My academic biography

My academic journey formally began after I had been admitted to a school situated close to my village which lies at the foot of a high mountain range called Alagalla in the Galagedara electorate in the district of Kandy, Sri Lanka. The village where I was born and bred is called Ambawa which is still a rural hamlet with a few families who are closely related to each other. Since this particular village is situated at the foot of a mountain, transportation remains somewhat difficult provided that you do not own a vehicle of your own. In other words, one has to walk about 4 or 5 kilometers to the bus route. However, unlike those days when we were very young, now a road has been constructed and the village has electricity, telephone, and water. When I was very young, there were no infrastructure facilities such as roads, electricity, or telephone so we had to walk four or five kilometers to get to the school. The nearest city to my village is Hataraliyadda which is about 8 kilometers far.

Where is Ambawa in the Central Province of Sri Lanka?

Extracted from http://mapcarta.com/28949408

My village lies to the left of the Alagalla mountain range while the Colombo –Kandy railway line is to the right of Alagalla Mountain. In the Southern end of the Kandy district bordering the Colombo –Kandy railway line majestically stands this massive rock which is 1200 feet high and about a kilometer long, connecting the Kadugannawa Mountain range and the Pass. On the 4^th of February, (Sri Lanka’s Independence Day) every year, people from surrounding villages climb up this mountain and reach the summit of Alagalla Rock. Some stay a night there on the summit. However, the path leading to the summit of this rock is arduous and it runs through a thick jungle. To climb to the apex of this rock, one might take 4 to 5 hours from my village. One can see the whole Kegalle district from the summit. The summit is rocky with a few shrubs and thorny creepers. From the summit, one can watch the trains passing to Rambukkana railway station through paddy and rubber lands. However much the climb is arduous and tiresome, once you get to the top of the rock, your eyes can catch a breathtaking view that cannot be seen anywhere on the Island. I climbed to the summit of Alagalla Rock two times with my friends from my village.   

                                         Alagalla mountain range as seen from Mawanella

                         A striking view of the Alagalla mountain range as seen from Mawanella

This is how the Alagalla mountain looks from my village

                            My first school - Rangamuwa primary school

                                           This is how the school looks in 2023 (07/05/23)

I cannot vividly remember how well I studied the subjects in my primary classes because most of the time, as was often the case with other children, I devoted more time to playing rather than studying both at school and home. As soon as I got home after school, I went to play with other children in the village. We used to play many games peculiar to my culture and sometimes volleyball and cricket. Most of the time, we stopped our play activities in the fall at dusk or with a loud call by our family members. It was in the evening I did my homework. Whatever the other subjects, I had a great predilection for English subject so English became my favorite subject at school. In those days (in the 1960s) loud reading was very much favored since it was considered an ability in the context of teaching  English then. As I described earlier, I studied from grade one to grade six at Rangamuwa school where we had only one English teacher for the whole school. What we did as students during the English period in the class was to read the given passage in the textbook and do the activities set on it. Our English teacher explained the meaning of the passage to us in our native language so we did not find it difficult to understand it. I studied English from grade three to six at Rangamuwa School. I should say that I was very much influenced to study English by my mother who had received her education in one of the leading Central Schools in Sri Lanka (Ibbagamuwa Central College in Kurunegala district) where the medium of instruction was English. My mother could help me a lot to improve my reading and writing skills. Moreover, one of my uncles helped me with my English when I was studying in the advanced level class. He was an English teacher (he is no more alive). My grandfather, grandmother, and uncles took care of us lovingly. My mother who has been behind my educational success died on the 18th of May, 2021. She lived around 87 years with no major health complications and I was in Thailand at the time of her death. She stayed with my younger brother who took care of her and treated her with greater care and love. I could not participate in her funeral due to the Covid-19 pandemic which began in 2020 and continued causing deaths to millions of people around the world. The only thing I can do from the house I currently stay (No 161, Rodfythawantok, Nakhon Pathom, Thailand) is to say, May you attain Nirwana and be my loving mother in my next birth if I happen to be reborn as a human being. Last time I saw her alive after my sister who had visited her showed her through a Whatsapp video call. She could not recognize me at first. After I introduced her, she remembered me and called me. I can never get rid of this pain in my life until I leave this world for good. During her life, my mother suffered a lot, so her next birth should be a luxurious one with no worldly sufferings. Tomorrow morning, your physical body will be buried (I write this note on 18th May 2021), and by tomorrow, I will be 60 years old. This is such a remarkable incident in my life. Your death and my 60th birthday. My pain would lessen a little if I could see your lifeless body a little. This pandemic has no compassion on humans. 

                             

                               This photo was taken at Danovita house with my son

                                                         My mother's O/L certificate

                                            My mother's school leaving certificate

My grandparents (Y.M. Appuhamy and A. R. Bandumenika)

Studying at Walalgoda Maha Vidyalaya

Location: Walalgoda Maha Vidyalaya is located on the B281 road which goes from Rambukkana to Mawathagama via Parape. In Google Maps, Walalgoda is marked with a shape like a cone. However, thanks to Google street view, I was able to capture a photo of Walalgoda Maha Vidyalaya which looks different from the time I was educated. The pictures below show the current view of the school. I was overjoyed when I saw the pictures of my school after nearly three decades.

Once I passed out grade six at Rangamuwa School, I was transferred to another school in the Kegalle district. It was at Walalgoda I received my secondary education until I sat for the National Certificate of General Education (NCGE). It was at this time (in the 1970s), a big wave of educational reforms in Sri Lanka was beginning to emerge. In the 1970s, the government which was in power brought about a dramatic change in the existing educational policy. The government stressed that students should be exposed to a vocation-based education system. In line with this objective, the government introduced new curriculums, syllabi, and teaching and learning materials that affected even the evaluation process that had been in operation up to that time. Some of the major changes were abolishing the General Certificate of Education- Ordinary and Advanced Levels national examinations and instead introducing the National Certificate of General Education (NCGE) and Higher National Certificate of Education (HNCE) where the students were to sit for these two examinations at grades 9 and 13 respectively. Even though there were some protests from the public, the government did not abandon them but continued until they got defeated in the following general election.

