Browsing by Author "Wickramasinghe, P.D.D.D."

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Application of Official Languages Policy in Sri Lankan Public Service
(19th Conference on Postgraduate Research, International Postgraduate Research Conference 2018, Faculty of Graduate Studies,University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2018) Wickramasinghe, P.D.D.D.
Every citizen of the country has the right to seek services in both official languages in public institutions according to the chapter IV of the constitution of Sri Lanka. Also, according to the public administration circular (PAC)7/2007 every public officer who was recruited to the public service after 01.07.2007 should obtain the proficiency of their second official language in order to give their service to the public in both official languages. The second official language of a public officer is the official language which is not the medium through which he/she has entered public service. Thus, general public expect that they can obtain the services in public institutions in the language that they prefer and government expects that public officers will give their service to the general public in the language that the public prefers. This study following hall mark features of a cross-focuses on public institutions in a selected divisional secretariat in Colombo District to find out the challenges faced by the public officers to deliver service in the Official Languages, the findings reveal several administrative issues that disrupts the Official Languages Policy
The Lack of the Sinhalese Language Literacy among the Students: A Case Study of a School in Kolonnawa Educational Division
(Department of Linguistics, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Wickramasinghe, P.D.D.D.
Sri Lanka has a commendable record for one of the highest literacy rates in the South East Asia. This achievement can be largely attributed to the free education system of the country which came into operation since 1945. The many decades since then the country‟s education system has evolved under various socio-political nuances. Kolonnawa is an area known for its complex social background. This isolated study which concentrates upon a cohort of 22 students assigned to a special Sinhalese language literacy class in a school located in Sedawaththa tries to unearth the reason as to what has made the particular student population lagging behind the required Sinhalese language literacy for their age. The study found out that the sheer lack of parent‟s concern for their children‟s education has mainly led for this predicament. In addition, the poverty, the disintegrated family setups, lack of effective educational policies on the part of relevant authorities corresponding to the above social setting have been the contributory factors for this issue. The methodology adopted for the study was face to face interviews with the relevant students and the teachers. It is not a high profile technical report but it is a simple case study which tries to highlight the current problems relating to the Sinhalese language literacy among the students in the concerned area.
Language Policy Implementation: A Comparative Study between Sri Lanka and Canada
(Department of Linguistics, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Wickramasinghe, P.D.D.D.
Accommodation of a multi-ethnic population within a territory of a single state has been largely acknowledged as a worldwide issue due to the problems stemming out from the linguistic disparities. In the most of the countries in the world, this scenario has been either erupted due to decade long colonial regimes or owing to the influx of the different migrant ethnic groups at various given times in the historical context of the countries concerning. Thus successive governments over the world for years have been implementing number of languages policies to lessen the widening rift between dominant ethnic groups and the minorities arising owing to the different kind of languages that they speak. The official bilingualism is the ultimate solution that the governments have been embarking on. This recognition of the two or more official languages can largely be attributed to a scenario stemming out of a socio-political dilemma therefore it had been a laborious task where the states concerning considered as the last resort to create the much needed harmony within their countries. To date, around 200 countries in the world recognise two or more official languages; The Sri Lankan and Canadian experience in this regard has much in common to share as the two countries had to undergo number volatile socio political nuances at various instances in their historical contexts. The fact that how Canadian language policy differs from the Sri Lankan language policy is considered here. Today, the Canadian experience in the bilingualism and language policy implementation has achieved tremendous success; therefore this paper attempts to highlight the currents problems relating to language policy implementation in Sri Lanka in a comparative perspective.