English as a life skill:

Phase Two begins Monday

President Mahinda Rajapaksa Monday will launch the second phase of the Presidential initiative on ‘English as a Life Skill’, the National Road Map to take spoken / communicative English skills across the country, following the successful conclusion of the program’s first phase.

During the commencement of the expanded Phase 2 at Temple Trees Monday, officials are set to unveil a 100 hour curriculum with teaching aids for a Certificate Course in Basic English for the general public produced by a team of Sri Lankan ELT trainers.

The President will also launch a Public Examination for a Certificate in Basic English to be conducted by the Commissioner General of Examinations.

While Phase 1 of the Presidential Initiative was focused on the public school system, Phase two will also reach out to the general public desiring to learn to speak English. One of the salient features of the program is its intent to promote spoken English , the Sri Lankan way, with its own unique accent and manner of pronunciation. Presidential Advisor and Coordinator / English and Convenor of the Presidential Task Force on English and IT Sunimal Fernando had this to say on the outcome of the first phase.

“Within the thirteen months of its implementation (June 2009 – July 2010) the image of the English language as a weapon of social oppression and a statement of elitism has been substantially – though not totally - transformed into that of an essential life skill for communication, employment and access to the external world of knowledge and technology”.

”While Sri Lankan English is being received as the informal, spoken variety of the language in the country, International Standard English is being accepted as the formal or written form of the language”. During the first phase, 60 percent of the 22,500 English teachers of the country were trained by the Ministry of Education and the nine Provincial Ministries to teach Spoken / Communicative English. The remaining 40 percent are listed to be trained before the end of the year.

A strong national cadre of 80 Master Trainers in Spoken English from all nine provinces had been established, trained at the English and Foreign Languages University (EFLU) in Hyderabad with Indian government assistance and with 320 assistant trainers to help them. An apex level Sri Lanka India Centre for English Language Training (SLICELT) with modern technology and local and Indian resource persons too had been established at Peradeniya with Indian government assistance.

Nine Provincial Sri Lanka India Centres for English Language Training (PSLICELTs) with state-of-the-art teaching technology, residential facilities for 80 trainees and local and Indian resource persons in each Centre too had been established.

A Teacher Guide on ‘Sri Lankan English Standards – Phonology, Vocabulary and Syntax (including Grammar, Word Order and idiom) was initiated and is to be completed by August 2010. The support given by the Government of India and the funding provided by the ADB, the Board of Investment (BOI) and the commitment displayed by the six member team of the Special Initiatives Unit too was hailed.