Dissension in Sri Lanka Due to English Language for Economic Status

Question: Discuss about theDissension in Sri Lanka Due to English Language for Economic Status. Answer: Abstract English in Sri Lanka has been used as a measure of class, social, cultural and economic status. This has affected the country both positively and negatively, thereby promoting unity and divisiveness in equal measure. Since English is a global language, it has enabled Sri Lanka to connect and relate with the outside world, especially in its participation and role in world cricket, which is one of the most popular games, introduced into the country by British Colonialists in established schools. It has also sparked conflict and violence due to the inequalities emerging from its use in Sri Lanka. In 1948, Sri Lanka became independent from the British colonial rule. The education system in Sri Lanka was realized when it was assimilated into the British Colonial Territory in the nineteenth century. Sri Lankas former colonizers, the Dutch had previously incorporated a Christian primary school system, to which the British introduced the English language as a form of communication. English colonial schools that were set up by the British thereafter experienced low attendance since most Sri Lankans could not communicate in English. Local government schools were then established and they taught in the local dialect, mainly Sinhala and this led to a larger turnout since a majority of Sri Lankans were comfortable and familiar with the local language (Jaufer, 2017).The British Colonial schools were later converted to prestigious schools for the elite while other government schools were attended by the common Sri Lankan.This has led to English being a preserve for a few and it ws used a s a sign of social, economic and cultural prosperity. One could identify with being middle or upper middle class by speaking nothing else but Standard British English. This makes other people who borrowed words from Sinhala or Tamil Languages, which were the other mediums of communication to be termed as inferior or identified one as being from the lower class in Sri Lanka. English tainted with words borrowed from Sinhala was termed as broken English. Broken English in Sri Lankan was associated with not being educated in an elite school, and this, in turn, affected the perception of a person (Gunesekere, 2010). The act of mixing Standard English with other languages was also known as code mixing (Senaratne, 1972.) Many Sri Lankans did not speak Standard English and used its counterpart instead due to lack of exposure, thereby ended up speaking in English that was tainted with words from the local language. Colonial schools provided elite Sri Lankans with a forum to identify with the British, thereby segregating them from the rest of the country folks, with English playing a major part in it. These Sri Lankans educated in Colonial Schools were viewed by others as being intelligent and cultured just because they spoke British English. This elite also ended up being rich and wealthy since it was easier for them to access opportunities provided to them by the colonial administration. In the case provided in the article, Sangakkara was more recognized than Jayasuriya despite them being of equal measure in terms of cricket playing on a national and global level. This was simply because Sangakkara used English identified with the elite society and Jayasuriya used English used by the lower quartile of the society, leading to the latter being frowned upon. English led to social and economic segregation of Tamils in Sri Lanka since most British English speaking individuals in the government were the Sinhala leading to conflict (The Root Causes of the Ethnic Conflict in Sri Lanka). English was recognized as the official language of working in many institutions in the country. English Education was also a preserve for those in higher levels of governance and this led to only them accessing and holding on to higher positions of might and prestige (Saunders, 2007). Standard English speaking being viewed as a preserve for the elite is not only limited to Sri Lanka but also other former British colonies in the world. This makes it a requirement in the most prestigious universities and it guarantees getting a well-paying job anywhere in the world. English provides a platform for global business to prosper (Corradi, 2017). Conclusion In general, English speaking in Sri Lanka plays a major role in how other people perceive you. This is not only in Sri Lanka but also in other parts of the world. It brought a large rift between the Majority Sinhala and Minority Tamil, promoting violence and discrimination in the economic sector and also in governance. This in turn, led to the unequal distribution of government resources and opportunities to the minority people. References Jaufer, A. (2017).The Evolution of Education In Sri Lanka. Retrieved 19 April 2018, from https://roar.media/english/life/sponsored/the-evolution-of-education-in-sri-lanka/ Gunesekera, M. (2010).The postcolonial identity of Sri Lankan English(pp. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/j.1545-7249.2007.tb00111.x). Colombo: Vijitha Yapa Publ. Senaratne, C. (1972).Sinhala-English code-mixing in Sri Lanka A sociolinguistic study(pp. Chapter 1 page 4). Colombo, Sri Lanka. Retrieved from https://www.lotpublications.nl/Documents/217_fulltext.pdf The Root Causes of the Ethnic Conflict in Sri Lanka(p. page 2). Retrieved from https://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTSRILANKA/Resources/App1.pdf Corradi, A. (2017).The Linguistic Colonialism of English.BROWN POLITICAL REVIEW. Retrieved 19 April 2018, from https://www.brownpoliticalreview.org/2017/04/linguistic-colonialism-english/ Saunders, B. (2007). (Post)Colonial Language: English, Sinhala, and Tamil in Sri Lanka. Retrieved from https://homes.chass.utoronto.ca/~cpercy/courses/eng6365-saunders.htm