Kadu, Hadu & Wadu English

“It is clear that through the "education" that is given especially to the Sinhala Buddhists they have been intimidated. Though people may not realise it education not only wash the brains of those who have such organs but also intimidates most of them. The Sinhalas are the worst intimidated as can be seen by the sterile "scholars" that the country has produced during the last hundred and fifty years or so.”

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by Prof. Nalin de Silva

(March 23, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) We have a set of so called educated people who cannot look beyond their English noses. They think that they think when in fact they do not think. They might object to the last sentence thinking that it is not logical , however, even then they are not thinking as they only repeat some rule that they were drilled into believe while at the schools that they were supposed to have an education. It is the so-called education that is given in our countries that have become a bane in our societies.

It is clear that through the "education" that is given especially to the Sinhala Buddhists they have been intimidated. Though people may not realise it education not only wash the brains of those who have such organs but also intimidates most of them. The Sinhalas are the worst intimidated as can be seen by the sterile "scholars" that the country has produced during the last hundred and fifty years or so. In the name of scholars we have sales representatives who would cry from roof tops that they introduced this or that theory or concept to the country, and especially to the so called Sinhala "pathakaya" (reader).

We have people who introduced theories of literary criticism, the realistic novel, symphony, drama, not to mention soap opera, pragmatism, Marxism, Microbiology, Biotechnology, Television, Heart Surgery, Computing and what not. These "scholars" are not different from those who introduce a brand of milk or vehicle to the Sri Lankan "market". They are all interested in "selling a product" on behalf of the producers in the west. The product could be a tangible object such as a refrigerator, or "knowledge" that can be transmitted from mind to mind. At present as "knowledge" is also sold in the market at least in the form of magazines, journals and newspapers there is hardly any difference between various people who introduce either material goods or immaterial "knowledge".

It is not the "globalization" of the so called capital but the globalization of western knowledge that is the most dangerous. Even the concept of globalization is a product of the west, that hides the Christianisation of the globe, at least by culture, by the western powers. It is knowledge that is based in a Christian culture that is transmitted through schools, universities, media, and unless we produce our knowledge based in our culture we would be driven by the noose.

The "scholars" we produced were proud of their English pronunciation, revealing to the rest of the world that they were imitators and not creators. They learned to write like the English and were dead scared to make any mistakes in the use of the language. They were intimidated by the teachers to imitate the English. They would laugh at wrong pronunciation and force a student to give up learning English. It is this attitude that had prevented young people learning English in this country up to the eighties and nineties. However these scholars could not come up with any creative works and the generation that grew in those decades began to question the credentials of the older generation.

Only those who make mistakes and who are prepared to make mistakes can create especially when it comes to creating knowledge. The old "scholars" were not prepared to make mistakes and they were the "custodians" of what had been handed over to them by the white colonial masters. There are many people who argue against the introduction of Sinhala or Tamil as the medium of instruction at schools, and who think that the resurgence of English tuition teachers in the recent past is a result of parents realising the importance of English in acquiring so called higher education. ( I cannot see much high in the education I have received nor the education I am supposed to impart to the students at the University).

If we had continued educating our children in English and producing an elite with an English education ignoring the rest, we would have produced only sterile "scholars" who would have taken pride in their "Oxford" accent. With the initial introduction of Sinhala or Tamil as the medium of instruction there was a certain fear towards English as demonstrated by the use of the word "kaduwa" to refer to English. The private sector of this country that has no creativity at all wanted and continue to demand the production of would be employees who are educated in English. It would ne most advisable if the heavyweights in the private sector acquired a working knowledge of Sinhala. If they could advertise the products they import, usually they do not produce, in Sinhala why cannot they carry on their work in that language. In any event, the discontinuity with respect to tradition between the older generation who had their "higher education" in English, and those who had the same education in Sinhala made the latter to shed their fears towards English eventually. The pioneer students who had their university education in Sinhala or Tamil and then proceeded to have their post graduate education in English have taught the students to follow them that it is not essential to write or speak English the way the English do. The students are now less scared of English and the use of "kaduwa" is now on the decline.

