A CRITICAL RESPONSE TO DINOO KELLEGHAN?S LANKAN ENGLISH: HOW FAR DO WE GO?

This paper is a critical response to Dinoo Kelleghan’s article Lankan English: How Far Do We Go? Kelleghan (2013) expresses her views on a seminar titled Kaduva: the Colomboscope seminar on Sri Lankan English Learning conducted by the Kaduva panel: Dr. Sumathy Sivamohan of the University of Peradeniya, Dr. Shermal Wijewardene of the University of Colombo, writer and editor Malinda Seneviratne and moderator Shyamalee Tudawe. In the light of “linguistic schizoglossia” (Kandiah, 1981) and “linguistic schizophrenia” (Kachru, 1992), the paper discusses how Kelleghan’s arguments reflect the attempt of Sri Lankan users of English to conform to an ‘ideal’ exonormative variety of English resisting Sri Lankan English (SLE). Focusing on English language teaching and learning, it also problematizes her suggestion to form a “cultural lingua franca.”