ABSTRACT
This chapter critically analyses EMI and its impact on a society that underwent drastic changes in its socioeconomic and political scenario resulting from a struggle for language rights after independence from Britain. Jaffna Peninsula, the Tamil-speaking northern part of Sri Lanka, is considered one of the pioneering bases in South Asia for the introduction of EMI owing to the influence of American Missionaries. However, due to diverse internal conflicts, socio-political struggles, and unplanned language policies, there have been a number of unprecedented changes and challenges faced by this region. The present study divides the historical backdrop of the region into three phases for convenient analysis. The first phase represents the period from the introduction of EMI until the independence of the country. The second phase encompasses the post-independent period up to the beginning of the national ethnic conflict. The third phase is the post-war period to date. The article brings into light the impact of EMI on local languages in the first phase, how local language policy affected EMI in the second phase, and, as a result of the struggle created in the second phase, how the third phase EMI has become a less efficient model.
