English beyond A/Ls

AN old adage says that ‘Reading maketh a full man’. The relevance of this saying springs to mind when perusing a media report of the Higher Education Ministry’s plans to make the General English paper mandatory for all Advanced Level students.

While this can be hailed as a positive development, there is a dark cloud inside the proverbial silver lining. Putting aside the proverbs for the time being, let us consider the practical aspects of this move. While it is true that English is essential in the modern world, more so as Sri Lanka looks to upgrade its development goals, the standards fluctuate dramatically depending on where the candidate will hail from. What of the students who come from schools that have poor standards of English? Or no English teachers? How can a level playing field be created for all students?

The blithe answer of the Ministry is that they can write the fact that their school does not have any English teachers on the paper. Not only would this prompt most students to lie in hopes of evoking sympathy in the examiner, it would also not assist others from deprived schools to obtain higher marks. Depending on the performance of the students, they will be allocated a three-month English course once they begin university. Those who have passed to university this year without the mandatory sitting will be subjected to a separate test before they are officially entered for studies.

Even with the best of intentions the Ministry cannot ensure that all these students obtain the relevant command of English needed to complete their degrees and more importantly, find themselves proper employment once they enter the job market. The Government does not have the resources to expand English education to rural areas in the short term and maintain standards that are much needed even in urban schools. While the intent to promote English at university level is laudable, a language requires much use, preferably when the students are young, for it to become competent.

Therefore, the children have to return to more practical measures such as reading. This proverb became popular because books are the most accepted form of language learning. Simplistic as this idea might seem, steps to promote reading at a young level would facilitate English learning far more than classes would.

Using the internet, releasing teaching tools such as videos or live streaming via computers and encouraging children to self-learn will enable rural schools to have access to quality English teaching.

Facebook, twitter, blogs and chat have already taught teenagers rudimentary English for communication and these same networks can be used to encourage them to delve deeper into learning English competently. This would also be more sensible than pushing them into ‘speed’ English courses or telling them to write about the lack of an English teacher on their A/L test paper.

Establishing a modern English learning system requires intertwining the old with the new. While teachers are needed to play guiding roles, they need not be the only source of information. Students who are encouraged to self-learn do so; this is especially seen for what is considered ‘trendy’ by the youth – SMS, music, video games and networking sites being the best examples. This shows that kids will learn what they ‘want’ and smart university students understand the importance of English.

Each university can use innovative tools to teach English to weak students and encourage them to continue the education process on their own. This will reduce the necessity of conducting awkward testing at national level while assisting a competent, cost effective and standardised mode of education to reach the youth irrespective of their backgrounds.