I, however, had to sit for this examination (NCGE) when I was studying at Walalgoda Maha Vidyalaya. We had to offer ten subjects and I was not successful at the examination because I could not do well at the examination. The main reason for my failure at the examination can be ascribed to my negligence and carelessness which can impact negatively on anybody’s success not only in studies but also in other life-related issues. I did not attend school properly and sometimes I used to play truant. These factors mentioned above contributed to my failure at the NCGE examination at last. To do the examination for the second time, I entered another school in the Kegalle district.

Studying at Kegallu Vidyalaya

Kegallu Vidyalaya

Kegallu Vidyalaya is a Buddhist Boys' school in Kegalle District, Sabaragamuwa Province, Sri Lanka established on 14 February 1942. Being a National School controlled by the Central government. The school has a long history (more information is available at http://www.kegaluvidyalaya.lk).

When I was studying at Kegallu Vidyalaya, I underwent a big change in my behavior because the environment was completely different from my former schools. I found most of my classmates studious and diligent in their studies, unlike my classmates at Walalgoda Maha Vidyalaya. All my classmates at Walalgoda Maha Vidyalaya were similar in abilities except for one or two. Therefore, there was no form of competition. I firmly decided to work hard and get through the examination. In order to achieve my objective, I transformed myself from laziness to liveliness and negligence to diligence in my studies. I worked hard and my hard work paid off in the end. I was successful in the examination. According to the results I obtained at the NCGE examination, I could pursue the Agricultural Science stream that included Botany, Zoology, Chemistry, and Agricultural Science. However, Kegallu Vidyalaya did not have Agricultural Science so I had to go to Hataraliyadda Central College which is closer to my hometown. I left Kegallu Vidyalaya in 1976 as far as I remember and entered Hataraliyadda Central College to pursue my Higher National Certificate in General Education in the Agricultural Science stream.

After I had begun my studies at Hataraliayadda Central College, I sharply felt a big distinction between the two colleges in status. Even the academic atmosphere of Hataraliyadda Central College was different from that of Kegallu Vidyalaya because Hataraliyadda Central College is situated in a rural area with fewer facilities and resources. Therefore, only a very few students excel in education. In other words, only a handful of students qualify for university admission.

In the 1970s, when I was studying, we did not have qualified teachers to teach science subjects for advanced-level classes. Therefore, some of my classmates went for tuition classes held in Kandy which is about 25 kilometers from Hataraliyadda. However, my parents could not afford expenses to send me to tuition classes so I had to depend on classroom instruction only. Except for Agricultural Science, the other three subjects (Zoology, Botany, and Chemistry) that I had to study were new, and needed to understand the subject matter well in order to be successful at the HNCE examination. It was during this time there was a rumor that the opposite party would abolish the NCGE and HNCE examinations and revert to the old system i.e. GCE (OL and AL) as soon as they would come to power. Therefore, most of my classmates who had done NCGE decided to do the GCE (OL) examination while studying in HNCE class. Instead of preparing for the HNCE examination, I spent most of my time preparing for the GCE (OL) examination which is held every December by the Department of Examinations in Sri Lanka. I sat for the GCE (OL) examination in 1980 and was able to pass it in eight subjects with four credits.

                                                           My GCE (OL) certificate

In Sri Lanka, students in Sinhala or Tamil media schools generally study English as an international language while their mother tongues might be either Sinhala or Tamil. I wanted to take up English as the medium language at GCE (OL) so I applied English as the medium language and sat for the examination. I passed it with credit proving that if you work very hard, you can become an embodiment of excellence. Following is my certificate

                The reverse of the certificate which indicates the list of subjects and subject numbers

However, it is sad to say that I was not able to be successful in the HNCE examination which was regarded as one of the most important examinations in a student’s life because it was a university entrance examination. I lost in a rewarding race. I could not change certain non-responsive habits and transform into a high-performing student then. I now feel that I invested my time and efforts in non-rewarding engagements. One author said that failing as a student means a waste of your parents’ hard-earned money. Failing in the HNCE examination can be said as one of the biggest setbacks in my life as a student.

Even though my parents insisted that I should take up the examination for the second time, I did not do that due to my ignorance because I could not understand the value of education then. I quit my advanced-level studies and went to Anuradhapura (an ancient city in the north-central province of Sri Lanka), to stay with my elder brother who had married and lived in a remote village called Mahawewa, close to Galenbindunuwewa.

I visited Mahawewa on 26/04/2023 (Almost 25 years later). This picture shows how Mahawewa looks now. This lake used to be one of my favorite places in the village

                  With me stands one of my close relatives (Gamini) who used to do many activities with me during my stay at Mahawewa village.

Work as a volunteer teacher at Mawathawewa School

As I stated earlier, my interest in the English language did not wane. After I had gone to stay with my brother, he suggested that there was a school near his village, which had no English teacher so that I could work there as a volunteer teacher to gain experience in teaching. I agreed with him and the next day we went to meet the principal of the school. The principal was very pleased to receive me as a volunteer teacher and suggested that he would arrange to pay me some money too. I was very happy and began my work as a volunteer teacher at Mawathawewa School where I found a group of socially backward students whose proficiency in English was very low. I enjoyed teaching there. The school had classes from grades 1 to t10 and I taught English from grades 3 to 10. Since I had not received any form of training or awareness of teaching a second language, I did not or could not use any teaching methods or classroom techniques when teaching. I taught grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, and a little bit of reading and writing but no listening or speaking skills. I was then totally ignorant of the teaching and learning process so using my intuition I did what I believed to be effective in helping learners acquire an additional language.

The principal and the staff of Mawathawewa School were very cooperative in that they provided me with everything I needed to carry out my work as best as I could. I should undoubtedly admit that the first step of my teaching career began at Mawathawewa School. After working for nearly one year, I was forced to quit teaching there because I wanted to study an English course conducted by The Open University of Sri Lanka. So I left Anuradhapura somewhere in 1982.

