English and Sinhala bilingualism in Sri Lanka

1977 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 341-360 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chitra Fernando
Keyword(s):  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Language Choice ◽  
Personal Knowledge ◽  
Sri Lankan ◽  
Social Differences ◽  
The Way

ABSTRACTThis study describes the language situation of Sri Lanka (Ceylon) and examines the factors governing the language choice of Sinhalese bilinguals while attempting to correlate such factors with domains and role relations. It also examines the way in which such correlations reflect social differences in Sri Lankan society. The use of two languages by the same speakers almost inevitably affects the forms of the languages so used. The use of English by Sinhalese speakers has led to the functional elaboration of both English and Sinhala. Bilinguals show varying degrees of proficiency in the languages they use. Such disparities in performance have led to differing patterns of bilingualism manifested in different phonological and grammatical features. Materials are drawn from the English of newspapers, fiction, drama, poetry etc. and personal knowledge. (Language as a class indicator; bilingualism; conflict of speech norms; Sri Lankan English.)

The Role of Music and Allied Arts in Public Writings on Cultural Diversity: “People of Sri Lanka”

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 93-100
Author(s):  
Gisa Jähnichen
Keyword(s):  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Cultural Diversity ◽  
South Asia ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Sri Lankan ◽  
Culturally Different ◽  
The World ◽  
Official Languages ◽  
The Way

The Sri Lankan Ministry of National Coexistence, Dialogue, and Official Languages published the work “People of Sri Lanka” in 2017. In this comprehensive publication, 21 invited Sri Lankan scholars introduced 19 different people’s groups to public readers in English, mainly targeted at a growing number of foreign visitors in need of understanding the cultural diversity Sri Lanka has to offer. This paper will observe the presentation of these different groups of people, the role music and allied arts play in this context. Considering the non-scholarly design of the publication, a discussion of the role of music and allied arts has to be supplemented through additional analyses based on sources mentioned by the 21 participating scholars and their fragmented application of available knowledge. In result, this paper might help improve the way facts about groups of people, the way of grouping people, and the way of presenting these groupings are displayed to the world beyond South Asia. This fieldwork and literature guided investigation should also lead to suggestions for ethical principles in teaching and presenting of culturally different music practices within Sri Lanka, thus adding an example for other case studies.

The unresolved constitutional dilemma: Persisting Imbalance of power exposed by the Constitutional Coup 2018

2021 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 116-141
Author(s):  
Binendri Perera
Keyword(s):  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Prime Minister ◽  
Sri Lankan ◽  
Checks And Balances ◽  
Prime Ministers ◽  
Constitutional Reforms ◽  
Governmental Power ◽  
The Way

On 26th October 2018, Sri Lankan President surprised the nation with his abrupt removal of the Prime Minister in office and the appointment of another Prime Minister on ambivalent constitutional grounds. Through his actions, President Sirisena was attempting to bring to the power the former strongman Rajapaksa from his own party to entrench himself as well as their party, while undercutting Wickremasinghe and his party. Constitutional Coup 2018 was executed meticulously to ensure that the President and his old enemy, now his new-found ally could capture governmental power. The result was that Sri Lanka had two Prime Ministers claiming to be appointed to office. The paper discusses the dramatic and complicated actions and reactions that occurred during the Constitutional Coup 2018. This paper analyzes how the Constitutional Coup exposed the persisting imbalance of power as a weakness of the Sri Lankan Constitution of 1978 that undermines constitutionalism and how this weakness persisted despite the 2015 constitutional reforms. Even though the constitutional coup 2018 was resolved affirming the supremacy of the constitution the paper analyzes how the weakness exposed during then paved the way towards the deterioration ofthe system of checks and balances.

The Worldmaking Agency of the Sri Lankan Travel Blogger

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 117-127
Author(s):  
Gauthami Kamalika Jayathilaka
Keyword(s):  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Travel Writing ◽  
Knowledge Production ◽  
English Language ◽  
Sri Lankan ◽  
Alternative Representation ◽  
Structure And Agency ◽  
The Social ◽  
Critical Link ◽  
The Way

This article presents a scrutiny of the powerful "worldmaking" role performed by English language travel writers in the context of Sri Lanka. It critically positions travel representations as a crucial means of knowledge production that shapes the way Sri Lanka is known and experienced. In that, it examines an emerging version of the country produced by young Sri Lankan travel bloggers through their employment of an "activist gaze" alongside the use of a "promotional gaze" by professional tourism writers. The article illuminates each of these distinctive worldmaking roles; the latter engaging the authority of tourism in constructing/perpetuating a particular favored version of the country to persuade the global tourist, and the former's "aware" agency in constructing a potential or alternative representation distinctive from the first. However, surpassing an exploration of representations and their worldmaking power, the article sheds light on the way writers are inculcated into certain standpoints and their negotiation of these through the employment of the Bourdieusian concepts of habitus, capital, and field. As such, it innovatively combines structure and agency in the study of tourism representations, unveiling the social implications underlying worldmaking and thereby elucidating the critical link between the English language, travel writing and social class in an understudied postcolonial context of South Asia.

