Business of ‘English’

I am rooted in my own culture and love my mother tongue. Yet I want to enrich my knowledge and experience pleasure in knowing other cultures. I come to know about other cultures through my interest in the English language and love of English Literature. Since some of us were educated in the English medium, we came to be familiar with the ‘standard English’ and at the same time enjoyed varieties of English through original and translated literary works, particularly poetry, fiction and drama.

Communication difficulties maybe encountered with those who speak other varieties

I personally prefer ‘standard English’ in formal writing and writing that is meant to be read by educated and learned people. Currently what is known as ‘Sri Lankan English’ is being promoted to encourage young people to learn the language in their own way at least in the primary level since four or five generations of young people were deprived of using it effectively as English was ‘dethroned’ for one reason or the other. But English has become a global language with its own colonial colouring.
This article strives to enlighten our reader on some salient features of ‘Standard English’. Those who spoke Standard English a few decades ago in Lanka and elsewhere also followed a pattern of speech with attention to pronunciation. The kind of pronunciation was generally received universally. They called it “RP” or Received Pronunciation.
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In other words, due to the acquired habits, for an educated person speech will come naturally. However, it would not indicate the speaker’s regional origin even though one could identify slight differences in the accent of his speech. For instance speakers from New York City speak in an accent that is closely related to RP, and also different from a person from Kentucky speaking in ‘standard English’ and with RP. English is not a native tongue for Lankans and therefore even if we speak ‘standard English’ even to the extent of using ‘bookish English’, our accent will vary from what Daniel Jones prescribes. This is not a crime or a matter to be laughed at.
This is because those who speak Standard English with RP are in fact a minority. And Standard English ironically is a dialect spoken by the elites and university dons and Londoners and BBC to a greater extent.
Personally I enjoy listening to Shakespearean actors on the stage and films because they speak clearly with words clearly pronounced. Lawrence Olivier, James Mason, Richard Burton and others come to mind. The main point is that a linguist will not regard RP or Standard British English as better in any respect than any other regional or national dialect.
As we know language evolves, all the time adding new words and idioms, at times borrowed from other languages. So now there are plenty of varieties of English, which are all accepted. But so long as it is not spoken clearly the problem of communication arises. Among those who speak English one finds different accents and different use of language although he or she speaks correctly formal or standard English. Sri Lankans may encounter communication difficulties with those who speak Indian, Maldivian, Oman, US and Australian English, because of the different speech rhythms and speed of speech.
Even in Lanka what most of the radio and TV announcers and newsreaders are difficult to understand because they are unconsciously imitating foreign accents, particularly American, worse still without understanding broadcasting etiquette and rattling words and reading without understanding.
This bars effective communication. Should I say English language learning and teaching has become a ‘business’? It is hear Standard English and Received Pronunciation could be profitably used.