Abstract:
In both academic and corporate sectors today, there is an increased
demand for both competency and fluency in the English Language. To
address this development, aligning with the changes in the higher education
sector in the world, a significant number of degree programmes in Sri Lankan
universities are also being streamlined in the process of internationalisation
and are offered in the English medium. In disciplines such as applied sciences,
medicine, technology, and management, almost all degree programmes are
mostly offered in the English Medium. However, the degree programmes in
the disciplines of humanities, social sciences, and fine arts are predominantly
offered in either Sinhala or Tamil. Thus, considering the above context, the
present study is conducted to investigate the humanities and social sciences
undergraduates’ perspectives on the medium of instruction in their respective
degree programmes. In this mixed-method research study, a trilingual
questionnaire representing Sinhala, Tamil and English was circulated among
the participants to collect data. The questionnaire is designed to elicit their
responses to the medium in which they currently receive instruction in
their degree programmes as well as the challenges they would anticipate in
instances when it changes to English. Especially, in terms of the students who
are currently learning under the EMI (English-Medium Instruction), it strives to
explore the challenges faced while comprehending the lecture materials and
facing assessments and evaluations, besides their prospective suggestions to
support the students to eliminate language barriers. Conclusively, it is believed
that the present study will remedy the existing dearth of studies that have
been conducted concerning the medium of instruction in the undergraduate
programmes in humanities and social sciences, within the Sri Lankan state
university system.
