Chapter 02

Literature Review

2.1 Introduction

This chapter delves into a background study pertaining to researches and studies conducted

allied to teacher education in general and English language teacher education specifically in

the modes pre-service and in-service, in local, regional and international contexts focusing on

its plus points and constructive criticisms. Teacher education has revolutionized over the years

on the premises of changing teaching methodologies, approaches and rationales.

2.2 English Language Teaching (ELT)

2.2.1 What is ELT?

According to Cambridge Dictionary (2018), the English Language Teaching (ELT) defines
“the teaching of English to speakers of other languages”. As well as, the Collins English
Dictionary (2018) defines “the practice and theory of learning and teaching English for the
benefit of people whose first language is not English”. Macmillan Dictionary (2018) defines
that the ELT is “the teaching of English to students whose first language is not English”.
Because the ELT is teaching English practically and theoretically for the people whose first
language is not English.

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2.2.2 Major Trends in the Global ELT Field
(Cook, V. (2012) Multi-competence. Retrieved from
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/vivian.c/Writings/Papers/MCentry.htm; Kohn, K. (2013,
March). Intercultural communicative competence: An English as a lingua franca perspective
(PowerPoint), presentation at TESOL Arabia conference.)

Trend 1: Changing perspectives on English teaching and learning

Over the last 50 years, and especially during the last 20 years, the ELT field has seen a dramatic
change in views of the role of English language teaching. English educators have realized that
many language learners know more than two languages. English is not simply their second
language anymore. With this awareness, acronyms for the field have also evolved—from TESL
(teaching English to second language learners) to TESOL (teaching English to speakers of
other languages), from Western English to English as an international language (EIL). The
term TENOR (teaching English for no obvious reasons) has been replaced by TESR (teaching
English for social responsibilities) and CLT2 (communicative language teaching,
contextualized language teaching). Nowadays, more and more research and discussions have
focused on the issues of “World Englishes” and English as a lingua franca (ELF) rather than
simply referring to any English spoken outside of the United States, Canada, the United
Kingdom, and Australia as EFL.

Trend 2: Changes in goals of English teaching and learning

The goals of ELT have changed from focusing solely on developing language skills and
mimicking native English speakers to fostering a sense of social responsibility in students.
More and more educators realize that we can’t claim success in teaching, no matter how fluent
our students become, if they are ignorant of world issues, have no social conscience, or use
their communication skills for international crime, corruption, or environmental destruction
(Cates, 1997; Brown, 1994). With this growing awareness of the importance of producing
responsible citizens for society, teachers now well recognize that the teaching of English is not
simply a project to prepare students to imitate native English speakers as language learners but
that it should produce fully competent language users, critical thinkers, and constructive social
change agents, as Crystal (2004) and Cook (2005) noted.

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Trend 3: Changes in approaches to teaching

The 21st century is referred as the “Postmethods Era” by many scholars (Kumaravadivelu,
Brown, Larsen-Freeman, and Mellow to name a few), where the focus of teaching is on
eclecticism. Eclecticism involves the use of a variety of language learning activities, each of
which may have very different characteristics and may be motivated by different underlying
assumptions. Today, the use of L1 in L2 pedagogy and the use of different accents in listening
activities and tests are encouraged in teaching and learning.

Trend 4: Changes in teaching content, curriculum design, and assessment

The field is recognizing the growing importance of content and disciplinary knowledge. This
increased focus on CBLI, CLIL, SIOP, and ESP has meant that more and more programs
require English teachers to use cross-curricular, cross-disciplinary content in teaching and to
teach both the content and English. Textbooks and learning materials include more
multicultural content, drawing on both local and global resources to help students gain multiple
perspectives and cultural understandings. Curriculum design is more content based and theme
based with emphases on both language and content knowledge. Learning outcomes and
learning standards are broader and pursue the development of not only language skills, but
critical thinking, learning strategies, and related content knowledge and skills in the real world.
Today, standards, accountability, and assessment have become a major focus of the educational
reform in many countries in the world.

