Abstract:
Various committee reports suggested that the teaching of English in Sri Lanka is
not satisfactory and does not meet the needs of the majority of the students. To fill this
vacuum, different types of course books were introduced. The textbooks did not fulfill the
needs of the students. Finally, Bilingual Education was introduced to the Sri-Lanka
Education system in order to promote language proficiency of the students.
Little or no research has been conducted on learning materials at Junior Secondary
Level since the implementation of the bilingual policy in 2004.
The purpose of the present study, therefore, was to guide, monitor, motivate and find
solutions to the problems related to learning materials as learning materials have now
become a serious issue.
For the purpose of the data collection questionnaires, interviews and observation
schedules were used. The information identified through literature survey and interviews
with the parents and teachers was used to prepare the questionnaires.
The students' version of the questionnaire was administered to hundred students in
Colombo and Kegalle districts. The teachers' questionnaire was administered to ten
teachers and the parents' questionnaire was also administered to ten parents. Two teachers
and two parents were interviewed and three classes were observed in order to understand
the teacher-learner interaction. The students studying at Junior Secondary Lev|l, the
teachers and parents were selected randomly.
This study reveals the numerous problems the learners at Junior Secondary Level
faced and the problems of distribution of learning materials(textbooks). In addition, this
study reveals the problems teachers faced in the process of teaching. Moreover, this also
discusses the problems the learners face from the point of view of their parents.
The descriptive data collected were analyzed mainly using percentages. The results
were further clarified using charts, graphs and tables.
The conclusions and recommendations were suggested in relation to each
objective. However, it is suggested that future researches are needed in order to analyze the
problems related to learning materials.