One’s memory in connection with a place may be curiously erotic. There is one incident, which is still stark in my memory, and I think it is worth recording here. The village where my brother lived was surrounded by a thick jungle and a tank lay to the south of the village. Villagers depended on rice and vegetable cultivation. A big threat to the villagers’ crop cultivation came from wild elephants that used to roam and destroy the farmers' crops from time to time. One day a herd of wild elephants entered the jungle nearby the farmers’ village and I came to know that the villagers were going to drive the elephants away. I wanted to witness it so I consulted one of my acquaintances in the village and got to know details pertaining to how the villagers were going to drive the elephants out and what I had to do to witness the event.  That particular day, a relation of mine called Gamini (who is in the photograph above) and I went to the place and we climbed up a tree located in an open area assuming that we could watch the elephants clearly while they were being driven by the villagers. The tree on which we climbed was about 15 feet high from the ground level with only two branches. The tree was in the process of dying but it was still strong enough to hold both of us. We did not feel any form of fear since we thought that the elephants being driven would pass 50 meters away from the tree on which we were perching now. As time went on, we heard gunshots mingled with the hooting of the group of villagers who began the mission of driving elephants out of their village. We became excited since it was going to be an exciting experience for us and were watching the direction from where the gunshots were heard. As I remember, a few minutes passed, then, we saw a terrific scene that cannot be described in words. A group of elephants, that had gone berserk by the shooting and hooting of the villagers, emerged from the jungle and then crossed the graveled road and now they were heading towards the tree on which were perching. For the first time, I felt a sense of fear of death in my life. As I described above, that particular tree had only a trunk and two branches that had begun the process of decay. There was no time left for us to climb down the tree and run for a safe place. Overwhelmed by fear and anxiety, we remained calm on the tree until the last elephant of the herd passed by the tree. However, while they were passing by the tree, I counted the number of the herd and there were 24 elephants including two or three babies. When I think of Mahawewa, this incident is one of the most unforgettable ones that haunt my memory yet.

On 27 April 2023, My brother and I visited Mahawewa and the following photos were taken. Now this village has undergone a remarkable change in its atmosphere. Then most houses were constructed with wattle and daub, but now the village has modern houses with adequate facilities like water, electricity, spacious rooms, and bathrooms with toilets.

This is where Gamini's old house stood. Now a modern house is in its place. Gamini's sister and her husband are standing to my left

In this picture, my elder brother's wife, my younger brother, and my elder brother's son (Nilantha). This is where I stayed when I was in Mahawewa. Now there is a new house instead of the wattle and daub one.

Studying at the Open University

After coming home, I join the professional English course conducted by The Open University of Sri Lanka in 1983. I studied the course at weekends in Kandy regional center. The course consisted of 4 subjects such as reading & comprehension, Grammar & composition, Oral tests, and Approved Assignments. The lecturers for teaching the course came from the University of Peradeniya. My class was taught by Mrs. Kandaiya, Professor Thiru Kandaiya’s wife. I got through the examination held in January 1984 and was able to obtain credit passes for all four subjects.

Given below is my certificate

My formal academic career began in 1984 in which year I was appointed as an assistant English teacher by the Ministry of Education in Sri Lanka based on the marks I received from an open-competitive examination conducted by the department of examinations for recruiting teachers for government schools. It was compulsory for the new appointees to undergo a 3-week residential training at a training institute named by the Ministry of Education. English subject trainees were assigned to English teacher training colleges on the island and I was directed to Peradeniya English Teachers’ College, one of the oldest English Teachers’ Training Colleges in Sri Lanka.

(This photo was taken while I was undergoing the 3-week residential training at Peradeniya English Teachers' College in 1983. Seated on the left is me and the other were two trainees Mr. Weerasinghe (middle) and, Mr. Galagoda (right ). Mr. Galagoda was teaching at King's Wood College, Kandy then but his whereabouts now are not known. Mr. Weerasinghe is from Gampola but after the training period, I haven't met him, and currently where he is located is not known to me.

The type of residential training we were given during the period of training was very basic and adequate enough to manage classroom teaching. After 3 week’s intensive training, the trainees were appointed to schools in difficult areas such as Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Badulla, and Ampara where there was a great teacher shortage at that time. However, I got my appointment to a primary school in the Ampara district in the Eastern province and my appointment had been given on the condition that I should serve in a difficult area for a period of three years before transferring to the province of my residency.

I enthusiastically took up the appointment and went to the school I had already been appointed in the Ampara district. The name of the school was Dematamalpelassa located nearly 5 kilometers from Uhana town. The staff consisted of 7 or 8 teachers with a lady principal who had arrived in Ampara a few years before. The students came from the nearby villages of which the main occupation was paddy cultivation. Since they studied in an under-resourced school, their educational attainments were very low when compared with a student population in a city with facilities. However, the students were cheerful and innocent in that they had high respect for teachers.

As time went by, I found it interesting to teach those students who were struggling with English. However, what I could mostly do with them was get the students to train to read the lessons in their English textbooks and write answers to the questions that followed the lessons while explaining the meanings of unknown words in my native language, Sinhala. In addition to that, teaching and explaining grammar points became an important part of a lesson.

I did it because that was the only thing I had known about teaching a second language. I now wonder if they ever had been able to learn anything from me. Two years passed and I felt that my learners made no significant progress in English except in the ability to read out the text-based lessons aloud. This indicated that there was a gap between my teaching and my learners’ learning. In order to bridge this gap, I decided to enter the training college to receive formal training concerning L2 teaching. Those days, teachers were not easily admitted to training colleges. To gain admission to a training college, teachers were required to appear for an entrance examination. Those who were successful at the examination were to be admitted.

(When I was working at Dematamalpelassa School in Uhana, Ampara in 1984. We stayed at the teachers' quarters. With me is another teacher whose name is also Sarath from Ambalangoda)

While I was in Dematamalpelassa school, I used to visit historic places in and around the Uhana area. We mostly used bicycles to visit places. I visited the place shown in the picture above with two teachers and some students from my school.

In 1985, I appeared for the entrance examination conducted by the Department of Examinations for the election of teacher trainees to government teacher training colleges on the island. I was successful in the entrance examination and entered the Peradeniya English Teachers’ Training College in 1986.

