Englishin AsiaandtheSouthernHemisphere Prof. R. Hickey WS 2015/16 Sri Lanka
Marina Ewerlein and FrederikeMüller
Course of study: LA-BA
Type of credit:TN
Module: I English in Asia and the Southern Hemisphere Prof. R. Hickey WS 2015/16 SriLankain General
Marina Ewerlein
Course of study: LA-BA
Type of credit:TN
Module: I Sri Lanka in General
Source: Worldaltas/ Government of Sri Lanka Sri Lanka in General
Main facts:
-Democratic Socialist Republic of SriLanka
-65,610 km²
-Capital: Sri Jayewardenepura
-CommercialCapital:Colombo
Source: Worldaltas/ Government of SriLanka Sri Lanka in General
Main facts:
-population: 20.3 million ( last counted in 2011)
Source: Government of SriLanka/ SVE Sri Lanka in General
Main facts:
-Religion Buddhism 70.19% Hinduism 12.61% Christianity 7.45% Islam 9.71%
-Ethnicity Sihalese, 74.9%; Tamil, 15.4%; Muslim 9.2%; others 0.5% (2012 est)
Source: Government of SriLanka/ SVE Sri Lanka in General
543 BC: Sinhalese people from northern India History: 250 BC: Buddhism
12th century: Sri Lanka most powerful
16th century: Portugese
17th century: Dutch
1796: British 1802: Crown Colony
1948: Independence 1972: name change
1983: civil war 26th December 2004: Tsunami Source: Worldatlas Sri Lanka: Tsunami 2004
-36,603 people perished in the months following the tsunami
-Another 800,000 people directly affected
-90,000 buildings were destroyed.
Source: Tsunami Disaster in Sri Lanka Sri Lanka in General
Conclusion:
-Sri Lanka in the Indian Ocean
-many different groups
-first settlement in 543 BC English in Asia and the Southern Hemisphere Prof. R. Hickey WS 2015/16 SriLanka: Language
Frederike Müller
Course of study: LA-BA
Type of credit:TN
Module: I Sri Lanka: Language
Status and function of English in Sri Lanka
After independence from Britain in 1948: English was de facto language until 1956 → Sinhala: sole official language 1987: Constitution of Sri Lanka states English as “link language”(official languages: Tamil and Sinhala) → English in fact more than this in government, many areas of officialdom, media, advertisement and education system Sri Lanka: Language
Administration: parity for English in cases where the official language is not the language of a speaker (e.g. for speakers of Sinhala in an Tamil area)
Judiciary: all laws and legislation published in Sinhala and Tamil PLUS a translation of English → most disparity in Sri Lanka´s courts: language used in Sri Lanka´s highest court is English Sri Lanka: Language
Education: -Due to law in 1956: English as a medium of instruction changed to Sinhala -1980s: International Schools → so popular that there are now even English-medium pre- schools for children under three years -1990s: government sponsored interventions to emphasize English from grade 1-13 -lack of competent English teachers, urban-rural disparities Sri Lanka: Language
Interpersonal Communication: -increase in the use of English, especially in the homes of young people → result of the reintroduction of English in schools -English as language of e-mail and text-messaging -English as association with prestige
→ examples explains the common assumption that English is an official language Sri Lanka: Language
-many complexities and sub-variaties of Sri Lankan English -significant class distinctions: stereotype “Colombo”family: English as first language -the further you travel from Colombo, the greater is the influence of Sinhala and Tamil on the English people speak -many Sinhala and Tamil words entered SLE -Sinhalas influence on English, as it was the sole official language → Singlish Sri Lanka: Language
Sri Lankan English, Linguistic aspects Some phonological features: → the replacement of diphthongs [eɪ] and [aʊ] in British English with the long vowels [e ] and [o ] → The replacement of interdental fricatives [ð] [θ] with dental plosives [d]̪ [t]̪ → The replacement of the labiovelar approximant [w] and [v] with the
labiodental approximant [ʋ] → Confusing [o] and [ɔ] hall/hole → Confusing [f] and [p] fan/pan → Use of [s] in place of [z] zoo, zip Sri Lanka: Language
Some syntactic features: Examples of ellipsis: 1) “I just came home. [There is] Not enough time to shower.” 2) “Most of the people have migrated. [There is] Just a handful here.”
Topicalization: 3) “All beautiful arranged it was.” 4) “Very busy they are.” 5) “A really nice person she is.” Sri Lanka: Language
Some syntactic features: Verb deletion in question:6) “From where to get the money?”
Use of tags: 7) “They used to have a black car, isn´t it?” 8) “Raining no, how to come?”
Use of [s] in place of [z]: 9) “Let´s go to the zoo.” Sri Lanka: Language
The associative plural marked by and them: „Sunil and them didn’t come.“
Certain uncountable nouns are pluralised: lands
The definite article is frequently dropped: gone to office, going to temple
The indefinite article is dropped: couple of times, lot of problems, little more rice Sri Lanka: Language
Conclusion:
-confusion whether English is an official language or not -notable increase of the use of English especially for young people -Sinhalese and Tamil influence in English in Phonology and Syntax Literatur
Gunesekera, Manique (ed). 2005. “The Postcolonial Identity of Sri Lankan English.”Maharagama: Tharanjee Prints.
Mendis, Dushyanthi /Rambukwella, Harshana. 2010. “Sri Lankan Englishes.”In: Andy Kirkpatrick (ed.). The Routledge Handbook of World Englishes. New York: Routledge, 181-196
Meyler, Michael. 2004. “Sri Lankan English”. In: Bernd Kortmann (ed.). A handbook of varieties of English. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, 540–547 References in the internet
Government of Sri Lanka: https://www.gov.lk/index.php SVE: Studying Varieties of English: https://www.uni-due.de/SVE/index.html Tsunami Disaster in Sri Lanka: http://academic.evergreen.edu/g/grossmaz/HELGESTJ/ Wordaltas: http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/asia/lk.htm Thank you for your attention!