibilities and Challenges of
Implementing EIL in Sri Lanka : Attitudes of Sri
Lankans
Language Profile of Sri Lanka
Democratic, Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka
Sinhala Tamil English
Constitution of Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka declares,
[1]. The Official Language in Sri Lanka shall be Sinhala.
[2]. Tamil shall also be an Official Language.
[3]. English shall be the Link Language.
13th Amendment of the Constitution (2011) of Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka,
Once upon a time…..Date Event
1796
Treaty of Amiens
The British East India Company annexes the Maritime Prov-
inces, and English becomes the only official language.
1948
Dominion Status
Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) gains independence from Great
Britain. English remains the only official language of inde-
pendent Ceylon.
1956
Official Languages Act
Sinhala becomes the only official language of Sri Lanka.
English is dethroned.
July 1987
Indo – Sri Lanka Accord
Sinhala, Tamil and English are declared the official languages
of Sri Lanka.
November 1987
13th Amendment to the constitution
English is the link language, Sinhala and Tamil are the official
languages of Sri Lanka.
Queens' "ENGLISH" & OUR "english"
The variety of English we use in Sri Lanka at
present is identified as the English of colonized but
not of colonizer.
SSLE has its own dictionary and literature.
SSLE
Tamil English
“Not Pot” English
Burgher English
English =
English as a Foreign language
English as a Second Language
English native speakers
Usage based approch to English in SL
A ^ mini survey on attitudes towards English
micro
65 – Participants, Sri Lankans in the age group of 20 - 40
1. English is important to find a good job and for higher education.
2. English is important for successful online communication
3. It is important learn English as an International Language.
4. English is required to communicate with native speakers of English.
5. English is required to communicate with non native speakers of English.6. It is important to have native like pronunciation.
7. English has to be learned from native speakers of English.
8. Sri Lankan English teachers are capable of teaching not only grammar but pronunciation effectively.
9. Are you aware of different varieties of English ?
10. Which variety of English do you want to learn and use? Rank them in order of preference.
Conclusions of the study1. Sri Lankans accept the importance of learning Eng-
lish for upward mobility in the society.
2. The participants acknowledge the importance of
English as an international language and admit that
English is used to communicate with native as non
native speakers of English.
3. The participants of the study are aware of different
varieties of English and they do not discriminate
native and non native models of English.
4. Despite of positive attitudes towards non native
varieties of English the participants still prefer to
learn and use inner circle varieties of English.
•2009 has been declared as the year of IT and
English in Sri Lanka
•on July 19, 2009, the President launched the
National Road Map to promote Spoken/
Communicative English skills in Sri Lanka.
• English as a Life Skill Speak English Our way
Back to Sri Lanka…
“..children should be allowed and encouraged to
speak English our way and they should not feel
ashamed or inferior to do so. Many countries in
the world have their own ways of speaking
English and there is no reason for Sri Lanka to
be an exception and children should not be
deterred from speaking English our way….”
Sunimal Fernando
the Coordinator/ Convener of the Presidential
Task Force on English and IT,
“The classroom is a powerful site of policy
negotiation. The pedagogies practiced and texts
produced in the classroom can reconstruct policies
ground up. In fact, the classroom is already a policy
site; every time teachers insist on a uniform variety
of language or discourse, we are helping
reproduce monolingualist ideologies and linguistic
hierarchies.”
(Canagarajah : 2006)
In Conclusion…
Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Neutral
Agree
Strongly Agree
0
0
1
16
48
1. English is important to find a good job and for higher education.
.
Number of Participants
Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Neutral
Agree
Strongly Agree
0
1
2
24
38
2. English is important for successful online com-munication
Number of Participants
Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Neutral
Agree
Strongly Agree
0
0
0
13
52
3. It is important to learn English as an international language.
Number of Participants
Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Neutral
Agree
Strongly Agree
0
2
3
30
30
4. English is required to communicate with native speakers of English.
Number of Participants
Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Neutral
Agree
Strongly Agree
0
6
17
36
6
5. English is required to communicate with non native speakers of English.
Number of Participants
Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Neutral
Agree
Strongly Agree
5
22
23
13
2
It is important to have a native-like pronunciation.
Number of Participants
Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Neutral
Agree
Strongly Agree
2
29
19
15
0
7. English should be learned from native speakers of English.
Number of Participants
Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Neutral
Agree
Strongly Agree
3
1
19
26
16
8. Sri Lankan English teachers are capable of teaching not only grammar but pronunciation effectively.
Number of Participants
No
Yes
3
62
Are you aware of different varieties of Eng-lish?
Number of Participants
Koren English
Singapore English
South African English
Pakistani English
Indian English
Hongkong English
New Zealand English
Canadian English
Sri Lankan English
Australian English
American English
British English
2.65
3.17
3.4
3.91
4.37
5.42
6.02
8.23
9.28
9.74
10.82
11.02
Average Ranking according to the preferred variety to learn/use
Avarage Ranking
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