Cultural and affective approaches to Sri Lankan Englishes: a narrative analysis of ‘reluctance to speak’ through the encultured axiom of linguistic shame-fear

This study critically examines the Sri Lankan law undergraduates’ reluctance to speak in English and its implications towards Sri Lankan Englishes (SLEs) through cultural and affective lenses. It introduces ‘encultured axiom of linguistic shame-fear’ as a new conceptualisation derived from the Sri Lankan culture to explore this premise. Using Narrative Inquiry (NI) as the qualitative methodology, this study situates the pluralist experiences of two Sri Lankan law undergraduates within their cultural upbringing and critically examines how they regulate their linguistic ideologies in relation to speaking. These L2 learners represent diverse experiences related to accent hierarchies and the notion of nativeness. Moreover, they share pluralist ideologies related to the dynamics of being ‘posh vs. godey’, which refers to their beliefs related to ‘standard’ and ‘substandard’ usage of English. Pedagogical implications of these contentions are also highlighted, where it becomes possible to navigate between their colonially encultured experiences and decolonial discourses.