A Review of English Language Education of Jaffna Tamils

Whatever feeling one may have about the rule of British in Sri Lanka, most of us must accept the fact that they had left behind a legacy, which many of us utilize today to know more and more about various things ranging from scientific knowledge to the present day affairs of the world at large and that legacy is the English Language. The historical circumstances of Sri Lanka, being governed by the British in the first quarter of the last century, afforded Sri Lankans easy access to master the English Language. In the past, many Sri Lankans were skilled in the English Language that they even won many international awards for their creative works in English and there were times when Sri Lankans boasted of their ability to speak the Queen's Language with accurate pronunciation when even the British couldn't do. The objective of this paper on 'A Review of English Language Education of Jaffna Tamils' is not only to explore the distinctive historical and cultural aspects of English language education in a mono lingual society of the Northern part of Sri Lanka but also to emphasize that how English language education brought radical changes among Jaffna Tamils linguistically. A descriptive method is carried out in this research paper. This paper describes the slow and steady growth of English language Education in the Northern part of Sri Lanka with its unique socio linguistic features which also contributed to the development of English language education in Sri Lanka. Key words: Education, Jaffna Tamils, Language, Socio-linguistics