English
http://repository.kln.ac.lk/handle/123456789/2509
2024-03-28T09:44:06ZWords from the ‘margins’: Exploring Sri Lankan English borrowings in the classroom
http://repository.kln.ac.lk/handle/123456789/26041
Words from the ‘margins’: Exploring Sri Lankan English borrowings in the classroom
Fernando, Dinali
The use of Sri Lankan English (SLE) vocabulary among Sri Lankans themselves has
been the focus of some debate. While some studies have found that teachers of English
tend to reject SLE vocabulary, particularly borrowings, in the classroom, other
researchers observe that such avoidance is more prevalent among the so-called non-
standard users of SLE. However, studies that focus on specific types of vocabulary, or
on specific genres of writing, are rare in SLE studies. In particular, despite the current
interest in the pedagogical implications of World Englishes, there are few studies that
investigate SLE used in texts produced in the classroom. This study thus aims to
investigate the use of SLE borrowings in written texts by learners of English who can be
considered users of non-standard SLE. The study takes the theoretical position that the
appropriate use of SLE vocabulary is part of the sociocultural competence, a significant
learner competence, of the learner. Using both quantitative and qualitative approaches,
this exploratory study attempts to analyse the nature and the extent of SLE borrowings
found in 27 informal written samples on a culture specific topic by a group that tends to
be marginalized in SLE studies, the adult language learner of English. The findings of
the study revealed an unexpected extent of usages and identified two strategies of uses,
explication and exemplification, indicating that the so-called non-standard users display
a sociocultural competence that has significant implications for classroom practice
2015-01-01T00:00:00ZSri Lankan English or not? Lexical Choices and Negotiations in Postcolonial Women’s Writing in Sri Lanka
http://repository.kln.ac.lk/handle/123456789/26040
Sri Lankan English or not? Lexical Choices and Negotiations in Postcolonial Women’s Writing in Sri Lanka
Fernando, Dinali
Postcolonial studies as well as sociolinguists have long asserted the significance of
language in postcolonial societies and the unquestionable power that language has in
constructing reality. Both disciplines explore the complex and dynamic relationship
between the English of the colonisers and the emerging World Englishes, and the
process of adaptation and appropriation (Ashcroft et al. 1989, 1995, 2002) of the
language which no longer belongs solely to what postcolonial studies refer to as the
“Imperial centre” (Ashcroft et al. 1989, Boehmer 1995), or what World Englishes
terms the “Inner Circle” or the “norm-providers” (Kachru 1982). Both disciplines
have also acknowledged that the languages of postcolonial societies, whether it is
their own indigenous languages or their adaptation of the coloniser’s language, offer
postcolonial writers a much richer and more appropriate linguistic resource to express
their own unique realities than the language of the imperial centre. (New 1978,
Ashcroft et al 1995 and 2002, Boehmer 1995). Similarly, in World Englishes studies
Kachru (1992) sees the positive and enriching effect of postcolonial adaptation of
language which defines a new identity to the postcolonial writer:
2011-01-01T00:00:00ZTeaching literature in times of COVID: views from Sri Lanka
http://repository.kln.ac.lk/handle/123456789/26039
Teaching literature in times of COVID: views from Sri Lanka
Fernando, Dinali
This presentation is based on the narratives of Sri Lankan teachers of literature about their experiences
of teaching English literature online in times of COVID 19 in Sri Lanka. Online teaching has produced
a rather polemical discourse in Sri Lanka at present, as evident most visibly in the local multimodal
news media and social media. On the one hand, the affordances of online teaching are being explored,
and even reified; on the other, it also records a tenacious resistance towards any form of IT-mediated
education based on concerns about the “digital and social gap” of unequal access to resources.
However, this discourse tends to be controlled by the powerful voices in education, largely of
university academics. While they claim to speak for everyone, the voices of the teachers in primary
and secondary schools who were forced to adopt online teaching methodologies almost overnight
have remained conspicuously silent, perhaps even silenced, in this discourse. This presentation focuses
on exploring the individual experiences of a group of teachers of English literature who transitioned
to online and remote teaching since the closure of schools on March 13th 2020. Their narratives,
located within their specific teaching contexts, will be analyzed. Issues of significance in teaching
literature online during the pandemic, as they emerge from the teachers’ narratives, will be discussed.
It is hoped that the presentation will lead to the sharing of insights into the methodologies of teaching
literature within and outside the online and pandemic context, which remain a rich but unexplored
area of research in our part of the world.
2020-01-01T00:00:00Z“Kuppi”, “koku” and “kaakko”: an exploration of the linguistic and ideological significance of contemporary campus slang
http://repository.kln.ac.lk/handle/123456789/26038
“Kuppi”, “koku” and “kaakko”: an exploration of the linguistic and ideological significance of contemporary campus slang
Fernando, Dinali
Universities and university students have long been a fertile source of slang, which can be defined as an
informal variety of language comprising words and expressions used by a particular social group. Research
in campus slang has a long history (see for example Mcphee 1927, Kannerstein 1967, Olesen and Whittaker
1968, Kutner and Brogan 1974, Hancock 1990, Murray 1991, Hummon 1994, Thorne 2005, Preece 2009,
Adamo 2013). Many of these studies present word lists and linguistic analyses of these unique lexical items
that reflect the academic, social, and personal experiences of student life. Studies of campus slang
conducted in American and British universities also indicate several similarities as well as significant
differences in the spread and functions of campus slang in Sri Lanka. This, along with the fact that the
slang of Sri Lankan university students has not been the focus of much research, provided the rationale for
the current study. Examples of slang were obtained from multiple participants at a university in the western
province to develop an initial wordlist. A linguistic analysis of each term was then conducted by identifying
their morphological features and semantic categories. Reflexive texts written by selected student
participants were also obtained to analyse their experiences of encountering, learning and using campus
slang. The analysis of this overall data was located in the theoretical framework of linguistic ideology, or
the linguistic behaviours that not only characterise a particular social group but also language practices that
aim to legitimise dominant political powers. The study concludes that there are significant ideological
implications in the usage, function and spread of the slang of the sociopolitically complex discourse
community of Sri Lankan university students.
2016-01-01T00:00:00Z