Abstract:
In today's increasingly globalized atmosphere, the English language is crucial for
career success in various fields. As such, English communicative competency is
the key to advancement in academic and professional fields. Although, in Sri
Lankan context, English language teaching has been given a major focus, the lack
of English as a language of communication has hindered the academic and
professional success of Arts graduates in Sri Lanka.The key aim of the current
study is to examine the challenges that Arts graduates encounter in their studies
and employment due to their poor communication abilities in the English
language. Quantitative research was conducted with a hundred Arts graduates in
two state universities in Sri Lanka to investigate their English written and oral
communication experiences at primary, secondary, and tertiary levels of
education and at the workplace. The study employed a semi-structured
questionnaire as the research instrument to gather data. Microsoft Excel (MS
Excel) was used for visualizing, summarizing, and analyzing the data. The results
of the study indicate that the inadequate English written and oral communication
skills at primary and secondary levels and ESL teachers’ inadequate feedback at
the tertiary level have unfavorably affected Arts graduates’ academic and
professional achievements. The study emphasizes the need to use new technology
and strategies to foster an interesting classroom environment. It is recommended
to gain a thorough understanding of the aspects like individual differences of the
students in designing lesson materials and activities along with internet-assisted
tools and applications. The outcomes of the study have implications for ESL
teachers, material designers, and management that are responsible for
implementing required developments. Future researchers can extend the current
study by referring to the existing English written and oral communication
competency levels of the undergraduates by using different contexts.