Watching Birds and People

2008 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 160-176
Author(s):  
Mikael Rothstein
Keyword(s):  
Common Ground ◽  
Field Work ◽  
Personal Knowledge ◽  
Mutual Understanding ◽  
Knowledge And Skills ◽  
Good Working ◽  
Anthropological Field Work ◽  
Different Cultures ◽  
The Way

This article explores ornithology as a hidden resource in anthropological field work. Relating experiences among the Penan forest nomads of Sarawak, Borneo, the author describes how his personal knowledge of bird life paved the way for good working relations, and even friendship, with the Penan. Representing two very different cultures simple communication between the scholar on duty and the Penan community was difficult indeed, but the birds provided a common ground that enabled the two parties to exchange experiences, knowledge and skills. In certain ways the author's fieldwork-based project relates to the Penan’s religious interpretation of birds, but the article is primarily concerned with the fact that a mutual understanding was created from this common ground, and that our thoughts on fieldwork preparations may be taken further by such experiences.

Blood Pressure values of Sri Lankan Tamils in Jaffna District, Sri Lanka

2015 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 66-71
Author(s):  
Balasubramaniam M ◽  
◽  
Sivapalan K ◽  
Tharsha J ◽  
Sivatharushan V ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Blood Pressure ◽  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Sri Lankan ◽  
Sri Lankan Tamils

scholarly journals Sri Lanka: Physical Reconstruction and Economic Development as Conflict Prevention Factors

2013 ◽  
Vol 19 (69) ◽  
pp. 55-76
Author(s):  
Boženko Đevoić
Keyword(s):  
Economic Development ◽  
Sri Lanka ◽  
External Pressure ◽  
Power Sharing ◽  
Sri Lankan ◽  
Conflict Prevention ◽  
Prevention Measures ◽  
Postconflict Reconstruction ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
The Government

ABSTRACT This article gives an overview of the 26 year long ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka and examines physical reconstruction and economic development as measures of conflict prevention and postconflict reconstruction. During the years of conflict, the Sri Lankan government performed some conflict prevention measures, but most of them caused counter effects, such as the attempt to provide “demilitarization”, which actually increased militarization on both sides, and “political power sharing” that was never honestly executed. Efforts in post-conflict physical reconstruction and economic development, especially after 2009, demonstrate their positive capacity as well as their conflict sensitivity. Although the Sri Lankan government initially had to be forced by international donors to include conflict sensitivity in its projects, more recently this has changed. The government now practices more conflict sensitivity in its planning and execution of physical reconstruction and economic development projects without external pressure.

Grasping at Straws: Judicial Review of Legislation in Sri Lanka

ICL Journal ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 281-306
Author(s):  
Danushka S Medawatte
Keyword(s):  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Transitional Justice ◽  
Judicial Review ◽  
Descriptive Analysis ◽  
Executive Power ◽  
Sri Lankan ◽  
Legal Literature ◽  
Justice Process ◽  
Provincial Councils ◽  
The Impact

AbstractIn this paper, I attempt to examine the evolution of judicial review of legislation in Sri Lanka with a view to better understanding how it has impacted the democratic fabric and constitutional matrix of Sri Lanka. The impact that judicial review of legislation has had on rights jurisprudence, enhancement of democracy, prevention of persecution against selected groups are analysed in this paper in relation to the Ceylon Constitutional Order in Council of 1946 (‘Soulbury’ Constitution) and the two autochthonous constitutions of Sri Lanka of 1972 and 1978. The first part of the paper comprises of a descriptive analysis of judicial review of legislation under the three Constitutions. This is expected to perform a gap filling function in respect of the lacuna that exists in Sri Lankan legal literature in relation to the assessment of the trends pertaining to judicial review of legislation in Sri Lanka. In the second part of the paper, I have analysed decided cases of Sri Lanka to explore how the judiciary has responded to legislative and executive power, and has given up or maintained judicial independence. In this respect, I have also attempted to explore whether the judiciary has unduly engaged in restraint thereby impeding its own independence. The third part of the paper evaluates the differences in technique and stance the judiciary has adopted when reviewing draft enactments of the national legislature and when reviewing draft or enacted statutes of Provincial Councils. From a comparative constitutional perspective, this assessment is expected to provide the background that is essential in understanding the island nation’s current constitutional discourse, transitional justice process, and its approach to human rights.

