Differences in language competency across ethnic groups

The student questionnaire shows Muslims and Tamils were more likely than Sinhalese to speak more than two languages at home. Overall, more Sinhala students spoke Sinhala at home in Sri Lanka. More than a quarter of students from Muslim and Tamil backgrounds spoke both Sinhala and Tamil at home. Tamil and Muslim students were more likely to speak Sinhala, than Sinhala to speak Tamil, therefore (Table 5, Appendix D). A chi square indicated that there was a significant difference between the groups in terms of language spoken at home (p < 0.001) (Table 5a, Appendix D). Therefore, Muslim and Tamils could sharpen their language skills at home more than Sinhalese. The student focus group interview in Girls’ School 1 confirms that Muslim and Tamil students could speak Sinhala well because low (Table 5, Appendix G). The majority of students spoke only English at home. There were no White British students who spoke two languages at home. However, minorities could speak more than one language at home.of their family background and the help of their friends.

There was no significant difference between Tamil and Muslim students in terms of language use at home (p = 0.101) (Table 5b, Appendix D).

In England the number of students who spoke more than two languages was

Gender-wise there was no difference between males and females in language spoken at home.

The Sri Lankan schools in which the research was conducted encouraged students to speak Sinhala at school because these schools are Sinhala medium schools. The principals of all five schools confirmed that they encouraged all students to speak in Sinhala in the school. Most students spoke Sinhala with their friends in the schools in Sri Lanka. Less than a quarter of Sinhala, Muslim and Tamil students spoke both Sinhala and Tamil with

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friends. In the five schools, most students spoke Sinhala only with their friends in school, in particular Sinhala students (86 %), with around 65% of Muslim and Tamil students (Table 6, Appendix D). A chi square calculation indicated a significant difference

between ethnic groups in terms of speaking the national language that was not that of their own group (p < 0.001) (Table 6a, Appendix D).

The results imply that, if more students communicated in Sinhala language with their friends, this may further help Muslims and Tamils to develop their Sinhala day-to-day language skills. Therefore, Muslims and Tamils had a greater opportunity to make friendships across ethnic groups than Sinhalese. This is an important finding, given that friendship groups are a very important consideration in supporting national cohesion and reducing misunderstanding among ethnic groups. This issue did not pertain in the English school where all students spoke only English with their friends.

When comparing male and female students’ responses more female students spoke only Sinhala language (c 82%) with their friends than male students (c 66%) in the five schools. More male students spoke Sinhala and Tamil (c 23%) than female (c 8%) students (Table 1, Appendix E).

In terms of competence in reading, around 80% of Sinhalese reported that they could read two languages, but over 50% of Muslims and Tamils could read three languages (Table 7, Appendix D). To reduce distance between Sinhalese and Tamils in Sri Lanka all

government schools teach two National languages and English as a link language. However, these findings indicated that more Sinhala students could read up to two languages and more minorities could read three languages. All policy makers also agreed with bilingual education and thought it would help to encourage social cohesion in Sri Lanka.

The majority of students from all ethnic groups in the five Sri Lankan schools could also read Sinhala best, an unsurprising result given that the medium of instruction was Sinhala (Table 8, Appendix D); for both male and female students see Table 2, Appendix E. Around 90% of students from all age groups could read Sinhala best across all five schools (Table 1 Appendix F). A chi square calculation of the difference between ethnic groups’ ability to use the national language that is not of their group indicates a highly significant difference (p < 0.001) (Table 8a, Appendix D). There was no significant difference between age groups (p < 0.2) (Table 1a, Appendix F).

In terms of the language in which students felt the most comfortable for expressing complicated ideas when their first language was not Sinhala, both Tamil (53%) and

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Muslim (65%) students felt most comfortable in Tamil (Table 9, Appendix D). However, 35% of Tamils and 21% of Muslims were most comfortable using Sinhala. Numbers of those who felt comfortable in English were very small. The implication here reflects what has already been discussed above, that both Tamil and Muslim students report themselves as having a fair degree of competence in both national languages.

Albeit there are differences between ethnic groups in terms of multilingual competence, the findings with regard to the development of language competence over time appear to be quite positive. Across the five schools, it was noticeable that at twelve years old students spoke only either Sinhala (90%) or Tamil (10%) with friends. By thirteen years old the proportions had changed and 10.2% spoke in two languages. This percentage rose to 28% by age sixteen. At eighteen years old the percentage speaking two languages was 22.2%. This overall pattern was repeated in all five schools (Table 2, Appendix F). The difference between those aged twelve in their first year at school and those aged eighteen in their last year is highly significant (p < 0.001) (Table 2a, Appendix F). Equally, in terms of reading, the proportion of those reading multiple languages changed as students grew older. 20% of students aged twelve, could read only Sinhala (18%) or Tamil (20%) in the five schools. By age eighteen, the proportions had changed. Only one student could read one language and the proportion of those reading three languages had risen to nearly one half (47.2%) (Table 3, Appendix F). More senior, rather than junior, students reported that they could read three languages best. This result indicates the perceptions of students of all ethnicities that they continued to develop their trilingual skills as they matured. In the English school a summary of languages spoken with friends shows all students used English to communicate with their friends (Table 6, Appendix G; Table 1, Appendix H; Table 1, Appendix I). Unlike Sri Lanka, England has only one national language. Leicester (1989) explained that bilingual education was rejected by the Swann Committee (1985) that encouraged education through the medium of the English language only. This has been the situation since that time. That being said, currently the Department for Education has an expressed intention to support children for whom English is an additional language: ‘The Government is committed to supporting pupils for whom English is not a first language’

(http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/pupilsupport/inclusionandlearnersupport/ea l), accessed 09.01.14). Data from the student questionnaire indicate almost all the students spoke only English at home, with ten speaking other languages (one Romanian, two Polish, five Asian-British speaking Bengali and English [2], English and Tamil [one], English and Thai [one], two Black Africans speaking Kikuyu and Swahili [one, Twi and

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English [one], one mixed Black and White African speaking Portuguese.). There were no White British students who spoke anything other than English at home. All students used English to communicate with their friends. As noted above in relation to the Sri Lankan context, this is a very important point because talking with friends helps to develop English language skills and break down the barriers between students because they can understand each other well.

The languages students reported that they could read largely reflected those they said they used at home. Fourteen out of forty one students in England could read only English. More minority ethnic students could read more than two languages than English students (Table 7, Appendix G). Additionally, however, some students reported that they could read the languages that are specifically taught at school that is French and Spanish. Almost all the students said that the language they could read best was English except for two White British students who said they could read French best, two Eastern Europeans (one Polish, one Romanian), one mixed Black and White African who read Portuguese best, one Black African who read both Swahili and English best (Table 8, Appendix G). More males could read only English than females (Table 2, Appendix H). The majority of students from all age groups could read only English or English and French (Table 2, Appendix I). In England, the language students felt most comfortable for expressing complicated thoughts and ideas where their first language was not English shows four students used English and two students used Portuguese and Polish. However, there were nine students who did not answer this question. Almost all students for whom English was not the first language, regardless of ethnicity, felt most comfortable expressing

complicated ideas in English (Table 9, Appendix G).

The implication here seems to be that, in the English school, there appeared from the students’ reports to be little problem with communicating and learning in one common language, English. As the head teacher interview of the pilot study had indicated, schools in England encouraged spoken English in the classroom for minority ethnic students. However, in England the use of other languages tends not to be encouraged in classrooms except for curriculum access when students with English as an Additional Language (EAL) first arrive. Many schools have an EAL department and teaching resources which help EAL students to improve their English.