Bilingual education in Sri Lankan schools-An analysis of difficulties in speaking experienced by students in selected schools in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Bilingual Education was introduced to Sri Lanka in 2001, initially through Amity School Programme. In this Bilingual Progrmme, English is used as the medium of instruction in selected subjects such as Mathematics, Science and Technology, Information Technology, Social Science and Health and Physical Education in secondary grades from grade 6 to grade 11.The students of Bilingual Programme are expected to be competent both in First Language LI (Sinhala/Tamil) and Target Language (English). However, the students find it difficult to express themselves in English especially in academic performances, perhaps due to their lack of proficiency in English. This is an observation, I have experienced as a teacher. The research findings of NIE, 2007 also correspond with relevant observation, and my collected data in this thesis, too clearly suggest that students in the Bilingual Programme find difficult to express themselves in English. I have used the descriptive method to collect data by giving questionnaires to students in sample population of 60 students and 20 teachers including English teachers, non - English teachers who work in the Bilingual Programme and teachers who work in Activity Based Oral English (ABOE) Programme in primary education. An analysis of collected data suggests a 65% of sample population find difficult to express themselves in English, especially in academic performances. This revelation is important because it helps to anticipate the propositions find in Bilingual Education and to take necessary steps to guide its move. In this paper, I try to interpret the difficulties in speaking faced by students in the Bilingual Education Programme with the help of theoretical explanation.