Securing the Sasana through Law: Buddhist constitutionalism and Buddhist-interest litigation in Sri Lanka

2016 ◽  
Vol 50 (6) ◽  
pp. 1966-2008 ◽  
Author(s):  
BENJAMIN SCHONTHAL
Keyword(s):  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Sri Lankan ◽  
Legal Activism ◽  
Liberal Constitutionalism

AbstractThis article examines the history and effects of Buddhist constitutionalism in Sri Lanka, by which is meant the inclusion of special protections and status for Buddhism in the island's 1972 and 1978 constitutions, alongside guarantees of general religious rights and other features of liberal constitutionalism. By analysing Sri Lankan constitutional disputes that have occurred since the 1970s, this article demonstrates how the ‘Buddhism Chapter’ of Sri Lanka's constitution has given citizens potent opportunities and incentives for transforming specific disagreements and political concerns into abstract contests over the nature of Buddhism and the state's obligations to protect it. Through this process, a culture of Buddhist legal activism and Buddhist-interest litigation has taken shape. This article also augments important theories about the work of ‘theocratic’ or religiously preferential constitutions and argues for an alternative, litigant-focused method of investigating them.

CHALLENGES AND CONSTRAINTS TO ENHANCE THE ENTREPRENEURSHIP EDUCATION IN HIGHER EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS OF A DEVELOPING COUNTRY: EVIDENCE FROM SRI LANKA

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (12) ◽  
pp. 13-26
Author(s):  
T.M.A. Tennakoon ◽  
Kennedy Gunawardena ◽  
S.P. Premaratne
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Education System ◽  
Action Plan ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Entrepreneurship Education ◽  
Sri Lankan ◽  
Study Approach ◽  
Effective Strategies ◽  
Developed Nations

This study through an exploratory approach review the challenges and constraints faced in enhancing entrepreneurship education in developing countries using Sri Lanka as a case study. Previous studies on the subject matter is very scarce and even in international journals only few papers appeared on entrepreneurship education in developing countries. The purpose of this paper is to study the current entrepreneurship education system in Sri Lankan state universities with reference to challenges and constraints and to propose an action plan to raise entrepreneurship education in Sri Lanka to be in par with that of developed nations so that these universities can act as the centerpieces of business innovations and entrepreneurship development. This paper employs an exploratory study approach by analyzing current entrepreneurship education system in Sri Lanka by reviewing secondary data such as various journals and government publications to build the arguments and recommendations outlined. Among constraints and challenges for the development of entrepreneurship education, lack of resources, lack of entrepreneurial skills in lecturers, poor stake-holder engagement, weak government policies and industry � university gap are common to most developing countries. In addition with its free education policy, Sri Lankan universities are faced with strict university entrance procedures and lack of selection of desired courses for majority of students. Findings of this study and salient suggestions will be an invaluable toolkit for policy makers to design effective strategies for entrepreneurship education in developing countries.

Adoption of integrated reporting in Sri Lanka: coverage and trend

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Thilini Cooray ◽  
Samanthi Senaratne ◽  
Nuwan Gunarathne ◽  
Roshan Herath ◽  
Dileepa Neelangi Samudrage
Keyword(s):  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
The Other ◽  
Sri Lankan ◽  
Legitimacy Theory ◽  
Integrated Reporting ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Disclosure Requirements ◽  
Comprehensive Index ◽  
Reporting Framework

Purpose This paper aims to examine the coverage of and trends in reporting content elements in the integrated reports of the Sri Lankan companies following the International Integrated Reporting Framework (IIRF). Design/methodology/approach Based on a comprehensive checklist developed on the content elements of the IIRF, 171 corporate integrated reports were content-analyzed over a period of three years. The results were theorized subsequently using the legitimacy theory. Findings The study identifies that the extent of and trend in the coverage of content elements of the IIRF have increased during the period under consideration despite some under-addressed areas. It indicates that Sri Lankan companies are making progress in the preparation of integrated reports in line with the IIRF, which provides evidence in support of both strategic and institutional perspectives of the legitimacy theory because of the proactive actions taken by managers to acquire legitimacy along with the other normative and mimetic pressures available in the IR landscape. Originality/value This is one of the first studies that evaluate the compliance of IR adopters with the IIRF overtime in the entirety of a single country. It also develops a comprehensive index to capture the disclosure requirements of IR and extends the analysis to a voluntary context using both strategic and institutional perspectives of the legitimacy theory.

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