A Study on the English Language (L2) Proficiency of the Bilingual Education Teachers of the Sri Lankan Government Schools in North Central Province.

Abstract

Bilingual Education (BE) promotes full development of two languages, preparing individuals to function in a global society. It has become a cornerstone of education in the twenty-first century. This study examines whether the English Language (L2) proficiency of the BE teachers of the government schools in the North Central Province helps to facilitate the BE students in their subject matter. The study is based on a complex analysis, which consists of web pages, questionnaires distributed among 50 BE students in the North Central Province, the written documents of 20 selected Bilingual Education teachers, classroom observations and interviews. The data was collected and analyzed manually using Microsoft Office Excel 2007. The findings show that more than 50% of the BE teachers prove that their vocabulary is very poor. Majority of the BE teachers are not using correct English grammar for the purpose of accurate and effective communication. 65% of BE teachers make errors and mistakes when using punctuation marks. The findings strongly decide that majority of the BE learners are exposed to wrong formation of letters. The wrong articulation of words are presented to the BE learners by 90% of the BE teachers and 80% of the BE teachers make errors and mistakes in translation. The results of the research show that various language errors and mistakes are done by the BE teachers of the government schools in the North Central Province. BE learners face a number of problems in acquiring their subject matter due to the lack of English Language proficiency of the teachers. Moreover, this research illustrates whether the teachers, who educate the future generation have acquired the above mentioned competency levels in their education.