Micheal Meyler has come to Sri Lanka in 1985 as an English teacher and has been working with the British Council, the UK cultural exchange office as a part-time teacher.

In 2007 he had published a bookA Dictionary of Sri Lankan English which has 2,500 words and expressions which are characteristic of English spoken in the island. Sri Lanka was under British rule until 1948.

"I am amazed and very grateful to receive this unexpected honour," a statement from the UK embassy quoted Meyle as saying.

"The main thing I would like to think the book has achieved is to raise awareness of Sri Lankan English among learners, teachers and speakers of English in Sri Lanka, by bringing it out of the academic realm into the public domain.

"It certainly seems to have sparked a fair amount of debate on the subject."

He has also published a trilingual children’s book and DVD called Keerthihan’s Kite, and illustrated flashcards of the Sinhala and Tamil alphabets.

He has BA (Honours) in Modern and Medieval Languages (German and French) from the University of Cambridge, and professional qualifications in teaching English as a foreign language, the high commission said.