“No no no, you mean ‘phone’ not ‘pone’”, another prospective great orator gets humiliated in public and fears to utter the idiom again. Proper pronunciation of the English language has been emphasized by teachers and peers alike. Some tuition masters would take pride in teaching students British English and say its the proper English. However, this makes students even more alien to English, that has sadly become a tool in our society to climb the ladder of success. Whether it be a work place presentation or a classroom activity in the university or school, people fear speaking in English because their speech could be riddled with mistakes. Such an episode can be detrimental to the individual. It does not only reveal your skills in the language, but also exposes you socially and culturally.
It would be foolish for one to deny that we do not need English because as a developing nation it is difficult to survive solely by using the mother tongue. We need the language to access knowledge and to build international ties.
However, English no longer belongs to the British and has become a universal language, hence one can argue that it is time that Sri Lanka becomes open to a kind of English that is its own. The people of this nation are comfortable using a new variety of English when speaking and writing. Further, we must change our attitude towards the language and should know the history and politics that the tongue encompasses. To understand these ideas further Dr. Nandaka Maduranga Kalugampitiya, Department of English, University of Peradeniya and Madubashini Ratnayake, Senior Lecturer and head of the English Language Teaching Unit (ELTU), Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences, University of Sri Jayewardenepura gave their academic perspective on this issue.
Dr.Kalugampitiya touched on the history and the context of the issue, and said, “We need to understand the position of the English language in Sri Lanka to get to the root of the issue. Compared to the other two languages used, Sinhala and Tamil, the English language is quite different in the sense that English came to Sri Lanka as the language of the colonizer, the language of the oppressor. Though the oppressor is no longer there the language is still associated with features such as domination. Hence in the Sri Lankan context there is much tension associated with the English language. Traditionally English has been the prerogative of a particular class in society, that is the elite class. However, English has changed now and has become a language that is more accessible to more and more people, a contrast to the situation two or three decades ago. More people speak more freely and they understand the usefulness of the language.
“However, the language still remains as the property of a certain privileged class in society. Hence, making mistakes in English can be quite costly. It can have many negative consequences, as there is a notion that the English language isn’t a language that should be meddled with, mainly because of the sense of power associated with the English language,” he said.
The way you speak exposes your social position, your class, education level, personality and even your moral compass. Therefore, the way you pronounce English tells a lot about you, much more than your English language competence
Dr. Kalugampitiya
Madubashini Ratnayake elaborated more on the background of this issue and said, “We got English from the British who colonized us. We are shouldering much prejudices and issues because we were colonized. When we were colonized, the British made it quite clear, regardless of where they colonized, that the natives were the savages and the British were the civilized people. In everything that they did, even with their language, they worked towards reinforcing this concept. Taking an example from another field, we still believe that fair is beautiful. In post-colonial countries like India and Sri Lanka we are constantly selling fairness cream. Even within the language this concept follows; for example refer to black as sin, but as pure as snow. Hence, even in language we have put black into a position of inferiority and white into position of superiority.
“Therefore, language is more deeply rooted in the way we view the world. We look at the world through language. Language is reality. when we look at this issue from a superficial stand point we believe that the British pronunciation is correct. Sadly, even fifty years after the British has left we are still trapped in this mindset. I still see advertisements that teach British English. Even TV channel hosts try to use a supposed, but rather terrible, British accent to show that their level of English is superior,” said Ratnayake.
As a teacher of English, she showed how this issue impacts her students, or any student who is pursuing the journey of learning the language, “As a teacher I believe that the issue relating to pronouncing English words is one of the most sensitive issues when teaching the language. When I teach a student to speak English, his or her level of English is obviously not going to be even close to be of the British standard. This is because it is not our mother tongue. But as teachers we are not aiming at that standard, but we are aiming at what we call the ‘Sri Lankan accent’, where we have a way of talking that is very common among Sri Lankans who do speak English. Almost all the academics in universities in Sri Lanka, in the English Department, would be talking with a Sri Lankan accent. The sad thing is that those who have studied abroad and know some English, would not bother about working on an English or American accent. But those who have learned the language with much difficulty in another way might be thinking that this is the way to impress people.
She also spoke about the attitude that students have, towards those who are learning the language, “Generally when students who speak in Sinhala try to learn the language they are immediately subject to fun. If not openly, at least other students will look at each other with a smirk and that child who is trying to speak the language knows it, and very often he or she would stop talking. That is one of the basic problems we have in language teaching because they would rather be quiet than be laughed at. However, a language can only be learned efficiently through usage. But in Sri Lanka our culture is such, that we make fun of that accent. This is one of the most harmful things in our country. No young person likes to be laughed at. Personally, a person has to be past 40 to inculcate that ‘I do not care attitude’. Young people hate to be laughed at. It is a sense of inferiority that all of us have internalised. It is worse that people think it is okay to laugh at someone who is trying to learn.” added Ratnayake.
