Learner Profile

 

I am an instructor working at the Faculty of Arts University of Peradeniya. The lesson plans for my teaching practicum are based on the lessons taught for the first year, second year and the third year undergraduates (ELA 1101/1202, ELA2103/2204 and ELA 3105/3206) of the University of Peradeniya. As the students first register in the University they have to sit for a placement test in English. After this test, based on their marks they will be grouped to follow an intensive course which runs for nearly 04 weeks. After the intensive course they will be given another examination called the achievement test to check their level of improvement in English. The first year students or the freshers will then be grouped for the ongoing English program based on the marks that they achieved for this examination. In the second year, students are grouped based on the marks that they achieved for the first year, first and second semester end semester examinations.

Learning English as a second language for the students is compulsory in the first and the second year of their academic calendar. The third year which is also called the diploma level is an optional course for the students. However, they should at least score a ‘c’ pass to be eligible to follow the diploma level. For the third year the students are grouped based on the subject they are majoring in. The main skills taught in the first semester are reading and writing and in the second semester speaking and listening are taught as the two main skills.

According to the UTEL Bench mark levels, first, second and third year students belong to Bench Mark Level 04, 05 and 06 respectively. Classes for the first year students are held on Monday, Wednesday and Friday in both the semesters. The times are usually the evening hours on all three days from 3.00 p.m. to 5.00p.m. For the second year students classes are held on Tuesday and Thursday. In the first semester the time allocated is from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. and in the second semester from 3p.m to 5 p.m. For the third year students the teachers have to discuss and fix times with them as a permanent time has not been given to them from the faculty.

Materials for all three levels are designed with the main objective of improving their language capacities. Thus, the materials are designed focusing all four language skills. Most of the lesson materials are based on the context in which the students live in. Contemporary issues related to the subjects that they learn has been the main focus in preparing the lesson materials. 

Most of the students of all three levels come from remote areas where they have less exposure to the language. Thus, many of these students are reluctant to learn and speak English. Added to this is the pressure that they undergo in the first year. In the first year the students who get ragged are strictly prohibited from using the target language. Thus, with the arrival to the University they are given strict rules to prohibit the use of the target language. 

In addition to the three levels mentioned above, in the second semester I was given the responsibility to teach two first year undergraduates who are partially impaired. The same lesson materials taught in the first year course are been allocated for these two students as well. In addition to this, large font is been used when lessons are edited for them. These students belong to the basic level language proficiency. Unlike for the other Arts undergraduates lessons have to be done very slowly. Of the two students one student can barely write and this consumes a lot of time, while the other student uses the brail technique.