Page 88 - RASAS 2025

10 Ruhuna Arts Student’s Annual Sessions (RASAS) -2025
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A Comparative Analysis of English and Sinhala Newspaper Consumption
Patterns among Undergraduates in Sri Lankan State Universities

V.K.N. Gamage
Department of English and Linguistics, University of Ruhuna
Kav11nishi@gmail.com

ABSTRACT

This qualitative study explores how undergraduates in Sri Lankan state universities consume newspapers, with
particular attention to their preference for English or Sinhala and the reasons behind these choices. With the

rapid shift toward digital media, the role of traditional print media such as newspapers, especially in the
preferred language has become increasingly complex among undergraduates. This research aims to analyse
whether these students actively consume newspapers and what motivates their preference for either English or

Sinhala news sources. Data were gathered through a qualitative online survey consisting of 15 open-ended
questions completed by 20 students from various academic disciplines and analysed through thematic analysis
to identify key themes in their newspaper consumption and language preferences. The findings present that

English newspapers are more widely preferred, mainly due to academic requirements, family influence, and
the need to improve English language skills, while the Sinhala newspapers were consumed by a smaller group,
mainly due to its familiarity, cultural alignment and ease of comprehension. Respondents have mentioned that

language development, reliability, and subject diversity as reasons for preferring English-language
publications. The study also highlights that students read newspapers selectively, focusing on sections like

entertainment, politics, education, and international news in English publications, whereas Sinhala newspapers
were often limited to local news and lacked diversity. Additionally, undergraduates reported concerns about
bias, affordability, and time constraints as challenges in regular newspaper consumption, highlighting that

these patterns reflect the effect of both intrinsic and extrinsic factors on the language choices of the students
in newspaper consumption. The study finds that language strongly influences newspaper consumption, with

many undergraduates preferring English newspapers for academic reasons as well as personal growth. It
highlights the need for Sinhala newspapers to expand their content and align better with undergraduate
interests. The study concludes by contributing to the understanding of how language preference shapes

newspaper consumption in a bilingual undergraduate context, offering insights into both academic and cultural
dimensions of media use. Nevertheless, recommendations of this study include expanding future research with
a larger, more gender-balanced sample and incorporating qualitative methods such as interviews or focus

groups for deeper insights.

Keywords: Bilingual Context, Language Preference, Newspaper Consumption, Sri Lankan, Undergraduates

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