The trilingual dream of post-war Sri Lanka

Purpose Language issues play a key role in Sri Lanka’s post-war reconciliation, having contributed to past ethnic conflicts. Therefore, as a country still striving for post-war reconciliation, understanding the current status of its trilingual policy implementation remains vital for future language planning. Design/methodology/approach This paper first analyzes policy documents related to trilingual initiatives introduced to date while discussing what existing research reveals about these policies. The second section explores the current state of policy implementation at the grassroots level, primarily in the education sector and examines the perceptions and experiences of education stakeholders and officials from government and nongovernment sectors in implementing these policies. Accordingly, this study employs both policy analysis and data from 40 in-depth interviews. Findings The findings suggest that, although the trilingual policy has not entirely failed, it has fallen short of achieving its intended objectives due to successive governments’ abandonment of implementation efforts, ineffective institutional frameworks, varying attitudes towards languages and other issues among hostile ethnic groups beyond language. It further showcases the strengths and weaknesses of trilingual language planning as a post-war reconciliation effort. Originality/value In the absence of a formal evaluation of the success of the trilingual education policy, the study, based on document analysis and empirical data, discusses language ideologies, problems and their connection to the identities of people and social harmony. By doing so, it offers insights for conflict-ridden contexts that aim to promote multilingualism amidst internal linguistic struggles, as well as the challenges of linguistic imperialism, globalization and internationalization.