Abstract:
Chinese language is the most popular language in all over the world .Chinese Language is
one of the five major languages of United Nations Organization and second language of
Australia and United States of America. Although, Chinese is not an official Language in Sri
Lanka most of the students are learning Chinese as a foreign language. Chinese is taught as a
foreign language in Schools, Universities and Confucius Institutes and also number of
students are going to china to study Chinese. University of Kelaniya (UOK) offers general
and special degree in Chinese and certificate courses. Sabaragamuwa university of Sri Lanka,
Confucius Institute of UOK, China Radio International (CRI) Confucius classroom, Lumbini
College and Bandaranaike Center for International Studies (BCIS) also conduct degree
programs and certificate courses. The aim of this study was to find out the reasons for the
popularity of Chinese Language among university students in Sri Lanka. Data for this study
was collected from internal students who are reading B.A General and Special degree in
Chinese. Data were collected from the annual reports (2011-2015) of department of Modern
Languages, University of Kelaniya. Students think studying of Chinese has advantages for
finding jobs in tourist industry and getting scholarships for higher education in China. These
findings will be help to promote Chinese as a foreign language.
