Sociocultural Factors and Bilingual Education in Jaffna

The main argument of the study is that a network of interrelated factors has to be taken into consideration, while attempting to account for the language proficiency of the students in the secondary schools in Jaffna, since the learners come from heterogeneous backgrounds. Since a range of complex interrelated factors had to be examined to account for second language acquisition in the secondary schools in Jaffna, an interpretive approach was adapted to examine the ethos of the Jaffna Hindu College and Jaffna Vembaddy Girls' High School and the language learning environment available therein. An effort was made to study the bilingual education in the light of the claims made by research in second language acquisition to understand the acquisition of a second language in the context of a bilingual education system in Jaffna. Responses from teachers, parents and children clearly revealed the current scenario of bilingual practices in these two schools. Scholars specializing in the field of educational research have a tendency to evaluate bilingual education in a very positive way. This study shows some of the beneficial points of bilingual education,particularly in Jaffna context.