This book evaluates the views of different ethnic groups towards the English language in Sri Lanka for a period of almost two centuries. While a few studies have addressed the subject of English in Sri Lanka in a general way, there has been no research showing the specifics of English usage in the major ethnic communities of the country. This text considers notions and attitudes towards English that prevail in Sri Lanka today among writers, language planners, teachers and students, habitual speakers, and infrequent users, as well as elite and non-elite groups in the country. The book also examines colonial and postcolonial writings in three communities, namely the Sri Lankan diaspora and the Tamil and Sinhala communities.
This study first establishes the discriminatroy and elitist nature of standard languages and standardisation itself, considering as counter-example the case of Sri Lankan English as symptomatic of the 'other' or postcolonial Englishes. On the basis of this understanding of the standard, while at the same time, accepting the necessity of standards, however attenuated, the writer argues for the active broadening of the standard to include the greatest variety possible - privileging 'meaning' over other rules - and holds that this would in fact work towards extending the bounds of linguistic tolerance.
The main objective of this thesis is to understand the role of English in post-colonial Sri Lanka. The particular focus is on the way in which language is tied to identity and how the superimposition of English on the island during British colonization has changed the status of English both in political policy and in education. Through the lenses of globalization and post-colonial theory, Sri Lankas relationship with English is considered. The status of English is determined in two separate ways: the first of which being how English is a positive tool that one can use to gain societal, political, and economic benefits. Secondly, English is examined in the way that it influences identity, and how perception of English speakers in Sri Lanka leads to the way speaking English can be used to ornament oneself and boost their status in society. The methods of education and why students struggle to learn English form the primary goal of this research, which is to examine the weaknesses of Sri Lankas national education program in regard to English in a rapidly globalizing world.
Essay from the year 2019 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Linguistics, grade: 13, Justus-Liebig-University Giessen, language: English, abstract: Intensifiers - very small words, but with a very strong impact on language use. In fact, it could be argued that they are so important to study due to their ever-changing nature. Murphy, in 2010, even stated that "the most rapid and the most interesting semantic developments in linguistic change are said to occur with intensifiers." But why are intensifiers used? According to Hu, in 2013, they arise out of "a speaker or writer’s desire to be “original” to demonstrate verbal skills, and to capture the attention of an audience". An even more intriguing part of intensifiers is that this does not seem to work at times. According to Wright, in 1995, "the most interesting finding about intensifiers is that they do not seem to affect listeners in the way intended by speakers". Wright argued that advertisements, for instance, worked less well when an intensifier was added, since they seemed to influence the viewer in a negative way and seemed to take away from the product. However, while researchers disagree on the exact reasons to research intensifiers, be they investigating a speaker’s wish for originality, language change, or the fact that intensifiers do, at times, negatively impact the recipient of the intensification, the fact still stands that they are worth investigating. Sri Lanka is a comparatively small island state south of India. It only recently, in 2009, finally escaped the clutches of colonialism and civil war. Today, it comes into its own more and more, and is finally able to rewrite history on its own terms. Sri Lankan English is a fresh, new research ground that offers a variety of opportunities for the advancement of learning.
Here, an examination of so-called uneducated and otherwise non-standard usage in the Sri Lankan context, including popular cultural and protest writing and speech, shows that Sri Lankans communicate powerfully and creatively in this medium. The legitimization of this practice on the margins leads to a de-hegemonizing of language standards. What can be seen in the Sri Lankan context is not specific to it, but shown to be typical of all languages in use, and, in an analogous argument, the claim is extended from the narrowly linguistic sphere to the much broader field of discursive practice in general.
Here author Nihal Perera traces the historical construction of contemporary social space in Sri Lanka, through the lens of successively colonized and decolonized, then postcolonial spatial transformations. Perera argues that the politics governing the construction of space is of primary importance for those seeking to understand a particular society and culture.