Trend 5: Expanding the dimension of communicative competence

A large focus of recent research and publications has been expansion of the framework of
communicative competence. Some scholars have introduced a new way of looking at second
language acquisition (SLA) as “multi-competence” (Cook, 2012), and others (Byram, 1997,
Kohn, 2013) focus on the importance of intercultural communicative competence. The
implication here is that when teaching intercultural communicative competence, teachers need
to attend to both local and international cultures. The goal is to produce effective language
users competent to use English as an international language, not just learners who mimic the
“inner- circle” countries’ languages and cultures.

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Trend 6: Changing views of an effective English educator

With the changing views of communicative competence and the awareness of intercultural
competence, perceptions of what constitutes an effective English teacher are also changing.
Recent studies on World Englishes and ELF, as well as the roles of nonnative-English-speaking
teachers (NNESTs) in the TESOL field, have made more people recognize that the
effectiveness of English teachers should be determined by their linguistic, instructional, and
intercultural competence rather than simply by their linguistic identity. Educators want to make
sure that the students are served by well-prepared and well qualified teachers regardless their
first language background.

Trend 7: Rapid development and integration of information technology in ELT

The recent rapid development of technology and the use of cell phones and different
multimedia devices have opened endless possibilities for teachers to teach English and access
information. The Internet, YouTube, Web.2.0, e-books, and various websites have changed
how teachers prepare their lessons and instruct their students. Now, with ready-made materials
at the touch of a keyboard button, it is a lot easier to bring real-life issues to the classroom and
have a meaningful discussion. Appropriate integration of technology in the classroom
encourages students to use language in many different ways. Furthermore, learners from
different parts of the world can get connected and exchange ideas via the Internet and other
media devices. Students may know more than their teachers about how to use technology, and
yet they need proper guidance from the teachers on how to select, analyze, and utilize the right
information to achieve their learning goals.

Trend 8: Changing roles and increasing responsibilities of teachers

With all these new trends, the role of today’s teacher is also evolving, and our responsibilities
have been increasing. In the 21st-century classroom, teachers have multiple roles and
responsibilities as facilitators of student learning and creators of a productive classroom
environment in which students can develop the skills they will need for the 21st-century
workforce. More and more teachers are asked to use collaborative, content-based, project-
based curriculum to help students develop higher-order thinking skills, effective
communication skills, and knowledge of technology. Another change noticed is that many

4
teachers no longer teach in isolation. Teachers have the opportunities to coteach, team-teach,
and collaborate with other teachers from other disciplines. It’s more important than ever that
teachers receive real institutional support including funding and release time to attend
professional development activities and implement new ways of teaching and assessing
learning. These are essential if teachers are to prepare their students to be effective users of
English and responsible global citizens, and also prepare themselves to be reflective
practitioners and critical social agents in this world of globalized Englishes.

2.2.3 ELT in Sri Lanka

English was introduced to Sri Lanka with the invasion of the British people in 1796. After that,
the English language education was continuously grown in Sri Lanka. At British colonial
period, English was ruling language, and that exposure was significantly influenced to increase
English usage in Sri Lanka. The Christian missionaries were the pioneers to start teaching
English in Sri Lanka.

With this exposure teaching English was implemented to all Sri Lankan Schools and the higher
education institutes. In the present, English is playing a dynamic part in the modern employee
market in Sri Lanka. Therefore, the government is giving significant priority to develop the
English education to take substantial support to the country job market and the developing
economy.

English Language Teaching in Sri Lanka can be categorised into three sections. The first
section is school education including primary and secondary education. That is the most
important period to build the foundation of the English language education (Judith Chun 1980
as cited in Sanmuganathan, 2009). The second category of English teaching comprises the
tertiary educational entities such as Universities, National Colleges of Education, Teacher
Training Colleges, Technical Colleges, Advanced Technical Institutes (ATI) and Open
University. The third category is private ESL teaching. This category includes various kinds of
private levels English courses such as Basic English, Spoken English, English Grammar as
well as TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) and the IELTS (International English
Language Testing System) courses. In addition to that several organizations, individuals are
playing a substantial role in Sri Lankan education industry.

