A Case Study on the Sri Lankan English Language Learner in the field of Creative Arts

B.A.Ajantha Niroshani

doi:10.11594/10.11594/ijmaber.02.12.17

Abstract

This article reports the findings of a study that investigated the attitudes of creative arts undergraduates and the attitudes and perception of English as a second language (ESL) teachers from different faculties in three Sri Lankan universities about the motivation and proficiency of their students. Employing a qualitative approach in which a 20-item 6- point Likert scale questionnaire and eight (8) item online questionnaire served as the instuments respectively for randomly selected 25 students and the 10 ESL teachers. The results of the study revealed that the undergraduates were aware of the role played by the English language in terms of the potential utility,importance of learning and the potential impact on their future employment.According to the data analysis,the undergraduates in the faculties of medicine and science are motivated than their counterparts in the faculty of creative arts.Differenciations were observerd in terms of independent thinking, enthusiasm for classroom tasks and critical thinking between the same.

Highlights

Due to the decades of mother tongue education at the primary, secondary and tertiary levels in international contexts, teaching English has been a challenge for teachers of all levels
Research Objectives This study explores the attitudes of undergraduates towards learning English
The item given above investigated whether students kept short notes during their studies. 56% of the students agreed that they kept short notes during their studies while 20% opted for cannot say option. 12% of the student sample disagreed with the suggestion while the same percentage of the students strongly agreed

Summary

Introduction

Due to the decades of mother tongue education at the primary, secondary and tertiary levels in international contexts, teaching English has been a challenge for teachers of all levels. Low levels of English language learning at school have resulted in the students often being unable to grasp the language at the tertiary level. Some of the reasons for this situation are common in teaching English to undergraduates the world over: these include non-English speaking backgrounds, environments that are non-conducive to learning English and lack of exposure during their schooling and afterwards, to name a few. In terms of the context of the research conducted, each year, ESL teachers confront a new batch of students who enter the university. Their motivational level in the English language classrooms varies.

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion