ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING CLASSES IN THE NON-FORMAL SECTOR: THREE CASE STUDIES

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