Before entering the Training College, I sat for the English Language Primary Level Examination conducted by the Institutes’ Education in collaboration with the “Dinamina” Sinhala newspaper and was successful at the examination. This study program covered basic aspects relating to the English language. The certificate I received and the contents of the course are given below. While at the training college, I appeared for the National Certificate in English Examination part 1which was conducted in 1986. Part 1 consisted of three papers; General proficiency, Reading, and Writing. Even though I was eligible for taking part 11 of the NCE, I could not appear for it due to my study at the training college. The Results sheet for part 1 is shown below.

National Certificate in English Part 1

My training period lasted for 3 years of which one year was counted as an internship period. However, at the end of the two-year internal training, an examination is held by the Department of Examinations to award the Govt. Trained Teachers’ Certificate. I passed the Training College final Examination which was conducted in November 1987. The examination consisted of nine subjects Principles of Education, Educational Psychology, Health & Physical Education, English Language, English Literature, Structure & Applied Linguistics, English Methodology, Teaching Practice, and Internship Assessment. Of the nine subjects, I received six credit passes and three general passes.

My trained teacher certificate was issued by the Department of Examinations in Sri Lanka in 1991

My trained teacher certificate (in my native language-Sinhala)

Following is the course description of the English Teachers' Training program conducted from 1986-1988.

Back to Uhana after the training

After the training period was over, I had to go to the same district because I did not complete the duration of 3 years in a difficult area as stipulated in my appointment letter. However, after the training, I did not go to the same school I had served before. Instead, I went to Uhana Maha Vidyalaya (College) where I worked for one year and three months before I was appointed to the district of my residency. It was during that time, the LTTE (Founded in May 1976 The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, a separatist militant organization, began a violent campaign in 1983 for a Tamil independent state in northeastern Sri Lanka. The fighting lasted until May 2009 when the LTTE was defeated by the Sri Lankan) terrorists who committed a series of atrocities in the Eastern province of Sri Lanka. Among the massacres that LTTE terrorists committed against the Sri Lankan armed forces and Sinhala, Tamil, and Muslim leaders and civilians in Eastern province, murdering a group of Buddhist monks at Arantalawa by hacking and killing a group of Muslims who were praying in a mosque by shooting was regarded as some of the most gruesome atrocities ever recorded.

       Even though Uhana city was not attacked, a number of boarding villages where Sinhala and Muslim farmers lived were brutally hacked to death. While  I was working at Uhana, I had a chance to witness a massacre committed by LTTE cadres in a village called Central Camp. The Central Camp village was not far from Uhana Maha Vidyalaya (College) so we went to see it. We were shocked to see 11 civilians who were brutally killed with matchets. For more information about the LTTE massacres, please access this web address: http://www.defence.lk/english.asp

       However, now Sri Lankans live with no fear of LTTE attacks thanks to the present government and its head, Hon. Mahinda Rajapaksha could defeat LTTE terrorism amidst both local and foreign pressures. 

                           

Even though the ministry had promised to release teachers from difficult areas on completion of the period of 3-year service, it did not materialize as stated in our appointment letters. Therefore, I had to meet an official who was responsible for dealing with transfers in the Ministry of Education several times. It was not easy to get a transfer those days because there was an acute shortage of teachers in difficult areas.

Hataraliyadda Central College

My attempt in getting a transfer from the Ampara district to Kandy became a reality in April 1989. I found that I had been appointed to Hataraliyadda Central College where I received my secondary education. I was happy to work in my Alma mater because of two reasons; first, I could help students in my area improve their English language skills. Second, the school was near to my home. When I went to the school, I found the teachers, from whom I had studied when I was a student in my advanced level class, still working there. They extended me better cooperation in matters related to teaching. One of the most important things that occurred while I was at Hataraliyadda Central College was the formation of an English Club with the primary objective of helping students promote their oral English. In this task, I was immensely helped by an experienced teacher, Mr. Ratnayake who had received his education in English medium. We both worked hard to make students convinced of the importance of learning an international language such as English in a classroom context because most students, I observed, did not show any interest in learning English. I now perceive that the students who showed no interest in learning English in the class might be partly due to the teaching methodology we applied as well as the textbooks we used thinking that both methodology and materials would help learners acquire the target language.

The pictures above depict how Hataraliyadda Central College (Now a National School) looks now as per a street view taken in 2015.

English education in Sri Lanka

Even though the account I have been writing is about my academic biography, I decided to include a description of the status quo of English education in Sri Lanka with an emphasis on the past because my biography will be incomplete without it.

In this discussion, I first examine the language policies that have created inequalities between the indigenous language users and the English in Sri Lanka which used to be a British colony for 150 years before it became an independent state in 1948. It should specifically be noted that English has been the link language that enjoys high prestige since it was introduced to Sri Lanka by the British.

Both Sinhala and Tamil (Native languages spoken by Sri Lankans) were made official languages by the 1956 Language Act. (Canagarajah, 2005) Before that, the medium of instruction in secondary schools and universities was English which was enacted following the proposals made by Colebrooke-Cameron Commission in (1830-1833). Although the commission’s purpose was focused on economic reforms, its recommendations extended to language planning as well. According to the report, government administration should be centralized in the colony and English ought to be used as its official working language. Additionally, the report recommended that English be the primary medium of education in secondary schools and universities. Likewise, with the independence from the British in 1948 and the establishment of the free education movement throughout the island, Sinhala became the official language only, and in 1958 through a special provision act, Tamil was accorded the official status. Later, in 1978 Sinhala and Tamil were declared as National and Official languages, whereas English lost its official recognition. Again, in 1987, it was declared that the Official Languages of Sri Lanka shall be Sinhala and Tamil while English shall be the link language.