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‘The practice and theory of learning and teaching English for the benefit of people whose first

language is not English’, is referred to as English Language Teaching (Collins English

Dictionary, 2018).

As per ‘the beginner's guide to what's what in TEFL – 2017’, Teaching English as a Foreign

Language (TEFL) refers to teaching the English language to students with different first

languages. TEFL can occur either within the state school system or more privately, at a

language school or with a tutor. TEFL can also take place in an English-speaking country for

people who have immigrated there (either temporarily for school or work, or permanently).

TEFL teachers may be native or non-native speakers of English. Other acronyms for TEFL are

TESL (Teaching English as a Second Language), TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of

Other Languages), and ESL (English as a second language, a term typically used in English-

speaking countries, and more often referring to the learning than the teaching.

2.3 Teacher Education and Training

According to Goods Dictionary of Education (2017) Teacher education means, ―all the formal

and non-formal activities and experiences that help to qualify a person to assume

responsibilities of a member of the educational profession or to discharge his responsibilities

more effectively. Pre-service teacher education is the education and training provided to

student teachers before they have undertaken any teaching (Allen, J., & Wright, S. (2014).

Collins Dictionary (2017) delineates in-service training as ‘training that is given to employees

during the course of employment’. Similarly, education programmes and training components

that are meant for serving teachers could be referred to as in-service teacher training.

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2.3.1 Professional Development Programmes for Teachers Available at Present in Sri

Lanka

Sethunga, 2014 has incorporated into a diagram the currently available professional

development programmes for teachers in Sri Lanka to show the relationships between different

programmes and institutions that are responsible for each of the programme and the current

trends in professional development of teachers in Sri Lanka (see Figure 1).

Figure 1: Teacher Education System and professional development programmes for teachers

in Sri Lanka

2.3.2 Pre-Service Teacher Education Programmes Offered by the Universities

Pre-service teacher education in Sri Lanka is far behind that of developed countries

(Wijesundera, 2014). Teachers in the developed countries enter the teaching profession after

completing a professional degree or a postgraduate diploma programme in education. In Sri

7
Lanka a professional qualification is not a compulsory requirement for teacher recruitment.

The number of programmes available for providing pre-service teacher education and the

annual output of qualified teachers are insufficient to meet the demand for qualified teachers.

Moreover, the physical and human resources available for teacher education are also

insufficient to provide good quality programmes to meet the diverse needs arising from the

changing education at context.

According to Figure 1, pre-service teacher education is provided by the university faculties,

departments of education and the NCoEs. Of the 17 universities in Sri Lanka, only two

universities have faculties of education and only three universities have departments of

education. Table 1 sets out the average annual number of graduates with a Bachelor of

Education (BEd) degree qualification produced by the conventional universities in Sri Lanka.

A negligible number of pre-service BEd graduates (about 135) are produced annually in all

three media from only two conventional universities. The Open University of Sri Lanka

(OUSL) produces about 7-10 graduates on an annual basis through its BEd programme in

Natural sciences. The Bachelor of Education (Natural Sciences) programme cannot be

considered as a pre-service programme since it is open to both teachers in service and

candidates who aspire to be teachers. Eighteen NCoEs which provide pre-service teacher

education annually produce 3350 diploma holders who are qualified to teach at either primary

or junior secondary (grades 6-11) level. (Sethunga et al., 2014)

2.3.2.1 Structure and Content of BEd. Programmes

The structure and the content of the BEd programmes offered by the universities vary according

to the institution. Based on the documentary analysis the following observations are made

about the programmes offered by the universities.

