Buradasınız

Anasayfa » Content

Then and Now: English in Sri Lanka’s Public Sector

Journal Name:

  • Uluslararası İnsan Bilimleri Dergisi

Publication Year:

  • 2009

Key Words:

Author Name
Abstract (2. Language): 
English was the official language of Sri Lanka during British colonization but it was replaced by Sinhala and Tamil as independence neared. The public sector was directly affected by this change although English held sway here for some years. Yet, English was made the link language for the Sinhalese and Tamils in 1987 and the state has since taken many steps to promote and improve its use in the public sector. Such change in language policy did not happen in void. It resulted from different perceptions nationalism and nationism had about English. This paper tries to understand the changing fate of English in Sri Lanka’s public sector by placing it in the context of nationalism and nationism. It aims to do two things, namely to explain nationalism and nationism in relation to Sri Lanka and to explore the presence of English in the public sector from independence until today, affected by nationalism and nationism. This investigative approach shows the influence of local ideology on language policy. It is ultimately seen that language policy concerning English in the public sector is responsive to the volatile political and social contexts of Sri Lanka.
Bookmark/Search this post with
FULL TEXT (PDF): 
PDF icon arastrmx_161047_6_pp_1-13.pdf
  • 1
1-13
  • English

REFERENCES

References: 

Bose, Sumantra. (1994). States, Nations, Sovereignty. New Delhi: Sage Publications. Constitution of Sri Lanka. (2003). Retrieved June 30, 2008, from the World Wide Web: http://www.priu.gov.lk/Cons/1978Constitution/CONTENTS.html Crystal, David. (2005). The Stories of English. London: Penguin Books. de Silva, K.M. (1984). A History of Sri Lanka. 2nd edition. Delhi: Oxford University Press. Department of Official Languages. (2006). Services. Retrieved July 02, 2008, from the World Wide Web: http://www.languagesdept.gov.lk/services_department_of_official_language... Dharmadasa, K.N.O. (1992). Language, Religion and Ethnic Assertiveness. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press. Fernando, Chitra. (1996). The post-imperial status of English in Sri Lanka 1940-1990: From first to second language. In Joshua A. Fishman, Andrew W. Conrad & Alma Rubal-Lopez (Eds.), Post-Imperial English (pp. 485-511). Berlin: Mouton de Grutyer. Fernando, Laksiri. (1999). Ethnic Conflict and the State in Sri Lanka: A Possible Solution? In Siri Gamage & I.B. Watson (Eds.), Conflict and Community in Contemporary Sri Lanka (pp. 77-87). Studies on Contemporary Asia No. 3. New Delhi: Sage Publications. Fishman, Joshua A. (1968). Nationality-Nationalism and Nation-Nationism. In Joshua A. Fishman, Charles A. Ferguson & Jyotirindra Das Gupta (Eds.), Language Problems of Developing Nations (pp. 39-51). New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Gill, Saran Kaur. (2002). International Communication. Serdang: University Putra Malaysia Press. Government of Sri Lanka. (2008). Sri Lanka in Brief. Retrieved July 01, 2008, from the World Wide Web: http://www.priu.gov.lk/TourCountry/Indextc.html Hettige, Siri. (1999). Economic Liberalisation, Social Class and Ethnicity: Emerging Trends and Conflicts. In Siri Gamage & I.B. Watson (Eds.), Conflict and Community in Contemporary Sri Lanka (pp. 299-323). Studies on Contemporary Asia No. 3. New Delhi: Sage Publications. Kearney, Robert N. (1985). Ethnic Conflict and the Tamil Separatist Movement in Sri Lanka. Asian Survey, 25: 9, 898-917. Mahindapala, H.L.D. (1999). Denigration of the Sinhala People. In Siri Gamage & I.B. Watson (Eds.), Conflict and Community in Contemporary Sri Lanka (pp. 279-297). Studies on Contemporary Asia No. 3. New Delhi: Sage Publications. Manogaran, Selvadurai. (1987). Ethnic Conflict and Reconciliation. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. Official Government News Portal of Sri Lanka. Retrieved July 01, 2008, from the World Wide Web: http://www.news.lk/index.php
Rajandran, Kumaran. (2009). Then and Now: English in Sri Lanka’s Public Sector. International Journal of
Human Sciences [Online]. 6:1. Available: http://www.insanbilimleri.com
13
Official Languages Commission. (2005). Memorandum of Recommendations. Retrieved
July 02, 2008, from the World Wide Web: http://www.cida-psu.lk/Language%20Rights/C-5%20_OLC_.pdf Perera, John. (1984). Exploring the Solution to the Communal Problem. Sri Lanka The Ethnic Conflict (pp. 95-114). New Delhi: Navrang. Rajapaksa, Mahinda. (2005). Mahinda Chintana. Retrieved July 02, 2008, from the World Wide Web:
Wide Web:
http://www.priu.gov.lk/mahindachinthana/MahindaChinthanaEnglish.pdf Safran, William. (2005). Introduction: The Political Aspects of Language. In William Safran & Jean A. Laponce (Eds.), Language, Ethnic Identity and the State (pp. 1-14). New York: Routledge. Sambandan, V.S. (2006). Language Barrier. Retrieved May 10, 2008, from the World
http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl2304/stories/20060310001305500.htm Saunders, Barton M. (2007). (Post)Colonial Language: English, Sinhala, and Tamil in Sri
Lanka. Retrieved May 05, 2008, from the World Wide Web: http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~cpercy/courses/eng6365-saunders.htm Sri Lanka. (2007). National Cultural Policy. Government Gazette 1525/12. Thangarajah, Yuvi & Hettige, S.T. (2007). Policy, State, Nation-State and Ethnicity in Sri Lanka. In Abdul Rahman Embong (Ed.), Rethinking Ethnicity and Nation-Building (pp. 152-185). Puchong: Persatuan Sains Sosial Malaysia. Vittachi, V.P. (1988). Sri Lanka- What Went Wrong. New Delhi: Navrang. Wilson, A. Jeyaratnam. (1988). The Break-Up of Sri Lanka. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. ______. (2000). Sri Lankan Tamil Nationalism. London: Hurst & Company.

Thank you for copying data from http://www.arastirmax.com