Abstract:
The reintroduction of English medium education in schools and university has created
a renewed interest in the learning/teaching of the English language in Sri Lanka.
English is learned as a foreign language in Sri Lanka. In the 1950's, the medium of
instruction in schools and universities changed from English medium to mother
tongue medium of instruction. This resulted in generations of Sri Lankan being
educated in their mother tongue (Sinhala or Tamil). With the recent reintroduction of
the English medium education, the transition from mother tongue medium to English
medium is proving to be difficult. This study focuses on the Bachelor of Arts (B.Ed)
undergraduates of the Faculty of Education, University of Colombo who have thus far
studied in the mother tongue medium (Sinhala/Tamil).
This study was conducted to investigate the English language needs of the Bachelor
of Education (B.Ed) undergraduates of the Faculty of Education. This study analyses
the problems and difficulties faced by the B.Ed students following their degree
programme in the English medium. Data was gathered from the B.Ed students who
followed the English Language course offered by the Department of Humanities
Education, Faculty of Education with the objective of suggesting an English
Language course that would minimize the difficulties faced by students in the event of
a transition from mother tongue medium of instruction to English medium instruction.
The sample of the study comprised sixty nine students following the Bachelor of
Education (Third Year) programme and twelve students of the Bachelor of Education
(First Year) English medium programme. The Bachelor of Education (B.Ed) English
medium programme commenced in 2006 and the sample of twelve students
comprised the first batch.
The methodology used in the study was to conduct a needs assessment of the English
language requirements of the B.Ed students following the English Language Course
offered by the Department of Humanities Education. The data collected was used to
recommend and suggest a new English Language course that would cater to the
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specific English language needs of die B.Ed students. The data was collected using
questionnaires and interviews.
The findings of the study reveal that the B.Ed students are instrumentally motivated to
learn English. The primary objective of the students in learning English is for
employment purposes where English language proficiency could create a demand in
the employment market. Therefore, the needs analysis reveals that there is a need to
improve oral language proficiency. However, in transiting from mother tongue
medium to English medium education, the primary requirement of the students should
be developing academic reading, writing and academic listening skills.
The study recommends an English Language Course designed to cater to the specific
language needs of the students. A n Adjunct Instruction model is recommended where
the content area lecturer and the language teacher will work with each other to
develop the language course. The main purpose of introducing adjunct instruction in
language teaching is to provide assistance to the content area lecturer by resolving
difficulties in language the students could encounter. However, the recommendations
have to be pre tested and needs analysis conducted repeatedly over a period of time