Rohini Chandrica Widyalankara

Dialectal Variation in Sri Lankan English Pronunciation: an Acoustic Analysis Rohini Chandrica Widyalankara

On a quest to satisfy the need for acoustic documentation of pronunciation norms of Standard Sri Lankan English (SSLE) and deviations which identify the users of Other Varieties of Sri Lankan English (OVSLE) this book bases its theoretical underpinning on tenets of Markedness. A participant population of 50 Sinhala/Sri Lankan English and 50 Tamil/Sri Lankan English bilinguals faced a questionnaire-interview procedure where data collectors evaluated their bilingual profile, and pronunciation across a 50 word instrument compiled from literature. Thereafter utilizing purposive sampling procedures 2 SSLE user bilinguals: one with Tamil and the other with Sinhala as the first language and 13 OVSLE speaker case study subjects were shortlisted. Applying current ethical and collaborative approaches data collection and analysis encompassed systematic recording, annotation and acoustic scrutiny of the spoken lexical samples collected from 15 case study participants. Providing acoustic evidence for variation within a variety of English this book offers a primary source for academics in the genres of World Englishes, speech science, generative phonology and interlanguage pronunciation.