Vivid bilingual education practices of ancient Sri Lanka

G H Asoka

Use of two or three languages as media of instruction in education was a need for becoming knowledgeable about Buddhism which had been introduced originally in Pali and then because of the influence of Sanskrit through Vaithulyavadaya. This is evident in the following extracts from the Education: Centenary Volume-1.

‘The scriptures of the Pitakas, which were regarded as the actual words of the Master, were taught to successive generations in their original language, Pali. But explanations of these writings were given in the language of the country. Thus a number of anecdotal commentaries that went under the name of Attakathas came into existence and Tikas (commentaries on Attakathas).’

Piriven education can benefit from bi-lingual education. File photo

‘The Bikkhus who seceded from the Mahavihara, that is to say, the Abhayagiri sect and other Vaithulyavadi studies Vaithulayavadaya through the medium of Sanskrit and the Sanskrit became a medium of education from early times.’

Another vivid practice

The ancient Sri Lankan society was in need for using the practical advantages of bilingual or multilingual education which reflects the need for plurilingual and multilingual capacities when learning the new under Buddhism. Thus Pali had been the language of religion. In this process, ancient educated persons have attempted to appropriate the new content available in a foreign language through adaptations with localizing new information.

Thus need for plurilingualism was an essential component in education at its high levels.

Sanskrit might have been a medium parallel to Pali and Sinhala as it had been mostly used as the language of culture in Sri Lanka especially concerning the secular aspects. It had been the language which allowed Sinhala and Pali to reflect their linguistic importance in terms of phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics and pragmatics.

Another significant fact reflected through the ancient bilingual education model is the use of supplementary material written in Sinhala, Pali and Sanskrit for supporting learning. Importance of using different branches of linguistics is another vivid practice to improve understanding of the content written in a foreign language parallel to awakening cognitive demands.

The ancient Sri Lankan citizens had clearly understood the need for the ability of using an international language parallel to local language/s for international collaboration and cooperation to promote and maintain diplomatic relations and trade. At the same time, they had realized the pragmatic uses of plurilingualism and multilingualism for developing languages through language-contact which has been sociolinguistically identified as ‘part of the social fabric of everyday life for hundreds of millions of people in the world over’ as Gillian Sankoff of the Pennsylvania University highlights in his article on Linguistic Outcomes of Language Contact.

Different historical and contemporary social processes produce different linguistic outcomes through language contact and consequent changes through the relationship between synchronic variation and change.

Instead of language interference, language transfer takes place through language contact. A significant outcome of this different language contact is mutual development of each language although political positions had been different from time to time with what the language had been mainly used for. No language had been lost other than significance of the use being affected in various ways.

This is a positive outcome that the current Sri Lankan society can revisit to do the same in language contact with English as an international language under bilingual education and its outcomes.

Language use for comprehension

Use of mother tongue parallel to foreign language/s made the unfamiliar content comprehensible through language transfer without the notion of negative interference.

This situation further shows the importance of the known language to comprehend the available in a foreign language. Learning Pali or Sanskrit had not been facilitated in another foreign language to be learnt.

Though Sinhala was not in a well developed position similar to Pali and Sanskrit at the beginning, Sinhala had been the language used for lubricating purposes of education in collecting knowledge, comprehending and other meta cognitive skills. Thus use of mother tongue had been used upto the possible and necessary maximum as a bridge while development of languages were being ensured through language contact.

Negative impact

This had been achieved through consuming a number of supplementary materials related to language use for comprehension and activating other cognitive aspects in education. Therefore it is obvious that use of forward transformation of content in the human brain had been in tactile use as a regular practice supporting the content to be taught using the support of Sinhala.

In this way, the learner had been able to shift from the known to the unknown, the familiar to the unfamiliar, from the simple to complex and from the general to specific. Another very admirable aspect is the use of plurilingualism for cognitive development parallel to language development addressing critical awareness of target studies based on creative texts related to religious education.

It is clear there had been the drama of politics of languages by that time, too. Overuse of Pali from the fifth Century AD to the 10th Century AD provides us a concrete example about the negative impact due to less use of local language, Sinhala without political recognition for it in the country. This situation had strengthened Pali instead of Sinhala.

The same will happen if English is overused or over appreciated without a balance in the curriculum of Pirivena education under bilingual education by implementing curriculum in English medium due to stronger political position. Importance of language for development of all the languages which are in contact through additive aspects of bilingual education is another facet positively noticeable in ancient Buddhist education in Sri Lanka. As a result, Sinhala language had been flourished and nourished through influence of Pali and Sanskrit. This can be further supported by the emergence of Sinhala literature around various components of the content related to Buddhism as a religion and a way of life.

Vehicle of instruction

Learners had been provided with a lot of language support to be conversant in subject content: the contemporary approach to instructional design reflects of 4Cs curriculum linking cognition, communication, content and culture. Multilanguage use had been linked with cognitive enhancement in time with content by appropriating the content in suitable learning contexts through localization.

This is obvious in developing ‘Sanyas’ which were not direct, mechanical translations: ‘Sanyas’ were composed of the content of the subject aspects with adaptations with contemporary socially significant incidents to explain matters further in a simple manner.

When use of CLIL (Content and Language integrated Learning) is examined in ancient Buddhist and Buddhism based education, it is said educationists by that time had realized the importance of language not only as a vehicle of instruction, but also as an instrument for cognitive enhancement, linking cognition with content and language. Yet this aspect has not been highlighted because of the extensive use learning has later been blended towards studies of Sinhala language and literature alone.

It is vivid that language had been used as an instrument for moulding behaviour with new experience addressing cognitive, affective and psycho-motor domains with the sole purpose of directing the laymen and the priests towards ‘right way of living’.