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(a) The curriculum of the BEd programme: The University of Colombo (UoC)

The BEd degree programme of the UoC is a four year degree programme where the

undergraduates who complete their first year degree programme at the faculty of Arts, get

enrolled for the BEd degree programme offered by the Faculty of Education from their second

year onwards. In the second and third year the BEd students follow two course units each in

education. In the final year the students follow only the course units offered in Education. These

include 9 course units and a practical component and a minor dissertation. The academic

content knowledge which corresponds to the subjects that the BEd graduates will teach in

schools is provided by the courses offered by the Faculty of Arts. (Student’s Handbook –

University of Colombo, 2016).

(b) The curriculum of the BEd programme: Eastern University of Sri Lanka (EUSL)

The BEd degree programme of the EUSL is a four year degree programme where the

undergraduates who complete their first year degree programme at the Faculty of Arts and

Culture get enrolled for the BEd degree programme offered by the Department of Education

from their second year onwards. In the second and third year the BEd students follow 3-4

courses each in education and courses offered by the Faculty of Arts and Culture. In the final

year the students follow only the courses offered in Education. These include 9 courses which

consist of a practicum component and a dissertation. The academic content knowledge which

corresponds to the subjects that the BEd graduates will teach in schools is provided by the

courses offered by the Faculty of Arts and Culture. (http://esn.ac.lk/ accessed on 26 June 2018).

(c) The curriculum of the BEd programme: The Open University of Sri Lanka (OUSL)

The BEd programmes offered by the OUSL also possess unique characteristics. BEd in Drama

and Theatre is a pre-service programme which is offered in collaboration with an organization

outside the university. BEd in Natural Sciences is a programme which is both pre-service and

9
in-service. The final two years of the two programmes are devoted to teaching education

subjects. Instructional methodology is not specified as a component in the curriculum. It is

included in education technology for teaching mathematics and science (or drama and theatre)

which is a 9 credit course. The programme lacks a research component or dissertation as well

as an ICT course. Other course components are more or less similar to those of the BEd

programme of UoC. (http://www.ou.ac.lk/home/index.php/ousl/faculties-institutes/2013-11-

04-09-09-12 accessed on 27 June 2018).

Table 1: Pre-service teacher education programmes offered by the Universities (Sethunga et

al., 2014)

Institution Average Annual Nature of the Total No. of permanent

Output of the B Ed Programme academic staff
degree programme
Faculty of Education, Sinhala=70 Intake is from the Arts 26
University of Colombo Tamil=30 Faculty
English=20 Sinhala, Tamil, English
Total=120 media
Department of Tamil= 15 Intake is from the 3
Education, Faculty of Arts and
Faculty of Arts and culture
Culture Tamil Medium.
Eastern University of
Sri
Lanka
Faculty of Education Two programmes: 24
The Open University of 1. B.Ed. (Natural 1. B.Ed. (Natural
Sri Lanka Science)= 10 Science)
2. B. Ed. (Drama and
Theatre)in progress Offered in collaboration
with the Faculty of
natural sciences. The
first two years are
devoted to courses
offered by the Faculty
of Natural Sciences and
the last two years to the
courses offered by the
Faculty of Education.
The courses are open to
both teachers in service
as well as to candidates
who aspire to be
teachers.

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 2. B.Ed. (Drama and
Theatre)

The course is aimed to

provide opportunities
for those who have
completed the Higher
Diploma in Drama and
Theatre of the Tower
Hall Theatre
Foundation to join the
teaching profession.

2.3 English Language Teacher Education and Training in Sri Lanka

Per the Ministry of Education Official website, in the Sri Lankan general education context,

teachers of English are provided with training both in the domains of pre-service and in-service.

Pre-service training is primarily offered by National Institute of Education (NIE), National

Colleges of Education (NCoEs) under Ministry of Education (MoE) and Department of

Technical Education and Training (DTET), National Apprentice and Industrial Training

Authority (NAITA), University of Vocational Technology (UoVT) and Vocational Training

Authority of Sri Lanka (VTASL), all of which function under the purview of Ministry of Skills

Development and Vocational Training. Besides this, several University Grants Commission

(UGC) approved private educational institutes offer teacher education programmes in the kinds

of certificate level, diploma level and degree modes (e.g. British Council, Horizon Campus,

etc.). In-service teacher education and training is proffered mainly through NIE, Teacher

Training Colleges, and Faculties of Education in National Universities plus by UoVT along

with UGC approved privately funded educational institutes.

