Key Issues and Challenges of English Lesson Materials: An Analysis of the G.C.E. Ordinary Level English Textbook

When examining the English Language Teaching (ELT) materials available in Sri Lanka, it could be said that most of them are alien and takes center-stage. As a result, in the process of language acquisition, students’ own experience, contexts and lifestyles are devalued through under emphasis and trivialization; hence the sense of linguistic and cultural insecurity that the average student faces when confronted with English being reinforced. This study looks at the issues and challenges faced by teachers and learners when it comes to the use of Sri Lankan English in the local classroom context. This study employs the qualitative data analysis method and a textual analysis of the Grade 11 English textbook of both old and new syllabi is done to examine the core language issues found in teaching material in a classroom context where English is taught/ learnt as a second language. The objective of this study is to examine the appropriateness or mismatch of the teaching materials to the classroom context. According to the findings, the materials that are discussed in this study consist of several components outside the range of experience and comprehension of the second language learners. These textbooks are not culturally appropriate, as they impose the culture of the western/inner circle countries in which they reflect the colonial views and attitudes. Hence, the study proposes that the English textbook designed for the Ordinary Level students should be designed in a way that would facilitate their second language learning process, and it looks at the extent to which that objective/ requirement is fulfilled through the selected textbooks.