Report on the 2nd International Conference on Decolonizing English (ICDE 2026)

 The Department of English Language Teaching, Faculty of Arts, University of Jaffna, successfully organised the 2nd International Conference on Decolonizing English (ICDE 2026) from 12–14 August 2026 at the University of Jaffna. The conference has been organised in collaboration with Pennsylvania State University, USA, with funding support from the Evan Pugh Professorship of Prof. Suresh Canagarajah, the Patron of the conference. The conference provided an important academic platform to critically examine English, language, identity, power, multilingualism, and language education from decolonial perspectives.

The conference brought together scholars, researchers, teachers, and practitioners from Sri Lanka and several countries worldwide. The conference featured six keynote/plenary sessions, four spotlight sessions, technical sessions, and a panel discussion. Approximately 110 research papers were presented in the technical sessions.

The conference featured six distinguished keynote and plenary speakers:

• Prof. Suresh Canagarajah – Pennsylvania State University, USA (Keynote Speaker)
• Prof. Sender Dovchin – Curtin University, Australia (Plenary speaker)
• Prof. Bimali Indrarathne – General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University, Sri Lanka (Plenary speaker)
• Prof. Rhonda Oliver – Curtin University, Australia (Plenary speaker)
• Associate Prof. Max Spotti – Tilburg University, Netherlands (Plenary speaker)
• Dr. Vydehi Rajapillai – University of Brighton, UK (Plenary speaker)

The presentations and discussions addressed diverse aspects of decolonising English, including multilingualism, translingual practices, language and identity, English Language Teaching, teacher agency, language policy, and locally relevant pedagogies. The participation of scholars from Australia, the USA, the UK, the Netherlands, India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka enriched academic dialogue and created opportunities for international research collaboration.

As a follow-up activity, an Academic Publishing and Research Mentoring Workshop was conducted on 15–16 August 2026, providing researchers with expert guidance on developing their work for publication and further extending the academic impact of the conference.

Overall, ICDE 2026 was a notable academic achievement for the Department of English Language Teaching and the Faculty of Arts at the University of Jaffna. It enhanced the University’s international academic visibility, strengthened research networks, and provided a valuable platform for rethinking the future of English Language Teaching and research from decolonial and multilingual perspectives.