As per World Bank Country Profile – Sri Lanka (2017), the island has nearly 230,000 teachers

in public sector primary, secondary and collegiate schools. The World Bank further states that,

‘a salient feature of the education system is that it undertook a net increase of some 50,000

new, mostly unqualified teachers between 1989 and 1994 as a result of the rapid recruitment

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with political overtones (following a substantial reduction in numbers in 1989 through a poorly-

designed public employment restructuring scheme). In addition, during that period, matters

were further complicated by declines in enrolments averaging about 3 percent per annum

farther increasing the oversupply of teachers in favourable areas while deficits remained in

rural and difficult areas.

The following direct English translation of newspaper article titled ‘Majority Teacher

Education syllabi are now obsolete’ appeared on ‘Sunday Divaina’ dated 24 June 2018

authored by Nilantha Madurawala amply illustrates the current popular viewpoint of Education

Circles on ‘Teacher Education in Sri Lanka’:

“Teacher Educators serving in National Colleges of Education (NCoE) state that some syllabi

compiled about eleven years ago are still used in teacher training. Mathematics and Science

syllabi have not been revised after 2007. Further, syllabi of Educational Psychology, Sociology

in Education, Principles of Education, Teaching Practice have not been revised after 2008 and

only a meagre amount out of over twenty subjects taught at Colleges of Education have been

subjected to revisions, rendering content of many subjects does not conveniently satisfy the

present-day demands. Specially syllabi of English Language and Art are grossly are on a

low-quality state and National Institute of Education has been repetitively informed on the

matter; however, no any responsible authority has given a conducive resolution for this

growing issue.

Teacher Educators claim that even though NCoE syllabi need to be revised in parallel with the

amendments effected on school curricula, the NIE has turned a blind eye to this timely relevant

matter.”

2.3.1 Teacher Education Programmes (ELT) in Sri Lanka under State

Purview

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 National Diploma in Teaching (English Language) – Pasdunrata and Mahaweli

NCoEs – NIE (pre-service)

National Colleges of Education, commonly conducts Three Year Pre-Service Professional

Course in English Teacher Education. Three passes in one sitting at the G.C.E. (A/L)

Examination with English offered as a subject, and 6 Credit passes at O/L exam could pursue

the programme upon securing a pass at the selection interview, or those who have not offered

English as a major subject at G.C.E. (A/L) could secure entry to the programme by getting

through a competitive examination.

Duration of the Training Course is three years. This period consists of two years residential

institutional training in the National College of Education and one year internship training

while being attached to a school. During the period of two years residential training a trainee

will be provided with meals and lodging facilities to the value of Rs. 3,000 per month for ten

months in a year. During the Internship year a monthly allowance of Rs. 5000 will be paid for

ten months.

Applicants successfully completing this Course will be considered for appointments as teachers

of English based on the availability of vacancies on Education Zonal Level in difficult districts.

(www.moe.lk accessed on 23 May 2018)

 English Trained Teachers’ Certificate Programme – Teacher Training Colleges (In-

service)

 Bachelor of Arts in English and English Language Teaching – Open University of Sri

Lanka (OUSL)

 Bachelor of Education in English Language Teaching – UoVT

2.4 Employment and Distribution of teachers of English in Sri Lanka

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The schools in Sri Lanka generally experiences a dearth of Teachers of English. The worst

affected regions due to this shortcoming is rural areas.

Though Sri Lanka has a surplus of teachers, the Institute of Policy Studies states in their 2012

country review 2015, under the category of Education (p. 78) that the country is experiencing

a shortage of qualified and experienced teachers of English.

