Abstract:
When the war ended in 2009 Sri Lanka, the situation improved in the war-torn districts and many
returnees arrived from abroad after some years of displacement. But they have to face a lot of
challenges with regard to reintegration into local communities. Many children returning from Tamil
Nadu received English lessons in Tamil Nadu and their English skills are more developed and the poor
standard of English in Sri Lankan schools in Mannar and Vavuniya districts required more attention
of the educationists of the districts. In order to support the development of English language skills in
the education system in these districts Vavuniya Campus of the University of Jaffna, Sri Lanka took the
task of training non-English teachers whose English language teaching skills need to be developed. A
six-month programme to promote the English language skills of the teachers with the objectives of
empowering the professional level of the teachers was introduced with the hope of enabling the non English teachers to be active in the classrooms with required knowledge of English. The paper will
study qualitatively how the programme was conducted and how the proficiency level of the teachers
was developed. It is noted to record the participants’ involvement during the course and to see whether
the course was able to increase their level of proficiency in English and improve their standard of
English with regard to communication skills and the teaching methodology.
