Nearly all of Sewalanka’s professional development workers were raised in rural areas and received a vernacular education in either Sinhala or Tamil. Their limited exposure to spoken English means that they often lack the confidence and skills to communicate with friends and development partners from other countries or even colleagues from other parts of Sri Lanka.

With this in mind, Sewalanka has initiated an internal English education program for all interested staff members. A good command of the English language increases access to training opportunities, study visits and workshops. It also enables our staff members to share their perspectives and experiences with a much broader audience.

Traditional classes follow a grammatical approach based on rote memorisation. The new curriculum uses a communicative teaching methodology that increases the students’ ability to use the language in practice.

English Language Advisor to Sewalanka Foundation, Ms Beth Upton said that it is hoped such an approach will enable staff to communicate in English in a broad range of both formal and informal settings, both nationally and internationally.

“Over the last six months, Sewalanka staff have been enthusiastically participating in the English Program. Their progress is evident in their recent examination results,” Ms Upton said.

“Not only do staff now have a broader vocabulary and increased fluency, they also show an increased confidence in spoken communication and correctness in their formal writing.

“It is hoped such enthusiasm and success continues, strengthening Sewalanka’s capacity as it continues to evolve in an increasingly internationalised environment,” she said.