2.5 Challenges encountered by Teachers of English in rural contexts in Sri

Lanka

As Senarath (as cited in EENET asia Newsletters : 5th issue content, May 2016) states, ‘access

to education and retention in schools have been identified as the main challenges facing the Sri

Lanka education system and it badly demotivates teachers’. Except in the many new private

schools and international schools, education in Sri Lanka is provided free by state owned

schools. An increasing number of children from economically privileged families are educated

in international and private schools where English is the language of instruction. Local

languages are used as language of instruction in most state owned schools with limited access

to English as a subject. Children face strong competition accessing the most popular or so

called “good” schools, children in conflict affected and rural areas experience other challenges

and barriers.

Many UN organizations and INGOs [international non-governmental organizations] have

conducted surveys and studies to reveal the causes of the many obstacles to the existing

education system in Sri Lanka based on English education. The challenges summarised below

are gathered using different study reports, articles, and journals related to the situation in the

Sri Lankan education system. This exercise disclosed important information and identified a

number of important reasons for the increasing number of children out of school in Sri Lanka.

14
Most of the challenges are probably similar to those found in other countries in South and

Southeast Asia but others are more specific to the Sri Lankan context.

The language of instruction in government schools is Sinhala and Tamil. Although the majority

of districts (officially) indicate that the percentage of children who drop-out or do not go to

school (or start schooling) is negligible, in one of the conflict affected districts 17% of children

drop-out of school, do not attend school or never enrol in school.

The literature review has revealed the following critical issues as causes for non-enrolment and

non-retention in schools.

Lack of child-friendly education systems

Lack of knowledge among teachers of interactive teaching methods, modern pedagogies and

child-centred learning approaches

Teachers focus on “fast” learners while neglecting “slow” learners

Favouratism by teachers

Teachers lacking empathy for poor students

Teacher prefer to work in urban areas causing teacher shortages in rural schools

Lack of interest among education authorities to implement compulsory education polices that

have been in place since 1997

Political interference in teacher placement processes

Lack of pressure, motivation and support from the community for increased enrolment and

attendance

Low income families struggle to provide school material such as shoes, school uniforms

stationary and books for their children

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Lack of collaboration with the private sector and philanthropists in solving education issues

No community participation in monitoring the proper use of education budgets

Lack of inclusive education policies and practices

Gradually decreasing percentage of GDP [Gross Domestic product] allocated for education

Children are engaged in home based economic activities to support the family rather than

attending to schools, or need to take care of younger siblings

Gaps in the mechanisms of information gathering from school level to zonal, provincial and

national level

Lack of systems to reward teachers/principals who promote innovative methods to maintain

retention

Poor school facilities in rural areas

Non-availability of multi-grade schooling for children who have dropped out and return to

school in most geographical areas

Lack of public awareness on the consequences of children dropping out of school and

absenteeism - the media do not play an active role in sensitizing parents, officials and

community to ensure all children have equal right to access quality education

Bullying and harsh punishments by teachers despite of prohibition of corporal punishment

Counselling services not available in primary and secondary schools

No system to care for children of migrating mothers despite this being Sri Lanka’s no. 1 source

of foreign revenue

Inadequate school health and insufficient school feeding programmes

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With the goal of addressing shortcomings listed above, a number of INGOs assisted the

Provincial Education Departments to implement new approaches as pilot projects in different

districts in Sri Lanka during the past few years. Taking into account the best practices, the

Ministry of Education is now focusing on developing and implementing a child-friendly school

[CFS] system in all government schools with the help of INGOs. A number of interested

INGOs have contributed to develop a common framework for implementing child-centred,

child-focused, child-friendly schools in Sri Lanka. The Ministry of Education is planning to

launch a countrywide operation to implement the child-friendly school [CFS] system in the

near future and minimise the majority of effects caused by the above issues (Country Outlook

SL – 2014, Centre for Policy Alternatives, p. 95)

It is clearly evident that the aforesaid concerns gravely apply in terms of teachers of English in

rural backdrop, and it is prudent to filter the causes which have parallels with initial teacher

training.

2.6 Summary

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