The societal impact of English Education in Sri Lanka

When it comes to English education, it should be emphasized that Sri Lanka had great incentives to use English. Prior to the colonial period, one’s occupation was determined by his caste, and changing social position was difficult. But the economy changed with the opening up of plantations, and non-traditional employments became more common with the “establishment of a modern bureaucracy together with the expansion of secular education” (Fernando, 1982, p. 190). Along with these changes, English became the language of government administration, law, advanced secular education, and commerce. The use of Sinhala or Tamil in these domains was frowned upon, even if it occurred between native speakers of the language (Perera, 2003). In this context, the study of English, therefore, offered considerable material advantages for Sri Lankans.  Possessing the ability to use English allowed them to move away from hereditary caste-based systems and establish themselves in more prestigious occupations based on education. English was a passport to high-salaried occupations and soon a local professional class emerged through the English education system. For them, Sinhala and Tamil were reserved for communication with elders, servants, monks, and others whose language learning and use were restricted to a vernacular. Middle and lower classes did not study English until later and most commonly they used a vernacular language. As a result of this, speakers of either Sinhala or Tamil found themselves excluded from social mobility.

As Gunatilake (2003) indicates that it would be a fallacious assumption to take the privileged position of English during the colonial rule in Sri Lanka to mean that English education was either democratic or comprehensive, particularly in rural areas. “The colonial education system,” he (p. 340) mentions,

          was neither a mass system of education nor was it egalitarian, it was meant to

          man the intermediate rungs in the ladder of employment both in government

          and in private enterprises undertaken by Europeans, the superior posts being

          reserved for the ruling race.

     A similar argument concerning how Sri Lankans were restricted to access colonial English during colonial rule is found in Butt-Griffler’s (2002) analysis of British Colonial Policy in Lesotho and Sri Lanka. He notes that Sri Lanka’s economic development during the colonial period depended on a large agrarian labor force- 88% of its population. Therefore, many colonial administrators argued that providing English education was not suitable for all Sri Lankans since it would help them to improve their social position which would result in the collapse of the agrarian labor force. So the governor of then Sri Lanka dismissed comprehensive English education in 1889, claiming that it would create, a generation of half-educated idlers who deem that a little pigeon English places them above honest work. Therefore, the colonial administration restructured the educational language policy in order to avoid unwanted troubles from the mass.

However, it is seen that by the late 19^th century, most Sri Lankan students were taught in vernacular schools which exclusively used either Sinhala or Tamil as the medium of instruction while English was learned as a subject along with the others.

According to the new educational reforms, children start learning English from grade one and continue up to grade ten as a subject. In grade nine, they are offered optional subjects like Arts, Dancing, music, and English literature which can be learned for two years before they can offer at the GCE (OL) examination. However, it is evident that most students belonging to the middle and lower or working class are at a disadvantage in the mastery of a language like English since they are often not exposed to the language input in the classroom where weak students are neglected with the notion that they are not capable of learning or cannot be taught. Another factor that hinders Sri Lankan students from gaining mastery of English appears to be the conventional education system which is based on paper and pencil testing a system with no emphasis on the learning outcomes.

Although the situation described above has been apparent in Sri Lanka, it should be reiterated that Sri Lankans have been able to appropriate English for their own purposes taking into account local, cultural, and political factors. Therefore, there is a growing consciousness in the educational sector that has reformed and transformed approaches in English teaching that resist linguistic imperialism (Canagarajah, 1999; Pennycook, 2001; Kramsch, 2001).

Attracted to history and archaeology

Since the time I was a student in an advanced-level class, I have been interested in writing. I was attracted to history and archaeology a little bit so I bought several books on history and archaeology both Sinhala and English written by eminent scholars such as Dr. Seneath Paranaviatana, late Commissioner of Archaeology, Please access this weblink to read more about Dr. Paranaviatana http://www.dailynews.lk/2003/01/08/fea04.html, Dr. Shiran Deraniyagala, Martin Wickramasinghe (to know more about Martin Wickramasinghe, please click the web link given here: www.martinwickramasinghe.org/english/author/  Robert Knox. (Please read about Robert Knox at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Knox_(sailor), and so on. These books included a wealth of information relevant to history and historic places in Sri Lanka. After I had read those books and articles on various topics, I wanted to explore some of the places mentioned in those books so I first began to explore one of the historic temples situated close to my village. The name of the temple was Welagama Raja Maha Viharaya cave temple located about 8 kilometers off Hataralyadda. I went to the temple and met the chief incumbent and told him what I wanted to know about the temple. The venerable monk narrated the story of the temple and I took some pictures of the temple. Later I wrote an article about the temple and sent it for publication in a local English newspaper called “Sunday Observer” published weekly by Lake House, Colombo. After two weeks, I saw it published in the paper with one or two photos. I was overjoyed to see it published in the newspaper and I became motivated to write some more articles about historic temples, places, and even personalities.

When I was looking for other locations, one of my friends from the Aranayake area, Mr. Adhikari (one of my close friends since we were schooling and to date) suggested that there were many historic places in the Kegalle district that had not been explored or written about. Therefore, we both decided to visit some of those places located in and around Mawanella and Kegalle cities. At weekends, we visited temples and other historic places to gather information. My friend had a camera so he took pictures of the temples and other important places. Having gathered information from people and by referring to books, I wrote articles about them and send them to “Sunday Observer” for publication. All of the articles I wrote about historic temples and places were published in Sunday Observer except one article which was written about Aluthnuwara Devalaya in Mawaanella.

The picture below was taken at Alulena located in the Kegalle district and some scholars on the island hold the view that the writing of the Tripitaka (The Theravāda Pāli canon consists of three major repositories of text, for which reason it is commonly called Tipiţaka) was performed at this cave temple, not at cave temple called Aluvihare in Matale area. However, there are conflicting views with regard to the exact place where Tripitaka was committed to writing by 500 monks in the first century BC.  Scholars who support the view that writing of Tripitaka was done at “Alulena” claim that “Alulena” is spacious enough to accommodate 500 monks and is well illuminated by the sunlight, whereas “Aluviharaya” in Matale district is not spacious enough to accommodate 500 monks as well as it is not illuminated by the Sun. Furthermore, palm trees are abundant in and around the “Alulena” cave temple (Before the introduction of paper, palm leaf was the main raw material used for writing and painting for several centuries).  Based on the factors stated above, some scholars believe that the writing of Tripitaka was done at the “Aluleana” cave temple in the Kegalle district, not at “Aluviharaya” in the Matale district.

