JOURNAL ARTICLE
Keywords: Trincomalee campus, English, Survey method
Abstract: The English language is one of the global languages spoken internationally. Trincomalee campus is an affiliated institute of Eastern University, Sri Lanka has 4 major departments and a unit. The research examined the standard of English proficiency of the first-year students of Trincomalee campus and the challenges faced by the first-year students to follow the degree in English medium. Survey methodology was employed to carry out the objectives of the research. Primary data were collected through a questionnaire with hundred samples. The research found out that, the standard of English proficiency of first-year students of Trincomalee campus is average. The students have given priority to the English language at the Ordinary level and they have not given priority to Advance level English as they have other three main subjects to focus on for the final examination. As the majority of the students have finished their school studies in their mother tongue, most of them face difficulties to follow their studies in English at the campus. Though the students used to discuss in English in the classroom, they are afraid to interact with the lecturer or answer questions in English as they make grammatical mistakes. Most of the students are guessing or partially only understand the lectures in English. Grammatical errors, terms are new in English from their mother tongue, not able to complete the sentence fully in English, fear of making mistakes, writing assignments in English, unable to understand few vocabularies, and pronunciation difficulties are the challenges faced by most of the first-year students. The majority of the students are trying to enhance their English knowledge by translating the notes into their mother tongues, trying to discuss in English with friends, watching English movies with subtitles, and reading English books. The study recommends that the campus should form an English club for the students, especially first-years to involve them in speaking and other activities in English to enhance their knowledge of English.
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