Abstract:
With the proliferation of English Medium Degree Programmes (EMDPs) around the world, there
is an increasing need to provide academic and linguistic support for undergraduates whose first
language is not English who are enrolled in these programmes (Jacobs, 2006; Thesen, Jacobs,
Paxton, 2016). While providing this support has been traditionally considered the responsibility
of the language lecturer (Jacobs, 2006; McKenna, 2014), there is increasing awareness of two
emerging factors: (a) the generic English as a Second Language (ESL), English for Academic
Purposes (EAP), English for Specific Purposes (ESP) courses conducted by English language
lecturers are inadequate to support students as they make the transition to English Medium
Instruction (EMI) (Jacobs, 2006; McKenna, 2014), and (b) language and content lecturers need
to work closely in order to develop curricula, lesson material and assessments that enable students
to perform optimally in their EMDPs (Jacobs, 2006).
This paper investigates the concept of academic literacy in Sri Lankan Higher Education (SLHE)
and emphasizes the need to develop the academic literacy of the undergraduates of Sri Lankan
universities. Despite mainstreaming academic literacy being the optimum approach in the EMI
context, executing it in Sri Lanka is challenging. The researchers view the acquisition of
academic literacy as an additive process where it is the logical next step after the acquisition of
ESL and EAP/ESP. This study collects data by (a) interviewing lecturers and undergraduates and
(b) analyzing official documentation of ten faculties of three state universities. Data analysis has
been done through Qualitative Content Analysis (QCA). Findings of this study indicate that there
is little awareness about the concept of academic literacy among the stakeholders, and when there
is awareness, there is inadequate attention paid to it.