This picture was taken at "Alulena" in the Kegalle district

A collated palm leaves on which writing has been engraved

In search of Veddhas

In one of my newspaper articles, I wrote about a Veddha (Sri Lanka's indigenous inhabitants) woman called “Kombi” who was the youngest daughter of outlaw Tissahamy (Tissahamy was a Veddha who was notorious for murder and banditry). While I was working at Dematamalpelessa School in Uhana, Mr. Rampola, one of my staff members and a good friend of mine then, and I went to a village called Bin Baliya which lay about 10 or 15 kilometers off Uahana city. The road which led to Bim Baliya ran through a thick jungle infested with wild animals. One morning, we rode to Bim Baliya on bicycles. Bin Baliya was a small village surrounded by a jungle and dotted here and there, were the villagers' mud-walled huts, roofs thatched with "illuk". We met her in her wattle and daub hut. When asked to tell us about her father, Tissahamy, she narrated one incident which she said she could still remember very well even though it has taken place when she was very young. “Kombi” who looked in her 80s told us how her father shot the village headman who came to arrest him dead on their compound and escaped into the jungle. It was these desperate adventures, romance, and murder that formed the story of Dr. Spittel's book, 'Savage Sanctuary' (1941).

“Kombi” fondly remembered Dr. Spittel who was a doctor by profession and the epithet 'Surgeon in Wilderness' was conferred on him by his greatest works of healing in the impenetrable jungles shrouded by perennial darkness. He did his best to cure the people of Vanni of Venereal diseases and Malaria. Soon he became trusted, "Dostara Mahattaya' among the Vaddhas and other remote village communities in Ceylon.

                            Kombi on the left carrying a child with her daughter on the left

                                                              Dr. R. L. Spittel
One day I read a magazine published by a private company. It was a travel magazine freely distributed to visitors arriving on the island. I wanted to write an article for the magazine “Explore Sri Lanka” but I was doubtful if the editor of this particular magazine would consider publishing an article from a novice writer like me. However, I wrote an article about 'The Story of Kitual Palm Tree' and sent it to the editor of the magazine and kept quiet. Later, to my amazement, I found it was published in the magazine in June 1991. The photos to go with the article have been chosen by the editor. As I remember I was paid 800 rupees for my article. It was a big amount compared to the payments made by newspapers for a published article. Those days, I was very much interested in exploring ancient and historic places including temples and other monuments with archaeological value. I bought many books both Sinhala and English which were written about Sri Lankan history and archaeology. As I remember, I bought 'Historical Relations of the Island, Ceylon' written by an English trader and sailor Robert Knox in 1681. It describes his experiences some years earlier on the South Asian island now best known as Sri Lanka. It provides one of the most important contemporary accounts of 17th-century Ceylonese life. Another important book was Kegalle Report compiled by H.C.P. Bell, an English Archaeologist who carried out many excavations in Ceylon. It was a very rare book and we found it in Anuradhapura City Library from where we had it photocopied. As a whole, I published 12 newspaper articles and after that, I did not write any articles about historic places in Sri Lanka because of constraints imposed on me from my work.

                         The article above was published in Explore Sri Lanka, a travel magazine

Some of the articles published in local English newspapers and magazines are given below

First Certificate in English –Cambridge English Examination

I had a carving for doing an international English examination administered by the University of Cambridge in collaboration with the British Council in Sri Lanka so visited the British Council branch in Kandy and go the necessary information about the examinations and chose First Certificate in English because the other examinations needed higher proficiency in English. I referred to some books written for First Certificate Examination and practiced some listening test tasks and appeared for the examination in June 1990 for all five papers; 1 Reading Comprehension 2. Composition 3. Use of English 4. Listening comprehension 5. Oral Interview. The examination was held at Colombo British Council and I got through the examination with a grade C pass.

                                                       Given below is my certificate

                                                      Format of the examination

Explanation of the results as it appears in the http://www.cambridgeesol.org/assets/pdf/exams/fce/fce-dl.pdf

Leave for Maldives

          

Republic of Maldives                                A captivating scene of an island         

While working at Hataraliyadda Central College, I came to know that Sri Lankan teachers were hired by countries like Oman, Nigeria, Seychelles, and the Maldives. A thought struck my mind to go out of my country and work abroad. One of my friends who was also a teacher then told me to send an application to the Maldives since the country was closer to Sri Lanka as well as a big number of teachers from Sri Lanka were working in the Maldives at that time. I did not know to whom an application be sent so I had to wait for a few months until a teacher who was working in the Maldives returned to Sri Lanka during school vacation. This particular teacher was from the Mawanella area and he was also known to my friend because this teacher had worked with my friend’s mother in a school.

       However, after this teacher had come to Sri Lanka, my friend and I went to meet him and he advised me to send an application to the undersecretary of the Ministry of Education, Male, Maldives. As he instructed, I sent an application together with the photocopies of necessary documents to the undersecretary soon. As far as I remember, after two or three weeks after sending my application, I received a letter from the Ministry of Education, Maldives. I could not believe my eyes because it was an appointment letter that stated that I had been selected to offer a teaching position at an institution called the Non-formal Education Center in Male. Those days’ teachers were recruited to work in schools in the Maldives through an interview which was attended by officials from the Maldives Ministry of Education. However, I was lucky to receive a teaching position without having any formal interviews.

       I collected my one-way air ticket from the Maldivian embassy in Colombo and left for the Maldives in 1991 to take up the appointment as an English teacher at Non-formal Education Center (NFEC). NFEC conducted various courses and English was one of the highly demanded courses at that time. I was assigned to conduct two Basic English courses; one for government officials working in Male, while the other for Island leaders working in atolls. There were 15 participants for the 8^th round Island Leaders’ English course

      The age of the course participants ranged from 22 to around 55 and their proficiency in English was rather low, but they were very keen on learning English. Course materials consisted of a coursebook and recorded listening materials. The course materials were designed in a way that covered all four major language skills (listening, speaking, reading, and writing).
Each course lasted for 5 months and at the end of the course, the participants were tested on speaking, reading, and writing. After the exam, the participants were awarded certificates at a ceremony attended by high-ranking officials such as ministers, secretaries, and directors attached to the Maldives Ministry of Education and Atolls Administration.

