Abstract:
Competence in English is considered as an essential requirement for the undergraduates to be
successful while studying and even after their graduation. Nevertheless, considering Sri Lankan
government universities and especially the Faculties of Arts, low competence in English of the
undergraduates has become a severe and a long lasting issue. Thus, many of the attempts exercised
by English Language Units to uplift the language proficiency of the students ended in vain. Since the
issue seems to have different dimensions the present study aims to find out the misconceptions of the
language learners in learning English as a Second Language and to suggest remedial actions to
overcome such fallacies. As the discourse aspect of the study is regarded to be vital, a qualitative
analysis was carried out by distributing 100 open-ended questionnaires for the second year students of
the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of the University of Ruhuna. Besides 10 language
Teachers of the English Language Teaching Unit were interviewed and classroom observations were
also done. It was revealed that the students carried language related as well as socially constructed
misconceptions which diminish their motivation and impression in learning English. Such myths have
taken enough scope in their minds simply because the university has failed to establish a sound
language learning environment inside the university. The absence of language empowering bodies,
innovative teaching methods, English medium studies, and a number of new language courses appear
to comfort the students to hang on their misconceptions until they pass out. Thus, prior to any change,
it is suggested that the language related delusions of the students towards language learning need to
eliminate from their mindsets and from their language learning environment.