We look at the world through language. Language is reality. when we look at this issue from a superficial stand point we believe that the British pronunciation is correct. Sadly, even fifty years after the British has left we are still trapped in this mindset
Madubashini Ratnayake
Fear psychosis
Dr. Kalugampitiya explained about the fear psychosis behind pronunciation by saying, “Pronunciation as opposed to writing, is more easily observed, hence what you say and the way you say it quickly registers in people. The way you speak exposes your social position, your class, education level, personality and even your moral compass. Therefore, the way you pronounce English tells a lot about you, much more than your English language competence.
“But the mindset towards Tamil and Sinhala speech is rather different, it’s quite sad that some people believe that not speaking properly in Sinhala and Tamil is something to be proud of. Some people believe it exposes a positive attribute about themselves. this difference is because of the difference in power associated with each of these languages.
“But when it comes to English you can never afford to make that mistake, because every mistake is going to cost you opportunities in life. This is why people are afraid to speak the language”.
I am not saying that to use broken English, but broken English at times is part of the journey of learning. A rigid attitude towards those who are on the journey will not help
Both academics portrayed interesting arguments on whether we should have our own variety of English or whether we should stick to the proper British English.
Dr. Kalugampitiya argued by saying, “That is a question at a philosophical level. For instance, if you consider old English we find that it is far different from middle English to modern English pronunciation. Hence, there is a growth in the language. Pronunciation has under gone much change over the years. If a person who speaks old English meets a person who speaks modern English, there is a 100% guarantee that they would not understand each other. Though the same language is being used, it would not be comprehensible to the two people in the different periods. Hence, connecting that analogy to this question one can argue that in our context the English language can undergo changes, and pronunciation is a key aspect that will undergo change as well.
Further, there are certain sounds in Sinhala and Tamil, such as the ‘sha’ sound that has got incorporated into Sri Lankan spoken English. Such changes have been coming gradually. If the majority of the people are pronouncing the language in a different way from traditional British English, in my opinion we should not prevent this change, because it is the natural process of change,” said Dr. Kalugampitiya.
Madubashini also presented her argument on this idea and emphasised on the writing aspect of the new or hybrid variety of English in the country. She said, “English has dispersed so much around the globe, again due to colonialism, that now it is so decentralized and has become difficult to control. Despite absolute desire to control, people tamper with the language. This is truly relevant to creative writing. If we take some of the young African women writers like Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie they casually use African words within the English. The Indian English poet Kamala Das for instance broke the structure of conventional English as she believed it was her English. However, there must be a level of comprehension and uniformity in the language in order to reach out to people. Otherwise the whole purpose of language fails. The first objective of language is communication. Hence, there must be a balance between the level of uniformity in the language and uniqueness presented by the new variety of English. Further, post-colonial theory actually discusses many varieties of English rather than one type of English.
She added, “However I am not saying that to use broken English, but broken English at times is part of the journey of learning. A rigid attitude towards those who are on the journey will not help. People must be aware of the political issues of this language. It has always been a language of privilege”.
We must start with politics, if we are to be successful in getting some people to learn. Hence, before we teach English we must create awareness amongst the students about the politics of English. Otherwise it is hard for people to muster the courage to learn the language.
She also voiced her concern about how this issue is not being discussed in society, adding “ However, there is one concern. Since the private education system is established so strongly in the country those ideas are not being expressed. It is either the teachers are not aware of this issue or they do not regard it worth discussing. This issue is being discussed at universities by their respective English departments. However, in general I do not believe that these ideas are in currency in our country. This is a bit worrying.
Job seekers and English
They discussed a solution for this predicament and how to thereby eradicate the fear psychosis behind the language, Madubashini said “My appeal is for two categories of people: for the people who are proficient in English to not be so smug about your level of English because it has always been connected to privilege. Thereby I urge them to learn to be open to those who are still learning to speak English. English is not a mark of intelligence. The second category of people are those who are on the journey of learning the tongue. I believe you should not fear talking in a less standardized way. This has been spoken at many conferences where we as a country should think of a different standard of English. Action should be taken to solve this problem. It would help however if people reach higher levels of proficiency in English if they can. But we need to understand that rural areas do not have teachers with the same standard of English, that we find in the major urban cities. It is hard and unfair that job seekers expect that same standard of English”.
If a person who speaks old English meets a person who speaks modern English, there is a 100% guarantee that they would not understand each other. Though the same language is being used, it would not be comprehensible to the two people in the different periods.
Dr. Kalugampitiya added, “In my view, we need an attitudinal change. Many of us are under the impression that we must pronounce English in a way that British or American people do, where any deviation from that norm is a mistake. We need to educate people and raise awareness among people that language is always in a state of change and we as a nation should be open to it. If we could cultivate this attitude people will be open to the idea of a new variety of English. Having discussions with teachers and giving them a theoretical understanding about the situation will be the necessary first step, as they are the initial propagators of English and also to popularise Sri Lankan works of art in English that incorporate the Sri Lankan variety of English.
Madubashini concluded, “English in Sri Lanka is about class and privilege. It begins with a change of attitude: amongst those who are proficient in English, those who are learning the tongue and in our media. This change is a change of heart, it is not something academic. It is an emotional change that the who country has to undergo. We must start with politics, if we are to be successful in getting some people to learn. Hence, before we teach English we must create awareness amongst the students about the politics of English. Otherwise it is hard for people to muster the courage to learn the language.
