Department of English

Much of the study of World Englishes (WEs) focuses on varieties of English used in the Global South. However, this scholarship is often created and shaped in the Global North. In the process, epistemic exclusion of Global South scholarship sometimes takes place (Piller, Zhang and Li, 2022), resulting in epistemic injustice-i.e., other ways of knowing, doing, and being (Mahboob, 2023). Adopting a reflexive, narrative approach, we draw on our own experiences as WEs researchers living and working in Sri Lanka in order to reevaluate recent research on Sri Lankan Englishes (SLEs) conducted by scholars from the Global North. We find that some of this scholarship adopts highly objectivist and 'scientific' approaches, producing problematic generalisations and oversimplifications. An overreliance on data abstracted and removed from the local context, a reluctance to engage with the complexities of local multilingual settings, the diversity of users and usages, results in a limited understanding of the multidialectal nature of SLEs and the conflicted understanding of the label "SLE" among local speakers. We also observe a marginalization, even a silencing, of the voices of local researchers and their findings in these studies, and a lack of responsible and ethical treatment of local informants. Our findings have significance for research in other 'Outer Circle' and peripheral varieties of English which are similarly subjected to scholarly imperialism by researchers from the Global North. We conclude by calling for a more decolonized approach to the production and dissemination of knowledge through more equitable research collaborations which adhere to ethical considerations in all stages of the research process and knowledge production. We also call on peripheral scholars to take ownership of the processes and production of their knowledge as a means of reducing the epistemic injustice of North-South disparities in scholarship.