Abstract:
This study investigates the non-formal English tuition class phenomenon that
attracts large numbers of students, island-wide, and which remains undocumented
and is not monitored by the state. This study analyzes the language content, the
extra-linguistic input (if any) and the teaching methods adopted in a selected
sample of three non-formal English tuition classes in and around Colombo,
conceptualizing English Language Teaching (ELT) as a political act. In this way,
this study examines the ways in which the assumptions/ideologies concerning the
role/function of English in Sri-Lanka (and the mechanics of their reproduction in
the classroom) in three non-formal English courses reinforce or resist the
overarching extra-linguistic context, where the socio-economic advantages remain
with the speakers of Standard Sri Lankan English.
This study suggests that the ways in which the selected case studies both resist and
reinforce the status quo is complex and ambiguous. First, this study conclusively
proves that non-standard varieties of English were taught in all three case studies.
The combination of the non-standard varieties imparted along with the inadequate
teaching methods employed meant that these classes did not equip the students
with even a mechanical knowledge of Standard Sri Lankan English. In this regard,
the courses did not empower the students in socio-linguistic terms.
Secondly, this study revealed the different ways in which these courses
communicated to the student population that a classed acculturation was integral to
achieving fluency in English. The target culture or group was occasionally
