‘From dethroning English to planning for a Trilingual Society’

Language and Social Process in Sri Lanka 1956 - 2011:

Keynote Address by Sunimal Fernando at the 9th International Language and Development Conference on ‘Language and Social Cohesion’ on October 18, 2011 in Colombo

Part II: Recent changes in the socio-linguistic landscape

Perceiving change and providing leadership: The genesis of the new Language Policy of President Mahinda Rajapaksa

The country moved on in this fashion until the turn of the century when two important changes appeared on the social - linguistic landscape. President Rajapaksa sensed these changes as the country prepared to move into the second decade of the new millennium.

He reflected on them, understood them and made them the foundation of a new language plan for the country. The Ten Year National Plan for a Trilingual Sri Lanka (2012 - 2021), the first policy document on language planning to come from a Sri Lankan Head of State since independence is expected to be presented to Cabinet by the end of this month.

The first change in the socio-linguistic landscape was in relation to English, in response to which the President launched a Presidential Initiative on English as a Life Skill in 2009.

The second change sensed by him was in relation to Sinhala and Tamil. Together with his English initiative, he embarked on a Presidential Initiative for a Trilingual Sri Lanka and a Ten Year National Plan to achieve its goals.

Re-emergence of English as a qualifier for employment

How did President Rajapaksa’s policy evolve in relation to English? By the end of the last millennium it was evident that government sector employment which called exclusively for Sinhala and Tamil language skills had become rapidly saturated. On the other hand employment opportunities in the corporate sector requiring English language skills continued to increase rapidly. English was now becoming an important qualifier for employment and upward mobility.

A growing demand for English

The increasing requirement of English as a qualifier for employment has augmented a great demand for English skills in Sri Lankan society. Today almost all people want to know English.

Its growing relevance for accessing knowledge and information from an increasingly globalized outside world also cannot be denied. Employment opportunities in the public sector which is administered in Sinhala and Tamil have failed to meet the demands of the country’s aspiring youth. Hence private sector jobs which are much sought after these days require proficiency in the English language as a qualification at most levels.

Responding to demand in the short run - gaping resource constraints

It is recognized therefore that the vast majority of Sri Lankans seek English for employment. But it is also true that the successful dissemination of English skills in scale to students throughout the country cannot be reached in the near future with the dearth of human, financial and technological resources currently available to the country. While trying to achieve the objective of disseminating English language skills to all students in the country as a national priority, the harsh reality, namely that the severe constraints in human and material resources will not allow equal access to English in the foreseeable future also needs to be recognized.

Acute dearth of competent English teachers

The acute dearth of competent English teachers with a bag of innovative teaching tools on the one side and a deep familiarity with the social, cultural and emotional context of our rural and small town children on the other, and willing to teach in the villages, is one gaping resource constraint. The absence of an enabling school environment in most rural areas for children to practice the English they learn in the classroom is yet another. In such a setting, unless the State were to keep a watchful eye on the deployment of teaching and other resources to ensure social equity, it is inevitable that the bigger urban schools will somehow grab the limited resources at the cost of the more distant rural schools in the country, the political implications of which can be disturbing.

Re-empowering an English speaking elite - the sure recipe for a crisis

This creates a situation that needs to be handled with much political sensitivity. The people of Sri Lanka fought for several decades at great sacrifice to finally in 1956 dethrone English as our country’s language of administration. English had shut the doors of the administrative services, the professions and the technical services to 92 percent of Sri Lankans. English had hitherto blocked the path of social mobility to Sinhala and Tamil educated people of our small towns and villages.

It is both immature and foolish to believe that the patriotic masses of this country will allow the remnants of the old westernized, urbanized, anti-national English speaking elites - with or without the collaboration of their foreign intellectual and cultural peers - to bring English back in a manner in which the social, cultural, political and economic interests of the nationally rooted Sinhala and Tamil speaking people are jeopardized.

Need for a passionate commitment to the principle of social equity

People need to be empowered with the competencies to read, write and above all to speak in English. This is essential both for their upward mobility as well as for the forward march of our country. Achieving this goal in scale in a short period of time will be just impossible in an environment that just cannot bear the huge cost of such a venture. Skilful management of time frame and an almost passionate commitment to the principle of social equity are of the highest importance to avert social discord and dissonance.

Forcing the pace is calling for trouble

Forcing the pace of the exercise including the pace of extending English medium education in our schools will only inject new life into the remnants of the old English speaking elites. Furthermore, it will encourage the creation of new English speaking elites and progressively distance them from the cultural and emotional mainstream of Sri Lankan life. The seeds for yet another social upheaval could be sown, even if unintentionally, by mismanaging the delicate balance of social equity in the country. There cannot be recourse to a one-dimensional focus to swiftly multiply English competence in the country without sensitivity to its social consequences.

The process has therefore to be managed with social and political sensitivity.