It is mainly this change of attitude towards English that has made the new generation to learn English. They get good results in the English Language question paper at the G. C. E. (O/L) examination, and speak and write a different English to that of the older generation. Some of these students who studied in Sinhala medium are now Professors in North American, Australian and other universities carrying out their research in English medium. One could always say that the level of English at the G. C. E. (O/L) examination is not what it used to be more than thirty years ago and that the standards have come down. However, while the "scholars" of yesteryear failed to produce "research papers" the new generation has been publishing in English, in the so called international papers.

It has to be emphasised over and over again that it is mainly the shedding of the "kaduwa" mentality that has helped the students to study English and not the teaching of the subject matter in English. The "kaduwa" mentality is the fear towards English, to consider it as sacrosanct and the stigma associated with making mistakes or as the undergraduates of the sixties and the seventies used to say make "RS". RS meant a wrong statement spelt as Rong Statement. The students in that era were scared of "RS gahanawa" or making wrong statements in conversation. It is not that the previous generation of students from the University College days to the early Peradeniya days did not have the "kaduwa" mentality. They were also scared of English and did not want to see the king or the queen dead in the process of using English. The difference between the earlier generation and the generation of the sixties seventies and eighties is that while the former learnt English through a fear of the language, the latter did not use the language due to the same fear. The former learnt to wield the Kaduwa of Shakespeare while the latter did not even want to look at the Kaduwa.

The new generation thanks to the introduction of Sinhala (Tamil) as the medium of instruction that created the discontinuity in the mentality towards English has begun to get rid of the Kaduwa mentality. They have begun to speak and write what would be called a Sri Lankan English, and they are not scared of making mistakes. In the meantime some old secretaries in the ministries and some academics think that the students have to be taught English and the best way to go about teaching English as a language is to teach the subject material in English. This is nothing but nonsense coming from those cannot think and those who do not know that the students are now learning to read and write and also to speak when necessary in English, without the subject matter being taught in English.

Though the old secretaries who live in what are known as "seetha kamara" or "cold rooms" may not realise, the students now learn English mainly to read. They may occasionally write a piece in English but they hardly speak among themselves in English. It is so not only with the present generation but even among those of my generation. We speak among ourselves most of the time in Sinhala and the language of the senior common room is definitely not English. The "lingua franca" for most of the purposes is Sinhala though most of us have a working knowledge of English. It is how it should be and the university students are happy to be instructed in Sinhala though they may answer questions in English.

What is needed is neither "Kadu" English nor "Hadu" English, but "Wadu" English. As many people have said we do not have to become slaves of English but make English our slave. Some may think that it is essential to learn English to use computers and also to have access to knowledge that is stored in various web sites. I think to use computers and to communicate through the computers the "Hadu English" may be more useful. For example one could write "come to Colombo for the examination" as "come 2 Colombo 4 exams" in lesser number of characters.

On the other hand we should not make our students to download data and information as much as possible. If we allow to do that we would end up with a "Hadu" generation who cannot think, instead of the "Kadu" generation of the early Peradeniya days and before who could not think. The "Kadu" generation wrote "perfect" English , read English books to gather knowledge but did not think. The phrase one read for the degree was appropriate in respect of the "Kadu" generation. The "Hadu" generation will write "I 2 went" and download knowledge but will not think. People who do not think, whether of the "Kadu" variety or of the "Hadu" variety could be manipulated by the producers of knowledge. In the colonial days, and soon after the limited independence, the "Kadu" generation was manipulated by the west, in spite of the so called sophistication of the former. If we allow the "Hadus" to grow they too (or shall I say they 2) would be manipulated by those who upload the stuff that the former download. What we should produce is a "Wadu" generation of young people who could not only download but upload knowledge that they have created. In fact they should be uploading more than downloading, and should not depend on other people, meaning the westerners to tell them what they have to do.
- Sri Lanka Guardian