Improvement of English standard

R.D.P. gunawardena

It is heartening to hear that President Mahinda Rajapaksa himself has taken up the task of ameliorating the English standard under a realistic innovative program.

I dare to say that standard of English rapidly deteriorated with the doing away with English medium and neglecting teaching of English at schools. This situation arose in consequence of evil policies of some politicos and narrow-minded officialdom in the sphere of education in our country decades ago. People were not opposed to giving its due place to Sinhala, but deprival of learning an international language for Sri Lankans was disadvantageous.

When we were schooling in mid ‘50s and ‘60s, even after the elimination of English medium, we were able to study English in good grammar books like High School English Composition and English with a Smile authored by Wren and Martin, and W.H. Samaranayake.

Samaranayake, then Principal of St. Bernadette’s College, Polgahawela, was a genius of English grammar whose textbooks were very instrumental in teaching and learning English stage by stage. In addition, we were also advised to use handbooks like Direct Method and First Aid in English as guidance.

Unfortunately, those books were replaced with very complicated boring set of books which were too dull for our students to grasp the subject.

Furthermore, all English teachers in good old days were well versed in the subject and thoroughly knew the methods of teaching. Even the students those who failed the subject in examinations were able to speak and write correct English. It is lamentable that at present 80 percent of English teachers serving in the country are not properly qualified and equipped to teach the subject.

These teachers too were not fortunate to learn English so suffice for their job due to poor teaching standard in schools. Only a few non-government institutions in the city and some provincial towns maintain a good level.

I would like to put forward some guidelines which will, in my view, be helpful in improving the standard of English in Sri Lanka.

Introduce good textbooks for students, put up libraries and language centres at convenient places, invite English educated persons living in respective areas to assist in English teaching programs (service of retired teachers and elders with adequate knowledge of the language can be solicited for the purpose), start a separate educative English Channel in TV, encourage students of secondary level to speak and write English at their schools, close down mushroom tuition classes (boutiques) conducted by bogus tutors.