A Critical Evaluation of Sri Lankan Government School Textbooks

At present, recognizing the importance of being proficient in English, it is taught primary grades onwards within the Sri Lankan education system. 'Let's Learn English' is a series designed for primary grades; three, four and five, and lays the foundation for our children's formal English language learning process. Therefore, a critical evaluation of this series could be considered a vital requirement to discover whether the students' language requirements are satisfactorily fulfilled. Drawing on comprehensive qualitative and quantitative data through questionnaires and interviews from a study sample of ESL teachers, instructors and students, this study mainly sought to investigate the extent to which the content of the course book meet the set objectives. And, attempts were made to inspect how far the course books are free from errors. Also, the integration of all four language skills was analyzed to examine whether the communicative needs of students are satisfied. The ultimate objective of the study was to identify strengths and weaknesses of the course books and recommend improvements to them with the aim of enhancing the quality of existing learning and teaching practices.

Autorentext

Ms. Anoma A. Gunawardana has obtained her Master of Arts degree in Linguistics in 2013 and currently reads for the M. Phil in Linguistics. Upon completion of her Bachelor of Arts degree in 2009 she has worked in several education institutes as a Lecturer in English. She is the author of a number of articles published in reputed journals.