The impact of the English curriculum on student performance in Sri Lankan state and international schools

Abstract

Currently, both state/national and international schools provide secondary education in Sri Lanka. Research on the English curriculum of secondary education has expanded significantly in recent years. However, there remains a notable gap in understanding the influence of the English curricula of state/national and international schools on student performance. Therefore, this study aims to explore the significant impact of the English curriculum on student performance in these diverse educational settings. In particular, this study directs to evaluate the English curriculum of Grade 10 students in both types of schools referred to above and the influence of the said curricula on student performance. To this end, a hybrid study will be conducted with 10 Secondary-level English language teachers and 100 students in Grade 10 from the Central Province. Semi-structured interviews will be conducted to gather data from the English language teachers, and close-ended questionnaires will be distributed among 50 students. Further, an assessment will be given to 25 students from each type of school and their performance will be evaluated. Finally, all sorts of data will be arranged, analysed, and interpreted employing the Thematic Analysis (TA). This study may demonstrate that the effects of the two distinct curricula on student performance may differ. An additional objective is to determine how the curriculum of the international schools may differ from the curriculum of the State schools and how they influence the listening, speaking, writing, and reading abilities of Grade 10 students. Finally, this study has ramifications for institutions, authorities, English language teachers, students, and material designers who are in charge of designing and offering the required training programmes at the school level. Future researchers may execute an extension of this study directing it at state and private universities of Sri Lanka.