Teaching of english language vs english literature in the Ampara district of Sri lanka: what factors impinge upon The success of teaching and learning?

Abstract

Introduced in colonial period in Sri Lanka, English language is taught to students from Grade 3 to Advanced Level at schools. Despite the heavy expenditure and efforts taken by the government, the outcome of teaching English language has not been satisfactory as revealed in the public examinations. In contrast, the teaching of English literature at GCE O/L and GCE A/L has become a success with a high performance rate. Nevertheless, the number of students who offer this subject has been only a fraction of those students who follow English language. Lack of motivation has been an influential factor in deciding the successfulness of learning of English. It is generally perceived that those students who offer English literature are highly motivated and proficient, compared to the other cohort. But there may be some other reasons too, more importantly the availability of English teachers and their qualification and commitments. This study identifies the reasons behind the success or failure of teaching English literature and language at two selected schools in the Ampara district from both urban and rural areas. In the urban school the reasons for success and the issues of student enrollment into literature courses were found, while in the rural school the reasons for poor performance in language tests were found. The students on the Literature course seem to be happy with the teaching and learning, especially, English medium students show much interest towards English literature. On the other hand, others who did not enroll on literature courses gave several reasons for not enrolling such as their fear of failing the subject, lack of basic knowledge of literature, lack of interest and unawareness about the value of the subject. In the rural school so many reasons were put forward for their difficulties in learning English. Mainly it was found that students’ poor language proficiency from primary classes affected learning. The outcome of the study would shed light into the policy decisions concerning English language teaching.