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English, Chinglish, Singlish and so much more
The recently concluded international conference of the SLELTA looks at the modern day challenges of teaching English.Madhubhashini Ratnayake reports

The de-centering of English and its constantly changing nature which often challenges the orthodox teaching and the perception of it were welcome themes during the first day of the 3rd International Conference of the Sri Lanka English Language Teachers Association (SLELTA) held from October 8-10, in Colombo, under the patronage of the British Council.

The SLELTA, begun in 2000, has now over 300 teachers of English from all over the island, ranging from university academics, primary and secondary school teachers to British Council staff engaged in the activity of teaching English. The packed conference hall of about 450 participants spoke of their enthusiasm in participating in this conference, which gives a rare opportunity for these groups who do not have much interaction with each other, to meet, discuss and cross fertilize each other with regard to their research and experience.

English language teaching and the learning of English are crucial issues in Sri Lanka and often much frustration and bitterness is associated with it, given the way the language has been passed down to us and the importance it has been given in the country today. Therefore the importance of SLELTA, which, while giving a chance for various academics and teachers to present more effective ways of learning and classroom methodology, also gives Sri Lankan teachers a chance to be aware of world trends and attitudes with regard to this language, when academics from here and abroad present their research. Attitudinal changes are vital in this field, where psychological barriers often make the task of learning English harder - and therefore making teachers aware of current attitudes with regard to English is important.

After Dr. Tara de Mel outlined the government policies with regard to the teaching of the English language in Sri Lanka, which stressed the importance that English Language Teaching has been given by this government, the conference opened out to language scholars who in plenaries and workshops presented and discussed various issues with regard to language teaching.

"We as teachers of English, should not let only the policy makers decide what to do with regard to future developments in language teaching," said Professor Ryhana Raheem, whose term as the President of SLELTA also reached an end at the conclusion of the conference, when Dr. Manique Gunesekera was voted in as the next President. "Most often policy makers make their decisions on the basis of their own language loyalties, which may not be the best for the country as a whole," Professor Raheem added. She emphasized the need for English language teachers themselves to broaden their attitudes to look beyond the English language when thinking about language teaching - to look at language attitudes among our people with regard to the two official languages of the country, Sinhala and Tamil, when making language policy decisions with regard to English. This itself was a shift away from considering English as being apart from the native languages spoken in a country.

Professor David Crystal, one of the world's foremost authorities on reference publishing and on language, "virtually present" at the conference in Sri Lanka via a video link, himself admitted the need to eventually accept other English varieties in the future. It will not be a world where one standard of English - the so-called "standard" English of the native speaker (though that term itself is now open to contention) - will be the only present or accepted standard. He was visualizing three tiers, the so-called "native" speakers' (who will be heavily outnumbered by the others soon) standard, the local standard English as for example, Indian English, African English or Sri Lankan English, and the other varieties which mix the local languages with English giving rise to almost mutually incomprehensible varieties of English like "Chinglish" (Chinese + English) or "Singlish (Singaporean + English).

"It will take a while for the prestige of the other varieties to build up, though," admitted Professor Crystal. "The literature of that variety, for example, will have to be built up, just like it had to built up for "standard" English. Specially examining bodies will have to be open to these varieties as well. Only then will they gain recognition. But a shift is occurring. Major institutions of the world are becoming open to them."

The same theme was touched on by David Graddol, a well known writer, broadcaster and lecturer on issues related to global English, in his workshop. "It is multilingualism that is gaining power now, not just the knowledge of English," he said. The rise of English, the so-called "story of English" written in the past by the very people who wanted and worked for English to become a world power, gave a narrativity or a story structure to how powerful English became, ignoring the complexities that the very process involved all over the world.

The complexities can no longer be ignored, said Graddol. "To say that a system is complex is to say many things. In complex or chaotic systems, nothing is inevitable. So in countries like Sri Lanka, I think the best thing to do is for people here to decide what they want to do with the English language. I have begun to see that every country is different with regard to what English means to them. There are no easy solutions. But what I do see is that too much time is spent in worrying."

By calling attention to the constructed nature of the "story of English" which was a definite project by those interested in making English a global power, attitudes like Graddol's go a long way in attacking the unnecessary, often disempowering awe with which English is regarded in countries like ours.

Even the representative of a leading Indian publishing company, Usha Aroor, speaking of the creation of learner dictionaries, pointed out that we cannot expect effective learning to take place by giving learners in different world regions the internationally standard dictionaries. "Those standard dictionaries will not have enough information that will give an enactment of a word or a phrase in a particular context, which will make it easier to be understood by the learner. Learners need more information, and ideally we should have dictionaries regionally specific, dealing with Indian English or other kinds of English, to cater to learners’ needs," she said.

Therefore, only on the first day of the SLELTA conference itself, ideas about the decentering of English and the need for attitudinal changes with regard to the English language were floated abroad and if the teachers could take such changed notions back to their students and their local communities, conferences like the SLELTA would succeed in making a positive change in the field of English language teaching in Sri Lanka. And such a change is what many are waiting for here.

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