English

Ranmal Wakkumbura Menik

doi:10.5897/jpapr2015.0343

Abstract

This paper explains how Sri Lanka’s Administrative Service has contributed to the use of the Official Language Policy (OLP) in Sri Lanka. This policy supports ‘Sinhala’ and ‘Tamil’ as official languages (that is, mother tongue) and ‘English’ as the link language. However the implementation of this policy has become problematic due to critical ethno-political factors. Since 2009 language policy legitimization processes have been aimed at rigorous social reconciliation after the end of the thirty year civil war for which the Administrative service plays a vital role. The limitations in linguistic skills, resources available at the organizational levels and the lack of effective policy changes undermine the effective implementation of the OLP. Utilizing the Official Languages Commission audits in conjunction with a qualitative semi structured questionnaire (n = 80), content analysis was conducted to investigate the relationships between administrators’ linguistic skills and administrative functions. The findings reveal the importance of administrators having trilingual competencies; mother tongue, English and the second national language. Overall, findings are consistent with this argument that stable policy to maintain the ‘mother tongue’ languages while choosing English as the ‘link language’ in Administrative Service is a pragmatic approach for effective results for social reconciliation of post-conflict Sri Lanka. Key words: Language pluralism, Official Language Policy, Administrative Service (SLAS), Sri Lanka

Highlights

Countries like South Africa, Nigeria and Central Asian states like Azerbaijan during post-conflict recovery essentially find ‘language pluralism’ an interesting policy formulation for social integration (Fishman and Garcia, 2010)
English was used in education and administrative functions only among the middle class ‘Anglicized’ communities comprising less than 10% of the population, which consisted of middle-class Tamils, and a lesser number of Sinhala people employed in the public sector.Both communities were among the ‘small group’ governed by a larger group of non-English speakers (Fernando, 1997)
The ability to read in English among the population increased to 14% in 2001, the ability to write increased to 30.5% and the ability to speak increased to 23.8% (Department of Census and Statistics of Sri Lanka, 2012)

Summary

Introduction

Countries like South Africa, Nigeria and Central Asian states like Azerbaijan during post-conflict recovery essentially find ‘language pluralism’ an interesting policy formulation for social integration (Fishman and Garcia, 2010). Countries in South Asia find it more challenging to establish a sound socially and politically agreeable languages policy due to the cultural diversity that impacts linguistic unity (Kachru, 1998). Sri Lanka’s ethno-cultural setting and governance structures too have led to complexities over the existing languages policy. Since 2009 when the 30 year old civil war ended, the existing political movements in the country focused on ‘Sinhala’ and ‘Tamil’ (Swabhasha- mother tongue) as the official languages and ‘English’ (Vibhasha- foreign tongue) as the link language for social reconciliation. At a juncture where thirty years (1956 to 2015) have passed

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Discussion

Conclusion