Welcome to the Department of Linguistics and English

Linguisticsis a scientific, empiricalas well as qualitative study of language. The subfields of Linguistics taught by the Departmen to f Linguistics & Englishat the University of Jaffna include Historical Linguistics, Phonetics, Psycho linguistics, Socio linguistics, Applied Linguistics, Language and Linguisticsin South Asia, Language Policies, Translation, Syntax, Stylistics, Clinical linguistics and Computational Linguistics. Linguistics is an ever-evolving discipline which is informed by changes that happen in society, culture, the political and economic spheres, science and technology. The department of Linguistics at the University of Jaffna has its roots in the Unit of Language and Cultural studies which was established in 1975.The Unit was upgraded in to a full-fledged Department in 1981. The Tamil stream of the University of Kelaniya was shifted to the Jaffna University in 1982 and Linguistics was introduced as the unique disipline in the Department of Language and Cultural studies since 1983.This department was bifurcated into Department of Linguistics & English and Department of Christian & Islamic civilizations in 1989.It is noteworthy that the department of Linguistics & English at the University of Jaffna is one of the two academic centersinSriLanka, where Linguistics is taught as an independent discipline. B.A (Hon) in Linguistics The central goal of the degree is to encourage students with the analytical skills and application of linguistic theories needed to understand language scientifically, to engage in professional experience in the fields such as speech therapy, language teaching, translation and language planning.

Generally known as English in Sri Lanka and elsewhere, the discipline English Literature focuses mainly on the study of literatures written in English from various parts of the world. However, the field of English studies in both the global north and the postcolonial world is be coming increasingly diverse and inter-disciplinary; it now embraces and intersects with areas like Language Studies, Comparative Literature, Cultural Studies and Translation Studies. English Literature was introduced as a subject at the Jaffna Campus of the University of Sri Lanka in 1975. Ms. Shanthini Santhanam, Prof. Chelva Kanaganayakam, Dr. Nihal Fernando were among the pioneering academics. The curriculum taught in the early decades focused almost exclusively on literary studies. Later on, a few components in language studies were added to the curriculum. A special degree program in English Literature was inaugurated in 2001. The English Literature curriculum taught by the Department of Linguistics & English at the University of Jaffna at present includes a wide array of courses in literary studies, language studies and courses that are interdisciplinary in nature where literary studies and language studies intersect with cultural studies and critical theory. In terms of content, the new curriculum focuses not just on the British canon but also American literatures and literatures from formerly colonized locations such as South Asia, Africa and the Caribbean. The Department also teaches courses in world literatures and critical theory. Some of the Honours degree courses taught in the final year are organized around themes so as to give students an understanding of the ways in which literature engages with the questions of nationalism, globalization, gender and sexuality, caste and labor. The curriculum for the Honours degree program in English Literature includes several courses in Linguistics and Language Studies as well and cross-lists some of the courses offered by the Linguistics section of the Department of Linguistics & English. These courses will help students develop an understanding of the place and role of English in the local and global contexts in which they find themselves today. In order to help the graduates of this Department prepare themselves to make a constructive contribution to the teaching of English and English Literature in the country, the Department has decided to offer courses in Teaching English Literature too under its English Literature curriculum.