Abstract:
In Sri Lanka, English is an important foreign language for further learning and
professional development. Technology undergraduates require proficiency in
English to engage with global research and participate in technical discourse.
Many English language teachers lack the necessary digital literacy and
familiarity with the technological domain. This leads to mismatch between
what is taught and what students actually need. This becomes a problem
when they teach to the students who are learning technology field. The
lessons are often based on general topics and do not include the specific tasks
that technology students need to know. This study proposes a needs-based
approach to make English language teaching more relevant, contextualized
and effective for Sri Lankan technology undergraduates. It focuses on
finding out what both students and teachers need. The research includes
students’ surveys, classroom observations and interviews with teachers to
understand the main problem in teaching English for technology students. It
also looks at how local languages (Tamil and Sinhala) can support learning
and how technology and real-world content can be included in lessons. This
study uses a mixed method approach to explore the needs of both students
and teachers in teaching and learning English Language. It involved 120
undergraduate students from faculty of technology, University of Jaffna. The
study aims to show that the students can improve their understanding and
ability to use the English for their real time situation when English language
teaching is made more relevant and localized to the students’ field. The study
explains that current English teaching methods are not fully meeting the
needs of technology undergraduates, teachers require more support in using
technology and understanding technical language. It also suggests new ways
to train teachers and use better teaching methods to prepare students for
both their studies and their future jobs in the technology sector. A localized
needs-based approach can make English Language teaching more relevant
and effective.
