THE 21ST CENTURY INNOVATIVE METHODS FOR TEACHING ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE IN SRI LANKAN SCHOOLS: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY

Abstract

As the trends in language education have been shifting ever since the 20th century, the traditional educational system is being replaced by innovative ways. As such, these practices have progressively made their way into English as a Second Language (ESL) classes around the world. Although the importance of using innovative methods to teach English is broadly discussed in the educational forums in Sri Lanka, to which extent ESL teachers are able to employ these methods for classroom practices has become a question. Thus,a qualitative study was undertaken with fifteen ESL practitioners in the Colombo Educational Zone to examine the effectiveness of using innovative teaching methods for teaching and learning. Findings of the study demonstrate that the implementation of the 21st century innovative methods to teach English language is a proportional approach that depends on the individual assessments of the teachers. It is significant to note that ESL teachers are increasingly attempting to cater to the needs of students by incorporating innovative teaching methods into their pedagogy.