       Since the participants were adults, I experienced no disciplinary problems in the classroom. Instead, I thoroughly enjoyed teaching the Island Leaders course because it generated lots of fun in the class. Most participants could improve their speaking skills to a certain level. However, there were two participants who were in their 20s showed a remarkable improvement in oral fluency. I am now tempted to believe that it was not my teaching that accounted for their increased fluency in the target language. There might have been some other variables that accounted for their good language fluency. However, I must frankly mention that I tried to make them interact with their peers and me in the class to a good degree even though I had not known that interaction was a necessary condition for language acquisition then. As indicated above, one participant made a good speech at the certificate awarding ceremony without using a script. That particular certificate awarding ceremony was attended by the Minister of Education, Abdulla Hameed, and the Minister of Atolls Administration, Director of Non-formal Education Center, and Secretary to the Ministry of Atolls Administration together with other guests. In the minister’s address, he highly praised this particular participant and promised to award him a scholarship in a foreign country.

                        

Non-formal  Education News Letter October 1991 issue (158) carried a news item about the certificate ceremony of Atolls-Government Officials' English Course with a picture. (Seated from right to left: Mr. Samaranayake (Course instructor and the Coordinator), Minster of Atolls Administration, Minister of Education, Secretary to the Ministry of Atolls Administration, and the Director of Non-formal Education Center, Mr. Moosa Manique.

Service certificate I was awarded by the Assistant Director, Mr. Abdul Raheem Hasan, Non-formal Education Centre, Male.

        

       Moreover, while working at the Non-Formal Education Centre, I was approached by Ulrike Mersmann, the Management Consultant of the Maldives Electricity Board who asked me to conduct a Basic English course for the professional staff of the board. The group consisted of 19 members, some of them without English proficiency and some with limited proficiency. Maldives The electricity board was then managed by a German company named Utility Consultants International. I conducted the course five days per week after working hours for 3 months. The management was pleased with the output which was quite satisfactory.

The Certificate I received from Utility Consultants International Company

       One of the important things I could do while I was in the Maldives was to pursue a TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) diploma course at a language learning center called Scottish International Learning Centre located at 24 Polwarth Gardens, Edinburgh EH 11  1LW Scotland, UK. I learned this course in distance mode. I got information about this language school from a UK newspaper of which the name has now been erased from my memory. I used to go to the National Library of Male and read English newspapers at weekends. The course syllabus consisted of two parts and part one included 9 topics that dealt with basic concepts in TEFL such as introduction, reasons for learning English, motivation and motivation theory, theories of language learning, methods of language teaching, etc followed by an assignment while part 2 included the language: appropriateness (choices of what to say according to a range of social and other situations), four major skills (listening, speaking, reading, and writing), and testing followed by another assignment.

By doing this course, I was able to improve my knowledge of some areas of ELT. However, I'm not sure if this school is still there. The course director was Mr. Ian B. Dick provided me with good feedback on my two assignments. Even though it was not like a university-level diploma, it helped me to obtain sound knowledge about TEFL. The course above lasted for six months and at the end of the course, I was awarded a diploma certificate as shown below.

To support the description I have included above concerning the TEFL diploma program, I include two pages from the course information booklet I was sent by the language learning center stated above.

TEFL Course Syllabus and Outline of Assessment

My previous passport shows that I left the Maldives for good on 30th March 1994

Bidding Maldives farewell

I left the Maldives in 1994 and resumed my work at the same school; Hataraliyadda central college where I had been working before I left for the Maldives. I continued my work there as usual. It was during this time one of the teachers suggested to me that there was not a particular room for students to study aesthetic subjects such as music and dancing so we should build a new building for them. At first, it seemed impracticable because his suggestion was to build an octagon in a piece of marshy land that lay in the middle of the school premises. Most of all, investing money in a building like that was a big problem because constructing a building on marshy land would cost more money than constructing a normal building on the land. However, he suggested a plan to find the money. He suggested that we should ask for donations from past pupils of the schools and well-wishers in the area. For this activity, a group of teachers was suggested including the principal who was a SLEAS (Sri Lanka Education Administrative Service) officer. We planned to visit well-wishers in our area after school or at weekends. The teacher who originally proposed the idea of building an octagon in the marshy land took a leading role in this task. Therefore, we all had to cooperate with him whatever difficulties we had. As far as I remember, we first went to visit a Muslim merchant in ‘Madige’ village called Naeem who had a number of businesses and was quite wealthy with a good reputation as a philanthropist. However, we had a doubt if he would agree to donate some money for this project because the school was a Sinhala medium one. My friend, (Mr. Mudiyanse, who has retired from teaching and still lives near Hataraliyadda) who was the initiator of the building project had a clever idea to get the merchant’s attention drawn to this project. While we were discussing this project with the merchant stated above, my friend said; “Mudalali Mahattaya (“Mudalali” is a term for a merchant in my native language-Sinhala and Mahattaya is an equivalent for Mister), we have decided to erect a name board by the building so once the building is completed, we will engrave your name there on the name board and we will invite you to open the new building too” My friend was so shrewd that he was able to get this particular merchant’s contribution for this project. He agreed to pay a large amount of money. When we were coming back after this meeting, one of our team members raised a question regarding engraving his name on the name board. My friend said, “Don’t take that seriously. We will engrave his name and leave the name board there for one or two years and after that, we will remove the name board from that place. Who cares about the name board after that” My friend said lightheartedly making all of us laugh and speechless.

As we had planned, we could get the octagon constructed amidst the marshy land. After it had been built, it added extra beauty to the environment of Hataraliyadda Central College. Now I feel what we did at that time was very practicable on the part of students. However, I do not know whether the original name board is still there or it has been removed as my friend said humorously because I had to leave the school before any of the others who were involved in the project stated above. I believe the name board with the Muslim merchant’s name must still be there as a piece of evidence to testify that the co-existence of different communities.

While I was at Hataraliyadda Central College, I could help a group of youth improve their English skills. I conducted a class for a group of youth in collaboration with the district Youth Service Office in Kandy. The class consisted of nearly 40 students with different proficiency levels in English and the participants who successfully completed the program of study were awarded certificates by the district Youth Service Council, Kandy.

Service certificate from the District Youth Service Officer

An English Language course for the staff at Hataraliyadda Hospital

Since the beginning of my teaching career, I had chances to teach English to learners of different ages and different professions. In 1991, before I went to the Maldives, I taught English to a group of staff at Hataraliyadda Hospital. It is a regional hospital with three wards. It is necessary for the officials in the public service to pass a proficiency test called the ten-graded level language proficiency test (English). This test was then conducted by the Department of Examinations. The main objective of this class was to prepare the hospital staff members for the proficiency test stated above. The class consisted of 25 participants with different proficiency levels in English. Therefore, I had to focus my teaching practice basically on their reading and writing skills because as far as I remember there was no speaking component in the test.

As I have stated elsewhere in my article that adult learners are generally motivated, unlike school children. Therefore, a teacher who teaches adult L2 learners is also naturally motivated. When learners become interested in learning a language, they tend to take any risk they may encounter. Risk-taking has been identified as one of the important characteristics of successful learning in a second language. Because of a strong intention of achieving success in learning something, students yearn for mastery. Beebe (1983:39) asserts “Every human being takes risks” So when learners learn a second/or an AL, they should be willing to gamble a bit and try out hunches about the language (Brown, 2000:149). I observed the staff members of the above course were very interested and highly motivated so my task was quite easy.

It reminds me of the district medical officer’s contribution to making the above language learning program a success. So, I take this opportunity to record here my sincere thanks to him. Even though I now cannot remember his name, he was such a kind doctor that the people in that area loved him so much.

                      The service certificate I received from DMO-Hataraliyadda Hospital

Writing teaching and learning materials

Another important landmark in my teaching career was writing two examination guidebooks for GCE (OL) English new syllabus namely; Examination Practice Exercises for GCE (OL) English-New Syllabus Part 1 and Part 11. Part 1 is designed to develop students’ reading abilities while part 11 deals with exercises meant for developing students’ writing abilities. These two books were published by S. Godage & Bros at Maradana, Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Part 1

Part 11

Ranabima Royal College at Gannoruwa, Peradeniya.

It should be briefly stated here that W.M. P.B. Dissanayake, the late chief minister of Central Province was the initiator of Ranabima Royal College. This school was begun in 1996 as a school with a different vision. This school was constructed in Gannoruwa which is considered one of the historic lands on the island because of one of the famous battles between Portuguese armies and the armies of the Kandyan King fought and won. Therefore, the land on which the school has been constructed is a land of victory in that the students who study in the school should win their education battle. Furthermore, this school has students studying subjects in Sinhala and Tamil media. The students for this school are selected through an open competitive examination.

With the commencement of the school, eleven teachers were originally recruited for both media. I was lucky to be included among the first eleven teachers who were very much dedicated to bringing the school’s status in education, sports, and other extra-curricular activities to one of the best schools in the Central province. We even conducted English classes to improve the student’s language skills entirely free of charge. The principal was a SLEAS officer who was hard-working in the true sense so he could spend his full time on the progress of the school. Therefore, as a result of his hard-working, he became a popular principal who was later appointed to Dharmaraja College, one of the oldest and leading boy schools in Sri Lanka. How Ranabima College in Gannoruwa looks now is beyond my imagination. The pictures below will testify to my claim with evidence. 

An article written about the school was published in a Sinhala newspaper called "Nawayugaya" and a tone picture depicts the staff and the principal of Ranabima Royal College in 1996.

A trip to Haggala Gardens by the staff of Ranabima Royal College

On our way to Haggala Gardens-a school trip

My stay at Ranabima Royal College was an important landmark in my life. Human life is very dynamic and nomadic. There is no permanent place to stay or work. A person who works with you in your place of work this month may not be found in the same work pace because he/she must have moved to a new workplace or must have been transferred. As is often the case with human work, I also experienced changes in my career. While I was at Ranabima royal college, I appeared for a selection test conducted to recruit English instructors to work in the intensive English program for freshmen by the University of Peradeniya. Since I was successful at the selection test, I was offered an English instructor contracted position at the English Language Teaching Unit (ELT) in the Faculty of Arts. The teaching period was for three months. The working environment and teaching context in a university are totally different from a school because working with adult students is very relaxed and free from disciplinary problems, unlike students in a school.

The letter I received from the Senior Assistant Registrar of the University of Peradeniya

Teaching and learning materials were produced by the ELT unit so the contracted instructors’ work became easier in that they did not require to produce any teaching or learning materials for the course. When I was teaching speaking activities, however, I observed that they were not catering to the linguistic needs of the undergraduate students because some of the activities were not appropriate to the age level of the students on one hand, on the other, those activities were not interesting enough to generate adequate speech production on the part of learners. One day I did a speaking activity with one class that was not included in the material and I observed that the students became interested in the activity and it generated more oral language than the activities recommended by their material. I personally felt that some of the speaking activities designed by the ELT unit for the students to be done in the classroom were not appropriate for their age level. However, the activities for reading, listening, and writing were of good quality. Apart from teaching adult students, I also could learn a number of things that helped me immensely to reflect on myself with regard to my teaching techniques as a teacher as well as learning strategies as a second language learner.

                         
                           The service certificate I received at the end of my contract period

My contract period ended quickly and I bade goodbye to the ELT unit of the Faculty of Arts at The University of Peradeniya and went back to Ranabima Royal College. My sojourn at Ranabima Royal College after Peradeniya University was limited to a few months because I was offered a teaching position at the Sri Lanka Institute of Advance Technological Institute or most popularly known as SLIATE. SLIATE has been established by a parliament act to conduct job-oriented courses leading to national and higher national diplomas in fields such as Management, Accountancy, Engineering, IT, Business Studies, English, and so on. SLIATE comes under the purview of the Ministry of Higher Education and its main objective is to produce middle-level managers needed for the workforce in Sri Lanka’s government and private sectors.   

Please read My academic biography 2